By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

“God’s tender heart must often ache listening to our sad, complaining cries”, writes Mrs. Charles E. Cowman (1870-1960). She continues,

Our weak impatient hearts cry out because we fail to see through our tear-blinded, shortsighted eyes that it is for our own sakes that He does not answer at all or that He answers in a way we believe is less than the best. In fact, the silences of Jesus are as eloquent as His approval and His way of providing a deeper blessing for you.[1]

She concludes in another place, “Oh, if only we would worry less about our problems and sing and praise more!”[2]

Although this psalm begins with questions, “Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1), the translators and editors of the New King James Version have called “A Song of Confidence in God’s Triumph over Evil”. After reading Psalm 10 and other psalms, I am reminded of the following words attributed to Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), “Nobody ever outgrows Scripture; the book widens and deepens with our years.”

In Psalm 10, David, the psalmist, portrays wickedness in high definition. When we see wickedness in this way it is easy to lose heart. While wickedness is the focus of Psalm 10, we must not lose our focus as believers.

The English term “wicked” comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word wiker now spelled “wicker.” Wicker means to twist which reminds us of the wick of a candle, often made of twisted string. We understand the words wicked, wick, and weak come from the same root word. In addition, the word for witchcraft, Wicca, comes from the same root word. 1 Samuel 15:23 reveals witchcraft is a sin; here, Samuel rebukes King Saul in the following way, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft / And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, / He also has rejected you from being king.” While witchcraft is only a part of the “wickedness in high places” mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 6:12, it is a part of it. God’s people are to avoid wicked customs as we read in Deuteronomy 18:9-14,

⁹ “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. ¹⁰ There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, ¹¹ or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. ¹² For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. ¹³ You shall be blameless before the Lord your God. ¹⁴ For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the Lord your God has not appointed such for you.

Paul the apostle warns in 1 Timothy 4:1, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” From 1 John 5:18-21, we read,

¹⁸ We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
¹⁹ We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
²¹ Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen

Dr. Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) comments on Psalm 10, “In this Psalm David gives one of his emphatic descriptions of the wicked man, and the fate that awaits him.”[3]

Our text delineates five thoughts about wicked ones who do the work of the wicked one, who does everything he can to keep us from praising God.

I. The hatefulness of their pride. (Psalm 10:2-4)

Dr. Edward Payson (1783-1827) explains,

Pride renders God a disagreeable object of contemplation to the wicked, and a knowledge of Him as undesirable. Pride consists in an unduly exalted opinion of one’s self. It is therefore impatient of a rival, hates a superior, and cannot endure a master.[4]

Rev. Matthew Henry (1662-1714) explains,

[David] beholds the transgressors and is grieved, is amazed, and brings to his heavenly Father their evil report, not in a way of vain-glory, boasting before God that he was not as these publicans (Luke xviii. 11), much less venting any personal resentments, piques, or passions, of his own; but as one that laid to heart that which is offensive to God and all good men, and earnestly desired a reformation of manners.[5]

We read in Psalm 10:2-4,

² The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor;
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
³ For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire;
He blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.
⁴ The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
God is in none of his thoughts.

Rev. Richard Hooker (1554-1600) observes, “Pride, is a vice which cleaveth so fast unto the hearts of men, that if we were to strip ourselves of all faults one by one, we should undoubtedly find it the very last and hardest to put off.”[6]

II. The hallmark of their prosperity. (Psalm 10:5a)

We read in Psalm 10:5a, “His ways are always prospering. . .” David also writes in Psalm 37:16, “A little that a righteous man has / Is better than the riches of many wicked.” Asaph confesses in Psalm 73:3-9,

³ For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
⁴ For there are no pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
⁵ They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
⁶ Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them like a garment.
⁷ Their eyes bulge with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.
⁸ They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
They speak loftily.
⁹ They set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue walks through the earth.

Dr. Nathanael Emmons (1745-1840) explains,

God much oftener afflicts men for their profit, than he prospers them for their profit. Prosperity tends to corrupt the heart, but adversity to purify it. Prosperity tends to attach men to the world, but adversity to wean them from it. It is probable that prosperity has destroyed ten, where adversity has destroyed one. Therefore men have more reason to fear prosperity than adversity.[7]

Rev. Thomas Brooks (1608-1680) warns,

Carnal security opens the door for all impiety to enter into the soul. [Roman military and political leader, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as] Pompey [106 B.C.-48 B.C.], when he had in vain assaulted a city, and could not take it by force, devised this stratagem in way of agreement; he told them he would leave the siege and make peace with them, upon condition that they would let in a few weak, sick, and wounded soldiers among them to be cured. They let in the soldiers, and when the city was secure, the soldiers let in Pompey’s army. A carnal settled security will let in a whole army of lusts into the soul.[8]

III. The harm of their practice. (Psalm 10:5b-10)

Dr. Benjamin Whichcote (1609–1683), a Puritan divine, and former Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, writes,

The Psalmist vividly pictures the crafty schemes of the wicked in order to entrap his victims. Our cities are full of fallen young men and women. We have thousands of heartless men in society answering to the vile robber pictured in these verses. For the sake of gain they set traps in which the health, honour, happiness, soul of the youthful perish. The whole civilized world was shocked the other day by the discovery that, by means of an infernal machine, a villain sent ships and their crews to the bottom of the sea for the sake of the insurance money; but thousands of atheistical, covetous men, for the sake of gain, are ingeniously seeking to sink the souls of the people in the gulf of hell.[9]

We read in Psalm 10:5b-10,

^5b Your judgments are far above, out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
⁶ He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
I shall never be in adversity.”
⁷ His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.
⁸ He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the secret places he murders the innocent;
His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
⁹ He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den;
He lies in wait to catch the poor;
He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
¹⁰ So he crouches, he lies low,
That the helpless may fall by his strength.

In 2 Timothy 4:14-15 the Apostle Paul writes, “Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.”

The wicked know happiness and relentlessly pursue it at all cost. Their motto is “I want what I want when I want it.” Each time they acquire the lust of their eyes, they are thrilled and bubbling over. The lifestyle of the wicked demonstrates a hedonistic philosophy. They are involved in loving things and using people. The wicked man settles for much less than God intends. Please note there is a vast difference between happiness experienced by the wicked and joy experienced by the righteous.

IV. The hazard of their presumption. (Psalm 10:11-13)

We read in Psalm 10:11-13,

¹¹ He has said in his heart,
“God has forgotten;
He hides His face;
He will never see.”
¹² Arise, O Lord!
O God, lift up Your hand!
Do not forget the humble.
¹³ Why do the wicked renounce God?
He has said in his heart,
“You will not require an account.

Paul the apostle writes in 1 Timothy 1:18-20,

¹⁸ This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, ¹⁹ having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, ²⁰ of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.

From Hebrews 9:27, we read, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Jesus said in John 16:5-11,

⁵ “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. ⁸ And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: ⁹ of sin, because they do not believe in Me; ¹⁰ of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; ¹¹ of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

V. The hallelujah of their pruning. (Psalm 10:14-18)

Rev. Matthew Henry concludes,

In singing this psalm and praying it over, we should have our hearts much affected with a holy indignation at the wickedness of oppressors, a tender compassion of the miseries of the oppressed, and a pious zeal for the glory and honour of God, with a firm belief that he will, in due time, give redress to the injured and reckon with the injurious.[10]

David writes in Psalm 10:14-18,

¹⁴ But You have seen, for You observe trouble and grief,
To repay it by Your hand.
The helpless commits himself to You;
You are the helper of the fatherless.
¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man;
Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
¹⁶ The Lord is King forever and ever;
The nations have perished out of His land.
¹⁷ Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will prepare their heart;
You will cause Your ear to hear,
¹⁸ To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
That the man of the earth may oppress no more.

In Psalm 7 we find “a meditation of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite.” Here David writes,

¹ O Lord my God, in You I put my trust;
Save me from all those who persecute me;
And deliver me,
² Lest they tear me like a lion,
Rending me in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
³ O Lord my God, if I have done this:
If there is iniquity in my hands,
⁴ If I have repaid evil to him who was at peace with me,
Or have plundered my enemy without cause,
⁵ Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me;
Yes, let him trample my life to the earth,
And lay my honor in the dust. Selah
⁶ Arise, O Lord, in Your anger;
Lift Yourself up because of the rage of my enemies;
Rise up for me to the judgment You have commanded!
⁷ So the congregation of the peoples shall surround You;
For their sakes, therefore, return on high.
⁸ The Lord shall judge the peoples;
Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness,
And according to my integrity within me.
⁹ Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
But establish the just;
For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds.
¹⁰ My defense is of God,
Who saves the upright in heart.
¹¹ God is a just judge,
And God is angry with the wicked every day.
¹² If he does not turn back,
He will sharpen His sword;
He bends His bow and makes it ready.
¹³ He also prepares for Himself instruments of death;
He makes His arrows into fiery shafts.
¹⁴ Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity;
Yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood.
¹⁵ He made a pit and dug it out,
And has fallen into the ditch which he made.
¹⁶ His trouble shall return upon his own head,
And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.
¹⁷ I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness,
And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

In 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 we read,

⁹ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Conclusion

Dr. Edward Payson explains, “In this Psalm we have a full-length portrait of a careless, unawakened sinner drawn by the unerring pencil of truth.”[11]

Paul the apostle writes in 2 Timothy 2:19, “Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.’”

We read in Psalm 37:3-8, 13-15,

³ Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
⁵ Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
⁶ He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
⁷ Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
. . .
¹³ The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that his day is coming.
¹⁴ The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.
¹⁵ Their sword shall enter their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.

Dr. William Lonsdale Watkinson (1838-1925) writes, “Hell works the hardest on God’s saints. The most worthy souls will be tested with the most pressure and highest heat, but heaven will not desert them.”[12]

In 1674 Thomas Ken (1637-1711) penned these well-known words,

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.[13]

We know it as the “Doxology”.

May each one of us, as believers, follow David’s pattern of praising God.

By Dr. Thomas Douglas, Pastor, Parkway Baptist Church, Kansas City, KS

This is the eleventh in a series of articles on sermon preparation for pastors and bivocational pastors with busy schedules. To see the earlier articles, click the links below:

Introduction article,
Principle #1: Bible Literacy
Principle #2: Know What You Believe
Principle #3: Know Your Audience—Exegeting Your People
Principle #4: Know Who You Trust—Trusted Sources
Principle #5: Know Your Text—You and the Scripture
Principle #6: Know What You Want People to Do—Application Points
Principle #7: Know the Right Story to Bring the Truth Home—Relevant Stories
Principle #8: Know How to Start Well with Good Introductions
Principle #9 – Conclusions

I will never forget my first coaching I received in the area of delivery. My recently acquainted friend from college invited me to visit his grandparents in rural Missouri. He said their preacher planned to have him preach in the Sunday evening service and that he would probably let me preach too. As we prepared for our back to back sermons, my friend offered one piece of advice. “Tom, whatever you do make sure to yell.” My friend, who had never heard me preach, radically changed my delivery forever. No, I don’t just yell all the time (I grew out of that faze), but before my friend I never gave a moment of thought to how my message sounded to others.

Now, a close second in importance to being biblical in the content of the message is how you share the message. Listen to what Stephen Rummage says about delivery. He states, “The truth is, no matter how careful you were in your exegesis and interpretation and no matter how skillfully you put together your message, your sermon will be evaluated on the basis of how you deliver it.”[1] Communication researcher Judee Burgoon developed a theory called “nonverbal expectancy theory.”[2] In essence, it states that people have presuppositions on how people should communicate. If your delivery falls below their expectations, you lose credibility because you have violated their expectations. That’s what my friend in college was trying to tell me. The people in rural Missouri will not listen if you do not yell. So, I yelled.

To all those introverted exegetes out there, I hear your objections and calls of unfairness, but speaking as an introvert I cannot ignore what scholars and experience teaches: a good delivery always helps in the communication of biblical truth, and a bad delivery hinders the communication of biblical truth. I know people should listen to the arguments, points, illustrations, and applications; and allow the truth to impact their soul, but reality is passion, emotion, and intensity warm hearers to the truth.

What style, how much passion, and how to display appropriate emotion depend on the text, the occasion, and the audience. Preaching on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus will sound different than preaching on a parable. Preaching on a psalm of repentance will differ from a psalm of praise. Each sermon may contain passionate moments, but some will be more text-driven than others.

The occasion for the message can also heavily influence the style and the display of passion. Sometimes the occasion restricts your normal delivery. Every Sunday morning I preach without notes and move quite freely around the platform. At a funeral, I stand still behind a podium and limit both my vocal range and mannerisms. Easter Sunday will be different than tithing commitment Sunday. Paying attention to the occasion will help in meeting the audience’s expectation.

Part of understanding the audience is surmising their delivery expectation. This doesn’t mean you turn into an entertainer, but you should be prepared to stretch yourself a little bit for the sake of communication. An effective communicator immediately accesses each speaking opportunity for potential hindrances and helps for his message. One of those is discovering the preaching atmosphere of the congregation. If you can discern that before you speak, you can deliver the message in a way that communicates more effectively for the particular audience.

When you are the pastor preaching to the same congregation week after week, I suggest what Rummage calls “finding your best voice.”[3] Bryan Chapell states, “Natural delivery now rules the day. The preachers most respected are those most able to sound like themselves when they are deeply interested in a subject.”[4] This requires establishing a normal, conversational tone that can rise in moments of passion and lower in moments of intensity. Beware of how you establish your preaching style when you begin your pastorate. Congregations will begin making assumptions (sometimes good, often times bad) when you deviate too much from it.

The only way to evaluate how you preach is to hear (and preferably watch) yourself preach. I have a habit of slowing my delivery down and turning a well-delivered sermon into a somewhat interesting lecture. Maybe you have a tendency to yell at unnatural times in the sermon. The only way to know is to listen. If you record your sermons, you can catch all sorts of nonverbal hindrances to communication. Your gestures, eye-contact, movement, and mannerisms that you unknowingly do are caught and can be corrected when you watch yourself. A good measuring stick is to ask, “If I were sitting listening to myself, would I turn myself off “ or “Would that movement, manner, or the way I hold my Bible distract me?” If so, work hard to change it.

Rex was a rough and tough born-again truck driver who was part of the Naval Combat Demolition Units during WWII (early Navy seal). Every Sunday Rex gave immediate grades on my preaching and as you might imagine he didn’t sweet coat his remarks. I came to find out that in order to get a good grade from Rex I had to accomplish two things in my sermons: at some point yell and go after the heathen that didn’t bother to come to church that day. Sometimes I let Rex down because my sermons usually focused on the people who did come to church on any given day; and other times I didn’t show enough passion in my delivery. I still focus my sermons on those who attend worship, but if I want to do what I can to make sure they hear God’s Word, then I better make sure my delivery shows the passion of one trying to persuade people to “escape the wrath to come.”

Technorati Tags: public speaking, sermon, sermons

By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

Pleasing God is our primary concern. We read the words of Jesus Christ in John 8:29, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” Using the imagery of the theater, Dr. Jeremy Taylor (1613-1642) affirms, “God is the Master of scenes; we must not choose what part we must act; it concerns us only that we be careful to do it well, always saying, ‘If this please God, let it be as it is.’”[1]

If God is pleased, it doesn’t matter who is displeased; and if God is displeased, it doesn’t matter who is pleased. Sadly, multitudes are satisfied to placate the gods they make rather than to please the God who made them. Still others give no regard to religious expression. For example, I found this message by James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) in The Pennsylvania School Journal: Organ of the Department of Common Schools and of the State Teachers Association (1885). Allow me to share an excerpt. Lowell writes,

The worst kind of religion is no religion at all, and these men living in ease and luxury, indulging themselves in the amusement of going without religion, may be thankful they live in lands where the gospel they neglect has tamed the beastliness and ferocity of the men who, but for Christianity, might long ago have eaten their carcasses like the South Sea Islanders, or cut off their heads and tanned their hides like the monsters of the French Revolution. When the microscopic search of skepticism, which had hunted the heavens and sounded the seas to disprove the existence of a Creator, has turned its attention to human society, and has found a place on this planet ten miles square where a decent man can live in comfort and security, supporting and educating his children unspoiled and unpolluted; a place where age is reverenced, infancy respected, manhood respected, woman-hood honored, and human life held in due regard-when skeptics can find such a place ten miles square on this globe, where the gospel of Christ has not gone and cleared the way and laid the foundation and made decency and security possible, it will then be in order for the skeptical literati to move thither and then ventilate their views. But so long as these men are dependent upon the religion which they discard for every privilege they enjoy, they may well hesitate a little before they seek to rob the Christian of his hope, and humanity of its faith, in that Savior who alone has given to man that hope of life eternal which makes life tolerable and society possible, and robs death of its terrors and the grave of its gloom.[2]

Imagine a message like this in a public school publication today, highlighting the power of the gospel of Christ over the ill effect of sin in society.

From Hebrews 11:5-6 we read,

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (emphasis added).

We read in Proverbs 6:12-19,

¹² A worthless person, a wicked man,
Walks with a perverse mouth;
¹³ He winks with his eyes,
He shuffles his feet,
He points with his fingers;
¹⁴ Perversity is in his heart,
He devises evil continually,
He sows discord.
¹⁵ Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly;
Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.
¹⁶ These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
¹⁷ A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

Our purpose is to gain a deeper understanding of those featured in our text and to learn more about pleasing God.

I. First, notice the outflow of malignity. (Proverbs 6:12-14)

According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, the term “malignity” means, an “intense ill will or hatred; great malice.”[3]

We read in Proverbs 6:12-14,

¹² A worthless person, a wicked man,
Walks with a perverse mouth;
¹³ He winks with his eyes,
He shuffles his feet,
He points with his fingers;
¹⁴ Perversity is in his heart,
He devises evil continually,
He sows discord.

Dr. George Lawson (1749-1820) explains,

The mischievous person casts off the yoke of God, but he remains the willing and active servant of the devil. He rebels against God beyond his might, and beyond nature presses the members of his body into the service of iniquity. He not only speaks, but walks with a froward [lying] tongue, making a constant trade of slandering his neighbours, and spreading dissension.

His tongue is a world of iniquity, and yet it does not serve him sufficiently for expressing the wickedness of his heart. To supply its defects, therefore, he makes artificial tongues of his eyes, his fingers, and his feet. By winking with his eyes, by stamping with his feet, and by pointing with his fingers, he shews the scorn and the malice which he bears towards others, and conveys his instructions to his accomplices in wickedness.

It is the malice of his heart that employs all the members of his body, as the instruments of his unrighteousness. His heart overflows with malignity, and is still running over into the words and works of mischief. The greatest miser takes some rest to his body, from the toils by which he expects to enrich himself; but the heart of this profligate wretch takes no rest from the contrivances of wickedness. He is perpetually torturing his own brain, in devising methods for destroying the happiness and the peace of others.[4]

The heart of the problem is the problem of the heart. Jesus explains in Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” In Proverbs 4:23 we read, “Keep your heart with all diligence, / For out of it spring the issues of life.”

II. Second, notice the outrage of deity. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

We read in Proverbs 6:16-19,

¹⁶ These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
¹⁷ A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

Please note these detestable sins include thoughts, words, and deeds. We may further notice the description moves the head to the feet mentioning other parts of the body. The apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:1-2,

¹ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

The phrase “seven deadly sins” came into use many years ago. However, it is interesting to note, how with the exception of one sin, pride, the list recorded by Solomon differs from the one proposed by Pope Gregory in the 6th century. The list proposed by Pope Gregory is pride, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, greed and sloth. We must remember all sin is deadly as we read in Romans 6:23a, “The wages of sin is death.” The sins listed in our passage are deadly to the spiritual health and welfare of individual Christians or local congregations.

Dr. George Lawson writes,

Every sin is hateful to God. The sins enumerated in this passage are not mentioned, because there are not others as hateful to God, but because they are nearly allied to that vice which had been last reprobated by the wise man, and are generally found in the character of the mischievous person. They are all abhorred by him who is the guardian of his creatures, and the avenger of injuries done to his saints.[5]

Therefore, we must avoid them if we would please God. We will briefly look at each of these seven detestable sins.

1. The first detestable sin is “a proud look.” This means to have “haughty eyes” looking down upon others and looking defiantly toward God. This “chief sin” of pride is illustrated in the face of the Pharisees, “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others” (Luke 18:9). Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee who genuinely repented and believed, who became Paul the apostle. Mercifully, the Lord gave Paul “a thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7) lest this detestable sin gain a foothold in his life. Paul writes in Romans 12:3, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

From Proverbs 16:5 we read, “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; / Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.”

Daniel writes about a proud king named Nebuchadnezzar and how God humbled him. From Daniel 4:34 we read,

And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever:
For His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
And His kingdom is from generation to generation.

In spite of the pain of humiliation, Nebuchadnezzar would tell you, “It was worth it.” In 1 Peter 5:5b we read, “be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, / But gives grace to the humble.’”

We read in Proverbs 3:32, “For the perverse person is an abomination to the LORD, / But His secret counsel is with the upright.” Remember, our Lord Jesus Christ humbled Himself when He came to earth (Philippians 2:5-11).

2. The second detestable sin is “a lying tongue.” A lie is an intentional deception. Men hate a lying tongue because it tears the fabric of society. Jesus said to the Pharisees,

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it (John 8:44).

You are like the devil when you lie and you are like God when you tell the truth. We read in Psalm 51:6, “Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, / And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.”

Paul the apostle warns in 2 Timothy 3:13, “But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” In 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 we read,

⁹ The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, ¹⁰ and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. ¹¹ And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, ¹² that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

From Isaiah 63:8 we read, “For He said, ‘Surely they are My people, / Children who will not lie.’ So He became their Savior.” We read about the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:27, “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”

Dr. Luke writes about Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-11. Remember this happened under the grace of God. They lied to God about the sale of a piece of land. Be careful how you handle money, it reveals a lot about your character. “A lying tongue” is a most detestable evil to God, who is the God of truth. In Proverbs 8:13 we read, “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; / Pride and arrogance and the evil way / And the perverse mouth I hate.”

3. The third detestable sin is “hands that shed innocent blood.” Cain was the first murderer (Genesis 4:5), as he killed his brother, Abel. We read in 1 John 3:10-15,

¹⁰ In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. ¹¹ For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, ¹² not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
¹³ Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. ¹⁵ Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Jesus told the Pharisees, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44a). Saul of Tarsus was one of those Pharisees persecuting the church (Philippians 3:6). In fact, he consented to the death of Stephen (Acts 8:1). He held the coats of those who stoned a deacon named Stephen (Acts 7:54-60). After his conversion (Acts 9), he became an apostle renamed Paul with a glowing testimony (Philippians 3).

We read in Psalm 5:6, “You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; / The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.” In Psalm 51:14 David prays, “Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, / The God of my salvation, / And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.”

Here we remember, “There arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph” (Exodus 1:8), who commanded the death of all the Hebrew boys to control the population of that enslaved people in Exodus 1:15-22. The midwives feared God and did not play along with this wicked plan. We also think of King Herod’s wicked plan called “the Massacre of the Innocents” (Matthew 2:16-18). King Herod attempted to remove the threat of a rival to the throne. Since the United States Supreme Court decision in the Row vs. Wade case in 1973 over 50 million innocents lost their lives through the abomination of abortion.

4. The fourth detestable sin is “a heart that devises wicked plans.” Any sin is basically the execution of a wicked plan or scheme. Someone with “a heart that devises wicked plans,” desires to see others fail and develops schemes to make it happen. They are not satisfied until they cause pain to others. We read in Psalm 10:2-4,

² The wicked in his pride persecutes the poor;
Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
³ For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire;
He blesses the greedy and renounces the LORD.
⁴ The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
God is in none of his thoughts.

From Genesis 6:5 we read, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

In Hebrews 4:12 we read, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

David, known as a man after God’s own heart, prays in Psalm 139:23-24,

²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
²⁴ And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Through the Word of God and prayer we can discern the condition of our heart. From Proverbs 4:23 we read, “Keep your heart with all diligence, / For out of it spring the issues of life.” Later, we read in Proverbs 11:20, “Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the LORD, / But the blameless in their ways are His delight.”

5. The fifth detestable sin is “feet that are swift in running to evil.” Note the progression of sin in this list of seven detestable sins. These display the impulsiveness of a horse running to sin. Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:1-6,

¹ Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, ² that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. ³ For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. ⁴ In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. ⁵ They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ For this reason the gospel was preached also to those who are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit (emphasis added).

Paul warns Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:1-2a, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.” We know from other Scripture passages the conscience can become “defiled” (Titus 1:15) or “evil” (Hebrews 10:22). In Acts 24:16 we read, “This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.”

In Deuteronomy 32:35, we read, “Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; / Their foot shall slip in due time; / For the day of their calamity is at hand, / And the things to come hasten upon them.”

Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe explains, “But the wicked use their feet to get involved in sin: meddling as busybodies (2 Thes. 3:11; 1 Tim. 5:13), tempting others into sin (Prov. 5:5 and 7:11), and breaking God’s laws (1:10–16). If the saints were ‘on their feet’ and as eager to obey the Lord as sinners are to disobey, the lost world would soon be evangelized!”[6]

6. The sixth detestable sin is “a false witness who speaks lies.” We read in Deuteronomy 19:16-19,

¹⁶ If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, ¹⁷ then both men in the controversy shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. ¹⁸ And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, ¹⁹ then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you.

In 1 Kings 21:8-14 we discover an example of this detestable sin, as the wicked Jezebel employed false witnesses to lie about Naboth, the vineyard owner. Bearing false witness is a clear violation of the ninth of the Ten Commandments. Jesus condemns it in Matthew 19:18. We read in 2 Kings 9:30-37 about the violent death of Jezebel, as God judged her. From Proverbs 21:28a we read, “A false witness shall perish.” This is a sin God hates.

7. The seventh detestable sin is “one who sows discord among brethren.” Dr. George Lawson writes,

The sowers of discord among brethren, are worse than those who set fire to the houses of their neighbours. They kindle flames which burn with unrelenting fury, and set on fire families and provinces, and sometimes even nations themselves. They not only sin, but, like Jeroboam the son of Nebat, they cause multitudes to sin, destroying that charity which is the soul of every commandment, and disseminating those corrupt passions, which prove incentives to all the works of mischief. The God whose commandments are all included in love, and who sent his Son to be our peace, cannot but abhor these sons of Belial.[7]

Linguistically, we understand the word belial breaks down into two thoughts, namely [beli - without / yaal - profit]. Therefore, it means without profit. This explains the use of the words “wicked” and “worthless” together in Proverbs 6:12. Thus, indicating that wicked thoughts, words, and deeds do not yield anything profitable.

David affirms in Psalm 133:1, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is / For brethren to dwell together in unity!” Paul the apostle writes in Romans 12:18, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” From Hebrews 12:14 we read, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” We do not desire unity at all costs, as some might propose. We must beware of those who cause discord among brethren (Proverbs 6:14b and 19b). From Job 5:19 we read, “He shall deliver you in six troubles, / Yes, in seven no evil shall touch you.” Dr. John F. Walvoord (1910-2002) and Dr. Roy B. Zuck explain, “The purpose of this kind of numerical pattern (x and x + 1) is not to give a complete list. Instead it is to stress the final (x + 1) item, as the culmination or product of its preceding items.”[8]

Dr. Stephen F. Olford (1918-2004) shares, “It was Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), the Italian author and statesman, formulated the maxim, “Make division and get dominion.”[9] Simply put, “Divide and conquer.” We must beware because Satan is trying to do this in the church! Paul the apostle warns in Romans 16:17-18,

¹⁷ Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. ¹⁸ For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.

How many churches like the one in Corinth suffer at the hand of those who caused division and stirred up discord? Paul the apostle writes in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3,

¹ And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. ² I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; ³ for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?

Oh, for a return to the days of the early church when they operated “with one accord” (Acts 1:14) and “they were all with one accord” (Acts 2:1)! Paul provides the prescription for such unity in Philippians 2:1-4,

¹ Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, ² fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. ³ Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. ⁴ Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988) explains,

This list of seven sins is like a mirror. We look into it, and we squirm because we see ourselves. May I ask you to take a good look at yourself in this mirror of the Word of God. After you and I see ourselves as we really are, let us go to God and make a confession of these things. Let us be honest with Him and ask Him for His cleansing.[10]

Dr. Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) wrote, “Those who do not think about their own sins make up for it by thinking incessantly about the sins of others.”[11] A servant is rightly concerned about avoiding what grieves and offends his master. How much more should we seek to please our Master? We read in 1 John 3:20-23,

²⁰ For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. ²¹ Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. ²² And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. ²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

In 1 John 4:19-21 we read,

¹⁹ We love Him because He first loved us.
²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? ²¹ And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

Why would we want to displease the God who loved us first? As he exposes the acts of the apostates, Jude exhorts genuine believers, “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 1:21). We read in Proverbs 11:20, “Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the LORD, / But the blameless in their ways are His delight.”

III. Third, notice the outcome of equity. (Proverbs 6:15)

From Proverbs 6:15 we read, “Therefore his calamity shall come suddenly; / Suddenly he shall be broken without remedy.” Later, in Proverbs 29:1 we read, “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, / Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

We read about the Lord in Psalm 98:9, “He is coming to judge the earth. With righteousness He shall judge the world, / And the peoples with equity.” In Romans 2:11 we read, “For there is no partiality with God.” As he was in the house of Cornelius we read in Acts 10:34-35, “³⁴ Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. ³⁵ But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.’”

Dr. George Lawson writes,

Surely he will make their mischiefs to recoil with an awful vengeance upon their own heads. What will be the end of a fiend like this? He shall, while dreaming of success in his hellish plans, fall a prey to some unexpected calamity. He may possibly flatter himself with the intention of repenting of his misdeeds, before called to that war in which there is no discharge; but he is suddenly and irremediably broken. He lived like a devil clothed with flesh, and his soul shall be chased out of his body, to dwell with its kindred devils. He that does evil to others, does a thousand times greater hurt to himself.

O my soul! come not thou into the secret of such creatures. Blessed be God, who checks that corruption which abounds in the hearts of men, and makes the earth a habitable world. Who could live an hour in peace, if God did not provide for our safety, by his all-governing providence? To this must our safety be all ascribed, since evil spirits, numerous and crafty, constantly traverse our earth, and men whose hearts are filled with all iniquity, abound on the face of it.

The mischievous man is a compound of vices abhorred by the Lord.[12]

Conclusion

When we experience the malicious mischief of a person featured in our text in the church or in the world; we must remember the words of Paul the apostle to Timothy. He writes in 2 Timothy 2:3-4, “³ You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴ No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier.”

Rev. Thomas O. Chisholm (1866-1960) penned these words in 1917,

Living for Jesus, a life that is true,
Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.”[13]

We read in Romans 4:5-8,

⁵ But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, ⁶ just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
⁷ “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
⁸ Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.

From Hebrews 13:20-21 we read the following benediction:

²⁰ Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, ²¹ make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (emphasis added).

As believers in Jesus Christ, our primary concern is pleasing God.

By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

The crux of Christianity is a call repeated throughout the Gospel of John. Christianity without discipleship is not genuine Christianity according to the Bible. John provides six inspired snapshots from the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Follow Me” is one of the central themes of His ministry. Our focus will follow this emphasis.

I. We see the invitation of discipleship.

In John 1:43 we read, “The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow Me.’”

Dr. Kenneth Cain Kinghorn, professor of Church History at Asbury Theological Seminary, observes in Dynamic Discipleship,

Christian discipleship is unique because it begins with Christ’s call to man. This is another way of saying, “Christianity begins with God, not man.” To begin with man’s ideas about God is to end with what man can produce or devise. When persons exclude God from their thinking they invariably arrive at naïve optimism or hopeless pessimism. To start with Christ, however, is to end with truth and fulfillment. Our encounter with God starts with his call to us, not with our decision to seek him.

During Jesus’ time, in both the Jewish tradition and the Greek philosophical schools, the disciple took the initiative as to which teacher he wanted to follow. Outside Christianity, the same pattern follows even today. We choose the books we want to read, the movies we want to see, the games we want to play. We choose our schools, our professions, and our teachers. We suppose that the same freedom exists in the realm of religion. We assume that we can choose which ‘God’ to follow. But such an assumption is at best only a half-truth.[1]

From Matthew 8:18-22 we read,

¹⁸ And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. ¹⁹ Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
²⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
²¹ Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
²² But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (emphasis added).<

We read in Luke 18:18-23,

¹⁸ Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
¹⁹ So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
²¹ And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
²² So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
²³ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich<

Make certain that you have accepted Jesus’ invitation to follow Him or you will have eternity to regret it.

II. We see the illumination of discipleship.

From John 8:12 we read, “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’”

We read about children of light and children of darkness in Ephesians 5:8-14, where Paul writes,

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), ¹⁰ finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. ¹¹ And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. ¹³ But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. ¹⁴ Therefore He says:

“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”<

III. We see the identification of discipleship.

Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

Dr. O.S. Hawkins, President and Chief Executive Officer of GuideStone Financial Resources, shares the following about the Great Commission in Where Angels Fear To Tread: Confronting Seven Vital Issues Facing the Church,

Matthew’s account of the Great Commission [Matthew 28:18-20] gives us the Mechanics (we are to “make” disciples, “mark” them by baptism, and “mature” them in the faith). These are the mechanics of the Great Commission. Mark’s account of the Great Commission [Mark 16:15] gives us the Measure of it. We are to take this gospel to the whole world. Luke’s account of the Great Commission gives us the Message of it. What is it? (Luke 21:47) —“That repentance and remission of sins should be preached in . . . . all nations.”[2]<

The Lord’s Supper is another way to identify with Jesus. We read in Luke 22:7-34,

⁷ Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be killed. ⁸ And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.”
⁹ So they said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?”
¹⁰ And He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters. ¹¹ Then you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ ¹² Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready.”
¹³ So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.
¹⁴ When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; ¹⁶ for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
¹⁷ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; ¹⁸ for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
¹⁹ And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
²⁰ Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. ²¹ But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. ²² And truly the Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
²³ Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.
²⁴ Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. ²⁵ And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ ²⁶ But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. ²⁷ For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.
²⁸ “But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. ²⁹ And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, ³⁰ that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
³¹ And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. ³² But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
³³ But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”
³⁴ Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”<

IV. We see the itemization of discipleship.

Simply put, “itemization” is “an itemized list”. To “itemize” is “to set down in detail or by particulars.” Jesus sets down the particulars of being a disciple. We find another particular of discipleship in John 12:26, where Jesus says, “If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”

Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter (1903-1999) explains, “It is the servant who thus ‘follows’ who receives the daily anointing with heavenly unction, and is ‘endued with power from on high’ for special exploits.”[3]

V. We see the immigration of discipleship.

John writes in John 13:36, “Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, where are You going?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.’”

Only genuine believers will immigrate to heaven, unbelievers will immigrate to hell. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” You will never get to heaven unless you follow Jesus.

VI. We see the isolation of discipleship.

In John 21:19 we read, “This He spoke, signifying by what death [Peter] would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’”

Individually, Jesus calls us to follow Him. We read in John 21:20-23,

²⁰ Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” ²¹ Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?”
²² Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”
²³ Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?”<

Peter was concerned about what would happen to John and Jesus said, “What is that to you? Follow thou Me.” We understand from tradition that Peter was crucified in Rome upside down because he felt he was unworthy to die in the same manner as Christ.

Conclusion

Some incorrectly assume Christianity does not involve discipleship. They erroneously think they are the exception or that they have an exemption.

Dr. Elon Foster (1833-1898) shares,

One day, thinking to amuse him, his wife [Ann (1789-1826)] read to Dr. [Adoniram] Judson [1788-1850] [American Baptist missionary to Burma] some newspaper notices in which he was compared to one of the apostles. He was exceedingly distressed; and then he added, “Nor do I want to be like Paul nor Apollos nor Cephas, nor any mere man. I want to be like Christ. We have only one perfectly safe Examplar, – only One, who, tempted like as we are in every point, was yet without sin. I want to follow him only, copy his teachings, drink in his Spirit, place my feet in his footprints, and measure my short-comings by these and these alone. Oh, to be more like Christ!”[4]<

An unknown poet penned these poignant words:

‘Wilt thou follow Me?’
The Savior asked.
The road looked bright and fair,
And filled with youthful hope and zeal
I answered, ‘Anywhere.’
‘Wilt thou follow Me?’
Again He asked.
The road looked dim ahead;
But I gave one glance at His glowing face
‘To the end, dear Lord,’ I said.
‘Wilt thou follow Me?’
I almost blanched,
For the road was rough and new,
But I felt the grip of His steady Hand,
And it thrilled me through and through.
‘Still followest thou?’
‘Twas a tender tone,
And it thrilled my inmost heart.
I answered not, but He drew me close,
And I knew we would never part.”[5]<

In John 6:66, we read, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” John writes in 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”

Allow me to pose the question, “Are you merely a fan or Jesus Christ, or are you a follower?”

You will discover from a careful reading of Scripture that disciple is the original designation for believers. It was later in Antioch that they received the name Christian (Act 11:26). Dr. Luke uses the word saint four times and the term Christian two times in the book of Acts. However, he uses the word disciple twenty-two times. It is safe to conclude that every Christian is a disciple. Some are better disciples than others, but all genuine believers are disciples. Therefore, Jesus’ call to “Follow Me” is the crux of Christianity.

By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

Perfect storms perfect saints. Although we spell them the same, please note we pronounce the first word of our title [pur-fikt] and the third [per-fekt]. Dr. Samuel Chadwick (1860-1932), principal of Cliff College, where British evangelist, Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994), received part of his education, wrote this on “The Meaning of Perfection”:

To make perfect means to make fit, to put in order, adjust, adapt, arrange, and equip, so as to secure effectiveness and efficiency for the result achieved. The meaning is the same when applied to Christian life and experience. It is the adjustment, cleansing, and equipment of man’s nature for all the purposes of the life in Christ. It is nothing more than making men fit in every part to do the will of God.[1]

The apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 13:9, “And this also we pray, that you may be made complete.” Some translate that last word as “perfect”.

We understand “the Halloween Nor’easter of 1991,” later received the name “the Perfect Storm” after a conversation between Robert Case, a Boston National Weather Service forecaster, and author Sebastian Junger. A perfect storm is “a critical or disastrous situation created by a powerful concurrence of factors.” Sebastian Junger chronicles the voyage of “The Andrea Gail” in his book titled The Perfect Storm. This vessel and her crew found themselves in the midst of 140+ mph winds of Hurricane Grace in October 1991. This storm claimed 13 lives and caused over $200 million in damages.

Recently, I heard a woeful tale about a Sonoma, California, native, named Terri Weissinger. Through a series of unfortunate events she found herself stranded in the San Francisco International Airport, surviving on Trail Mix and sleeping in a stairwell for eight days. At on point they threatened her with arrest on vagrancy charges. This “perfect storm” of confusion grew out of hidden fees that increased to the point of embarrassment. From time to time we find ourselves in a perfect storm.

The psalmist writes about the perfect storm centuries before the book or the movie. Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 3:14,

I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.

We read in Psalm 107:23-32,

²³ Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters,
²⁴ They see the works of the LORD,
And His wonders in the deep.
²⁵ For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
²⁶ They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
²⁷ They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
²⁸ Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
²⁹ He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
³⁰ Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.
³¹ Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
³² Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise Him in the company of the elders.

Reading these verses of Psalm 107 reminds us of another storm on the Sea of Galilee recounted in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:37; Luke 8:23-25). Matthew writes,

²³ Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. ²⁴ And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. ²⁵ Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
²⁶ But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:23-27)

This storm and the one mentioned in Psalm 107:23-32 is perfect because God sent it to accomplish His high and holy purpose. God’s work is perfect (Deuteronomy 32:7); God’s way is perfect (Psalm 18:30); and God’s will is perfect (Romans 12:2).
For the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ it is not if but when will the storm come into our life.

I. Before the storm comes. (vv. 23-24)

We read in Psalm 107:23-24,

²³ Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters,
²⁴ They see the works of the LORD,
And His wonders in the deep (emphasis added).

Everything is “business as usual” and suddenly the weather turns from fair to foul. In his Lectures on the Prophecies of Isaiah, Dr. Robert Maccullouch (1740-1824) shares the following on Isaiah 47:11, “The predicted calamity is represented as a great storm, which suddenly arises in eastern countries and blows with such violence as to spread devastation and ruin wherever its fury extends.”[2]

Dr. Paul Lee Tan reports,

Mariners and meteorologists have not been able to account for the “freak” waves that sometimes sweep the sea. One captain was piloting a ship when it encountered what he estimated to be a 100-foot wave that came down on the ship with speed like an express train. He believes that such waves overwhelming some ships have caused their cargos to list. The vessels then roll over without there being time for distress signals. He thinks this accounts for their disappearance without an inkling of what happened to them.[3]

Dr. Tan explains,

A hurricane is created at sea. The water temperature must be at least 27° C (80.6°), which means that Northern latitudes are normally spared. The warm sea creates a funnel of air which rises to perhaps 50,000 ft. producing vast cumulus clouds. High air currents are distributed, and more air from below is drawn into the funnel. Earth’s rotation give it a twist, and the hurricane is born—a mass of storm winds about 400 miles in diameter, swirling round at up to 200 mph.[4]

Did you hear about the man sitting in front of an old general store holding a short piece of rope? Someone asked why he held the rope. He told them it was a weather gauge. Curiosity caused the person to ask, “How can a piece of rope tell the weather?” He quickly explained, “When it swings back and forth the wind is blowing. When it gets wet it’s raining.”

Remember Jehoshaphat’s maritime enterprise recorded in 2 Chronicles 20:35-37,

³⁵ After this Jehoshaphat king of Judah allied himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who acted very wickedly. ³⁶ And he allied himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish, and they made the ships in Ezion Geber. ³⁷ But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works.” Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.

Remember the Titanic. “God Himself could not sink this ship,” boasted a deck hand aboard the R. M. S. Titanic in 1912. As you know, on April 15, 1912, the unsinkable Titanic did sink.

II. When the storm comes. (vv. 25-28a)

We read in Psalm 107:25-28a,

²⁵ For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
²⁶ They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
²⁷ They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
^28a Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble.

I understand the USS Ramapo encountered the highest officially recorded sea wave in the Pacific in 1933. Those on board computed it to be 112 feet from trough to crest. However, the highest sea wave measured by instruments was 77 feet in the North Atlantic in 1968, according to the British Weather Advice.

On “Christian Security” Dr. Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667) shares the following,

Faith is the Christian’s foundation, and hope is his anchor, and death is his harbor, and Christ is his pilot, and heaven is his country; and all the evils of poverty, or affronts of tribunals and evil judges, of fears and sad apprehensions, are but like the loud winds blowing from the right point,–they make a noise, but drive faster to the harbor. And if we do not leave the ship, and jump into the sea; quit the interest of religion, and run to the securities of the world; cut our cables, and dissolve our hopes; grow impatient; hug a wave and die in its embrace—we are safe at sea, safer in the storm on which God sends us, than in a calm when we are befriended by the world.[5]

Dr. David James Burrell (1844-1926), served as pastor of the Marble Collegiate Church, New York. He gave a wonderful tribute at Dwight L. Moody’s funeral service, January 8, 1900. Dr. Burrell explains from margin notes this phrase “wit’s end” means “All their wisdom is swallowed up.”[6]

From the Gospel Herald we read, “A woman was seated next to a minister on an airplane during a storm. She: ‘Can’t you do something about his awful storm?’ He: ‘Madam, I’m in sales, not management.’”[7] Actually, if he is true to his call, he is not in sales or management. God calls men to be messenger boys, as He is the Editor-in-Chief.

God uses sermons as well as storms to perfect the saints. We read in Ephesians 4:11-16,

¹¹ And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (emphasis added).

Note Paul writes about “a perfect man” (Ephesians 4:13) and some being “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. . .” (Ephesians 4:14).

Dr. Elon Foster (1833-1898) shares the following from his reading:

In a great moral contest of England, we are told that one ship ran aground, so as to be entirely out of reach of the enemy, but contributed very much to the victory by serving as a beacon to the other ships bearing down into action. It was not a way of contributing to the victory which any brave captain would choose; but it would be a matter of rejoicing, even in this way, to serve one’s country. And so, though we would not choose that holy men of old should have fallen into sins, we rejoice that the great Captain of our salvation is making use of their failures to swell the triumphs of his people, and to bring glory to his great name.[8]

Rev. Thomas Spurgeon (1856-1917), son of Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), who followed him as pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, explains it is as if God says, “You are late in coming, but it is better late than never. I will heal you, I will deliver you.”

We find the following invitation in Psalm 50:15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

III. After the storm comes. (vv. 28b-32)

We read in Psalm 107:28b-32,

^28b And He brings them out of their distresses.
²⁹ He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
³⁰ Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.
³¹ Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
³² Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise Him in the company of the elders (emphasis added).

Please note the final use of the refrain in verse 31 as it also appears in verses, 8, 15, and 21. The psalmist exhorts, “Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!”

Cornelia “Corrie” ten Boom (1892-1983) states, “Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.” Her statement reminds me of “RTRG” which stands for “Retake to Raise Grade”. Sometimes in the educational process a teacher will give another test on the same material. It is interesting to note that in various venues of service we meet certain personality types, who seem strangely familiar. Maybe God had a lesson for us to learn and he allows another person to come into our life to teach us a lesson we did not learn earlier. God sends storms to perfect us. He wants us to become mature or full-grown as believers.

Dr. David James Burrell writes,

In that day the sorest troubles of the earthly life will seem insignificant as we look back upon them. We shall understand then, what the apostle meant when he called our afflictions “light,” and spoke of them as “enduring but for a moment.” It will be in our hearts to bless God for all the storms and the trials.[9]

Conclusion

Dr. Ted S. Rendall tells about people finding glass fishing floats on the Pacific coast from Mexico to Alaska some time ago. He shares that Mrs. Ariel Johnson of Port Orford, Oregon, has a collection of more than 1,500 of them. The Los Angeles Times article he cites, reveals the following theory about how these glass balls ended up miles away. In part, the writer Charles Hillinger, explains,

Swept loose from fishermen’s nets off the coast of Japan, the floats are caught up in the Kuroshio (black stream) or Japanese current. This current runs several miles off the Oregon coast. Apparently the floats drift ashore when storms wrest them free from the force of the current.[10]

Perceptively, Dr. Rendall concludes,

It’s the storm, then, that drives these glass balls to the beach and to recovery. Without the pressure of the gale the fishing floats would continue their aimless drifting back and forth across the ocean. They have no power to free themselves from the relentless currents.[11]

After citing Psalm 107:25, Dr. Rendall compares this situation with that of the believer and how “God sends the storm to break the power of the currents of this world.”

In a humble way, Dr. Rendall counsels,

“Then let me thank God for the storms that buffet and batter me. The storm brings me blessings in disguise. By its force I am driven to the shore of God’s will and service. By nature we tend to drift aimlessly on the sea of life; by grace I can be released from the power of conformity to this age and be redirected into a life of usefulness and service.”[12]

We read in James 1:2-8,

² My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

With the psalmist we may confess, in the words recorded in Psalm 119:71, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.” This is true in part because we are closer to the Lord. Remember to express thanksgiving to the Lord when He sends a storm. We know perfect storms perfect saints.

By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

In His Steps: “What Would Jesus Do?” (1897) by Dr. Charles M. Sheldon (1857-1946) sold more than 30 million copies. From a biographical website we read Dr. Charles Monroe Sheldon

was an American minister in the Congregational churches and leader of the Social Gospel movement. His novel, In His Steps, introduced the principle of ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ which articulated an approach to Christian theology that became popular at the turn of the 20th Century and had a revival almost one hundred years later.

Sheldon was a graduate of Phillips Academy, Andover (Class of 1879). He became an advocate of the late nineteenth century school of thought known as Christian Socialism. His theological outlook focused on the practicalities of the moral life, with much less emphasis on the doctrinal traditions of personal redemption from sin in Christ. In the winter of 1896 Sheldon developed a sermon story that he read as a weekly series from the pulpit of Central Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas. The unifying theme of these sermons was based on posing the question, ‘what would Jesus do?’ when facing moral decisions. He viewed this question as traditional within Christianity and likely drew some inspiration from William T. Stead’s (1849-1912) If Christ came to Chicago! (1893) and other earlier sources. [1]

It is interesting to note that William T. Stead, the son of a Congregational minister, became a practitioner and promoter of spiritualism, a practice clearly forbidden in Scripture (Leviticus 19:31 and 20:27). We read in Isaiah 8:19-20,

¹⁹ And when they say to you, “Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter,” should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living? ²⁰ To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

William T. Stead was the founder and editor of a spiritualist quarterly titled Borderland. This purveyor of spiritualism perished in the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.

Dr. John P. Ferré, professor of communications at the University of Louisville, confirms the interaction between Charles M. Sheldon and William T. Stead in chapter two of his book titled A Social Gospel for Millions: The Religious Bestsellers of Charles Sheldon, Charles Gordon and Harold Bell Wright. [2]

In his bestselling book titled Mere Christianity, Dr. Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) writes of Jesus:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. [3]

Dr. Lewis concludes,

You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. [4]

You must be certain you are following the right Jesus. Many today follow a mystic Jesus or a Gnostic Jesus. Jesus Christ is not an angel who became man or a “spirit-guide” activated by imagination or visualization. Beware of the Jesus of the cults and even the Jesus of major world religions. Any Jesus who is not fully God and fully man is not the real Jesus. The apostle Paul warns in Colossians 2:8-10,

⁸ Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹ For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; ¹⁰ and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Have you heard about In His Steps before In His Steps? I refer to In His Steps: For Those Beginning the Christian Life by Dr. J. R. Miller (1885). Dr. Miller wrote his book at least a decade before Dr. Sheldon wrote his. Dr. Miller is not proposing a philosophy as Charles M. Sheldon, but a pattern of obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

From 1 Peter 2:18-25 we read,

¹⁸ Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. ¹⁹ For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. ²⁰ For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. ²¹ For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
²² “Who committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
²³ who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; ²⁴ who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. ²⁵ For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Instead of trying to figure out “What Would Jesus Do?” we must ask “What Did Jesus Do?” Our purpose is to gain a deeper understanding of the unbelievable response to the life and ministry of Jesus Christ our Lord and what that means to us as believers.

I. First, we see Jesus Christ maliciously analyzed.

His detractors watched His every move and noted His every word. They went over Him with a fine tooth comb. They analyzed Jesus with malice aforethought. They were not looking for diamonds they were looking for dirt. They were looking for a chink in His armor. They maliciously analyzed Him for just one peccadillo or fault. Only Jesus could say, “Which one of you convicts Me of sin” (John 8:46). Jesus Christ is the guiltless and guileless Son of God. We read in John 8:12-20,

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
¹³ The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”
¹⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. ¹⁶ And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. ¹⁷ It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. ¹⁸ I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”
¹⁹ Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?”
Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”
²⁰ These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

From John 15:18-25 we read that Jesus said,

¹⁸ If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. ²² If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ He who hates Me hates My Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. ²⁵ But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’

When you find yourself maliciously analyzed remember, “A servant is not greater than his master” (John 13:16; 15:20).

II. Furthermore, we see Jesus Christ mischievously criticized.

The carping criticism against Jesus was mischievous. While there is legitimate constructive criticism there is illegitimate destructive criticism. Interestingly, the critics of Jesus Christ were not qualified to make their judgments against Him. For example, some called Jesus “a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34). In addition, we read in Luke 15:1-2, “Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them.’” Their hurtful and hateful words were detrimental to His reputation. This is the judging that Jesus condemns in Matthew 7:1-6, where we read,

¹ Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. ³ And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
⁶ Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

The judging that Jesus condemns is hypocritical and hypercritical judging. Ironically, men misjudge “the Judge of all the earth” (Genesis 18:25b).

None of this took Jesus by surprise. He predicted in Luke 9:22, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” We read in Hebrews 12:3, “For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.” In Matthew 5:11-12 we read that Jesus said, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” When you find yourself mischievously criticized rejoice and remember, “A servant is not greater than his master.”

III. Finally, we see Jesus Christ murderously demonized.

According to the dictionary murderous means “as if wanting to commit murder; extremely angrily.” We read in John 8:37-59, where Jesus said,

³⁷ “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. ³⁸ I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.”
³⁹ They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. ⁴⁰ But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. ⁴¹ You do the deeds of your father.”
Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.”
⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. ⁴³ Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. ⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷ He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
⁴⁸ Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”
⁴⁹ Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰ And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. ⁵¹ Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.”
⁵² Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.’ ⁵³ Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?”
⁵⁴ Jesus answered, “If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. ⁵⁵ Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.”
⁵⁷ Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?”
⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
⁵⁹ Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

We read in Matthew 5:21-26 that Jesus said,

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ ²² But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. ²³ Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. ²⁵ Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.

From Luke 6:27-36 we read,

²⁷ But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. ²⁹ To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. ³¹ And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
³² “But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. ³⁶ Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

The Pharisees were extremely angry with Jesus without a proper cause and they accused Him of being in league with His arch enemy, Satan. How utterly ridiculous! They wanted Him dead. They went to great lengths to see to it. We read in Matthew 9:32-38,

³² As they went out, behold, they brought to Him a man, mute and demon-possessed. ³³ And when the demon was cast out, the mute spoke. And the multitudes marveled, saying, “It was never seen like this in Israel!”
³⁴ But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”
³⁵ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. ³⁶ But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ³⁸ Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

When they said, “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons”, they committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31; Mark 3:30), which is the unpardonable sin. Quite literally, they “demonized” Jesus. When you find yourself murderously demonized remember, “A servant is not greater than his master.”

Conclusion

The Pharisees were a group of religious leaders “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others” (Luke 18:9). The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were “good men” doing “good things” without God. Jesus warned them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). They found themselves accepted by man but rejected by God. In Luke 18:10-14 Jesus shares the following parable,

¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ ¹³ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus warns,

¹⁷ “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. ¹⁸ For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. ¹⁹ Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Pharisees maliciously analyzed, mischievously criticized, and murderously demonized our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. Although those Pharisees are dead, the Pharisaic spirit is very much alive today.

Paul the apostle writes in Romans 8:18-30,

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; ²¹ because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. ²³ Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. ²⁷ Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
²⁸ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. ³⁰ Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Paul instructs Timothy, his son in the ministry in 2 Timothy 3:10-17,

¹⁰ But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, ¹¹ persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. ¹² Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. ¹³ But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Paul writes in Philippians 3:2-11,

² Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! ³ For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, ⁴ though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: ⁵ circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
⁷ But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. ⁸ Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; ¹⁰ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, ¹¹ if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Remember, Paul was formerly a Pharisee. Therefore, there is hope for you, if you are one too. Paul learned how to suffer as a Christian. He did not feel that he was a victim of the vicious attacks that came against him for no reason. He understood men attacked him simply because he was a godly man doing the will of God. He gained the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We can too!

Governor William Penn wrote a book titled NO CROSS, NO CROWN. A DISCOURSE, SHOWING THE NATURE AND DISCIPLINE OF THE HOLY CROSS OF CHRIST: AND THAT THE DENIAL OF SELF, AND DAILY BEARING OF CHRIST’S CROSS, IS THE ALONE WAY TO THE REST AND KINGDOM OF GOD. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, THE LIVING AND DYING TESTIMONIES OF MANY PERSONS OF FAME AND LEARNING, BOTH OF ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES, IN FAVOUR OF THIS TREATISE. Governor Penn cites the following on the title page,

And Jesus said unto his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke, iv. 23–I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, &c. 2 Tim. iv. 7. [5]

In the words of a preacher’s wife named, Mary B. Slade (1826-1882),

Sweetly, Lord, have we heard Thee calling
Come, follow Me!
And we see where Thy footprints falling
Lead us to Thee. Footprints of Jesus,
That make the pathway glow;
We will follow the steps of Jesus
Where’er they go.”[6]

John Bunyan’s (1628-1688) character in The Pilgrim’s Progress- Book Two, Mr. Standfast said, “Wherever I have seen the print of His shoe in the earth there have I coveted to set my foot too.”[7]

May we receive the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, moment by moment, to walk in His steps.

By Dr. Thomas Douglas, Pastor, Parkway Baptist Church, Kansas City, KS

This is the tenth in a series of articles on sermon preparation for pastors and bivocational pastors with busy schedules. To see the earlier articles, click the links below:

Introduction article,
Principle #1: Bible Literacy
Principle #2: Know What You Believe
Principle #3: Know Your Audience—Exegeting Your People
Principle #4: Know Who You Trust—Trusted Sources
Principle #5: Know Your Text—You and the Scripture
Principle #6: Know What You Want People to Do—Application Points
Principle #7: Know the Right Story to Bring the Truth Home—Relevant Stories
Principle #8: Know How to Start Well with Good Introductions

“Let me close by saying . . .” Conclusions are meant to end the sermon. Bryan Chapell shares these words about conclusions, “With these final words, a preacher marshals the thought and emotion of the entire message into an exhortation that makes all that has preceded clear and compelling.”[1] Richard Mahue declares, “Just as an athlete needs to finish strong at the end of a race or game, the preacher must be at his best in the closing minutes.”[2] In one sense a preacher’s conclusion should be the easiest part of the sermon. If he has been effective in securing the listeners’ attention in the introduction and if he has faithfully and passionately proclaimed God’s truth with application points, then most of the work for his conclusion has already been accomplished. All the preacher has left is to summarize his main points, tie them together with a story or a series of questions, and energize the congregation to action.

If it was only that easy. Many preachers struggle a great deal with conclusions. How does a preacher take all that has been said in the sermon and use it to move his listeners to faithful obedience to the preached Word? While the axiom is true that a bad conclusion can ruin a good sermon, the reverse is also true. An excellent conclusion can cover a multitude of weaknesses in a sermon. Preachers who have limited time have tough decisions to make. Do they short change the exegetical process to devote more time on the development of the structure? Do they squeeze a few more moments of study into the introduction and conclusion or hope their application points drive the truth home in the hearers? Both Chapell and York contend that listeners will remember the conclusion more than anything else about the sermon.[3] If this is true, preachers cannot relegate the conclusion to the leftovers of time and preparation. Eternal souls hang in the balance after hearing the Word of God. Preachers cannot leave the listeners hanging. They must provide closure. They must call upon the people to respond in faithful obedience to the preached Word.

Daniel Akin, Bill Curtis, and Stephen Rummage have an excellent chapter on conclusions in their recently released book, Engaging Exposition. Let me share their seven elements of what a conclusion should accomplish. The conclusion should:

(1) bring the message to a timely and appropriate end;
(2) restate the major idea and points of the message;
(3) make the final appeal to encourage the people to action;
(4) engage the mind, elevate the emotions, and excite the will;
(5) ask for a verdict;
(6) answer the question, ‘So what?’; and
(7) encourage and challenge, as well as comfort and guide.[4]

With these elements in mind, let me offer a few suggestions that help me move the congregation to action. First, your main points should already lead to the expectation of a response from the listener. Even as basic a response to “Will you do it?” comes from any sermon with application-oriented main points. By sticking with application as your main points your summary of them in the conclusion contains built in calls for a decision. Second, narrow the focus to the specific responses called upon by the passage. For example, if you have preached on prayer, call on people to change their prayer life, to reignite their prayer life, or to persevere in their prayer life. Now is not the time to ask them to repent of lusts, selfishness, or pride. Keep the conclusion focused on the truth proclaimed. In the sermon, you have argued for the authority of God’s Word in a specific way. Don’t let the people escape in the conclusion by bringing up other responses.

Third, the only exception to this is presenting the gospel in the conclusion. Every subject we preach must come from a Christ-centered focus. We pray directly to God because Jesus removed the barrier between God and us through His death. We obey God’s commands as a love response to God’s love that was poured out for us in the death of Jesus. We help the poor, clothe the naked, and feed the hungry because when we do, it’s as if we were helping, clothing, and feeding Jesus. The challenge is to tie the gospel to the truth proclaimed in the body of the sermon. Sure, anyone can tack on the four spiritual laws at the end of a message, but what you want to do is show the people how the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus affects every area of their lives and every teaching from God’s Word.

Fourth, if questions help people get interested in your subject, then questions will motivate them to respond to your subject. Taking the example of prayer, you can ask questions such as “Based on James 5:16-18 what keeps your prayers from being heard,” “Do you believe enough in the power of prayer to change how much you pray and what you pray,” “Will you let God change you through your prayer life,” and “When was the last time you had a good one-on-one talk with God? Why not start one right now?” When you give listeners multiple ways to respond to the preached Word, they are more apt to pick one. If all you tell them to do is to come forward and pray at the altar, then if they don’t they have little to take away from the sermon. Instead, offer them the altar and direct them to ways in which their response will be seen in their daily lives.

Fifth, remind them of whose responsibility it is to respond to the message. After you have preached your heart out, the responsibility falls to the Holy Spirit and the listener. We all know people that if we could we would believe for them and run down the aisle in public profession of Christ. We also know God never accepts one person’s faith for another. While the gospel is publicly presented, salvation requires a personal faith in Jesus. While our daily walk with Christ is before the world, obedience or disobedience falls on the shoulders of each individual.

The preacher’s conclusion must leave each listener with a clear decision to make. It must contain the urgency of eternity hanging in the balance and must clearly articulate what has to be done to respond obediently to God’s truth. If your conclusion does that and the people leave unchanged, the consequences lay entirely on them; and as the Apostle Paul claimed you are innocent of their blood.

By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

Frequently, you see an SUV or a Jeep with a spare tire cover emblazoned with the “Life is good” message. Recently, a vehicle passed with this optimistic message on the tire cover. Most would agree that optimism is better than pessimism. However, the danger about being optimistic is that you might fail to see the reality of sin in your life and fail to repent of sin and believe the gospel of the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin. The vehicle sporting the “Life is good” message showed signs of wear from heavy use. It made me wonder if the owner would rather change the message to read, “Life was good”. Generally, people upgrade their “toys” after the new wears off. This reveals the basic discontent of many in our day. Thankfully, everyone is not that way. Likely, most poor people would trade places with a wealthy person in an instant.

Someone captured a photo of an emaciated hand in the hand of a well-fed person with the following caption, “You hate your life, while some people dream of having your life.” American journalist, novelist, essayist, Christopher D. Morley (1890-1957) states, “There is only one success: to be able to live your life in your own way.”

Mr. Dorsey L. Mustoe (1907-1994) of Chattanooga, Tennessee, shared a clipping with this prayer attributed to a C.S.A. soldier near the end of the Civil War in America:

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve;
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health, that I might do greater things;
I was given infirmity, that I might do better things.
I asked for riches, that I might be happy;
I was given poverty, that I might be wise.
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men;
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life;
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing that I asked for, but everything I hoped for.
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered.
I am among all men most richly blessed.

We read in Luke 16:19-31, where Jesus said,

¹⁹ “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. ²⁰ But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, ²¹ desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
²⁴ “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
²⁷ “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”

Allow me to pose some very personal questions.

I. What about your situation of life on earth? (Luke 16:19-21)

We read in Luke 16:19-21,

¹⁹ “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. ²⁰ But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, ²¹ desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

Dr. Luke writes, “Abraham said, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things” (Luke 16:25a). This speaks of our lot in life. From all indications, Horatio Gates Spafford (1828-1888) enjoyed “the good life” as a lawyer and businessman. Suddenly, he lost his wealth in the Chicago Fire (1871) and in a short time, lost his daughters at sea. After these tragic events he wrote,

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.[1]

As we read in traditional wedding vows the bride and groom covenant before God and witnesses to remain faithful to each until death. At this happy time, polar possibilities are presented to include, “For richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health.” Too many say, when there is poverty and sickness, “I’m outta here.” They display a similar attitude toward God. Inspirationally, the book of Job illustrates a man’s commitment to God when everything falls around him. Unexpectedly, Dr. John Arthur Gossip (1873-1954) lost his dear wife. The following Sunday he preached a sermon based on Jeremiah 12:5, titled, “When Life Tumbles In, What Then?”

This beggar named Lazarus did not allow his situation or station in life to keep him down or to keep him away from God. Rev. Jeremiah Burroughs (1600-1646) shares in his classic title The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment,

There is a saying of Ambrose [Aurelius Ambrosius, Bishop of Milan (between 337 and 340 – 4 April 397)], “Even poverty itself is riches to holy men.” Godly men make their poverty turn to riches; they get more riches out of their poverty than ever they get out of their revenues. Out of all their trading in this world they never had such incomes as they have had out of their poverty. This a carnal heart will think strange, that a man shall make poverty the most gainful trade that ever he had in the world. I am persuaded that many Christians have found it so, that they have got more good by their poverty, than ever they got by all their riches. You find it in Scripture. Therefore think not this strange that I am speaking of. You do not find one godly man who came out of an affliction worse than when he went into it; though for a while he was shaken, yet at last he was better for an affliction. But a great many godly men, you find, have been worse for prosperity (except Daniel and Nehemiah–I do not read of any hurt they got by their prosperity); scarcely, I think, is there one example of a godly man who was not worse for his prosperity than better. So rather you see it no strange thing to one who is gracious that they shall get good by their affliction.[2]

Dr. Luke writes in Luke 18:18-30,

¹⁸ Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
¹⁹ So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”
²¹ And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”
²² So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
²³ But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.
²⁴ And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
²⁶ And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?”
²⁷ But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
²⁸ Then Peter said, “See, we have left all and followed You.”
²⁹ So He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, ³⁰ who shall not receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

II. What about your destination after life on earth? (Luke 16:22-24)

We read in Luke 16:22-24,

²² So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
²⁴ “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame’” (emphasis added).

Reading this passage calls to mind the following line, “Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief / Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief” used a few years ago in a popular song.

We read in Luke 23:39-43,

³⁹ Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”
⁴⁰ But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
⁴³ And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Paul the apostle writes in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4,

¹ It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: ² I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. ³ And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— ⁴ how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

Paul also writes about Jesus in Ephesians 4:8,

^8b“When He ascended on high,
He led captivity captive,
And gave gifts to men.”

Paul confesses in Philippians 1:21-23,

²¹ For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. ²³ For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

Here, Paul reiterates the truth of 2 Corinthians 5:1-8,

¹ For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, ³ if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. ⁴ For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
⁶ So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ⁷ For we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

From Revelation 14:13b we read, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”

Everyone will either go to heaven or hell. There is no other destination.

III. What about your preparation during life on earth? (Luke 16:25-31)

We read in Luke 16:25-31,

²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
²⁷ “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ ²⁹ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’”

Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Jesus emphasizes this in John 14:1-6, where we read,

¹ “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² 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. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ And where I go you know, and the way you know.”
⁵ Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”
⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

We read in 2 Corinthians 6:2b, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Dr. Billy Graham shares the following in his daily column “My Answer”:

Q: Our brother always told us he was going to wait until he was old to give his life to Jesus. That way (he said) he could have a good time but still end up in heaven. But now he’s developed Alzheimer’s and it’s too late. Please warn people to give their lives to Jesus while they can, or they might end up like our brother has. — Mrs. J.W.

A: Your brother’s situation deeply saddens me, and I know it saddens you — because it didn’t need to be this way. Frankly, your brother believed a lie: that he could live any way he wanted to and put off giving his life to Christ until the very last minute. But apparently that “very last minute” has come and gone — and now it’s too late. The Bible warns us not to delay our decision for Christ, because ‘Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation’ (2 Corinthians 6:2). We never know how much — or how little — time we may have.

But your brother believed another lie also: that following Christ is dull and boring, and the only way to be happy and enjoy life is to live for yourself and the pleasures of this world. But it isn’t true! Yes, sin may give us temporary pleasure — but in time it passes, and we’re left empty and bored and unfulfilled.

Jesus promises us another way, however — a way of joy and peace, because it is God’s way. Jesus said, ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full’ (John 10:10). I pray that every person reading your letter will take it to heart, and not delay making their decision for Christ. Don’t gamble with your eternal soul![3]

Recently, Rabbi Donald Kunstadt stated in his column in the Religion section of the Press-Register, “There are many roads which will lead us to a particular destination, so there can be many paths to God.”[4] However, a Rabbi named, Jesus Christ, tells about only two roads in Matthew 7:13-14, where we read, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

Dr. Luke writes about Jesus and the narrow way in Luke 13:22-33,

²² And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. ²³ Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?”
And He said to them, ²⁴ “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ²⁵ When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ ²⁶ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ ²⁷ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ ²⁸ There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. ²⁹ They will come from the east and the west, from the north and the south, and sit down in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And indeed there are last who will be first, and there are first who will be last.”
³¹ On that very day some Pharisees came, saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.”
³² And He said to them, “Go, tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.’ ³³ Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem.

Rabbi Donald Kunstadt also stated, “A world filled with the conviction that God demands only one path for everyone, everywhere, is a world guaranteed to be filled with hatred and violence.”[5] We must remember the Rabbi named Jesus Christ said,

⁵¹ Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. ⁵³ Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (Luke 12:51-53).

He also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Conclusion

Dr. Michael Guido (1915-2009) shares,

Once, while walking through one of his factories, Henry Ford [1863-1947] stopped to talk with an engineer. “Tell me,” he asked, “what is your ambition in life?” With no hesitation he answered, “To make money and become rich!” A few days later he returned to talk to the engineer. He paused for a moment and then handed him a pair of glasses. In place of the lenses were silver dollars. “Put them on,” he said. “Now, what do you see?” “Nothing but money,” he replied. “Maybe,” said Mr. Ford, “you should rethink your ambitions.”[6]

In old age, the rich man could title his memoirs, “Life is good”, but after death as he entered a Christ-less eternity, he would change one word to make it read, “Life was good.”

By Dr. Thomas Douglas, Pastor, Parkway Baptist Church, Kansas City, KS

This is the ninth in a series of articles on sermon preparation for pastors and bivocational pastors with busy schedules. To see the earlier articles, click the links below:

Introduction article,
Principle #1: Bible Literacy,
Principle #2: Know What You Believe,
Principle #3: Know Your Audience—Exegeting Your People,
Principle #4: Know Who You Trust—Trusted Sources,
Principle #5: Know Your Text—You and the Scripture
Principle #6: Know What You Want People to Do—Application Points
Principle #7: Know the Right Story to Bring the Truth Home—Relevant Stories

As a college freshman my church allowed me to fill the pulpit on a Sunday evenings when the pastor was on vacation.  I remember sharing with another religion student my disdain for introductions, saying, “My introduction is ‘Turn in your Bibles to…’”  I believed that a “true” Christian would come to church ready and willing to hear God’s Word proclaimed from God’s spokesman.  If someone in the congregation refused to prepare their hearts to receive God’s message, then shame on them.  I put the responsibility for preparation solely on the listener.

Fast forward twelve years to my dissertation where on page 2 of chapter one I quote Charles Kraft, stating, “Frequently, it is necessary for communicators to build the bridge nearly all the way to the receptors if they are to have any assurance of being understood.”[1] John Stott popularized the use of the term “bridge” in his work, Between Two Worlds.  He states, “I recognize that in fact there has been a long succession of bridge-builders; that throughout the history of the Church Christians have tried to relate the biblical message to their particular culture; and that each new Christian generation has entered into its predecessor’s labours.”[2]

What changed?  I preached over 1,000 sermons between my college years and my dissertation.  Soon after a preacher takes his first pastorate he realizes how many people come to church unprepared to hear from God.  The preacher’s greatest task is often deterred by several factors beyond his control.  Preachers cannot control the lifestyles of their listeners, cannot control the circumstances they encounter, and cannot control their hearts and minds.  Thousands of potential interruptions through temptation, through sin, and/or through spiritual attacks await anyone who desires to hear the Word of God.  I’ve come to the conclusion that even though it might not be the preacher’s fault that a listener is unprepared to hear the Word of God when he begins, he still bears the bulk of responsibility for moving his hearers mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to the Word of God.

In addition to personal experience in front of a congregation, Ben Awbrey’s passionate conviction that most expositors’ biggest weakness is securing the interest of the listener and keeping it throughout the entire message influenced my view of introductions.  Dr. Awbrey is a New Orleans alum whose dissertation compared the preaching styles of John MacArthur and Charles Swindoll.  He graduated from New Orleans and went to teach at Master’s Seminary under John MacArthur until securing his current position as assistant professor of preaching at Midwestern.

Coming out of a solid Christian undergraduate program, I encountered Dr. Awbrey with a “already know how to do it” mentality.  I immaturely concluded that my one preaching class in college, my biblical languages major, and my conviction to be an expository preacher had given me everything I needed and the only thing left for me to achieve a mastery of the pulpit was opportunity.  Oh, how ignorant (and arrogant) young ministers are (some older ones, too).  Five minutes in Dr. Awbrey’s presence convinced me that I wanted to take every preaching course I could under him.  His passion and intensity for expository preaching seemed to run through every fiber of his being.

In 2008, Dr. Awbrey’s first book, How Effective Sermons Begin, came out.  That’s right, 346 pages of text dealing specifically with introducing an expository sermon.  Some would call it overkill, but after sitting under Dr. Awbrey I expected no less.  His work is as thorough as any out there.  In it, he suggests that the people, the preacher, and the passage need an introduction.  He gives five reasons the listeners need an introduction:  (1) heightened focus; (2) overcoming inertia; (3) natural elevation; (4) a communication bridge; and (5) alleviation of abruptness.[3]

Of these, let’s narrow our look to two:  overcoming inertia and a communication bridge.  I used to think what Christian would not want to hear from God during the message.  The carnal Christian is alive and well in the 21^st century.  Even if preachers discounted those in the congregation who really want to be someplace else (unbelieving spouses, teenage kids, angry deacons, etc.), the preacher still encounters roadblocks to communication.  Inertia as it relates to listeners means people not listening will continue to not listen until some force (the preacher’s words) is exacted upon it.  Every preacher knows the sound of the Bible cover zipping as he heads into his conclusion.  More and more we discover it happening less, not because they are so engrossed with the words we speak but because they tuned out long before the conclusion or never tuned in during the message.

Second, a communication bridge exists between preachers and their listeners.  Even the preacher with only five hours of prep is five hours ahead of his listeners.  He has read the passage, the experts, and spent time meditating on how to communicate the truth of the passage to the congregation.  Preachers should not expect their people to be where they are either in knowledge or zeal for God’s truth.  We must bring them to the same appreciation, respect, and obedience to the Word that we have.

In regards to the preacher, he needs an introduction to build up his confidence and sense the goodwill of the congregation.  While many in the congregation may be predisposed to not listening, they still give preachers a few minutes to determine if it’s worth their time to listen.  A good introduction that grabs the listeners’ attention and secures their interest lets the preacher know the water is safe.  Awbrey states, “No matter how well he has preached before, that reality does not exempt him from the necessity to do in this sermon what was required for him to preacher effectively in times past.”[4]

The passage benefits from an introduction because it never stands in isolation.  Sharing with the congregation the context and background of the passage, giving the purpose of the sermon, getting people’s attention, and making them feel that if they fail to listen they will miss out works to present the truth in the most persuasive way possible.

In an introduction, you need to accomplish several tasks, but that doesn’t mean the introduction has to be overly long.  In the space here we will narrow the focus to introducing a deductive sermon where preachers let the congregation know the direction they are heading.  This does not mean that the sermon cannot contain suspenseful elements.  It just means those suspenseful elements are not the central idea of the passage or the main points of the sermon.

So, how does the busy pastor make his introductions meaningful and effective?  In following the approach taken with the text in article 5, a preacher must begin thinking how to introduce the passage soon after he discovers its central teaching and begins to frame his outline together.  As he meditates and considers his application points, he must discover the unifying theme of his message so his creative process can begin.  The more in tune you are with the truths of the passage the easier it is to convince others of their need to hear it, the more you have applied it to your life the more ways you can think to persuade others to listen.

First, begin with a plural noun proposition taken from the central idea that ties every main point together.  Second, establish want you want the people to do after the sermon (purpose statement).  Third, look for a creative way to introduce the central idea.  Fourth, develop questions to cause the listener to consider how the topic applies to them.  Fifth, make the connection to previous messages and/or context of the passage.

Let me demonstrate by this past week’s sermon.  This past week I preached on the wise men traveling to Bethlehem to worship Jesus.  My plural noun proposition statement was “4 components to giving your life to God.”  Once I determined that giving your life to God was my central theme that became the purpose of the sermon.  At the end of the sermon I wanted the listeners to know what giving their lives to God required and then do it.  I began thinking of ways to introduce the topic.  In this case, a youth white elephant gift exchange became my inspiration.  I received a sheep jelly bean dispenser that dispensed the jelly bean from its backside when you lifted its tail.  (Yes, for some reason, I often acquire such gifts.)  I carried my gift up to the platform and began my sermon reminiscing about white elephant gifts, showing them my latest present.  Then, I asked how they would feel if the sheep jelly bean dispenser was their gift from their spouse or from their parents.  Just as I had them looking at their spouses and making “Don’t even think about it” looks, I asked,

Do you ever wonder if the gifts we give to God amount to a white elephant gift?  Is God ever disappointed, like your spouse would be at a sheep jelly bean dispenser, by how much of your life you give to Him?  God has given us the greatest gift in His Son and so often the best we come up with is a little extra money, maybe an extra candlelight service, and/or a big donation to the Salvation Army.  As wonderful as our mission offerings are, as meaningful as our candlelight service is, and as needed as our donation to Salvation Army is, God wants and deserves so much more.  God wants your life.  He wants you to trust Him enough to fully commit, submit, and devote every area of your life to Him.

This morning I want to share with you what giving your life to God entails so that you can truly receive the fullness of God’s gift to you.  The danger of giving God a white elephant gift is not hurting His feelings.  Instead, you endanger and call into question the faith you claim to profess because your life is not only what God wants but what He expects from every follower of Jesus.  Today, I want you to leave knowing you gave God the only gift He really cares to receive:  your life.  Please turn with me to Matthew 2:1-12 as we see 4 components of giving our lives to God.

As the people turned to Matthew, I set the background of the birth of Christ as recorded in Matthew’s gospel, read the passage, and proceeded into my first point.

A life-changing sermon calls for an effective introduction.  The key for an effective introduction requires you to narrow down why the listener should take heed to what the passage teaches.  The more you can show the “why” the more prepared the listeners will be for the “so what” application derived from the text.

I wish I could tell you every introduction secures the interest of the entire congregation or even any of the congregation.  The truth is some fail to achieve the desired effect, but it should never come from a lack of effort or investment in the introduction.  The people need to encounter God through the preaching of His Word.  That requires preachers to make every effort possible to prepare them to hear Him through the proclamation of the Word, and that starts in the introduction.

By Franklin L. Kirksey, Pastor, First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort, Alabama, and author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice.

These expositions by Dr. Kirksey are offered to suggest sermon or Bible study ideas for pastors and other church leaders, both from the exposition and from the illustrative material, or simply for personal devotion.

Introduction

Ideas have consequences. In fact, our thoughts, words, and deeds have consequences as well. Some consequences are bitter, while others are sweet. Still others are bitter-sweet.

Maybe you remember hearing that Dr. Bailey Smith declared on the “Phil Donahue Show” in 1980, “God Almighty does not hear the prayers of a Jew.” In all fairness to Dr. Smith, I believe the television talk show host employed a tricky technique to set him up. Recently, a pastor asked, “Who are we to say whom God will or will not listen to?” This same pastor asserted, “I believe that God Almighty hears the prayers of every Jew and the prayers of every human being created in God’s image.” Is this pastor correct? What does the Bible say?

In our text, Proverbs 28:9, we read, “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer is an abomination.”

There are three warnings stated or implied in our passage.

I. First, beware of rebellion against God.

From Proverbs 28:9a we read, “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law. . .” We read in 1 Samuel 15:23, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” Isaiah records the first act of rebellion by Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12-15). He is “the father of lies”, “the devil”, “that serpent of old” and the Scripture describes him with a host of other negative terms. Rebellion is a serious thing with serious consequences.

In our text the word “one” refers to anyone. Paul reminds us in Romans 2:11, “For there is no partiality with God.” Rebellion is wrong if King Saul does it. It is wrong if Satan does it. It is wrong if you do it or if I do it.

In the New Testament we find a phrase “he who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15; 13:9; Mark 4:23; 7:16; Luke 8:8; 14:35; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, and 22). In our text, “hearing” implies heeding the Word of God as well. We read in Psalm 19:7-9,

⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;
⁸ The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
⁹ The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

Each of these designations refers to the Word of God. From Psalm 119:105 we read, “Your word is a lamp to my feet /And a light to my path.”

II. Second, beware of religion without God.

We read in Proverbs 28:9b, “Even his prayer. . .” Commenting on our text, Rev. George Williams (1850-1928) warns, “Outward worship where the heart refuses obedience to the Gospel, is an abomination to God.”[1] Someone explains, “This kind of prayer is hateful to God.” The psalmist writes in Psalm 66:18-19, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, / The Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; / He has attended to the voice of my prayer.” We read in Psalm 109:7, “When he is judged, let him be found guilty, / And let his prayer become sin.”

From Luke 18:9-14 we read,

⁹ Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ ¹³ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

John Burton (1803-1877), a deacon of the Congregational Church of Plaistow[2], writes,

I often say my prayers;
But do I ever pray? And do the wishes of my heart
Go with the words I say? I may as well kneel down
And worship gods of stone,
As offer to the living God
A prayer of words alone,
For words without the heart
The Lord will never hear;
Nor will He to those lips attend
Whose prayers are not sincere.[3]

Informed by New Testament doctrine, prayer should be in Jesus’ name (John 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:23-24, and 26). Those who do not follow this practice reveal their lack of understanding or something much worse.

John writes in 1 John 5:14-15, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”

We read in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Paul writes in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

The word “even” in our text reminds us that prayer is just one religious expression. We read in Proverbs 15:8, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, / But the prayer of the upright is His delight.”

We read about two worshippers in Genesis 4:2b-5a,

^2b Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³ And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. ⁴ Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, ^5a but He did not respect Cain and his offering.

The writer of the book of Hebrews provides this commentary:

⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4).

We read in Isaiah 1:11-15,

¹¹ “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the LORD.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.
¹² “When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
¹³ Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
¹⁴ Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
¹⁵ When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.

In Amos 5:21-23 we read,

²¹ “I hate, I despise your feast days,
And I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
²² Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings,
I will not accept them,
Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings.
²³ Take away from Me the noise of your songs,
For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.”

From Malachi 1:11-14 we read,

¹¹ For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down,
My name shall be great among the Gentiles;
In every place incense shall be offered to My name,
And a pure offering;
For My name shall be great among the nations,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
¹² “But you profane it,
In that you say,
‘The table of the LORD is defiled;
And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’
¹³ You also say,
‘Oh, what a weariness!’
And you sneer at it,”
Says the LORD of hosts.
“And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick;
Thus you bring an offering!
Should I accept this from your hand?”
Says the LORD.
¹⁴ “But cursed be the deceiver
Who has in his flock a male,
And takes a vow,
But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished—
For I am a great King,”
Says the LORD of hosts,
“And My name is to be feared among the nations.”

From John 4:19-26 we read about worship,

¹⁹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. ²⁰ Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
²¹ Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. ²² You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. ²³ But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. ²⁴ God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
²⁵ The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

III. Third, beware of retribution from God.

We read in Proverbs 28:9c, “. . . is an abomination.” The term “abomination” means “a detestable thing.” For example, Moses writes in Genesis 46:34b, “every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians.” Do not allow this illustration of the use of the term “abomination” to diminish the seriousness of something being an abomination to God. The request of a rebel is repulsive to God, whether Jew or Gentile.

Jesus warns,

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:21-23, emphasis added)

We must know what God loves and what God hates.

From Proverbs 6:16-19 we read,

¹⁶ These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
¹⁷ A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

In Jude 1:20-21 we read, “²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

Someone wisely cautions, “God refuses to hear the one who refuses to hear Him.” We read in James 4:6 and in 1 Peter 5:5, “God resists the proud, / But gives grace to the humble.” The emphasis on humility is clear in 2 Chronicles 7:14, where we read, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

We must understand where we stand as a nation. In the history of the United States of America some of our Presidents were involved in immorality of almost every sort. Even those have given lip service to the Almighty God in their Thanksgiving Proclamations. An article dated Friday, November 27, 2009, by Kathleen Gilbert reveals, “Obama Makes History: Thanksgiving Proclamation First Ever to Omit Direct Mention of God.”[4] This year things are even worse as we learn from an article by Todd Starnes titled, “Obama Leaves God Out of Thanksgiving Address.”[5] Anyone with spiritual discernment can see our once God blessed nation is following godless notions recorded in Romans 1:18-32. Those who attempt to remove the memory of the true and living God of the Bible will face Him in judgment. If we do not repent as a nation, we will begin to experience the bitter consequences of these actions as God’s judgment comes.

From Proverbs 29:1 we read, “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, / Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

Dr. Ray Pritchard states,

I realize that God’s wrath is not a popular topic these days. Many pastors fear to preach on God’s wrath lest they incur the wrath of the congregation. We’d all rather hear about God’s love than about his wrath. Yet both are entirely biblical because both wrath and love flow from God’s basic nature. While it is true that “God is love” (1 John 4:8), it is also true that he hates the wicked and those who do violence (Psalm 11:5). Sometimes in our attempt to appear compassionate, we proclaim that God “hates the sin and loves the sinner.” I caution against using that statement indiscriminately because it is only partly true and can be misleading. Does God love sinners? Yes, he does because sinners are part of the world Christ came to save (John 3:16). But as it stands, the statement seems to imply that love is God’s only response to sin. Check out the book of Psalms and you will discover that God hates sinners and he abhors the wicked (Psalm 5:4-5; 37:13, 20; 101:7; 119:119). I believe that much modern gospel preaching is anemic precisely because we preach less than the whole truth to guilty sinners. If all we say to the lost is ‘God loves you,’ we are in danger of making them think that their continued rebellion doesn’t matter to God. Instead, we must warn them to flee from the wrath to come (Luke 3:7).[6]

Conclusion

Allow me to summarize the main points of our message: beware of rebellion against God, beware of religion without God, and beware of retribution from God. In the words of our text, “One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, / Even his prayer is an abomination.” Proverbs 28:9 speaks about an unbeliever without a relationship with God. However, there is an application to a believer out of fellowship with God. Rev. Matthew Henry (1662-1714) shares the following comment on our text, “It is by the Word of God and prayer that our communion is kept up.”

Unbelievers will suffer the wrath of God in hell for eternity. Make-believers as we find in Matthew 7:21-23, will find the same sad eternal torment as unbelievers. Only genuine believers will find their destiny in heaven because of the grace of God.

Retribution will come to the unbeliever and the make-believer from our Lord at the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15). Rewards will come to the believer from our Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10) according to our trust and obedience to Him. Paul writes in Galatians 6:7-9,

⁷ Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. ⁸ For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. ⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) warns, “Sooner or later, we all sit down to a banquet of consequences.”