0:00 - 0:00 Let's pray together.
0:00 - 0:05 Father, we have only thanks to offer up
0:05 - 0:08 for our living hope,
0:08 - 0:11 the true and living way that does take us
0:11 - 0:15 into Your very presence, Lord.
0:15 - 0:21 We hope that through every difficulty,
0:21 - 0:27 every sin, every trial,
0:27 - 0:29 or all seasons of life,
0:30 - 0:32 Christ is our hope.
0:32 - 0:36 He will remind us what a firm foundation He is
0:36 - 0:38 under our feet,
0:38 - 0:42 a rock that won't be moved,
0:42 - 0:46 a ground that can't be shaken.
0:46 - 0:50 So we turn our eyes and we turn our hearts
0:51 - 0:54 to Him,
0:54 - 0:59 to adore Him,
0:59 - 1:03 to serve Him,
1:03 - 1:08 to glory in Him,
1:08 - 1:09 that all in all,
1:09 - 1:19 He would be our only hope in our life.
1:19 - 1:23 Father, we pray You would bless our tithe and our offering,
1:23 - 1:25 that we would give our faith,
1:25 - 1:33 our first and our best unto You.
1:33 - 1:36 Lord, You don't need anything from us,
1:36 - 1:39 but You are willing to use us
1:39 - 1:43 to help us to keep right perspectives, Lord,
1:43 - 1:49 on what it means to own something.
1:49 - 1:53 So we say all we have is Yours.
1:53 - 1:55 We pray it all in Jesus' name.
1:55 - 2:08 Amen.
2:08 - 2:13 Well, good evening.
2:13 - 2:19 We're going to be in Psalm chapter 37.
2:19 - 2:25 Psalm chapter 37 verses...
2:25 - 2:32 1 through 4.
2:32 - 2:38 Psalm chapter 37 verses 1 through 4.
2:38 - 2:45 Psalm chapter 37 verses 1 through 4.
2:45 - 2:50 And the psalmist writes,
2:50 - 2:55 fret not yourself because of evildoers.
2:55 - 2:59 Be not envious of wrongdoers.
2:59 - 3:04 For they will soon fade like the grass
3:04 - 3:08 and wither like the green herb.
3:08 - 3:11 Trust in the Lord and do good.
3:11 - 3:16 Dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
3:16 - 3:18 Delight yourself in the Lord
3:18 - 3:25 and He will give you the desires of your heart.
3:25 - 3:31 I imagine telling a soldier on D-Day
3:31 - 3:37 in those little boats going up to the shores in Normandy,
3:37 - 3:39 don't fret.
3:39 - 3:42 Don't fret.
3:42 - 3:45 Or how about a battalion of soldiers
3:45 - 3:46 in Vietnam
3:47 - 3:50 in a jungle
3:50 - 3:58 surrounded by Vietnamese soldiers.
3:58 - 3:59 Don't fret.
3:59 - 4:00 Don't worry.
4:00 - 4:01 Don't do it.
4:01 - 4:04 Don't do it.
4:04 - 4:08 God's way is always upside down, isn't it?
4:08 - 4:11 And I think this psalm draws that out
4:11 - 4:14 because you and I are always engaged
4:14 - 4:17 in a spiritual battle.
4:17 - 4:21 And we always have very real enemies
4:21 - 4:24 all around in this world.
4:24 - 4:28 All around.
4:28 - 4:32 And David was no stranger to enemies.
4:32 - 4:35 It's very fitting that he writes this
4:35 - 4:41 because he's writing from real, painful,
4:41 - 4:46 been there, done it plenty of times experience.
4:46 - 4:48 In the face and the opposition
4:48 - 4:52 of the evil man, of an enemy.
4:52 - 4:53 He's not an enemy.
4:53 - 4:54 Yet, David,
4:54 - 4:54 David says,
4:54 - 4:55 don't fret
4:55 - 4:58 when you're surrounded by evil.
4:58 - 5:01 Don't fret.
5:01 - 5:05 Think about King David's life.
5:05 - 5:06 It's really a story
5:06 - 5:12 of going from one evil to another.
5:12 - 5:14 Remember Goliath.
5:14 - 5:18 That was a brash, bold enemy
5:18 - 5:21 of God and God's people.
5:21 - 5:24 That was an adversary.
5:24 - 5:27 That nobody in Israel,
5:27 - 5:28 none of the soldiers,
5:28 - 5:30 not King Saul,
5:30 - 5:32 could do anything about.
5:32 - 5:34 It was an unsolvable problem for them
5:34 - 5:37 and they were fretting.
5:37 - 5:42 They were paralyzed.
5:42 - 5:46 You think about King Saul himself.
5:46 - 5:48 By no fault of his own,
5:48 - 5:50 Saul wanted his life
5:50 - 5:52 and he spent years.
5:52 - 5:54 Think about years.
5:54 - 5:57 As a fugitive.
5:57 - 5:59 Running, hiding,
5:59 - 6:00 over and over again.
6:00 - 6:02 From here to there.
6:02 - 6:04 Not knowing if you're going to be found out.
6:04 - 6:09 Are you going to live much longer?
6:09 - 6:10 David's own son,
6:10 - 6:12 Absalom,
6:12 - 6:13 turned against him
6:13 - 6:14 and ran a coup
6:14 - 6:18 and for a time took his throne.
6:18 - 6:20 Joab,
6:20 - 6:22 his trusted commander,
6:22 - 6:24 undermined him twice.
6:24 - 6:26 And murdered for his benefit.
6:26 - 6:29 Joab assassinated Absalom
6:30 - 6:34 against David's wishes.
6:35 - 6:36 Sheba,
6:36 - 6:39 he turned a bunch of the people against David
6:39 - 6:44 and tried to overthrow David.
6:44 - 6:46 Shimei cursed David
6:46 - 6:48 over and over again
6:48 - 6:49 and threw stones at him
6:49 - 6:55 when Absalom had taken the kingdom for a moment.
6:55 - 6:59 So a man marked by a lifetime of battery
6:59 - 7:00 from evil men
7:00 - 7:02 and observing
7:02 - 7:03 the wicked schemes
7:03 - 7:06 of men.
7:06 - 7:08 How do you fare
7:08 - 7:11 through all that?
7:11 - 7:12 I think there's a weight
7:12 - 7:15 to hearing David say
7:15 - 7:17 fret not.
7:17 - 7:18 And that doesn't include
7:18 - 7:19 all the Canaanite nations
7:19 - 7:23 he was constantly warring against.
7:23 - 7:24 It seems like
7:24 - 7:25 often times
7:25 - 7:26 wicked men
7:26 - 7:31 are immovable.
7:31 - 7:34 That their attacks are effective,
7:34 - 7:36 their will is uncontested
7:36 - 7:38 and fretting about it
7:38 - 7:39 is the only thing
7:39 - 7:43 that we can really do.
7:43 - 7:46 Who could stand against a giant?
7:46 - 7:47 Who could kill a man
7:47 - 7:49 that was taller and stronger
7:49 - 7:53 than everyone else?
7:53 - 7:54 Yet
7:54 - 7:56 David
7:56 - 7:57 killed Goliath
7:58 - 8:01 cut off his head
8:01 - 8:02 and Saul
8:02 - 8:04 fell on his own sword
8:04 - 8:07 and Joab was eventually brought to justice
8:07 - 8:08 and executed
8:08 - 8:09 as Shimei was
8:09 - 8:11 and Absalom was killed
8:11 - 8:14 and Sheba was killed.
8:14 - 8:16 Each of them fell
8:16 - 8:17 in God's time
8:18 - 8:18 and
8:18 - 8:20 and
8:20 - 8:21 and
8:21 - 8:21,
8:21 - 8:22 they were each
8:22 - 8:24 struck down
8:24 - 8:27 by the Lord.
8:27 - 8:29 By the Lord.
8:29 - 8:30 Further on in verse,
8:30 - 8:32 chapter 37
8:32 - 8:32 in verses
8:32 - 8:36 35 and 36
8:36 - 8:37 David writes
8:37 - 8:39 I've seen a wicked
8:39 - 8:40 ruthless man
8:40 - 8:41 spreading himself
8:41 - 8:45 like a green laurel tree
8:45 - 8:47 but he passed away
8:47 - 8:48 and behold
8:48 - 8:49 he was no more
8:49 - 8:51 though I saw him
8:51 - 8:52 but he was no more
8:52 - 8:52 but he was no more
8:53 - 8:53 he could not
8:53 - 8:55 be
8:55 - 8:59 found.
8:59 - 9:02 This is anti-fretting.
9:02 - 9:04 This is anti-fretting.
9:04 - 9:07 And it's not like a cold emotional
9:07 - 9:09 neutral response to life
9:09 - 9:10 to all bad
9:10 - 9:11 like it's all fine
9:11 - 9:13 I'm not supposed to
9:13 - 9:15 that's not the case.
9:15 - 9:17 When we experience difficulties
9:17 - 9:19 when we see evil
9:19 - 9:20 done
9:20 - 9:23 God has changed
9:23 - 9:24 our hearts
9:24 - 9:25 to look like His
9:25 - 9:27 so that we must
9:27 - 9:28 and should
9:28 - 9:29 really
9:29 - 9:31 have a grating experience
9:31 - 9:32 when we
9:32 - 9:33 when we see what
9:33 - 9:35 the evil man does.
9:35 - 9:36 Something's wrong
9:36 - 9:37 with your Christianity
9:37 - 9:39 if you're not really bothered
9:39 - 9:41 by the way evil thrives
9:41 - 9:42 around you
9:42 - 9:44 and your personal life
9:44 - 9:45 and what you see
9:45 - 9:46 on the world stage
9:46 - 9:55 or stories that you hear.
9:55 - 9:56 And I think examples
9:56 - 9:57 are more than we could
9:57 - 9:59 probably come up with.
9:59 - 10:00 We could talk about
10:00 - 10:01 an ever increasing corruption
10:01 - 10:03 in politics
10:03 - 10:05 and government.
10:05 - 10:06 We could talk about
10:06 - 10:08 the great moral decline
10:08 - 10:10 among our nation
10:10 - 10:11 and the world.
10:11 - 10:14 We could talk about
10:14 - 10:15 the desecration
10:15 - 10:16 of the Lord's Supper
10:16 - 10:19 how that was abominated
10:19 - 10:20 at the opening of the church.
10:20 - 10:21 At the opening of the Olympics
10:21 - 10:24 just a few days ago.
10:24 - 10:25 We could talk about
10:25 - 10:28 murdered babies in the womb.
10:28 - 10:29 We could talk about
10:29 - 10:33 persecution of Christians worldwide.
10:33 - 10:34 We could talk about
10:34 - 10:35 people that have
10:35 - 10:36 lied about you
10:36 - 10:37 or maligned you
10:37 - 10:40 or manipulated you
10:41 - 10:44 or stolen from you.
10:44 - 10:45 Somebody you love got hurt
10:45 - 10:47 in a wrong way
10:47 - 10:50 unjustified way.
10:50 - 10:51 So David's not saying
10:51 - 10:53 get over it.
10:53 - 10:54 Calm down.
10:54 - 10:57 He's saying don't fret.
10:57 - 10:58 And there's a big difference here.
10:58 - 11:00 Fretting is a sort of
11:00 - 11:01 internal
11:01 - 11:04 you know
11:04 - 11:04 swelling
11:04 - 11:06 of frustration
11:06 - 11:07 and anxiety.
11:07 - 11:09 It's just dwelling on evil
11:09 - 11:11 over and over again
11:11 - 11:12 to the point where
11:12 - 11:13 you are inside
11:13 - 11:15 just at the highest
11:15 - 11:16 you know
11:16 - 11:17 fever you can get to
11:17 - 11:19 of just anxious
11:19 - 11:20 and angry
11:20 - 11:21 and stressed out
11:21 - 11:27 and frustrated.
11:27 - 11:29 David's saying don't do that
11:29 - 11:31 because God has his eye
11:31 - 11:32 on the wicked
11:32 - 11:34 just as much as he does
11:34 - 11:37 on the righteous.
11:37 - 11:39 And God will repay
11:39 - 11:40 the righteous man
11:40 - 11:42 just as much
11:42 - 11:44 as God will repay
11:44 - 11:47 the wicked man.
11:47 - 11:48 In verse 34
11:48 - 11:51 of chapter 37.
11:51 - 11:52 He says wait
11:52 - 11:54 for the Lord.
11:54 - 11:55 Keep his way
11:55 - 11:56 and he will exalt you
11:56 - 11:57 to inherit the land.
11:57 - 11:58 You will look on
11:58 - 12:00 when the wicked
12:00 - 12:03 are cut off.
12:03 - 12:05 So this challenges us
12:05 - 12:05 as God's people
12:06 - 12:07 living in an evil world
12:07 - 12:09 to respond with
12:09 - 12:11 faith
12:11 - 12:13 rather than our flesh.
12:13 - 12:13 Okay?
12:14 - 12:15 So we'll say that
12:15 - 12:16 fretting
12:16 - 12:17 this kind of fretting
12:17 - 12:18 that David's talking about
12:18 - 12:19 it's a fruit
12:19 - 12:20 of the
12:20 - 12:20 of the flesh
12:20 - 12:25 not the spirit.
12:25 - 12:28 We should have faith.
12:28 - 12:30 And
12:30 - 12:31 just kind of
12:31 - 12:33 37 is its best
12:33 - 12:34 its own
12:34 - 12:35 best commentary
12:35 - 12:37 when we look at
12:37 - 12:38 when we look at this
12:38 - 12:42 chapter
12:42 - 12:43 in verse 8
12:44 - 12:45 verse 8 tells us
12:45 - 12:46 refrain from anger
12:46 - 12:50 and forsake wrath.
12:50 - 12:53 Fret not yourself.
12:53 - 12:55 It tends only to evil.
12:55 - 12:58 Don't go down that path.
12:58 - 12:59 So fretting
12:59 - 13:00 I want you to see this.
13:00 - 13:01 Fretting
13:01 - 13:03 is not something you do
13:03 - 13:06 as much as it is something
13:06 - 13:09 someone you become.
13:09 - 13:11 The more you do it
13:11 - 13:12 the more it changes you
13:12 - 13:14 to think and act like
13:14 - 13:16 the very person
13:16 - 13:17 that you once
13:17 - 13:19 were fretting about.
13:19 - 13:20 It doesn't mean
13:20 - 13:20 that you're going to do
13:20 - 13:21 what they did
13:21 - 13:23 but you're going to end up
13:23 - 13:24 according to the psalmist
13:24 - 13:25 considering evil
13:26 - 13:27 as a possible option
13:27 - 13:28 for how you
13:28 - 13:29 can address
13:29 - 13:30 the situation.
13:30 - 13:31 He says it tends
13:31 - 13:35 to evil.
13:35 - 13:36 So how then
13:36 - 13:38 do we as Christians
13:38 - 13:38 feel the spirit
13:39 - 13:40 respond
13:40 - 13:43 to evil?
13:43 - 13:45 We must look outside
13:45 - 13:45 of ourselves
13:45 - 13:48 and our own resources.
13:48 - 13:49 You can't wrong
13:49 - 13:52 a right
13:52 - 13:53 with a wrong
13:53 - 13:56 is effectively
13:56 - 14:00 what David's saying.
14:00 - 14:00 Fretting
14:00 - 14:02 turns us
14:02 - 14:04 away from God.
14:04 - 14:06 Faith turns us
14:06 - 14:08 Godward.
14:08 - 14:11 Turns us Godward.
14:11 - 14:12 So we're talking about
14:12 - 14:13 faithlessness.
14:13 - 14:14 We're talking about
14:14 - 14:15 a disbelieving
14:15 - 14:17 of the sovereignty of God.
14:17 - 14:19 That's what David's getting at.
14:19 - 14:20 That's what David's
14:20 - 14:22 really getting at here.
14:22 - 14:23 Fretting
14:23 - 14:24 and giving into that
14:24 - 14:25 as a natural impulse
14:25 - 14:27 for how I deal with
14:27 - 14:28 wrongs I see
14:28 - 14:29 and wrongs done to me
14:29 - 14:30 is a disbelieving
14:30 - 14:32 of the sovereignty of God.
14:32 - 14:33 And so I want to
14:33 - 14:35 encourage us here
14:35 - 14:37 to
14:37 - 14:40 maybe
14:40 - 14:41 exchange
14:41 - 14:43 a very weak
14:43 - 14:45 shallow sort of
14:45 - 14:48 understanding of
14:48 - 14:49 general sovereignty
14:49 - 14:52 that we have
14:52 - 14:53 for
14:53 - 14:54 meticulous
14:54 - 14:56 sovereignty.
14:56 - 14:58 I think a lot of us
14:58 - 14:58 think about
14:58 - 15:00 sovereignty as God's like
15:00 - 15:02 in control of it all.
15:02 - 15:03 You know,
15:03 - 15:04 He's going to get
15:04 - 15:05 the right ends
15:05 - 15:06 that He wants.
15:06 - 15:07 But it's kind of
15:08 - 15:08 a wind-up doll
15:08 - 15:10 and people
15:10 - 15:11 and their choices
15:11 - 15:13 are making things,
15:13 - 15:14 you know,
15:14 - 15:16 they're shaping the world
15:16 - 15:17 as it is.
15:17 - 15:18 That God's this
15:18 - 15:19 big character up here.
15:19 - 15:21 And He can
15:21 - 15:22 make it
15:22 - 15:23 come out the way
15:23 - 15:26 that He wants.
15:26 - 15:27 And I think that's
15:27 - 15:29 biblically inaccurate.
15:29 - 15:30 I think it's
15:30 - 15:32 biblically inaccurate.
15:32 - 15:34 I think what we see
15:34 - 15:34 when we look at the Scriptures
15:34 - 15:36 is that God is working
15:36 - 15:37 in the fine details
15:37 - 15:39 of life
15:39 - 15:41 both to glorify Himself
15:41 - 15:44 and do good
15:44 - 15:46 for His
15:46 - 15:48 people.
15:48 - 15:49 And of course,
15:49 - 15:50 I brought verses
15:50 - 15:54 to back that up.
15:54 - 15:56 Proverbs 21,
15:56 - 15:57 verse 1,
15:57 - 15:58 says,
15:58 - 16:00 the king's heart
16:00 - 16:02 is a stream of water
16:02 - 16:03 in the hand of the Lord.
16:03 - 16:04 He turns it
16:04 - 16:08 wherever He will.
16:08 - 16:09 In Esther chapter 4,
16:09 - 16:13 verse 14,
16:13 - 16:13 you know,
16:13 - 16:15 Esther's nervous about
16:15 - 16:16 telling the king
16:16 - 16:21 about what Mordecai's doing.
16:21 - 16:22 And what Haman's doing,
16:22 - 16:23 excuse me,
16:23 - 16:23 Mordecai says,
16:23 - 16:25 who knows
16:25 - 16:26 whether you have
16:26 - 16:28 not come to the kingdom
16:28 - 16:30 for such a time as this.
16:30 - 16:31 And it's a very popular
16:31 - 16:33 phrase from Esther.
16:33 - 16:34 He's basically
16:34 - 16:37 saying to Esther,
16:37 - 16:38 this has happened
16:38 - 16:39 the way it's happened
16:39 - 16:40 so you can talk to the king
16:40 - 16:41 so you can save
16:41 - 16:44 Israel.
16:44 - 16:47 Exodus 7,
16:47 - 16:49 verse 3,
16:49 - 16:50 the Lord says,
16:50 - 16:52 I will harden Pharaoh's heart.
16:52 - 16:53 And of course,
16:53 - 16:55 Paul echoes that
16:55 - 16:58 in Romans.
16:58 - 16:59 Proverbs 16, 9,
16:59 - 17:00 the heart of a man
17:00 - 17:01 plans his way,
17:02 - 17:03 but the Lord
17:03 - 17:06 establishes his steps.
17:06 - 17:08 Proverbs 16, 33,
17:08 - 17:09 the lot is cast
17:09 - 17:11 into the lap,
17:11 - 17:13 but it's every decision
17:13 - 17:16 is from the Lord.
17:16 - 17:18 Matthew 10,
17:18 - 17:19 29,
17:19 - 17:21 are not two sparrows
17:21 - 17:21 sold for a penny
17:21 - 17:22 and not one of them
17:22 - 17:23 will fall to the ground
17:23 - 17:25 apart from your father?
17:25 - 17:26 Even the hairs
17:26 - 17:31 of your head are numbered?
17:31 - 17:33 Ephesians 1,
17:33 - 17:34 in him we have obtained
17:34 - 17:35 an inheritance
17:35 - 17:36 having been predestined
17:36 - 17:37 according to the purpose
17:37 - 17:39 of him who works
17:39 - 17:40 all things according
17:41 - 17:43 to the
17:43 - 17:44 counsel
17:44 - 17:46 of his
17:46 - 18:03 will.
18:03 - 18:05 I've come with
18:05 - 18:08 verses for that.
18:08 - 18:10 Daniel chapter 2,
18:10 - 18:11 verse 21,
18:11 - 18:12 he changes times
18:12 - 18:14 and seasons. He removes
18:14 - 18:17 kings and sets up kings.
18:17 - 18:18 He gives wisdom to the wise
18:18 - 18:20 and knowledge to those
18:20 - 18:22 who have understanding.
18:22 - 18:25 Acts chapter 4, verse 27 and 28.
18:25 - 18:26 For truly in this city
18:26 - 18:27 they were gathered together
18:27 - 18:29 against your holy servant Jesus
18:29 - 18:30 whom you anointed
18:30 - 18:33 both Herod and Pontius Pilate
18:33 - 18:34 along with the Gentiles
18:34 - 18:35 and the peoples of Israel
18:35 - 18:38 to do whatever your hand
18:38 - 18:39 and your plan
18:39 - 18:41 had predestined
18:41 - 18:47 to take place.
18:47 - 18:49 Friends, it is not open season
18:49 - 18:50 for fretting
18:50 - 18:52 in an election cycle
18:52 - 18:55 even if it's an awfully
18:55 - 18:57 odd, seemingly upside down
18:57 - 19:00 and corrupt one.
19:00 - 19:01 It's not open season
19:01 - 19:02 for fretting
19:02 - 19:07 ever.
19:07 - 19:10 I think meticulous sovereignty
19:10 - 19:11 gives us
19:11 - 19:12 peace
19:12 - 19:13 and it gives us peace.
19:13 - 19:15 It gives us joy.
19:15 - 19:21 Because whatever sour thing has happened because of the evil man,
19:21 - 19:24 it's according to God's sovereign decree.
19:24 - 19:33 But that sovereign decree always will work goodness and salvation
19:33 - 19:40 for the lives of His people.
19:40 - 19:44 What greater evil then can we imagine,
19:44 - 19:50 and what greater good came from it than the cross of Christ?
19:50 - 19:58 Who could imagine a greater evil than the Maker of the stars,
19:58 - 20:02 the Holy One of Israel,
20:02 - 20:06 the Beloved of Heaven,
20:06 - 20:12 nailed to a tree?
20:12 - 20:20 If anyone ever had justifiable anger and vengeance,
20:20 - 20:25 if anyone ever really had a good reason to fret,
20:25 - 20:27 would it not have been the Lord Jesus,
20:27 - 20:31 who is so wronged as He was?
20:31 - 20:37 Yet Jesus anti-fretted.
20:37 - 20:39 He had faith.
20:39 - 20:41 He believed.
20:41 - 20:44 He believed.
20:44 - 20:49 Peter says in 1 Peter 2, verse 23,
20:49 - 20:52 when He was reviled, He did not revile in return.
20:52 - 20:55 When He suffered, He did not threaten,
20:55 - 21:06 but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly.
21:06 - 21:08 So, if all evil has been undone
21:09 - 21:13 and destroyed in Christ Jesus,
21:13 - 21:20 you and I only need to cling to Christ Jesus,
21:20 - 21:24 find ourselves in Christ Jesus,
21:24 - 21:28 because in Him, all evil's done to us
21:28 - 21:31 will be justly judged in their time,
21:31 - 21:38 and we will be vindicated and saved.
21:38 - 21:40 It's not just about,
21:40 - 21:43 well, I can overlook that because, you know,
21:43 - 21:46 God, you know, He's going to get me through this,
21:46 - 21:49 or He's going to give me the strength to move through this,
21:49 - 21:52 and that's so bad, but He's going to just,
21:52 - 21:55 He's going to be my rock so I can get through this thing.
21:55 - 21:57 Well, God does want you to get through it,
21:57 - 21:59 but more than that, He wants you to have like
21:59 - 22:02 a really just panoramic view
22:02 - 22:05 of how it's happening
22:05 - 22:06 the way He wants it to happen.
22:06 - 22:06 He wants it to happen
22:06 - 22:10 so you can have a greater vision of Christ,
22:10 - 22:13 and you can have a greater vision of the cross.
22:13 - 22:17 And it's not like evil, big evil with the devil,
22:17 - 22:18 and that's what the cross addresses,
22:18 - 22:21 and then there's like all the sufferings of your life.
22:21 - 22:21 No, no, no.
22:21 - 22:25 The cross of Christ is where all evil,
22:25 - 22:26 big and small,
22:26 - 22:28 all things done against God's people
22:28 - 22:30 runs its course,
22:30 - 22:31 and it is resurrection,
22:31 - 22:33 and we're in Christ,
22:33 - 22:35 and we will find ourselves
22:35 - 22:35 in Christ.
22:35 - 22:37 As the psalmist said,
22:37 - 22:41 looking on when the wicked is destroyed.
22:41 - 22:43 You will look to find Him
22:43 - 22:46 and you won't be able to.
22:46 - 22:48 Friends, let this text
22:48 - 22:50 just make you wonder
22:50 - 22:52 and worship
22:52 - 22:53 all of it,
22:53 - 22:55 all the negative, all the bad,
22:55 - 22:57 all the harm,
22:57 - 22:58 everything that it seems like
22:59 - 23:00 the worst people in the world
23:00 - 23:03 are getting away with everything.
23:03 - 23:07 No, they're not.
23:07 - 23:09 Because the Lord has His eye on the wicked,
23:09 - 23:16 and He has His eye on the righteous.
23:16 - 23:19 A.W. Pink has said,
23:19 - 23:20 Divine sovereignty
23:20 - 23:22 is not the sovereignty
23:22 - 23:25 of a tyrannical despot,
23:25 - 23:27 but the exercise pleasure
23:27 - 23:28 of one
23:28 - 23:32 who is infinitely wise
23:32 - 23:36 and infinitely good.
23:36 - 23:40 Infinitely good.
23:40 - 23:40 So,
23:40 - 23:42 take comfort
23:42 - 23:44 in a God who is
23:44 - 23:49 not big picture sovereign,
23:49 - 23:49 but
23:49 - 23:53 moment by moment,
23:53 - 23:56 situation by situation,
23:56 - 23:58 sovereign.
23:58 - 23:59 And He's good
23:59 - 24:02 to us, His people.
24:02 - 24:03 He's good to you.
24:03 - 24:05 You know what the first thing
24:05 - 24:06 you're going to forget
24:06 - 24:07 when the evil man
24:07 - 24:10 comes against you?
24:10 - 24:11 The first thing
24:11 - 24:12 that you're tempted to forget
24:12 - 24:14 in your flesh.
24:14 - 24:15 I don't know.
24:15 - 24:17 Is God good to me?
24:17 - 24:18 That's what you're going to want
24:18 - 24:19 to ask yourself.
24:19 - 24:22 Is God really good
24:22 - 24:25 to me?
24:25 - 24:26 Doesn't God care
24:26 - 24:30 about?
24:30 - 24:32 But also, this text encourages us
24:32 - 24:34 to pray at all times.
24:34 - 24:36 To pray at all times.
24:36 - 24:38 Because prayer is
24:38 - 24:39 prayer is
24:39 - 24:42 an act of faith.
24:43 - 24:43 Prayer is
24:43 - 24:45 an exercise
24:45 - 24:48 in anti-freighting.
24:48 - 24:49 Prayer is
24:49 - 24:51 what your flesh doesn't want
24:51 - 24:54 to do when you
24:54 - 24:55 see the evil man thriving.
24:55 - 24:58 You want to do something about it.
24:58 - 24:59 Yet Paul says, pray
24:59 - 25:01 at all times.
25:01 - 25:03 In every season,
25:03 - 25:04 we're to be praying.
25:04 - 25:07 And crying out to the Lord.
25:07 - 25:08 Not because
25:08 - 25:09 God isn't going to
25:09 - 25:11 take care of us and save us
25:11 - 25:13 unless we ask for it in just like
25:13 - 25:15 the right way.
25:15 - 25:18 But because in my praying for God's will
25:18 - 25:19 and in my praying for who I know
25:19 - 25:21 God to be, my faith
25:21 - 25:23 is strengthened in who
25:23 - 25:26 God is.
25:26 - 25:27 So you and I cannot,
25:27 - 25:30 we cannot under-emphasize
25:30 - 25:32 the importance,
25:32 - 25:34 the power,
25:34 - 25:35 the necessity
25:35 - 25:37 of prayer in our
25:37 - 25:40 daily lives. You can't do it.
25:40 - 25:44 You can't do it.
25:44 - 25:45 And then I think
25:45 - 25:47 that this does encourage us
25:47 - 25:49 so much to look forward
25:49 - 25:51 to the world to come.
25:51 - 25:53 To look forward to the end.
25:53 - 25:55 And we'll come back into Revelation
25:55 - 25:57 in a few weeks and finish out the last
25:57 - 25:59 few chapters.
25:59 - 26:01 But we've seen plenty of times in Revelation
26:01 - 26:04 where God's people
26:04 - 26:05 are on the other side, those martyred saints.
26:05 - 26:07 They're crying out for
26:07 - 26:09 vengeance.
26:09 - 26:12 They're crying out for vengeance.
26:12 - 26:12 They want God
26:12 - 26:15 to destroy the wicked.
26:15 - 26:17 They're expecting God
26:17 - 26:19 to destroy
26:19 - 26:22 the wicked.
26:22 - 26:23 So friends, that is a day
26:23 - 26:27 that will come.
26:27 - 26:30 And just as a footnote,
26:30 - 26:31 this doesn't mean that there aren't
26:31 - 26:32 times in life to seek
26:32 - 26:34 justice.
26:34 - 26:35 Or to seek
26:35 - 26:38 some kind of legal
26:38 - 26:40 recourse when something can be
26:40 - 26:42 done. If you've been wronged in one
26:42 - 26:44 way or the other, it doesn't mean that
26:44 - 26:45 Christians are supposed to
26:45 - 26:47 be just floor mats
26:47 - 26:50 for everyone. That's not what David's
26:50 - 26:52 saying.
26:52 - 26:54 But we know the difference, don't
26:54 - 26:56 we, when we're in our flesh
26:56 - 26:57 boiling.
26:57 - 26:59 I think boiling maybe would be a good
26:59 - 27:01 modern word for this fretting.
27:01 - 27:03 And we're seeking God's face
27:03 - 27:04 and we're trusting.
27:04 - 27:07 And we're trusting him.
27:07 - 27:08 Surrounded by
27:08 - 27:11 evil, don't fret.
27:11 - 27:12 But secondly,
27:12 - 27:14 David says, don't envy.
27:14 - 27:18 Don't envy.
27:18 - 27:20 He says there in the second half
27:20 - 27:21 of verse 1, be not envious
27:21 - 27:23 of wrongdoers.
27:24 - 27:26 So this is the second danger
27:26 - 27:27 here when surrounded
27:27 - 27:35 by evil, when seeing evil.
27:35 - 27:37 Some folks seem to have,
27:38 - 27:39 don't they, the easiest
27:39 - 27:42 life possible.
27:42 - 27:44 Some people
27:44 - 27:45 seem to have
27:45 - 27:48 just an easy way all the way through.
27:48 - 27:50 Seems like every endeavor
27:50 - 27:51 works out. They've got plenty
27:52 - 27:53 of money.
27:53 - 27:56 They don't have hardships.
27:56 - 27:58 And what's
27:58 - 27:59 maybe aggravating is when you see that
27:59 - 28:01 in someone that you know
28:01 - 28:03 is an underhanded individual.
28:03 - 28:04 Someone that
28:04 - 28:07 is wicked.
28:07 - 28:09 Again, you could
28:09 - 28:11 probably come up with names about
28:11 - 28:13 actors or music
28:13 - 28:15 artists or a variety of famous
28:15 - 28:19 people, politicians.
28:19 - 28:21 And then, you
28:21 - 28:23 know people in your life, right?
28:23 - 28:24 Past and present, who
28:24 - 28:29 seems like they've had a really nice life.
28:29 - 28:32 They don't have a real commitment to God, but
28:32 - 28:32 you know,
28:32 - 28:35 they seem successful and happy
28:35 - 28:36 and they seem like they've got
28:36 - 28:38 money and they've got a
28:38 - 28:40 good position in life
28:40 - 28:43 and, you know, it vexes you.
28:43 - 28:44 Right? You're looking through your little
28:44 - 28:46 Facebook telescope at them and you're
28:46 - 28:48 going,
28:48 - 28:52 them.
28:52 - 28:52 They're so
28:52 - 28:54 evil. You're vexed
28:54 - 28:56 by people who you think are the worst
28:56 - 29:00 and they're doing well.
29:00 - 29:02 And then we wonder things
29:02 - 29:04 like,
29:04 - 29:05 I've been faithful
29:05 - 29:08 to the Lord. I mean, I'm not saying I'm perfect.
29:08 - 29:09 I've been faithful
29:09 - 29:11 to the Lord. I've tried to do
29:11 - 29:13 right things in my life. I've tried to be committed
29:13 - 29:14 to the church.
29:14 - 29:18 Why hasn't the Lord given me more of a comfortable situation?
29:18 - 29:19 Well, how
29:19 - 29:21 come I've had the hardships I've had
29:21 - 29:24 that other people haven't had to put up with?
29:24 - 29:25 Why is my
29:25 - 29:27 financial situation what I didn't want it to be
29:27 - 29:29 at this point in life? How come my health
29:29 - 29:31 is always rough?
29:31 - 29:32 How come my health is always rough?
29:32 - 29:34 How come I've not had the success I've wanted to have
29:34 - 29:36 in my career
29:36 - 29:40 or my ministry?
29:40 - 29:42 And friends,
29:42 - 29:46 the answer's in the question.
29:46 - 29:50 The answer's in the question.
29:50 - 29:54 It's because you've tried to be faithful to the Lord.
29:54 - 29:56 And where is it written
29:56 - 29:59 that if we're serving the Lord,
29:59 - 30:00 life is going to be a cakewalk?
30:00 - 30:02 Who said that?
30:02 - 30:05 Who said that?
30:05 - 30:09 Being faithful to the Lord
30:09 - 30:10 is about
30:10 - 30:12 the Lord's
30:12 - 30:15 will for us in Christ Jesus.
30:15 - 30:16 And that's not a carefree
30:16 - 30:18 happy life.
30:18 - 30:20 I heard someone say recently,
30:20 - 30:21 and I thought it was good,
30:21 - 30:23 you can either have
30:23 - 30:26 character or an easy
30:26 - 30:28 life, but whichever one you
30:28 - 30:32 choose will destroy the other one.
30:32 - 30:34 And it's supremely true for us
30:34 - 30:36 as Christians.
30:36 - 30:38 The Lord told Ananias,
30:38 - 30:39 go,
30:39 - 30:43 go to where Paul is.
30:44 - 30:45 I'm going to tell him how much
30:45 - 30:46 he's got to suffer for me
30:46 - 30:48 is what's said there.
30:48 - 30:50 Timothy says, all who desire to live
30:50 - 30:52 a righteous life in Christ Jesus
30:52 - 30:55 will be persecuted.
30:55 - 30:56 Did Jesus,
30:56 - 30:57 did Jesus,
30:57 - 30:59 did he have some luxurious
30:59 - 31:00 easy life?
31:00 - 31:03 He could have, couldn't he?
31:03 - 31:04 I mean, he had a lot of popularity
31:04 - 31:07 his whole ministry. He could have pulled in
31:07 - 31:09 a lot of money.
31:09 - 31:10 He could have one of those shows, you know,
31:10 - 31:13 call in now, you know,
31:13 - 31:15 your tithe is what
31:15 - 31:17 you owe, but your seed is what you
31:17 - 31:19 sow. And boy would he
31:19 - 31:24 have got a lot of money off that line.
31:24 - 31:25 But Jesus,
31:25 - 31:27 Jesus was pushed down
31:27 - 31:30 to death.
31:30 - 31:30 Jesus,
31:30 - 31:35 Jesus was pushed down to death.
31:35 - 31:37 So I think we can say that the absence of
31:37 - 31:40 worldly success and worldly
31:40 - 31:41 favor isn't a
31:41 - 31:45 proof we lack God's blessings.
31:45 - 31:46 I think it's proof
31:46 - 31:49 we have it.
31:50 - 31:51 God gives Christians success
31:51 - 31:54 sometimes, but why does God give Christians
31:54 - 31:56 worldly success?
31:56 - 31:57 It's a really important question to
31:58 - 32:00 think about for us.
32:00 - 32:02 And the answer is
32:02 - 32:05 for him. To serve him.
32:05 - 32:06 To use financial generosity
32:06 - 32:09 for him. To use positions
32:09 - 32:11 of influence for him.
32:11 - 32:13 For him.
32:13 - 32:15 So an increase in your
32:15 - 32:16 lot is not bad. It's not
32:16 - 32:19 off the table, but it's not promised.
32:19 - 32:21 It's not promised.
32:21 - 32:23 And it shouldn't be any of our
32:23 - 32:30 highest aim either.
32:30 - 32:31 Charles Burgin has said
32:31 - 32:34 nature is very apt to kindle
32:34 - 32:37 a fire of jealousy
32:37 - 32:38 when it sees lawbreakers
32:38 - 32:39 riding on horses
32:39 - 32:42 and obedient subjects
32:42 - 32:44 walking in the mire.
32:44 - 32:46 It is a lesson learned only in the
32:46 - 32:48 school of grace when one
32:48 - 32:51 comes to view the most paradoxical
32:51 - 32:52 providences
32:52 - 32:54 with devout complacency
32:54 - 32:56 of one who is sure that the Lord
32:56 - 32:59 is righteous in all his acts.
32:59 - 33:00 It seems
33:00 - 33:02 hard to carnal judgments
33:02 - 33:04 that the best meat should go
33:04 - 33:06 to the dogs while loving
33:06 - 33:08 children pine
33:08 - 33:11 for the want of it.
33:11 - 33:14 Children,
33:14 - 33:16 all those treasures stored up in this
33:16 - 33:19 life, everything that you could want,
33:19 - 33:20 those are
33:20 - 33:23 a judgment in themselves
33:23 - 33:25 for those who
33:25 - 33:28 aren't in Christ.
33:28 - 33:31 What remains in the end?
33:31 - 33:35 What remains in the end?
33:35 - 33:37 Peter
33:37 - 33:38 has a scripture
33:38 - 33:41 just like this one.
33:41 - 33:42 That the flower
33:42 - 33:44 fades, the grass withers,
33:44 - 33:46 but he says the word of the Lord,
33:46 - 33:48 the word of the Lord,
33:48 - 33:49 that will
33:49 - 33:52 stand forever.
33:52 - 33:53 That's
33:53 - 33:55 the valuable
33:55 - 33:57 treasure for us.
33:57 - 33:58 Everything,
33:58 - 34:01 everything else is burned up in the end.
34:01 - 34:03 So
34:03 - 34:04 get your eye
34:04 - 34:07 off the next shiny object
34:07 - 34:10 you've got to have.
34:10 - 34:11 Get your eyes
34:11 - 34:13 off of everybody else's stuff
34:13 - 34:17 and everybody else's successes.
34:17 - 34:17 Quit
34:17 - 34:20 looking at the things you want.
34:20 - 34:21 Stop
34:21 - 34:23 mourning the things you didn't get
34:23 - 34:25 and mourning the life
34:25 - 34:29 you wanted to have and it never happened.
34:29 - 34:30 That
34:30 - 34:32 is a massive,
34:32 - 34:34 massive waste of time
34:34 - 34:35 to look in the rear view mirror
34:36 - 34:37 and say, how come?
34:37 - 34:39 Why not?
34:39 - 34:41 It's what I wanted. It's what I fought for.
34:41 - 34:43 It was a good thing.
34:43 - 34:47 It was a good thing and I didn't get it.
34:47 - 34:48 It wasn't
34:48 - 34:51 fair.
34:51 - 34:52 Oh,
34:52 - 34:54 friends, if we could just follow in the footsteps
34:54 - 34:55 of Jesus,
34:55 - 34:58 though that be despised,
34:58 - 35:00 despised by the world,
35:00 - 35:02 that we wouldn't hold very much
35:02 - 35:05 in our hands in this life.
35:05 - 35:06 Though the wicked man is
35:06 - 35:08 touted with praise
35:08 - 35:10 and a long, healthy, wealthy
35:10 - 35:14 life here in this world,
35:14 - 35:17 but that narrow, unattractive path,
35:17 - 35:18 as it
35:18 - 35:21 puts blisters on our feet now,
35:21 - 35:22 soon you'll look down
35:22 - 35:25 and you'll see streets of gold.
35:25 - 35:26 And soon you'll have in your
35:26 - 35:29 hand an everlasting treasure,
35:29 - 35:30 and that's the treasure
35:30 - 35:32 of Christ.
35:32 - 35:38 It's the treasure of Christ.
35:38 - 35:40 The Hebrew writer says,
35:40 - 35:42 keep your life free
35:42 - 35:45 from the love of money.
35:45 - 35:46 Be content
35:46 - 35:48 with what you have.
35:48 - 35:50 That's a hard word, huh?
35:50 - 35:53 Just be content with what you have.
35:53 - 35:55 For he has said,
35:55 - 35:56 I will never leave you
35:56 - 35:59 nor forsake you.
35:59 - 36:01 It seems like
36:01 - 36:03 the only thing that we should
36:03 - 36:05 desire to have, we already have.
36:06 - 36:07 And that's the presence
36:07 - 36:09 of Jesus with us
36:09 - 36:10 at all times.
36:10 - 36:12 That's the goodness of God
36:12 - 36:17 working now.
36:17 - 36:18 And that's not something
36:18 - 36:21 that I think anyone is exempt from.
36:21 - 36:22 No one's exempt from that.
36:22 - 36:25 That's not a you problem.
36:25 - 36:26 But that's not a problem for,
36:26 - 36:28 you know, people in
36:28 - 36:31 ministry, or people who are pastors.
36:31 - 36:32 That's
36:32 - 36:35 a universal problem
36:35 - 36:37 for Christians.
36:37 - 36:38 And I
36:38 - 36:40 do that. And I think this is something
36:40 - 36:42 the Lord's taken a long time
36:42 - 36:47 to convict me of.
36:47 - 36:48 How come
36:48 - 36:50 I can find a lot of people
36:50 - 36:52 on the internet, and
36:52 - 36:54 they seem like maybe they're taking shortcuts,
36:54 - 36:56 and I don't believe
36:56 - 36:58 the things they believe, because I don't think it lines up.
36:58 - 37:00 The Bible and the methodology of what they're doing
37:00 - 37:02 doesn't seem square.
37:02 - 37:04 But, gosh, do they have money coming out of their ears,
37:04 - 37:06 and they have people
37:06 - 37:08 everywhere, and it just seems like
37:08 - 37:10 it's just a big
37:10 - 37:12 cakewalk for them.
37:12 - 37:13 And it's like, Lord,
37:13 - 37:16 why is it so hard for me?
37:16 - 37:18 Why is it so hard for us?
37:18 - 37:19 How come this is the way?
37:20 - 37:22 How come that guy speaks at conferences?
37:22 - 37:24 How come they have, like, 19
37:24 - 37:26 book deals?
37:26 - 37:27 That doesn't seem fair.
37:27 - 37:28 It doesn't seem,
37:28 - 37:30 it doesn't seem right.
37:30 - 37:32 We all have our own way
37:32 - 37:37 of doing this, don't we?
37:37 - 37:37 So,
37:38 - 37:40 so hear me, church.
37:40 - 37:42 Envy
37:42 - 37:43 isn't just a bitter pill.
37:43 - 37:45 It's a fatal one.
37:46 - 37:47 And it will pervert you into
37:47 - 37:50 the thing you despise.
37:50 - 37:51 And a lot of times, you don't
37:51 - 37:58 see it until way after the fact.
37:58 - 37:59 Take your eyes off
37:59 - 38:02 other people.
38:02 - 38:03 Forget about what you
38:03 - 38:08 think you're owed.
38:08 - 38:09 Count it a privilege
38:09 - 38:11 to walk the path
38:11 - 38:16 that God has given you.
38:16 - 38:19 You believe in the sovereignty of God.
38:19 - 38:20 The path
38:20 - 38:21 you're walking is
38:21 - 38:24 the one you're supposed to be on.
38:24 - 38:29 That's profound.
38:29 - 38:32 The life that you have lived up to this point
38:32 - 38:33 and the life you will live
38:33 - 38:35 is exactly the pathway
38:35 - 38:38 that God wanted for you
38:38 - 38:40 and it's what He's doing
38:40 - 38:42 to draw you into
38:42 - 38:43 His Son, Jesus.
38:43 - 38:47 And that makes it a very blessed pathway, doesn't it?
38:47 - 38:50 That makes it worth living, doesn't it?
38:50 - 38:52 That's no cause for fretting
38:52 - 38:53 and envy, right?
38:53 - 38:54 Isn't it enough
38:54 - 38:57 to say, I'm on whatever this
38:57 - 39:00 broken, difficult pathway is?
39:00 - 39:02 But God says He's with me.
39:02 - 39:04 And God says
39:04 - 39:05 He'll never leave me forsaken.
39:05 - 39:08 God says He'll supply all of my needs in Christ Jesus.
39:08 - 39:09 Doesn't that make it a
39:09 - 39:11 blessed life for you to live?
39:11 - 39:13 However small or invisible
39:13 - 39:15 or difficult
39:15 - 39:21 it seems to the world?
39:21 - 39:22 But last,
39:22 - 39:27 the psalmist says this,
39:27 - 39:27 in verse
39:27 - 39:28 three he says,
39:28 - 39:29 trust in the Lord
39:29 - 39:31 and do good.
39:31 - 39:33 Dwell in the land
39:33 - 39:35 and befriend faithfulness.
39:35 - 39:37 Delight yourself in the Lord
39:37 - 39:38 and He will give you
39:38 - 39:41 the desires
39:41 - 39:45 of your heart.
39:45 - 39:48 Surrounded by evil people,
39:48 - 39:50 just seek the Lord and serve Him.
39:50 - 39:52 That's essentially what David's saying.
39:52 - 39:54 Rich or poor,
39:54 - 39:56 good health, bad health,
39:56 - 39:57 thriving ministry,
39:57 - 39:58 modest ministry,
39:58 - 40:01 chains, free, cheated,
40:01 - 40:03 used up,
40:03 - 40:04 whatever it is,
40:04 - 40:06 you and I have the exact same
40:06 - 40:10 common calling in this life.
40:10 - 40:11 And it's achievable
40:11 - 40:12 at the same time.
40:12 - 40:16 Each of us have been called to seek the Lord
40:16 - 40:18 and to serve the Lord.
40:18 - 40:20 That's it.
40:20 - 40:21 People always say,
40:21 - 40:23 what's God's will for my life?
40:23 - 40:24 I want to know God's will for my life.
40:24 - 40:28 Am I living out God's will for my life?
40:28 - 40:29 Well, God's will for your life
40:29 - 40:32 is to seek and know Him
40:32 - 40:33 and to give your life to Him
40:33 - 40:34 and to serve Him.
40:34 - 40:36 That's God's will for your life.
40:36 - 40:39 However thrown down you feel,
40:39 - 40:42 however elevated the evil man is,
40:42 - 40:44 it doesn't change that.
40:44 - 40:46 It doesn't change your life
40:46 - 40:47 as it regards
40:47 - 40:50 being in Christ.
40:50 - 40:53 A man who is poor and passed over,
40:53 - 40:56 who doesn't have any apparent greatness,
40:56 - 40:57 can't he bask in the love
40:57 - 40:59 and light of Jesus as much as anyone else
40:59 - 41:05 in Christ?
41:05 - 41:07 Can he love God less
41:07 - 41:09 because the Lord and His sovereignty
41:09 - 41:11 has drawn out a really difficult path
41:11 - 41:13 for him to walk?
41:13 - 41:15 No.
41:15 - 41:17 Can a man,
41:17 - 41:20 however wicked men thrive,
41:20 - 41:21 can he be held back
41:21 - 41:24 from faithful obedience to God?
41:24 - 41:28 No.
41:28 - 41:30 The discouraged,
41:30 - 41:32 cast-down soul
41:32 - 41:33 has lost sight
41:33 - 41:38 of it.
41:38 - 41:39 Friends,
41:39 - 41:40 the wicked man,
41:40 - 41:42 your situation,
41:42 - 41:43 it cannot deprive you
41:43 - 41:45 of the pleasures of knowing God
41:45 - 41:48 and serving God.
41:48 - 41:49 Serving God
41:49 - 41:51 and knowing God.
41:51 - 41:53 It's a smokescreen.
41:53 - 41:54 It's a smokescreen.
41:55 - 41:56 Everything that's happening around you,
41:56 - 41:58 that pulls you away
41:58 - 41:59 from faithfulness to Christ,
41:59 - 42:01 it's a smokescreen.
42:01 - 42:03 And you start licking your own wounds
42:03 - 42:05 and you start justifying
42:05 - 42:07 why you don't have to be as faithful
42:07 - 42:09 as you once were in some season
42:09 - 42:11 way back when.
42:11 - 42:12 And you start seeing
42:12 - 42:13 how things are going
42:13 - 42:15 and you're pouting at God.
42:15 - 42:16 You're wasting time
42:16 - 42:19 and you're wasting your life.
42:19 - 42:23 It doesn't change anything.
42:23 - 42:26 Believe on the Lord Jesus.
42:26 - 42:28 Glory in the Lord Jesus.
42:28 - 42:29 Love the Lord Jesus
42:29 - 42:34 and be faithful to Him.
42:34 - 42:37 The Spirit of God's not departed from you.
42:37 - 42:41 The Word of God's still in your heart.
42:41 - 42:42 And that's all that matters
42:42 - 42:44 in the final analysis of things.
42:44 - 42:45 You know?
42:46 - 42:47 That's all that matters
42:47 - 42:48 in the final analysis of things.
42:48 - 42:49 Chad, were you able to grow your church
42:49 - 42:50 to 5,000 people
42:50 - 42:51 before I let you in heaven?
42:51 - 42:57 No.
42:57 - 43:02 Did you do this, that, and this?
43:02 - 43:08 Were you able to look like that person?
43:08 - 43:11 Friends, in the end,
43:11 - 43:14 what is it to be rightly judged by the Lord
43:14 - 43:18 but if we sought His face
43:18 - 43:21 and we gave our lives unto Him?
43:21 - 43:25 And that's it.
43:25 - 43:29 So see, verse 4 goes logically
43:29 - 43:31 right after verse 3
43:31 - 43:33 in what he says.
43:33 - 43:35 Delight yourself in the Lord
43:35 - 43:39 and He'll give you the desires of your heart.
43:39 - 43:40 Delight.
43:40 - 43:42 Have extreme pleasure
43:42 - 43:44 in who God is
43:44 - 43:48 and that God saved you a sinner.
43:48 - 43:51 Do you have extreme pleasure
43:51 - 43:53 in that thing?
43:53 - 43:54 No.
43:54 - 43:55 Not enough.
43:55 - 43:57 And when you are bitter
43:57 - 43:58 and fearing the evil man,
43:58 - 44:02 you definitely don't enjoy Jesus
44:02 - 44:03 the way you did.
44:03 - 44:05 Because if we're in that frame of mind
44:05 - 44:06 when God and Christ
44:06 - 44:08 and what He did
44:08 - 44:10 according to His eternal decree
44:10 - 44:11 to save us in Christ Jesus
44:11 - 44:13 and He's using us for His own will
44:13 - 44:15 to draw us into Christ
44:15 - 44:17 and we're serving for His purposes
44:17 - 44:18 and we can't see it
44:18 - 44:19 and it doesn't make sense
44:19 - 44:20 that God's doing a good thing
44:20 - 44:22 and God's sovereign over every moment.
44:22 - 44:23 If you are enraptured
44:23 - 44:24 in that thought
44:24 - 44:28 the way that God intends for you to be,
44:28 - 44:29 the evil man will be like
44:29 - 44:33 a little green army soldier
44:33 - 44:36 that kids play with to you.
44:36 - 44:37 It'll be as nothing for you
44:37 - 44:38 to think about
44:38 - 44:41 all your past hurts.
44:41 - 44:45 All the things you wish you had.
44:45 - 44:48 Delight yourself in Jesus.
44:48 - 44:51 Are you delighting in Jesus?
44:51 - 44:52 Do you believe the Gospel?
44:52 - 44:53 Yeah, I believe.
44:53 - 44:56 I believe Jesus died for my sins
44:56 - 44:58 and He saved this man.
44:58 - 44:59 Yeah, I'm a Christian.
44:59 - 45:00 You know how many times I heard that
45:00 - 45:01 at the pregnancy center?
45:01 - 45:04 I was like, alright, let's undo this mess.
45:04 - 45:06 Yeah, yeah, Jesus died for my sins.
45:06 - 45:08 Yeah, yeah.
45:08 - 45:10 My grandmother, she was
45:10 - 45:12 she's a preacher at a church way out
45:12 - 45:15 and here.
45:15 - 45:16 Or, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
45:17 - 45:18 I was taken to church growing up.
45:18 - 45:19 Yeah, that's right.
45:19 - 45:21 I'm a Christian.
45:21 - 45:22 And it's like,
45:22 - 45:23 that's not the thing
45:23 - 45:26 like the thing is
45:26 - 45:28 I'm just believing
45:28 - 45:29 like believing
45:29 - 45:32 it's delighting.
45:32 - 45:33 It's a capacity
45:33 - 45:37 to have inexpressible joy
45:37 - 45:38 in who God is
45:39 - 45:40 and what God's done for you
45:40 - 45:43 and what God's going to be to you
45:43 - 45:45 for all the ages to come
45:45 - 45:46 and you're not going to be able to
45:46 - 45:48 plumb the depths
45:48 - 45:50 of how many delights
45:50 - 45:52 there are in Christ Jesus
45:52 - 45:53 and the things that are going to happen to you.
45:53 - 45:55 That's what we're living for
45:55 - 45:56 and you're stuck here
45:56 - 45:58 for these 70, 80 years
45:58 - 45:59 because something didn't turn out
45:59 - 46:04 the way you wanted.
46:04 - 46:05 Treasure him.
46:05 - 46:06 Push the rest out.
46:06 - 46:15 It's a waste of time.
46:15 - 46:17 And seek Christ.
46:17 - 46:19 Serve Christ.
46:19 - 46:21 No one can keep you
46:21 - 46:22 from opening your hands
46:22 - 46:23 and giving your best.
46:23 - 46:26 Give your best obedience to Jesus.
46:26 - 46:28 No enemy can take that from you.
46:28 - 46:31 Whatever evil done to you,
46:31 - 46:33 nothing can rob you
46:33 - 46:35 of serving Christ.
46:35 - 46:39 Are you giving your best self to Christ?
46:39 - 46:42 That's what the psalmist is asking us.
46:42 - 46:45 He's cutting through the smoke.
46:45 - 46:48 Give your best to Jesus
46:48 - 46:50 with your life.
46:50 - 46:51 Are you doing that?
46:51 - 46:56 Are you doing that?
46:56 - 46:58 I think we need to wake up
46:58 - 46:58 with a burden,
46:58 - 47:00 not a burden of guilt like,
47:00 - 47:02 oh, God's not going to be mad
47:02 - 47:03 if I don't give him enough today.
47:03 - 47:05 But if you've got that pleasure
47:05 - 47:06 and that delight
47:06 - 47:09 in the love of Christ for you,
47:09 - 47:10 I mean, that's what you,
47:10 - 47:12 that's what I want to do.
47:12 - 47:15 Where can I give my money away?
47:15 - 47:18 Who can I share Christ with?
47:18 - 47:20 What sin needs to be,
47:20 - 47:21 you know,
47:21 - 47:22 you know,
47:22 - 47:23 removed from my heart.
47:23 - 47:26 Like, it's different when you delight.
47:26 - 47:27 It's different when you delight.
47:27 - 47:30 It's real when you delight.
47:30 - 47:33 It's not a loophole.
47:33 - 47:34 Delight yourself in the Lord
47:34 - 47:35 and he gives you desires of your heart.
47:35 - 47:37 All right, I delight in Jesus.
47:37 - 47:39 Now I get what I want.
47:39 - 47:40 All the stuff I wanted,
47:40 - 47:41 all the stupid, sinful,
47:41 - 47:43 meaningless stuff I wanted.
47:43 - 47:45 That's not how it happens.
47:45 - 47:46 Because what you'll find is
47:46 - 47:48 when your desires
47:48 - 47:51 for the glory of God change,
47:51 - 47:53 what you're going to do is
47:53 - 47:54 what you want changes.
47:54 - 47:57 Like when you desire Christ as you ought
47:57 - 47:58 and you love him as you ought,
47:58 - 48:00 all of a sudden what you want life to be
48:00 - 48:01 is totally different.
48:01 - 48:04 It's totally different.
48:04 - 48:06 I think about Archie,
48:06 - 48:08 the missionary friend we have in Mexico.
48:08 - 48:10 And, you know,
48:10 - 48:13 he was a kind of a hardened,
48:13 - 48:15 selfish man his whole life
48:15 - 48:18 working for a landscape company,
48:18 - 48:19 doing that thing.
48:19 - 48:23 And God just got a hold of him.
48:23 - 48:26 That man's in southern Mexico
48:26 - 48:29 walking on dirt roads,
48:29 - 48:30 sharing Christ,
48:30 - 48:32 and giving medicine to sick people,
48:32 - 48:34 and starting businesses
48:34 - 48:37 so impoverished Mexicans can make a living.
48:37 - 48:39 And he's just preaching Christ
48:39 - 48:41 and his whole world's turned upside down.
48:41 - 48:43 Why?
48:43 - 48:44 Because he found God
48:44 - 48:46 in a delight,
48:46 - 48:48 in a spiritual world
48:48 - 48:51 that can't be given here.
48:51 - 48:53 And I wonder if that's
48:53 - 48:55 so much of our problem
48:55 - 48:56 individually
48:56 - 48:57 when we're just
48:57 - 49:00 trying to chug along
49:00 - 49:04 or a problem as the church in America today.
49:04 - 49:06 We just,
49:06 - 49:08 are we delighting in Jesus?
49:08 - 49:11 Is that a supreme joy?
49:11 - 49:12 You know,
49:12 - 49:13 is that it?
49:13 - 49:17 Like, that's it?
49:17 - 49:18 I don't know,
49:18 - 49:19 I've gone on long here,
49:19 - 49:20 but I think there's just
49:20 - 49:22 such treasure trove here
49:22 - 49:22 in the church.
49:22 - 49:23 And I think that's just such a treasure trove here.
49:23 - 49:28 And these few words from David,
49:28 - 49:31 I want to say to you, friends,
49:31 - 49:32 I don't know,
49:32 - 49:34 I don't know your expiration date
49:34 - 49:36 that God's put on your head.
49:36 - 49:39 We've all got one.
49:39 - 49:41 But I know
49:41 - 49:44 just one thing matters.
49:44 - 49:50 And that's knowing and serving the Lord.
49:50 - 49:52 All the factors and difficulties
49:52 - 49:52 and trials,
49:52 - 49:55 the trials of what's going around you,
49:55 - 49:56 friends,
49:56 - 49:58 these things will be long forgotten
49:58 - 50:00 and gladly so
50:00 - 50:04 in a new heaven and a new earth.
50:04 - 50:06 Seek Jesus.
50:06 - 50:08 Seek Jesus.
50:08 - 50:12 Seek the kingdom.
50:12 - 50:13 Don't fret.
50:13 - 50:17 Don't envy.
50:17 - 50:22 Seek Christ.
50:22 - 50:25 Lord, your word
50:25 - 50:28 is enough.
50:28 - 50:32 It's a lamp for our feet.
50:32 - 50:36 It's food for us.
50:36 - 50:41 It's a drink for us.
50:41 - 50:42 It's a weapon for us.
50:42 - 50:47 It's a shield for us.
50:47 - 50:48 All we can need
50:48 - 50:57 is all that we find in Christ.
50:57 - 50:58 Lord, show us
50:58 - 51:03 show us again how
51:03 - 51:04 it's encompassing
51:04 - 51:06 your power and your love is for us
51:06 - 51:10 and Jesus.
51:10 - 51:13 Show us again the depth,
51:13 - 51:15 the depth
51:15 - 51:16 of your love for us
51:16 - 51:18 in Christ Jesus.
51:18 - 51:21 Let us wonder
51:21 - 51:22 that we are
51:22 - 51:24 sinners.
51:24 - 51:29 Oh, and we belong in hell.
51:29 - 51:33 We belong miserable.
51:33 - 51:34 God, you have
51:34 - 51:38 made us brand new
51:38 - 51:40 and called us your own people,
51:40 - 51:42 your own children.
51:42 - 51:45 You've loved us with an everlasting love
51:45 - 51:47 and you've promised
51:47 - 51:51 that nothing will change that.
51:51 - 51:52 Oh, God, let that be
51:52 - 51:54 enough
51:54 - 51:59 for it is.
51:59 - 52:03 In the face of every evil
52:03 - 52:06 and every hardship,
52:06 - 52:08 oh, we pray that we would see
52:08 - 52:10 the cross of Christ
52:10 - 52:12 where evil is destroyed
52:12 - 52:15 and where we are saved.
52:15 - 52:17 Lord, let the cross just
52:17 - 52:20 ever be before us
52:20 - 52:22 as we march on.
52:22 - 52:24 God, I ask you God,
52:24 - 52:25 I which am seen
52:25 - 52:27 and here on earth
52:27 - 52:27 Oh, I am experiencing
52:27 - 52:27 Oh, God,
Preacher: Chad Cronin

Passage: Psalm 37