sermon: Self-Examination, Not Self-Preoccupation
Martin G. Collins
Given 15-Mar-25; Sermon #1808; 62 minutes
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If God has the power to do anything He wants, is there any limit to what He can do? Is there anything He cannot do? Well, actually, there is. He is limited to His character. He cannot sin, therefore, he cannot lie. The apostle Paul reinforces this in Titus 1:2, "In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began."
Let us rephrase the question. Other than the limitations of God's character, can God be limited? And the answer, I would say is, of course not! And I think you would say the same thing. So let us add some rhetorical questions. Can God be limited by mankind? Does God need our worship to exist as God? Did God need our faith to create the universe? Does God need our permission for anything?
Of course not. God is not dependent on us, we are dependent on Him. But He has imposed certain self-limits on Himself, requiring specific actions from His creation, therefore He will allow Himself to act. So when we talk about limiting God, we are talking about self-imposed limits God has placed on Himself, and from this we begin to understand our dependency on God. God's self-imposed limitations become more evident when we go contrary to His way of life.
Please turn with me to Psalm 78, verse 41. Israel's history of frequent rebellion stands in harsh contrast to all the evidence of God's goodness on their behalf. And humanly speaking the people of Israel, as God's children, caused great trouble for their heavenly Father in the wilderness. Israel rebelled against Him, caused Him grief, tried His patience, tested Him, provoked Him to righteous anger, and God was limited in how He allowed Himself to respond.
Psalm 78:41 Yes, again and again they tempted God [or tested] God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
Look closely at that phrase "limited the Holy One of Israel" in the King James Version and the New King James Version. The word limited in the NIV is vexed, and others use provoked. For our purposes today, we will primarily follow the implication in the original Hebrew word that Israel limited God.
In Psalm 78, the psalmist Asaph is reviewing the long history of the children of Israel, and he is reminding his generation and those who would come later of Israel's special relationship with God. As Asaph reviews ancient Israel's history, he reminds us that Israel did wrong things, and the men and women of Israel were the people of God miraculously brought into existence by God's calling Abraham and turning him into a nation and giving them very special promises.
They were His special possessions, people He had made for Himself, so that through them and using them He could finally manifest Himself to the whole world and reveal His great glory. Therefore, the responsibility of these people was to praise God and be a faithful and reliable witness to Him and His way of life. The psalmist reminds them, and reminds us also, in reviewing Israel's past history, they horribly failed God. It is sad and discouraging to see them grumbling and rebelling and complaining, defeated by their enemies, disgraced by their own sin and decadence. They were very much like our nation today. Same human nature.
So Asaph gives us various events in the history of the children of ancient Israel, and as he does this, he provides the reason and the explanation of it all. His purpose is to show why it was that these people, who were meant for such different and more extraordinary things, were consistently found to be in this miserable, unhappy, and defeated state.
I will focus on the specific reason that Asaph gives in the second half of verse 41, because it is one of the most profound and regrettable things in the Israelites' long and unstable history. The defining accusation that he brings against them is that they were guilty of limiting the Holy One of Israel. Some translations translate this, as I mentioned, they provoked the Holy One of Israel, which has a similar meaning. They provoked Him in this way:
In their faithlessness and failure to receive the promises, believe them, and act on them, they stood between themselves and many blessings God had offered them and promised them so freely.
That is the essence of the indictment that the psalmist brings against the people. Sadly, it is a prevalent charge throughout the Scriptures. In other words, the children of Israel, by their faithlessness, because of their state and condition, had not been living as God intended them to live. They had not made good use of the unique and wonderful opportunity God had so freely offered them. And as God's church, how much more responsible for this and held to the fire are we than ancient Israel who did not have God's Holy Spirit? But they would rather live in a state of misery and weakness and sometimes sheer dejection because of sins like idolatry and Sabbath breaking.
Please turn over a few pages to Psalm 81, verse 11. In contrast, they were meant to stand out as the people of God reflecting His righteousness and glory. We see the same theme in here in Psalm 81, where God speaks of what might have been true.
Psalm 81:11-16 "But My people would not heed My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels. Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries. The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him, but their fate would endure forever. He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; and with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you."
If only they had listened to Him and walked in His way, this is how it could have been. But it was not like that. Everywhere in the Old Testament in the historical summaries and especially in the Psalms, we see that God's people had been guilty of limiting the Holy One of Israel in various ways.
So as far as we are concerned, the message to us is that we should be very careful to examine ourselves in light of this indictment against the children of Israel, because we as the church of God are the children of God. The terms applied to the children of physical Israel in the Old Testament are used in type to us as the children of Israel, of the children of spiritual Israel.
The apostle Peter, quoting what God said to the children of Israel just before giving the law on Mount Sinai, puts it like this:
I Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
That is our calling as followers of Christ, as God's people, and we are meant to declare His praises, His excellencies, and His virtues.
As we approach Passover, what do we find as we look back and review the past year? We have attended Sabbath services and read the Scriptures, but how much have we appropriated and used? To what extent are we enjoying all that God has offered so freely, or are we guilty in some way of limiting God? God is omnipotent and sovereign, but is it possible for us in one respect to limit Him and to cause God to say, in essence, what He said in,
Psalm 81:13 "Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways!"
In Matthew 23:37, Jesus says something similar before His death while viewing Jerusalem.
Matthew 23:37 "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I want to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"
The Lord would have guarded and protected them as a hen does her chicks, but they refused. They were unwilling. Repeatedly, this indictment is brought against Israel, and we know that God's purposes are sure and will be accomplished, but we can rob ourselves of God's abundant blessings.
The ancient Israelites' faithlessness led to paralyzing fear. And their hardheartedness caused resistance against God's desire to bless them. And even though all things are possible with God, He will not reward human distrust, self-will, and self-preoccupation.
The dictionary definition of self-preoccupation refers to a state of being overly focused on oneself, often in a disapproving context, meaning a negative context. It can indicate a lack of awareness or concern for others due to excessive self-involvement.
Philippians 2:3-4 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind [that is, humility] let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Self-preoccupation is a sin that clings so closely that it is hard to lay aside.
Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Trying to carry every weight leads to self-preoccupation. For example, if you have sins that you are looking for in your life, and you are adding them up, and you are looking at the whole year and everything that you have done wrong, you start feeling a weight of burden that is very negative and very discouraging. And you know, even in Speech Club, when we evaluate somebody for a speech, you do not just tell them everything that they have done wrong because they will not remember any of it. You just tell them one, maybe two things to improve on, and that way they remember what it is and can work on that.
God is the same way. He does not expect us to overcome 100 sins before Passover. Because if you are trying to overcome 100 sins, you are not going to overcome any. So what I am talking about is we have to be careful not to be preoccupied with ourselves, meaning so self-absorbed about our own sins that we forget what the real purpose of Passover is, which is focused on Jesus Christ. Yes, we have to evaluate our own lives, but we cannot turn in on ourselves, look at ourselves, get negative, discouraged, and feel "Woe is me! I'm so awful" or this and that. We should consider those things, but to try to overcome everything at one time, you will probably not overcome anything. It is just the way the human mind works. Self-absorption is so much a part of us that we can despair of ever really changing. Matthew 19:26 assures us with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
So let us examine ourselves in light of this, but where do we start? Please turn to I Corinthians 2, verse 9. We may initially recognize certain things on a physical level intellectually, but to apply them in our life spiritually requires the indwelling power of God's Spirit, the mind of God dwelling in us. Paul explains this in,
I Corinthians 2:9-14 But as it is written, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
This is a passage that I use quite often in sermons because it is so full of such deep spiritual knowledge that we have to understand.
Words are the verbal communication of thoughts, and since God designed His truth to be accurately expressed in human language, He inspired the words used in Scripture which are contained in both the Old and New Testaments. He was meticulous and detailed in His inspiration of the words so they would accurately express the laws and principles He intended to communicate. Paul knew that the human spirit could only understand the things of the natural world. But once God gives the Spirit of understanding, spiritual things become very clear. So although the world can read the Bible and get some good qualities out of it, even if they, on the surface, keep the Ten Commandments (or most of them), they are going to be blessed for it, but they cannot understand the depth of it without God's Spirit.
Please turn with me to Luke 24, verse 31. After His crucifixion and before He ascended to heaven, Christ had to perform a miracle to open the eyes of His disciples before they could recognize Him fully or enough that He could teach them.
Luke 24:31-32 Then their eyes were opened [speaking of the disciples] and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"
So before the church received the Holy Spirit on Pentecost 31 AD, Christ needed to perform a miracle again which enabled the disciples to be able to understand the inspired written Word of God, consisting of only the Old Testament at that time.
Now we will continue on in chapter 24 of Luke.
Luke 24:44-45 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
So they received limited spiritual understanding through the Holy Spirit. Still, they were not filled with the Spirit until Pentecost 31 AD. When all the disciples received it, the church was established.
Luke 24:49 "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."
At that point their minds had been opened; God using His mind. But it does not look from that scripture that they had it yet. So the disciples were not filled with the Holy Spirit yet. It was not indwelling them. God communicated spiritual understanding to their minds, and this was so they could understand the specific things, spiritual things Christ was revealing for a particular purpose. It is similar with us when we are called before we are baptized and we do not have God's Holy Spirit. How does God communicate with us? He has to communicate with us through His mind, through His Spirit, and His Spirit through the human spirit to be able to begin to open our minds to understanding.
Luke reviews what happened and adds some details in Acts 1.
Acts 1:1-8 The former account I made [that is speaking of the gospel of Luke since he is the author], O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?" And He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
So every human being is imbued with the basic understanding of right and wrong and an intelligence that God exists because "His invisible attributes are clearly seen in His creation." Before our calling, we may have a limited intellectual understanding of the basic biblical principles. When God calls us, He gives us the ability by way of His Spirit to respond in faith. Whether we respond positively or negatively depends on us. We have free will to choose right or wrong, life or death. So if we respond positively, He gives us the help we need to progress toward repenting of our sins and accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. Until we receive the Holy Spirit, we are very limited in how much we can comprehend.
This was the case for the disciples when Christ told them, "you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now, and you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." So we cannot wholly recognize and understand how to flawlessly apply God's spiritual standards until we have the mind of Christ indwelling us permanently, and God has revealed them to us through His Spirit, and no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
So in in examining ourselves, we first have to understand the standards. How are we to judge ourselves without a standard with which to compare? Obviously we cannot without some means of evaluating ourselves, and of course we have this standard spelled out in the Bible, God's inspired written way of setting the standard. Jesus Christ is the focus of that standard because He lived and died for us as an example.
The Scriptures are held out to us. The apostle Peter refers to the "exceedingly great and precious promises" they reveal. All things that pertain to life and godliness are given to us freely. In addition to that, we have the standard provided by the church's history. We can read of those who have gone before us and we can test ourselves.
II Corinthians 10:12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
We must not compare ourselves among ourselves, but we should consider the examples of the heroes of faith and learn from their failures and successes in their efforts and witnessing. Paul told the Corinthians, "Examine yourselves whether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves." It is good to look back and examine ourselves in light of these things, especially in this pre-Passover time.
No one can read the Bible without seeing a clear picture of the godly person, the saint, the faithful Christian. And in the Gospels and in the epistles of Peter and John and Paul, we find convictions about safeguarding that standard and that pattern and the norm for Christian living. They always remind us what is possible for our walk with God and keep reminding us of our potential if we would just submit to God in humility—and submitting does require humility.
This reminder became necessary because of failure, because people were already slipping and falling below what they were meant to be. So the New Testament authors wrote their letters as they were inspired by God through His Spirit. Since they could not always visit the congregation spread out over hundreds of miles, they sent letters instead, and what they did every time was to remind the Christians of whom and what they were.
They always start with the foundation of doctrine—the standard, the pattern. In effect, Jesus Christ, the apostles, and the prophets said, "Here it is, this is what is possible." And then the people were examined in light of that. They were told to conform to the pattern, put off the old man, put on the new man.
Paul had no reservations about telling us that we must not go on doing this or that, because he said we are no longer in the world, we have been moved out of that and into something entirely new. And he tells us instead, you should be living like this, and then he explains it. Throughout his letters, Paul tells us what the standard is.
These writers were always presenting the church with this standard, and as we all examine ourselves in light of this, we should ask ourselves whether we are conforming to the pattern of Christ or whether we are in some other way limiting God. We know what God has done. He sent His only begotten Son into the world to produce a people for Himself. He has done this in a spiritually superior way compared to the earlier physically inferior way.
Please turn over to Hebrews 5, verse 12. Christ was sent to be the Firstborn of many brethren. He established the standard that the world without God cannot reach, but we have been offered this unique opportunity, and if we are not using it, we are not benefiting from it, and we are guilty of limiting God in our own mind in various ways.
Hebrews 5:12-14 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the world of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
So in order to be a full age and to be spiritually mature, God's way of life has to be lived. His commandments have to be used and exercised. The principles throughout the Bible, the precepts, the statutes, all have to be lived and used in order to discern both good and evil. There are people whose spiritual development has been slowed or halted. They stopped learning years ago, and their conduct is like that of a child. And yes, Jesus said the greatest thing in the world is a childlike spirit. But there is a substantial difference between a childlike spirit and a childish spirit.
Let me bring out some things that should be true of us. There are godly characteristics that are unique to faithful Christians. These things should be part of our examining ourselves prior to Passover because Jesus is the focus, not us, although we are examining ourselves looking for things we need to overcome.
First, there is the assurance of salvation, knowing that if we are baptized members of God's church, our sins are forgiven and continue to be forgiven as we acknowledge, genuinely repent of, and overcome sin. The apostle John calls this "confessing our sins" and says we have this assurance from our faithful God.
I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So not seeing the assurance of forgiveness, not believing we have it, hinders our relationship with God. God wants us to know who we are and His love for us. And this is part of the assurance that we recognize and trust His love.
Let us turn over to Romans 8, verse 33. Now we must not doubt that we have access to God through Christ. There is a spiritual peace in faithfulness. We are not assuring ourselves; our faithful and just God assures us of this.
Romans 8:33-39 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. [So Jesus Christ is our caring Advocate, Mediator, and Intercessor. He is our loving supporter, arbitrator, and negotiator.] Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is no hope for us in the conflict against Satan and all the powers unless we know God's love is directed toward us and is in us, and that His power is used for us and is in us. And we just read that the love of God is in Christ. So in John 17:26, Jesus prays "that the love with which you loved Me may be in them, and I in them."
But if we are uncertain about our relationship with God, we cannot stand and withstand the fight against supernatural influences. In other words, an essential key to victory over Satan is the assurance of salvation, which involves faithfulness. This directly concerns our relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, that love is vital to that relationship.
Now we cannot have an intimate relationship with someone we do not trust and with whom we have little or no confidence. If we are in any doubt or uncertainty concerning our salvation, then Satan has made significant inroads into defeating us. We must be assured of our salvation, and by assurance we are made strong in the Lord and the power of His might. We are assured that nobody or thing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So there is no contradiction between Christ's love for us and His allowing suffering to overwhelm us.
Please turn with me to John 16, verse 33. Separation from His love is no more thinkable than that the Father ceased to love His Son when He allowed Him to endure the agonies of the crucifixion, feeling forsaken. The Father's love never ceases or wanes. Christ predicted trouble for His people left in the world but told us to be thankful and cheerful because He had overcome the world.
John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you have you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
We have an immediate and direct knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ. We find some wonderful promises about this in the Bible. At one point near the end, Jesus turned to His disciples who were unhappy because He had announced His departure and then He said in,
John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me."
He said that He would not leave them comfortless; He would send the Holy Spirit to them. But He went beyond that in verses 20 and 21.
John 14:20-21 "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
So when we read accounts about the faithful in the Bible, we find that they knew God. They knew Him intimately. They did not just believe things about God at a distance. He was confirmed to them. And so the psalmist says in Psalm 27:10, "When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me."
Abraham was the friend of God, and we are all children of Abraham by faith. So ask yourself, do we know God the Father and His Son in this intimate way? We are meant to. It is offered to us plainly through the Scriptures.
We get on our knees and pray. So do many cultural Christians who do not keep God's commandments. It is not enough to only pray. We must also joyfully walk with God by living His way of life with Him and His Son every second of every day. We have this assurance of salvation if we willingly submit to and love the Father and His Son. John 14:15, Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments."
That leads us to another Christian characteristic, and that is rejoicing. God's people are meant to rejoice. Paul said to the Thessalonians, "Rejoice always." Or as Paul expressed it to the Philippians, "Rejoice in the Lord always" and again I say, Rejoice!"
Please turn over to Romans 5, verse 1. But is that always possible? Is it. . . according to Scripture! Paul also says that we even rejoice in tribulation—in the middle of it, whatever is going wrong. The word rejoice is used by Paul to characterize our hope for participating in the glory that will be revealed in the future. Rejoice also carries over to another area different in nature and time, namely that of sufferings.
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into His grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
When Paul mentions being justified by faith at the beginning of Romans 5, he mentions it as an obvious fact. He is already of the mindset of being assured of the first step in the process of salvation, that is, the reality of justification for himself and God's church.
Romans 5:3-4 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Peace with God does not necessarily bring peace with other human beings. The conditions of our lives amid an antagonistic society are not easy or pleasant. Still, the knowledge of acceptance of God and His grace being constantly supplied and the prospect of future glory enables us to rejoice while suffering.
The word sufferings is often rendered tribulations as in verse 3, and the word tribulation is used to emphasize the element of pressure. Not just the suffering aspect physically, but the mental pressure and distress. And as a result, the usual implication of the word is external suffering, such as persecution. Still, it is sometimes used for distress because external events affect our internal attitudes and emotions.
In Philippians 3:8 and 10, as well as other places, Paul emphasizes that our sufferings are the extension of the sufferings experienced by Christ in the days of His flesh, and it is right for us to experience suffering because we now make up His Body. And as unified individuals in the church, we form the Body of Christ and share in His sufferings. We can enjoy rejoice in and by our suffering, showing our love and loyalty to our Savior.
Now please turn over to I Peter 1, verse 6. The apostle Peter realizes that joy is often mingled with grief. Sufferings are God's will for us to purify our faith, and such faith has a great reward because at the return of Jesus Christ, honor and praise will belong to Jesus Christ and us.
I Peter 1:6-9 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
The ESV (or the English Standard Version) translates verse 8 a little bit better: "Though you have not seen him [that is, Christ], you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory."
So to whom is he writing? He is writing to fellow saints scattered abroad through Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia, and various other places, most of whom he never met. But though he did not know all of them, he was writing to them because he had been told that God had called them. And he wrote this just a few years before the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD, and this was just before the church in Jerusalem had to flee to Pella to escape the destructive Roman army.
Their physical world was unraveling, and doom was on the horizon. The society around them was about to collapse, and a paradigm shift in their physical way of life was about to occur, and they were passing through a tribulation period. And so Peter wrote to encourage them and help spiritually strengthen them.
They were ordinary and average members of God's church, and they knew what it was to "rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory." This glorious rejoicing baffles words. It is so wonderful that it is beyond human expression. And that is how we are meant to be as God's people. We were never meant to be miserable or unhappy spiritually.
And if we are half turning back to the world, whining about not enjoying what the people of the world are enjoying and that we cannot still be with them, or if we think highly of ourselves for denying ourselves the pleasures of the world and taking up this challenge and complex life, then we are hindering God's work in us.
It means that we are proclaiming to the world that God's way of life is miserable. That for happiness and joy we must go to the world and that we cannot attain it in the church. I have heard that attitude multiple times over the years, and it disgusts me because it gives such a bad impression to the world.
Just to give you an example, a few years ago, I think it was 3 years ago, at the Feast we were sharing the Doubletree with another group. I do not know who they were, but they were another group keeping the Feast of Tabernacles. And I noticed that they were always very sour looking and and just beaten down and angry. And I thought, wow, what is wrong with that group? And then I was in the elevator with Sue and my mom and this man got on and he said, "You have the most unfriendly group I've ever seen. How in the world can you be Christians and be so miserable?" And I said, "That definitely was not us because we are known for being happy people and friendly" and all of that. I said, "It must have been been another group. I think there is another one staying here."
But I was so embarrassed by that and thankfully it was not us, but we are the opposite of what image he saw in another group. I am not praising us over them that we are so great or anything, but we do show that good rejoicing at the Feast and it has an impact. And the hotel regularly mentions it. So that is the way we should be, and I really appreciate.
Now that is undoubtedly limiting the Holy One, being miserable like that, of which the people of Israel were guilty. They were miserable even though God had offered and provided miraculous possibilities for them. They limited Him in the matter of rejoicing because they did not rejoice in their calling. And we must rejoice in the Lord always.
Now another characteristic of a faithful Christian is delighting in God and His commandments. These may seem really basic, but they are also really important. In chapter 5 of his first epistle, John says, "His commandments are not burdensome." There is no quality of life in the light like the one that is guided and governed by the commandments of God. The other life is darkness!
Is it possible that the commandments could be burdensome or grievous to a child of God? Nevertheless, the children of Israel were always giving that impression. They said, in effect, look at those other nations. They have kings, but we do not. Give us a king! So they despised the fact that God was their King. They wanted to limit God's involvement in their lives, and they envied those other nations. Those people could do whatever they liked, even sacrifice their children to Molech. That is actually exactly like this nation pushing God away. I am talking about at least half the nation or more pushing God away so that they can destroy children through abortion, child trafficking, and whatever else it might be. No different in that attitude than the Israelites when they sacrificed their children to Moloch.
Those Gentile nations did not have the Ten Commandments to cramp their perverse lifestyles. They did not have to set aside the Sabbath and not do their own pleasures. They could eat anything they wanted, including parasite-ridden animals like swine and scavenger shellfish like crabs that clean up and process the vilest of dead things through their digestive systems. You can have it, you can have the world. You do not want it though, I know.
Please turn over back over to Psalm 78. The ancient Israelites believed they were living a very confined life. They were always grumbling and complaining; that was the indictment against them. God means for us to enjoy keeping His commandments. What makes them enjoyable? Keeping them brings happiness and peace and blessings, saves us from a lot of suffering.
Psalm 78:41 Yes, again and again they tempted [or tested] God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
Psalm 78 summarizes what ancient Israel did to limit God. Despite His desire to give them every possible opportunity to return to Him, they still despised Him. In this psalm, Asaph puts together historical evidence to show that despite the Israelite's foolishness, disloyalty, and disobedience, God still loved and patiently watched over and provided for them, but within limits. Again and again, they limited God. Now here in Psalm 78, we are going to read most of verses 1 through 41. We will skip a few sections.
Psalm 78:1-12 Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children, that they may set their hope on God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments. And may not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God. The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God; they refused to walk in His law, and forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them. Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
We will skip down to verse 17. God explains in verses 13 through 16 great things He did for them.
Psalm 78:17-22 But they sinned even more against Him by rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness. And they tested God in their heart by asking for the food of their fancy. Yes, they spoke against God: they said, "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? Behold, He struck the rock, so that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? [This was sarcastically said.] Can He provide meat for His people?" [They were really snotty, a bunch of snotty little brats, or big brats.] Therefore, the Lord heard this and was furious; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel, because they did not believe God, and did not trust His salvation.
Then skipping down through to verse 29, what we are skipping is that God did more wonderful things for them.
Psalm 78:29-41 So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them their own desire. They were not deprived of their craving; but while their food was still in their mouths, the wrath of God came against them, and slew the stoutest of them, and struck down the choice men of Israel. In spite of this they still sinned, and did not believe in His wondrous works. Therefore their days He consumed in futility, and their years in fear. When He slew them, then they sought Him; and they returned and sought earnestly for God. Then they remembered that God was their rock, and the Most High God, their Redeemer. Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied to Him with their tongue; for their heart was not steadfast with Him, nor were they faithful in His covenant. But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath; for He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again. How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert. Yes, again and again they tempted [or tested] God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
So they did not delight in God, resulting in a limitation to God's blessing them. And they suffered greatly when they could have had a great blessing. The idea is that, in their minds, they set a limit to the power of God; by lying to themselves, they convinced themselves that there was a boundary to His power that He could not pass or that there were things that He could not perform. There is, somewhere in the Scriptures, I do not remember where it is, but it is where it calls Satan a liar who has deceived himself. And that is what these people had become—liars who had deceived themselves.
The original Hebrew word translated as limited is taawaah, and it occurs only three times in the Scriptures. In I Samuel 21:13, where it is rendered "scratched" or "made marks"; in Ezekiel 9:4 where it is rendered "set," that is, set a mark; and here in Psalm 78:41, where it is rendered "limited." The word's implication is that of making a mark for any purpose. Also, it implies to delineate or to scroll or to set a mark for a limit or boundary.
So in this context it is applied to God, as if, in estimating His character or His power, the people set limits or bounds on it similar to how the property of a farm or a house's lot is marked to determine its boundaries. They did it in their minds, they limited God. In their opinions, they set a limit to the power of God beyond which they believed He could act. In other words, in their minds, His power was defined and restricted so that beyond a certain point He could not aid them or interfere in their activities or desires or proclivities. Yes, again and again they tempted God and limited the Holy One of Israel. We must delight in God and His commandments.
Please turn with me to Philippians 4, verse 6. Another characteristic of a faithful Christian is enjoying the peace of God. Notice Paul's words in Philippians 4.
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Different things happen to us all: trials and sorrows, disappointments and failures. We all have our ups and downs. Things go well and things go wrong. And when the trials come, we are distracted and distraught, possibly with a certain amount of disorientation. It is common for people in this condition to ask, why is God doing this to me? Why is He allowing this to happen to me?
God lets us suffer mentally and physically so that we and others may learn lessons and fine-tune our characters. Nevertheless, we have the peace of God to guard our hearts and minds from suffering more than we can handle, and giving us peace of mind while strengthening us to calmly handle what does come our way.
I always thought this was a curious thing. That He promised not to put us through more than we can handle, but yet He promises to give us the strength to bear up under whatever He does put us through. So to me, it is unlimited in His promise there.
If the peace of God is not present, we have limited God, and we have set a mark or a limit or boundary on what we believe God can do. It is a spiritual problem of a lack of thankfulness, faithfulness, and contentment. The children of Israel were always unhappy and restless, not knowing the peace of God. And it was because they were limiting the Holy One of Israel. They did not know His comfort because they did not trust Him. And they turned away from Him instead of turning to Him.
The peace of God which passes all understanding is not necessarily relief from physical pain and suffering. It is peace of mind and comes from a content, humble, thankful attitude that does not limit His comforting spirit of power and a sound mind. Paul told the Romans the same thing that we should understand and know: that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Not believing this limits our mind on what God has made possible for us.
Paul also wrote in,
Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you are called in one body; and be thankful.
Thankfulness is an essential element in having the peace of God, and this peace exists when a person's mind is calm, not ruffled by hardship, not overclouded by sin, and not disturbed by the fear and approach of death. It is the peace of Christ because it is the peace He gives. It is peace that comes from trusting and obeying Him. John quoted Jesus in,
John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives [peace] do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
So we must enjoy the peace of God.
The final characteristic of a faithful Christian that I have for you today is reliance on Christ to strengthen us.
Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
It is a matter of faith and confidence in Christ. From Paul's experience and various life circumstances, he concludes that he could stand up to any trial, perform any responsibility, and subdue any wrong tendency of his human nature. Significantly, Paul had learned to be content. Contentment is not a natural human tendency. Before Christ could fully strengthen him, Paul had to learn to be content with his circumstances. Discontentment limits how God will work with us.
Now for our final scripture, please turn to I Corinthians 10, verse 13. Paul knew that his faith and confidence in Christ were not in vain. He understood that whatever he was required to do in the name of Christ would be accompanied by the strength to do it. He states this as a principle similarly applied to temptation.
I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted [that is, tested] beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
A trial in the form of temptation or in the form of suffering because of a sickness, disease, or accident can be faced with thankfulness, faith, and confidence in God through Christ who strengthens us. This means that Paul's thorn in the flesh was not enough to stop him. It benefited him by helping him keep a humble perspective of the weakness of his flesh, so Paul was not self-reliant or solely relying on his own experience. He knew where his spiritual strength came from to do all things. By Christ's strength he could bear cold and fatigue and hunger, face temptations and persecutions, and perform demanding responsibilities.
Trials, temptations, poverty, persecution may await us, but we do not have to sink into hopelessness and oppression. Christ strengthens us at every step and will bring us victoriously through.
Being a faithful member of God's church is quite a blessing and a privilege. We should be thankful for that almost every second of every day, whatever is possible. Every minute of every day, every hour of every day. Every day, certainly.
In the trials of life we have Jesus Christ, who is faithful, unchanging, and almighty, and who can continually strengthen and help us. This alone should cause us to serve God and meet the challenges cheerfully, no matter what we are going through.
There is no excuse for shrinking from responsibility, there is no reason to dread persecution, and there is no cause to fear death as long as we do not limit God. God has assured us of salvation; we must thankfully and joyfully accept it.
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Sermon Topics
The Gospel
