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[9:34] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. In Jesus name.
[9:45] Amen. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you. We're not ready for you. All right. All right. Those of you in the room are watching online. That's my nephew. Okay.
[9:56] Don't think I'm not being gracious. Very good to chase. Okay. Just not right now. Stay seated chase. All right. But before he comes, Nate Gaffney is going to come up here, introduce himself to you. Also talk about an outreach that he's being involved in.
[10:09] And we have to be creative in the ways that we get the gospel out and meet people this summer. But we want to. We don't want to stop. We can't ever stop that. We like the way brother David said that we're not going to be careful about worshiping the Lord, which is true.
[10:24] We aren't going to throttle that at all. And we also don't want to throttle getting the gospel out into our community. Do all we can. And so pray. Pray for opportunities so that you can be involved in your neighborhood.
[10:36] And then also look, listen to those that we're going to have at the church. He's going to talk about getting out in the community and praying with people, which I believe during this time will be well received. People know some people know something's going on and they know that they need supernatural deliverance, that the answers aren't going to be found in this world.
[10:54] And so as Christian people, it's a great opportunity for us to introduce them to Jesus. Chase, when Nate's done, you feel free to come up here with all the gusto you got. All right. And you preach to us.
[11:06] All right. Like brother Trent said, my name is Nate Gaffney. I'm from Brunswick, Georgia. I'll be interning here for the summer. Well, for the rest of the summer. This summer has been kind of wild for everyone.
[11:18] And to follow certain COVID-19 guidelines, we're not doing normal door to door. Some people don't like you coming into their house. Some people do. It just kind of depends on who it is.
[11:31] But we are working on pray for the city. Pray for the city. We're going to get some T-shirts made up. I'm sure the T-shirts won't look like that. But we're going to go out into the community.
[11:47] We're going to be going out into the community to where people are already gathering who aren't too worried about social distancing. Like at 9 o'clock, we've been playing soccer. And if you're not sure how to play soccer, just ask brother Ty Pepperdine.
[12:00] He'll give you some pointers. He's pretty good at it. But at 1130, we're going to start doing a pray for the city. Going to people in the community, seeing how we can pray for them, and hopefully make some contacts and see people saved for the gospel.
[12:14] But I appreciate being here. I hope I get to meet the rest of you. I've met a lot of you already. And I've loved my time here. And I can't wait until we get some outreach and see people saved. Thank you.
[12:28] Sorry about that before. Just a little excited about today. If you don't mind turning your Bibles to Genesis chapter 22. We're going to see three truths from this passage about our great God. For those who are curious, entitled to my message, caught in a thicket.
[12:43] Because the most beautiful picture of Jesus Christ in this passage was a picture of a ram caught in a thicket. But we're going to see these three truths. The first one is the provision of the Lord from verses 7 and 8.
[12:56] We see that Isaac here speaks unto Abraham, his father, and says in the middle of the verse, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham says, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
[13:11] So they went both of them together. So we see here in the story that God tells Abraham to go to this mountain and sacrifice his son. Now remember that this is a big deal because Abraham's son was the promise of many nations was through Isaac.
[13:27] So not only has he given up his son sacrificing that, but he's sacrificing his promise of many nations. And so Isaac starts looking at the checklist and he checks off the wood and he checks off the fire.
[13:39] But whenever he gets the lamb, he starts asking Abraham about it. Abraham says the sweetest words. He says, God will provide himself a lamb. And so Abraham knew that God cared enough to provide a sacrifice.
[13:52] And so Abraham or God provided a ram for Abraham. And we know that God provided the lamb of God for us. John chapter one, verse twenty nine says the next day, John sees Jesus coming unto him and says, Behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.
[14:08] God provided an eternal sacrifice for our sins. See, guys, when Jesus was on that cross, it was the almighty lamb of God who shed his blood for our sins.
[14:19] What provision God had for us. I mean, he takes care of us. We've seen this over and over again, not only for salvation, but we've seen this in Brother Gardner's lives and most of our lives. I mean, what a great God that we serve.
[14:31] We see that God provides. We also see in verse 10 and 11 that God desires to be the highest priority in our lives. We see that Abraham is about to slay his son and the angel of the Lord calls out to him to stop him.
[14:44] See, God wants to be the most important thing in our lives. And we see that Abraham was an example of what we should do because he was willing to sacrifice his son as an offering to the Lord. God told Abraham to put his most precious thing on the altar.
[14:59] His only son in whom a promise from God was made. Guys, I can tell you, if you ever want to do something big and if you ever want God to do something big in your life, then you have to be willing to put your most precious things on his altar.
[15:11] You have to be able or willing to give up everything in order for him to use you. Abraham offered up his son as proof that he put God first. And we got to do the same.
[15:23] We know that God wants to be first priority and that he provides. But we also see that God gives us a gift of propitiation. Verse 13, Abraham lifts up his eyes and looked and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket.
[15:37] See guys, the substitution at the end of the story was provided by the Lord. They get up this mountain. Isaac is tied up on this altar. Abraham is stopped by this angel of the Lord from sacrificing Isaac.
[15:49] Abraham then looks up to see that God did indeed provide a sacrifice. He provided a ram to take place of Isaac on the altar. God did that for them.
[16:00] God gave Abraham a substitute for his son. And God gave his son as a substitute for us. 1 John 2 says, and he, talking about Jesus, is the propitiation for our sins.
[16:19] And not for ours only, but for the sins of the entire world, the whole world. See, God sent Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins. Even though we deserve death and hell, God gave us the Lamb of God.
[16:31] What a God. What a mighty God that we serve. Guys, we can clearly see these three truths from this beautiful passage. We see that God provides for us. And he's done it over and over and over again.
[16:42] We also see that he desires to be our highest priority. And so we should be willing to give up anything and everything in our lives. Our most precious things, just as Abraham did. And we also see that God sent Jesus as propitiation for our sins.
[16:57] And I'll end off on this. 1 John 4 and verse 10 says, Here in his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.
[17:09] Thank you. Amen. Go ahead and stand with me again. We'll continue to sing together. Wonderful, merciful Savior, precious Redeemer and friend.
[17:28] Thank you. For I love you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[17:41] Thank you. Counselor, comforter, keeper.
[17:53] Spirit, we long to embrace. You offer hope when our hearts have hopelessly lost the way.
[18:07] Oh, we've hopelessly lost the way. You are the one that we praise.
[18:19] You are the one we adore. You give the healing and grace. Our hearts always hunger for.
[18:34] Oh, our hearts always hunger for. Almighty, infinite Father, faithfully loving your own.
[18:54] Here in our weakness you find us falling before your throne. Oh, we're falling before your throne.
[19:08] You are the one that we praise. You are the one we adore.
[19:20] You give the healing and grace. Our hearts always hunger for. Oh, our hearts always hunger for.
[19:34] The mystery of the cross I cannot comprehend.
[19:47] The agonies of Calvary. You, the perfect Holy One, crush your Son.
[20:01] You drank the bitter cup reserved for me. Your blood has washed away my sin.
[20:11] Jesus, thank you. The Father's wrath completely satisfied. Jesus, thank you. Once your enemy. Now seated at your table.
[20:26] Jesus, thank you. Your love for you. Your love for you.
[20:36] By your perfect sacrifice I've been brought near. Your enemy you've made your friend.
[20:47] Pouring out the riches of your glorious grace Your mercy and your kindness know no end Your blood has washed away my sin Jesus, thank you The Father's wrath completely satisfied Jesus, thank you Once your enemy Now seated at your table Jesus, thank you Your blood has washed away my sin Jesus, thank you The Father's wrath completely satisfied Jesus, thank you Once your enemy Now seated at your table Jesus, thank you
[21:48] Amen. You can have a seat. The men are going to prepare to receive the offering. They're going to walk around with the baskets. If you're watching at home, paid advertisement by David Dubois. You can also send it into our P.O. box or there's a tithely app in which you can give. We encourage you to do that. I hope you know this has been an extended, unusual time in all of our lives. But even more so in the work of God. I mean, this is just a different situation that we've been in.
[22:17] And I know there's a lot of churches that are struggling. I hope that's not the case in ours. I hope that God's people are faithful. You find a way to do what God has asked you to do. And taking care of this work and the work around the world. I would encourage you as well.
[22:33] If you know our missionaries, you know the ones that are on the road. Before pre-COVID days, if you remember those, they would have 15 to 20 meetings in a month. I was sitting with Kyle Shreve the other day and he was counting up his confirmed meetings for July and he was excited about six.
[22:51] That's how different the last few months have been. And it's not changing real, real fast. I mean, six in July, he's probably going to have more than that. He's going to work hard at that. And I know a lot of these guys are.
[23:02] But pray for them. And if you've got a 20 in your pocket and you want to shake their hand with it, that'd probably be a good idea as well. Think about the guys who just recently went out on deputation. And, you know, they gave up their jobs and they hit the road and then the road closed. And pray for them and help them. I would encourage you to do that. But be faithful in your giving.
[23:23] We're going to pray and then the men are going to receive the offering. God, we love you. We thank you so much for your goodness to us. Lord, we know that you have an amazing way of meeting needs. And it's beautiful to see. We are so just amazed at the good hand of God. But God, we know that you have created one real way to meet the needs of your church.
[23:46] And that's through your people. And Lord, I pray that you would help us to be faithful in our giving. And so that this work can continue and the building can stay open and the staff can stay paid and we can keep getting the job done here.
[24:00] And then also, God, we pray that you'll just help us stay faithful to get the gospel around the world. People are still dying and hell is still real. And the gospel still needs to get to every corner of this globe.
[24:12] Lord, we pray, God, that you would help us to be faithful in that. Bless your work. We ask this in your name. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[25:00] Amen. Amen.
[25:31] Amen. Amen.
[26:06] That you are.
[26:17] Oh, anyway. Amen. Але hope in life and death.
[26:37] Unto the grave what will we sing? Christ He lives, Christ He lives, and what reward will heaven bring? Everlasting life with Him? There we will rise to meet the Lord, then sin and death will be destroyed, and we will feast in endless joy, when Christ is ours forevermore.
[27:15] Oh, sing hallelujah, our hope springs eternal, Oh, sing hallelujah, now and ever we confess, Christ our hope and life and death.
[27:37] Oh, sing hallelujah, our hope springs eternal, Oh, sing hallelujah, now and ever we confess, Christ our hope and life and death.
[27:57] Now and ever we confess, Christ our hope and life and death. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[28:07] Amen. Well, Brendan and Lisa Keikoa don't need an introduction at our church.
[28:17] As you know, they're members of the church, and they serve around here. And I would just like to take a moment to talk to you about the type of ministry that he has, and why I believe that it is so important to what we do here as a church.
[28:31] I was a student in Peru in 2003, and when I was in Peru, I met many people that were headed to the mission field, and when they would go to churches, and they would invite people to come and help them, they often wouldn't get a favorable response, or they wouldn't have more people serve them.
[28:51] And so they were all working together as missionaries, wanting to get more laborers to the field, having type of events, but there wasn't a lot of support system being built around them. And I traveled for a couple years before the church started, and 1 Chronicles chapter number 12 and verse 8.
[29:10] This was the passage that I'd often preach from. It says, And of the Gadites there separated themselves unto David, and to the hold to the wilderness men of might, and men of war fit for battle.
[29:21] They could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were swift as a rose upon the mountains. But it says they separated unto them men of war fit for battle.
[29:31] And that was my challenge to churches, is that when somebody comes through, like Mitch on his way to Peru comes by your church, and you're able to financially support them, maybe you could also pray about some of the young people in your church going and to serve with them.
[29:47] Because we have a great opportunity to send out many more missionaries from the churches of America. And I thoroughly enjoyed it, but one of the things that I didn't find as much as I would like was churches that had strong youth groups, churches that really believed in the mission, churches that were making disciples, churches that had men of war fit for battle, where they believed that everybody should be able to take the Bible and teach it to other people, that would be able to teach a foundations lesson, having learned it themselves, and being disciple makers.
[30:20] And so it really was in my heart to be part of a church like that. And Vision Baptist Church was starting that time. I was so grateful to get to be involved in that. And I sincerely believe that we are a type of place that works at having men of war and ladies of war fit for battle.
[30:35] And sometimes they will go to the other side of the world and work, and sometimes they'll go across town, sometimes they'll join you at your work, they'll stay in this church, but they will make disciples. And that's what we tell the teenagers, that our goal for them is that they would become joyful disciple makers.
[30:50] And in doing so, God will place them where he would want to place them. And we've been blessed to see many of them go to the mission field, and others go into different places to serve. But we have a responsibility as a church to equip them.
[31:02] And I really appreciate this about Brother Brendan, is that he has a love for our church, and for the teenagers of our church, and anybody that comes through these doors, he sees an opportunity for them to serve, and he wants to help them from wherever they're at, to serving God.
[31:15] And there's a lot of people like me, in different churches that are just waiting for somebody to give them a chance. He goes, I was just out of high school, and Pastor had a website, world-evangelism.com.
[31:27] Some of us would joke and say it was world minus evangelism. Obviously, he didn't much care for that. And he was in Peru, and some of you know this, and Brother John knows this, and he was putting up material like crazy, linking everything.
[31:38] Every sentence had multiple links. And I found a sermon by him, by Jonathan, about dream, discover, and determine to do something for God. And I knelt down beside this little metal chair in my home, and I said, God, I want to do something for you, but I need you to help me meet the people that will provide a chance for me to train and do what needs to be done.
[32:01] And he did that, and I got to meet Pastor, and he became a mentor to me. And other people were coming, people like Nate Gaffney that are here this summer. And what is the great opportunity they have?
[32:11] It's just to be around people that take the Great Commission seriously, just around people that believe that everybody should be a minister. We're most certainly saying that we're not, by no means am I saying that there are only churches like this, but every one of us knows there needs to be more churches like this so that people can have that type of environment.
[32:27] And so I was grateful for the opportunity to be part of a church and to see people grow. People see people come all the way from our church nurseries, through the youth ministry, and take every step and go to adulthood.
[32:38] But we are blessed as a church to have somebody that is a full-time missions mobilizer, not only Brother Jeff, who travels, but he spends a lot of his time with the missionaries.
[32:49] As you know, Mitch, some of you missionaries can be high maintenance, okay? And so pastoring those missionaries and leading those missionaries takes time. It's somebody dedicated to being on college campuses and going out there.
[33:01] And I think you know this, but I hope you love it as much as I do, because it's really a wonderful thing that as a church we get to be involved in that, and that people can come here, and that we get to show them why we believe that the Great Commission is so important, how every church should be involved in it.
[33:16] Right, if you'll take your Bibles in Psalm chapter number 38. Brother Brendan was messing with me, he said, Psalm 41, right? And I said, please don't do that to me right now. But we're in Psalm chapter number 38. If you'll turn there.
[33:34] Good evening. Good evening. Hello, hello. Thank you, Andrew. You're amazing. Thank you. A question for you. Have you ever gotten so sick that you wanted to die?
[33:45] Anybody gotten so sick that you wanted to die? I'm looking at you, Jeff. Hey, Jeff. All right, Jeff. Anyone else gotten so sick you wanted to die? Probably most of the men in here, right? When you get a cold. Yeah, yeah.
[33:55] Brother David, yeah. I'm going to tell you a quick story before we get into Psalm chapter 38. I was in college with the stomach flu, and it was crazy. Bible college up in Wisconsin. And there was, I lived in this little dorm room where there was four of us packed in.
[34:10] There's two bunk beds and two desks. And I just had the flu for, it felt like a week. It was probably just two days. So I got the stomach flu. I mean, what do we got? Cramps and fever and headache. And I was like, I'm going to die.
[34:21] And everything else associated with the stomach flu. I'm not going to mention it from the pulpit. And I was like, man, I'm so sick. I want to die. And I wonder if you've ever gotten to a place in your life, whether it's being sick or whether it's your health, that it was just the worst time in your life ever.
[34:37] Can you remember what the worst day in your life was? Maybe some of us, we haven't experienced any worst days in your life. Well, that's great. Maybe some of you, if you can think of, what was the worst day that you've had in your life?
[34:50] Whether it was dealing with or hearing about others going through COVID-19 or getting over addiction, perhaps family troubles, your parents were getting a divorce or you were going through a divorce, marriage problems, the death in the family or someone's dying in your family, unfaithfulness, perhaps your future dreams were destroyed, disappointment, frustrated, really a hopeless situation.
[35:14] Have you ever found yourself in just a hopeless, difficult situation and you're just wondering, how do I get out of this situation? If you've ever felt that way, maybe you've never felt that way in your life, if you haven't experienced this yet, you probably will one day.
[35:29] But we're going to look at Psalm 38 because if you're like me, sometimes we're in incredibly difficult and seemingly hopeless situations and God has something for us here in Psalm chapter 38 that we can see how this can help us get through hopeless situations.
[35:45] So if you will, turn with me at Psalm 38, you're already there. We're going to see how we can find help in a hopeless situation. Psalm chapter 38, we're going to look. It's a Psalm of David to bring remembrance.
[35:57] And in this Psalm, David's kind of complaining. He's kind of complaining and it's kind of like Job when he was kind of sick and going through a whole bunch of issues except Job didn't really do anything wrong. And here we see David has a bunch of sin and iniquity that he's just overwhelmed.
[36:11] So this is kind of like Job but not exactly like Job. So we're going to see how it was a really hopeless, difficult situation but kind of learn from David's example hopefully to see how we can get that help in hopeless situations.
[36:24] In Psalm chapter 38 verse 1, let's pray first. Heavenly Father, we love you. Please help me to read this in the way that it was meant to be written and communicated, Lord.
[36:35] Work in our hearts. Speak to my heart. Work in our lives, Lord. Help us so that we might be better Christians, that we might know the truth, that we might help lead our families, that we might have the preparation we need to deal with right now whatever hard and difficult situations that each of us are facing.
[36:53] Lord, we love you and we ask your blessing and your spirit to work in our hearts through your word tonight. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, Psalm chapter 38 verse 1. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure, for thine arrows stick fast in me and thy hand presseth me sore.
[37:15] There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over my head as a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
[37:28] My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled. I am bowed down greatly. I go mourning all the day long, for my loins are filled with a loathsome disease and there is no soundness in my flesh.
[37:46] I am feeble and sore broken. I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart, Lord. All my desire is before thee and my groaning is not hid from thee.
[37:57] My heart panteth, my strength faileth me as for the light of mine eyes. It also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore and my kinsmen stand far off.
[38:12] Verse 12. They also that seek after my life lay snares for me and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things and imagine deceits all the day long.
[38:22] But I, as a deaf man, heard not. And I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not and in whose mouth are no reproofs.
[38:33] For in thee, O Lord, do I hope. Thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me. When my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
[38:46] For I am ready to halt and my sorrow is continually before me. For I will declare mine iniquity. I will be sorry for my sin. But my enemies are lively and they are strong and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied.
[39:01] They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries because I follow the thing that is good. Forsake me not, O Lord. O my God, be not far from me.
[39:12] Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation. Here we see David finds help in a hopeless situation and this evening I hope that we can find help in a hopeless situation.
[39:26] Whatever situation that you or I may be facing this evening, we're going to see how we can find help in a hopeless situation. There's two different ways we're going to find help in a hopeless situation.
[39:37] Look with me, if you will. The first way is we're going to look at David's situation. From verse 1, you look at verse 1 through 12, we're going to look at David's situation. Actually, look at verse 3.
[39:50] Verse 3, the first thing, there's four things we're going to notice about David's situation. Okay? We're going to look at David's situation. The first thing we notice is found in verse 3. Sin has consequences.
[40:01] Sin has consequences. Look in verse 3. In verse 3, David says, there is no soundness in my flesh. He's not healthy. He's sick. There's, in his body, in his flesh, because of thine anger, he's talking to the Lord, neither is there any rest in my bones because of why?
[40:21] Because of my sin. He said, because of my sin and the Lord's anger, there is no rest in my bones, no soundness in my flesh. Verse 4, for my, what?
[40:31] Mine? Iniquities. You can underline sin in verse 3. You can underline mine iniquities in verse 4. For mine iniquities are gone over my head. I don't know if you've ever felt this way. Maybe right before you got saved, maybe after you got saved, the sin in your life just overwhelmed you.
[40:46] He says, my iniquities are gone over my head as a heavy burden. They're too heavy for me. Verse 5, my wounds stink and are corrupt as if they are rotting.
[40:59] Because of my foolishness. So his foolishness, my foolishness, my sin, my iniquity, because of this, you're angry at me. And he's being kind of, he thinks, I think he's being rebuked and chastened by the Lord.
[41:11] And he's asking, verse 1, rebuke me not in thy wrath. He feels rebuked, but he's asking, please don't rebuke me in my wrath. So the first thing we're going to notice in verse 3 through 5 is sin has consequences.
[41:24] Not all sickness is because your sin, sometimes we're sick and it's not your fault. It's to, you know, in the end, it's to glorify the Lord. You didn't do anything wrong. You just got sick, right? But here we see verse 3 through 5, sin has consequences.
[41:39] In Galatians chapter 6 in verse 7, in Galatians chapter 6 in verse 7, Paul says, be not deceived.
[41:50] God is not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also, what? That shall he also reap. You reap what you sow. Verse 8, for he, verse 8, he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
[42:10] Verse 9, and let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Sometimes, this principle is a lot clearer than other times.
[42:21] We reap what we sow and sin has consequences. We know in Romans chapter 6 verse 23, in Romans chapter 6 in verse 23, for the wages of sin is death.
[42:33] Romans 6, 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Regarding the wages of sin, one of the consequences of sin is death.
[42:45] He's not dead yet. He's still writing this psalm. He's not dead yet, but one of the greatest consequences is the wages and the results of our sin. As sinners, we deserve hell and judgment.
[43:00] His foolishness, David's foolishness and iniquity led to horrible consequences in his flesh, in his body, but also mentally and emotionally. He's just horrible consequences.
[43:11] If I may, I'd like to ask you a question about the consequences of sin. I'll tell you a quick story first of my friend Dustin, no Dustins in here, right?
[43:22] No Dustins, okay? I'll tell you a quick story about my friend Dustin. I was in elementary school and Dustin had come from a very, very broken home. Actually, he ended up praying with me and my friend Andrew to get saved.
[43:35] I don't think he actually got saved, but Dustin, his mother, I don't know, for whatever reason, because this was a while ago, his mother and dad didn't get along. His mom, Dustin's mom, killed his father and went to jail.
[43:49] Dustin's mom killed his dad and went to jail and Dustin was living with his grandparents and he would come to school. I was a jerk, by the way, I'm just going to confess. I was a jerk. I'm like, oh man, you got Legos?
[44:00] Give me all your Legos and he's just like, okay, you know, he wanted friends and I'm like, Legos. I was a horrible friend. Dustin, he was experiencing some of the major consequences of the sins of his parents.
[44:14] Sin has consequences. If I may, I'd like to ask in our group right here, I might be safe to ask this. What are some physical, mental, emotional, psychological, what are some consequences of sin for the benefit of others here or maybe our children?
[44:29] What are some consequences of sin that either you have experienced or you know that other people experience? What are some consequences of sin? Something specific. Anything?
[44:39] Nothing, right? What? Bitterness. What are some other consequences of sin? Yeah, yeah. Spankings. Yes. Spankings.
[44:51] That's right. Judgment. Condemnation. No. What are some other consequences of sin? That's all good. What are some other consequences of sin? A loss of security in your salvation.
[45:02] Okay. What are some other consequences we have of sin? Broken relationships. Heartache. Broken marriages. You lose your kids.
[45:13] Lose your job. Jail. Jail. Anything else? We could go on and on, right? There are many consequences of sin. Some very big ones we can look at and some others that we don't see right away, but we see in David's situation sin has consequences and he is experiencing the consequences of his sin.
[45:32] The second thing we notice is actually back in verse 1. Look at verse 1. So we see sin has consequences, but in verse 1 the second thing we notice is he fears God's wrath. In verse 1 he says, O Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
[45:52] We ought to fear the wrath of God, yes, and hell and judgment if we're not saved. John chapter 3 verse 36. In John chapter 3 and verse 36 we are reminded in John chapter 3 verse 36, He that believeth on the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
[46:19] We ought to fear God's wrath. If you're here this evening and you have not put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, it's not about just simply getting a physical sickness, but eventually one of the greatest consequences to your sin if you're not saved is being under the wrath and the judgment of God.
[46:36] It doesn't matter what your parents believe, it doesn't matter what your family believes, what your church believes, if you're here this morning and you haven't put your faith and trust in Jesus, then the greatest consequence, the wages of your sin is death. And that ought to be very important.
[46:49] David feared God's wrath in the way that God was rebuking him. The third thing we notice in verse 11, with David's situation, verse 11, we saw sin has consequences, he fears God's wrath.
[47:00] Look at verse 11, we see that he is alone and forsaken, he's hurting. In verse 11, my lovers and my friends, his close friends, stand aloof from my sore.
[47:10] His body, his sickness, his sores, his wounds, they're so, ugh, that his close friends don't want to be around him, they're aloof. My kinsmen, his family, his brethren, they stand afar off.
[47:22] He's alone, he's forsaken. The idea is like him being a leper. We used to, I mean, this is probably not a good example of it, a story of feeling a little alone and forsaken.
[47:34] And sometimes, when you're on the mission field, we were in Morocco, we got there and we got set up, you know, families far away and friends and loved ones and if you've been to the mission field and lived a good amount of time, you've probably experienced this.
[47:46] And we started getting, we got our house set up, we're getting into language school and then starting to go to this fellowship group, this little church that had a lot of Christian missionaries in it and they started sowing fear, by the way.
[47:59] The first few weeks we went, it was just horrible. My wife's like, yeah, this is, they're just talking about fear, they're tapping your phones and careful everyone's with the police and blah, blah, blah. And so, we just felt kind of alone and forsaken and that's something we have to deal with as missionaries on the mission field.
[48:14] That's maybe not the best example but can you imagine yourself if you were sick, your family and friends, I know it's hard to imagine, right? Because we're in a church, you are an exemplary church.
[48:27] We're not a perfect church but you are a wonderful example of a church. A great church. We love the Lord. We love each other. We love missions.
[48:37] We love learning in the Bible and helping people and helping hurting people. So it's probably really difficult to imagine this but could you imagine if you were sick and hurting and your family and your friends and everyone that you knew were just like, I don't want to get near that person.
[48:53] Like, I don't really want to get near you. You're really sick. I mean, maybe we're thinking COVID. I'm not thinking COVID, right? But I mean, that's probably important. If you got so sick, I'm not talking about COVID.
[49:07] If you got so sick and they didn't want to be around you, this is a horrible, horrible thing to talk about, right? COVID. If you got so sick but your friends, your close friends, your best friends, your family members, they didn't want to be around you.
[49:19] I think we can imagine the other way. Everyone is around you and helping and we're there for you but can you imagine he was alone and forsaken. Things are not going well for David. Not only did the sin have consequences, he feared God's wrath.
[49:33] He was alone and forsaken but the fourth thing we notice, look in verse 12. Verse 12, enemies are after him. In verse 12, they also that seek after my life lay snares for me and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things and imagine deceits all the day long.
[49:51] So these enemies are trying to kill him. They're setting traps for him. They want to hurt him and they're speaking things, mischievous things. They want to cause trouble. They want to cause hurt and they're imagining deceits all the day long.
[50:05] A reminder, Satan is our enemy. 1 Peter 5 and verse 18. In 1 Peter 5 and verse 18, perhaps none of us feel that way. I mean, maybe you do.
[50:18] Maybe you don't. Does anyone, I mean, don't raise your hand, okay? Don't raise your hand. Maybe do you feel like they're just enemies trying out there to get you and kill you and, you know, probably not. Maybe, sometimes. But one of the greatest enemies and adversaries that we have in 1 Peter 5, verse 8, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.
[50:46] Our enemy, Satan, is prowling around looking to destroy marriages, families, ministries, this church, you going to the mission field, you loving your parents, you obeying your parents.
[51:00] Satan would just love that. His enemies were after him. So we can summarize David's situation, we can summarize it pretty easily, right? Bad.
[51:13] Yeah? That's pretty good. That's a really good summary. It was bad. It was really bad. Physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically, it was just, this is bad.
[51:24] And if we were to stop right here, it'd be really discouraging. I was trying to share with my wife a little, you know, earlier about, you know, the message, I'm getting prepared, and she's like, where's all the good stuff? I'm like, hold on, honey.
[51:35] This is really bad. And if we stop right here, this is, yeah, you have a lot to complain about. This is really bad, but thankfully, he does not stop. Where's the hope and help and the good part?
[51:45] Yes, we can find help in a hopeless situation. We looked at David's situation. Now, secondly and finally, let's look at David's response. In verse 13 to 22, look at David's response.
[51:58] There's four responses we're going to look at, starting in verse 13. Question for you, before we look at his responses, question for you, how would a normal person react to a hopeless situation?
[52:10] Ah, ah, yeah. Huh? How would a normal person react to a bad, bad, really bad situation with your health is filling, your bones, and you're just overwhelmed, and it's just miserable, and ah, ah, ah, my heart is just crying out.
[52:26] How would a normal person respond to that? Complaining. Frustrated. Frustrated. What else? How else would somebody normally respond to this kind of hopeless situation?
[52:38] Wanting to die. Wanting to die. What else? Maybe we haven't experienced any of this. I don't know. Probably have. Anything else? How would you respond? How would a normal person who's not saved respond to this?
[52:54] Yes. Try to avoid it. Normally, we think you can go to anxiety, depression, drinking alcohol. I don't know how many of you have these experiences. I'm not thinking of anyone in particular, but maybe you know of people.
[53:09] How would you respond to a hopeless situation? Alcohol and drugs, sex and relationships, suicide, thoughts of suicide. I don't know if you ever thought of suicide, but it's a very common response.
[53:20] Anger, violence, we mentioned bitterness, running away, denial, stress, insomnia, restlessness, no peace, no comfort, quit, to quit and give up. Or make more bad choices.
[53:34] Right? That would be the normal response. But how does David respond in verse 13? Look at verse 13. How does David respond to his enemies speaking mischievous things?
[53:45] We're going to look at four responses. The first thing we're going to see is in verse 13 and 14. He ignores the speech of his enemies. So we ought to ignore the speech of our enemies.
[53:56] Look in verse 12. They also seek after my life, lay snares for me. They that seek my hurt speak mischievous things and imagine deceit all the day long.
[54:06] And he says, verse 13, but I as a deaf man I heard not. He's like, I'm not listening. I'm not going to say anything. It's as if I am mute and deaf. Why? Verse 15.
[54:18] He ignores the speech of his enemies because, underline verse 15, highlight circle, I don't know if you like that. I like squares and circles and underlines and boxes and arrows and highlighters. Just underline verse 15.
[54:29] For in thee, O Lord, this is why I don't listen to them. This is why I don't listen to my enemies. This is why I don't listen to their speech. It's because, for in thee, O Lord, do I hope. I hope in you, Lord. You, thou wilt hear me, O Lord, my God.
[54:43] He ignored the speech of his enemies because he was hoping in God and he chose not to hear them because he knew God was going to hear him. And people will speak to hurt us and harm us, cause us trouble, if you're just doing good, you're following God.
[54:56] Pastor Saeed, a story example. Pastor Saeed, we're in Morocco. Some of you know Pastor Saeed in Morocco. And so, I was riding, you know, I was living with Pastor Saeed and Marwan and we're learning the language and culture and going out to Bible study and follow up.
[55:12] And I'd ride many times in a bus. So, in the taxis in the city and buses in between the cities. And so, he'd sit down. We got two rows of chairs on this side, two rows of chairs on that side.
[55:22] The bus pulls up and a whole crowd of people rushes to the door and we're like, oh, like cattle going into this big cattle truck. Here, give me a ticket. Okay, you can squeeze in, you sit down. And he told me a story.
[55:32] He says, Brendan, we're riding a bus. He says, one time I was riding in a bus in a city up north in Tangier and I told the guy next to me I was a Christian. That dude flipped, flipped out, screaming, yelling, stand up.
[55:44] Hey, this guy's a Christian. This guy's a Christian. Get him off the bus. The whole bus. I'm like, dude, did this really happen? He's like, yeah. The whole bus is screaming, oh, get this Christian off the bus.
[55:54] You know, and he's been cussed at, swearing at, all your mother this, your mother that. And the bus driver, which is Saeed's friend, said, hey, y'all, sit down and shut your mouth. That's my friend. Everyone's like, ooh.
[56:04] And if you don't like it, get off the bus. And so they all sat down and shut their mouths and Saeed's like, oh, yeah, okay, all right. And the bus drove away and it's a miracle the Lord protected him.
[56:15] But you know what? In our schools, in our classrooms, in our work environments, our neighborhoods, and in our ministries, there will be enemies and people that speak against us.
[56:26] And all we're doing is we're just trying to do good. We're following after God. And we ought to just ignore the speech of our enemies, put our hope, and God don't listen to them. God's going to hear us.
[56:37] Verse 16, we saw we need to ignore the speech of our enemies and hope in God. But verse 16, we see the second response. We need to recognize our need for God. This is just really got to me as well.
[56:50] Verse 16, for I said, hear me. He's talking to the Lord. He just finished saying, for in thee, O Lord, do I hope thou wilt hear, O Lord, my God. For I said, verse 16, hear me, underline this, hear me, lest otherwise.
[57:04] You can underline that. Hear me, lest otherwise. Lest otherwise they, who are his enemies, should rejoice over me. When my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
[57:16] In verse 16, he recognized his need for God. And if we are going to find help in a hopeless situation, we need to recognize our need for God. I don't know about for you, but for me, maybe there are other fathers or men out here.
[57:34] This is not just a man thing, but if I were to ask, you know, the men in here, hey men, how do you or we normally handle problems? And you would say, we kill it and we kill it again.
[57:47] You know, we're men. We pour ourselves up by our bootstraps. We're going to fix and solve the problem. Though that's usually not always the case, especially if your wife is trying to share something really important with you and you're trying to fix it and you're just listening helps fix it.
[58:02] You know, but we're all fixers. But you know what? Isn't that true of all of us? We try and fix and solve and push and work and try and struggle and we try and fix our own problems.
[58:15] I will be the first to admit, probably the worst at this, if there is an issue or a hopeless situation or a difficult situation, I'm like, got this, honey. Don't worry. It's the pickle jar. I got this.
[58:27] And right, and then later on she's like, here, honey, I'll help you. You know, and then she helps me. But that's normally our first response is not to recognize our need for God.
[58:37] It's just to tough it up. And what David says here, he says, for I said, hear me, O Lord, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me.
[58:48] The enemies or Satan will rejoice will destroy us unless God helps. Oh, I can make my marriage better.
[59:01] I can, oh, I'm going to take care of my kids, man. I don't know, just put them in line. You know, when they're teenagers, they're going to listen. I don't have a teenager, but I don't know if that, yeah, that doesn't work. So, James chapter 4, verse 6, God resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble.
[59:19] 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 9 and 10, Paul says, when I am weak, then I am strong. He boasts in his weakness because when he is weak, then he is strong. You and I, if we're going to find help in a hopeless situation, we ought to see that we need help from the Lord.
[59:37] Otherwise, we're not going to make it. And our enemies and Satan will rejoice over us. I destroyed their relationship. I destroyed their ministry.
[59:49] I destroyed their family. I destroyed a reputation. I destroyed Vision Baptist Church and churches around the world because they were not seeking help from the Lord.
[60:00] Yes. And we don't want that. We need to recognize that we need God. Thirdly, confess and be sorrowful. Verse 18, verse 18, for I will declare mine iniquity.
[60:13] I will be sorry for my sin. He declares he's confessing his sin. I'll be sorry for my sin. He sorrows. Hopefully, I think this is a godly sorrow that leadeth into repentance. Right?
[60:23] You know what we need to do? If we want to get out of our helpless and difficult situation, then, you know, like David, we got to confess it and be sorrowful and repent and stop. Stop doing what's wrong and we're going to start doing what's right because the reason you're in this hopeless or difficult situation is because you were doing wrong.
[60:42] Then you need to stop. You need to repent. Confess. And lastly, verse 21, 22, go to God for help and salvation. And verse 21, forsake me not, O Lord, O my God, be not far from me.
[60:57] Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation. He's asking God, begging him, quickly, help me, Lord, you're my salvation. You saved me not only from death and hell, but any situation I face, no matter how hopeless, whatever you're going through right now, I'm sure everyone in here has some kind of difficult situation you're going through.
[61:15] If you're not, praise the Lord. In Psalm chapter 37, which was preached this morning, look at a couple of verses at the end of Psalm 37.
[61:28] Psalm 37, verse 39, but the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble. Psalm chapter 37, verse 39.
[61:39] Verse 40 of chapter of Psalm 37, and the Lord shall help them and deliver them. He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them. Why? Because they trust in Him.
[61:52] Can you imagine if starting this week, you and I and our families, everyone in our church, we found our hope and our help in the Lord. And that's what we ought to do.
[62:02] No matter how hopeless it seems, there's a lot of difficult situations going on right now. Political unrest, social injustice, CHAZ or whatever that country is in Seattle.
[62:14] There's a bunch of craziness going on. Everyone's buying guns and ammo. It's like trying to find toilet paper. It's nuts. With all sorts of situations going on. The health of those who are dearly in love to us, our ministries, our families, our futures, and what we need to do if we haven't already tonight, say, Lord, please forgive me for trying to solve everything and not going first to you.
[62:35] It's not wrong to go to your parents for help. It's not wrong to go to the pastor for help. It's not wrong to go to the deacons. It's not wrong to go to your life group or Sunday school teacher. It's not wrong to look for help. But where do you go first? I will confess, I don't go first most of the time to the Lord.
[62:48] I go to myself. And maybe that's what we need to do as husbands and fathers and wives and parents. We ought to go to the Lord and ask him for help otherwise, lest otherwise Satan be victorious over us.
[63:01] Let's bow our heads and close our eyes. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your word. Thank you for the hope that we can have help in times of hopeless situations. We love you. Please continue to work in our church.
[63:11] We are so excited to see you continue to work and help heal Pastor Gardner and bring him back safely to us but also work through our church so that we can live for you, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
[63:22] Thanks so much, Brendan. Another great psalm. Thank you for the time you put in the studying of the chapter. Just a few quick announcements. I can't wait until my announcements become longer but right now they're still pretty short.
[63:33] Thursday night, as you know, 7 o'clock here at the church will be in our next psalm and then Friday there's an event for teenagers in the word and in the woods. We're going to be spending Friday out in the woods and teenagers should know about it.
[63:47] Parents, if you have any questions, I'd love to help you get prepared for that on Friday and getting back together in God's word. And so we'll do what we did. Ben, if you wouldn't mind come and play the piano.
[63:58] He can. He can do about anything. All right? And Ben, if you wouldn't mind playing the piano as we will dismiss as we did this morning and we will give you update. You play the piano, don't you, Ben?
[64:11] Yeah, you do. I like my guitar. You like the guitar. I don't know. I think this really should be a church decision. How many of you like this here, Ben, on the piano? All right? Yeah, Ben. Ben, we leave with the piano.
[64:22] All right? I can't be making decisions like this while Pastor's gone. We can't be leaving with guitars. We leave with pianos. All right? And so as Ben plays the guitar and we will leave like we did this morning starting in the back and moving to the front.
[64:38] Hope you all have a great week. lub10άν.com Thank you.
[65:29] Thank you.
[65:59] Thank you.