To God Be The Glory!!! (2)

Good morning Allons Baptist Church! Isn’t it a great day to be in God’s House?

Doxology:

This is my Bible. It is God’s Holy Word. It is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and I will hide its words within my heart that I might not sin against God! Amen!!!

Open Bibles To: Psalm 115

Context

We are continuing through our series on the “Hallel Psalms”, which is Psalm 113 to Psalm 118. We have made it today to the 115th Psalm.

This Psalm is special, because it is the pivot point of this particular series of Psalms. As we have discussed, these 6 psalms were sung at Passover. Psalm 113 and Psalm 114 were sung before you partook in the Passover meal, but the other four, starting with Psalm 115, were sung after you partook in the Passover meal.

The first two psalms were sung to prepare one’s heart for the participation of Passover, while the last four were sung in response to what just happened.

Remember that Passover was one of the most miraculous works of God throughout the history of Israel. It was the moment in time when their God intervened in their worldly calamities in heavenly ways. It was when God showed the world (Egypt) that He would move heaven and earth, to save His children. It was when God poured out a small portion of His wrath upon the world, showcasing His power over every element of life, even unto death. It was the moment when God showed His love for His people in sparing their lives and delivering them from bondage.

Passover was the time to remember and celebrate the love of Almighty God for his people. As they partook of this meal, they would sing these Psalms as praise unto God, and a flood of emotions would pass over them during the process. It was not just a time to recite some words, or even sing some songs out of tradition. It was a time they celebrated a miraculous work of God upon their ancestors, as well as a time they looked forward to when God was going to do it again. They longed to see God move like that within their own generation, just as He had done generations before.

On that note, it amazes me how some people think of the Bible as outdated, old fashioned, or simply unimportant to us today. This chapter that we are going to look at today was written thousands of years ago, but yet we find ourselves in exactly the same spot today as they were then. We know the power of our God, we have experienced His mercy, grace, and truth, but yet we long for the day that we see God move upon this land in a mighty, heavenly way. We look for the day when God moves heaven and earth against His enemy and the enemy of His people. One day it is coming, and I believe we are getting closer!!!

With the stage set and the characters in place, let’s read the Psalm and dig in to God’s Holy Word!

Read Psalm 115

Psalm 115 NKJV

1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth. 2 Why should the Gentiles say, “So where is their God?” 3 But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; 6 They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell; 7 They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat. 8 Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them. 9 O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 12 The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. 13 He will bless those who fear the Lord, Both small and great. 14 May the Lord give you increase more and more, You and your children. 15 May you be blessed by the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men. 17 The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor any who go down into silence. 18 But we will bless the Lord From this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!

Content

The Favor of God (vv. 1-3)

Now this is something that is not talked about a whole lot. I think we stray from this topic, because if we are not careful, it can come across as being prideful. With that being said, we want to do our due diligence here, but it is something that we need to talk about nonetheless.

First off, lets nail down exactly what we mean when we say, “The Favor of God”.

God does not play favorites.

We all know this. We read time and time again in scripture that God is no “respecter of persons”.

Acts 10:34 KJV 1900

34 Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:

1 Corinthians 1:23–24 NKJV

23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Galatians 3:26–29 NKJV

26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

When it comes to salvation, God does not favor any one person over any other person. Everyone has the same opportunity to be saved. Everyone has the same opportunity to know the Christ of Calvary.

When we say favor, we are speaking not in terms of salvation, but in terms of sanctification. We are speaking of the blessings of God. We are speaking of the constant presence and attention of God.

In this regard, God will spend more time and energy upon those who lean in the farthest: those who make themselves available to God.

Illustration of the Disciples

How many disciples were there of Jesus? The quick answer is 12, but that is actually not right. There were many disciples of Jesus.

Acts 1:15 NKJV

15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said,

The word “disciple” means “follower”. There were many people who followed Jesus faithfully.

But....how many of those people did Jesus pour into daily according to the Scriptures? Only 12. Jesus chose 12 men to be His daily vessels.

Out of the 12, we see that there was a smaller group that always got to go a little bit farther than the rest.

Peter, James, and John.

Jairus’ daughter being raised to life

Mark 5:35–37 NKJV

35 While He was still speaking, some came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.” 37 And He permitted no one to follow Him except Peter, James, and John the brother of James.

Garden of Gethsemane

Mark 14:32–33 NKJV

32 Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.

Mount of transfiguration

Mark 9:2 NKJV

2 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them.

Out of those 3, there was only one who was referred to in the Scriptures as the “beloved”.

John

John 13:23 NKJV

23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.

Notice that the disciple whom Jesus loved, was the one who leaned in the closest. It was the one who was “leaning on Jesus’ bosom”.

Let’s bring this illustration to the modern-day American Church.

Who are the ones in your church, whom God seems to pour into the most? It is the ones who make themselves the most available to God. It is the ones who are consistently present. It is the ones who consistently make time for God in their daily life. It is the ones who consistently keep their noses in the Scriptures. It is the ones who consistently keep their heads bowed low in prayer. It is the ones who consistently show God that they are serious in their faith by choosing Him over the world.

Now some of you are already thinking, “I have to work or I would be here”; “I have little ones at home, or I would be here”; “I have sick ones at home, or I would be here”, etc.

I completely understand. There are some of you who would be here more if you could be, but because of extenuating circumstances, you are bound to other obligations or are restricted in some way. I get it.

God uses people in monumental ways outside of the Church, just as He does inside of the Church.

I am not a huge sports fan, but we have all heard the stories of basketball coaches, football coaches, as well as many other people in many other ways, who have put their faith first and left a legacy of training not only well-rounded athletes, but also well-rounded Christians.

God can use you exactly where you are right now, but you must make yourself available.

Only you, know how far you are leaning into Christ. Only you!

If you want more of God’s favor on your life, you must survey where you are, and decide where you can lean in more.

How do I do that? That is a great question.

Talk with your spouse, since God did bring you two together and make you one, and make sure they understand your heart.

If your spouse is on board, sit down together and write out every single obligation that you two have from week to week.

Decide together, out of all the things you have going on, what is bringing glory to God and what is not.

There may be some things that are very obvious in your life, that are not glorifying the name of God. Start by removing them completely.

Certain TV shows that you watch every week.

The amount of time you spend on your cell phone.

Illustration of Bible reading.

Average reader can read the Bible in less than one weeks worth of time.

Simply replacing your cell phone time with Bible reading would be a huge step in the right direction.

As you remove those things from your schedule, decide what other things you are going to fill those time slots with.

Family devotion

Prayer

Personal time with God

There will be other things that are more difficult to process:

The kids playing sports requires a lot of time.

Sports are not necessarily bad, but if they are playing 4 different sports, maybe next year, they just play the one. There is no set rule for this, and it is something that you will have to work out amongst yourselves.

Maybe there are some extra-curricular activities that really bring no spiritual benefit to you or your family going on. They are fun, but not necessarily beneficial.

Remember, time with your family is beneficial, and it does not always have to be time in the Word of God.

Have fun with your kids. (Throw the baseball/football, Put up a tent in the backyard, build something with your kids, do a craft with your daughter, let them put make-up on you, watch family friendly movies together and have popcorn and everyone’s favorite candy)

Illustration of time.

1440 minutes in a day - what are you going to do with them?

Maybe there are some things on your schedule that don’t need to vanish, but could be restructured in a way that would bring more of a spiritual impact to it.

Everyone’s schedule is going to look different. There is no right or wrong way to do this as long as the goal is the same for everyone: “To God Be The Glory”!!!

Now, let me shift gears back to those who are consistently giving themselves to God.

You better be careful. There must be a great deal of humbleness exercised with the favor of God. If not, you will become modern-day Pharisees

There is a great deal of danger that goes along with operating under the favor of God, if you do not continue to lean in close.

How many times do we hear of well-respected individuals in the Christian community who, after years of loyal dedication to the Church and God, have a lapse in judgment later on in their lives. Every time this happens, it not only brings shame to that person, it brings shame to their family, the Church where they served, and even to the name of God.

We must be humble as we operate in the favor of God.

The devil will allow you to bask in the blessings of God on purpose for a season. Why? He knows that we are creatures of comfort. He will allow us to get comfortable in our faith. When we get comfortable, we don’t read as much, we don’t pray as much, we don’t lean in as close. Then, he strikes.

Look at the text with me again.

“Not unto us, but to You”

Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth

Israel had been through a lot, but they had seen God move in astronomical ways on their behalf.

He had parted raging rivers, brought down fortified cities, sent angels from heaven to destroy enemy armies and even moved the sun backwards in the sky on their behalf.

How easy it could have been for them to get comfortable. How easy it could have been for them to get the idea that no matter what, God was going to take care of them.

We must remember one thing, the Almighty God of heaven is powerful. The power He uses to deliver can also be used to destroy.

The 70 year captivity of Babylon.

The 70 year captivity of Assyria.

The 40 years of wandering in the desert.

The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.

God has been gracious.

Do not forget what brought the favor of God upon you to start with.

We must continue to lean in. Remember, as we lean into God we are leaning away from the world. If you stop leaning in, you will start leaning away.

Not only must operate in humbleness concerning our relationship to God, but also when dealing with the world.

“So where is their God”

We will be challenged from time to time concerning the validity of God. There will be those who rise against us and scream, “Where is this God you speak of?”

When they say this, the temptation is to say, “Our God is in heaven, where is yours?”

Romans 1 teaches us that the very existence of creation and the synchronicity of which it operates screams that there is a God, and there will be none left with excuse when standing before Him at judgment.

God does not need us to prove His existence, He has already done that.

The challenge is not for us to prove that God exists, the challenge is for them to prove He doesn’t!!

We know this, but they do not. We must be humble when we are dealing with these people and make sure we are leading them to that question within their own heart.

As Christians, we define God as the creator and ruler of the universe and the source of all moral authority; the supreme being.

The world does not believe in God Almighty, and therefore defines god very differently.

Merriam Webster defines god (little g)(worldly definition) as “a person or thing of supreme value”.

The word worship means to give value to something. It is to regard with great respect, honor, or devotion.

Everyone in the existence of mankind worships a god, according to their own definition, whether it is the one true god or not.

This means that two very important truths are naturally instilled within every human being.

We are infused with the knowledge that we are not the supreme being of life. We are not the end all, be all to anything. There are forces out there that are seen and unseen, that are necessary for our survival. We are not God.

We are infused with the tendency to naturally regard those things with great respect, honor, and devotion. In other words, we give great value to those things.

This means they ask us where our God is, disputing that there is no God, while worshipping many gods in their own life unaware.

This leads us to our next point.

The Futility of Graven Images (vv. 4-8)

Their Gods are Dead

They are the work of man’s hands. As we have already stated, man is not God. God is the only one who can breathe life into something, and God will never share His throne.

These gods are dead gods and have no life.

They have mouths but cannot speak.

They have eyes but cannot see.

They have ears but cannot hear.

They have noses but cannot smell.

They have hands but cannot handle.

They have feet but cannot walk.

They are made with all of the necessary parts, but those parts have no life.

Any time you give worship to something less than God Almighty, you are giving worship to something that is undeserving.

He is El-Elyon! This name means He is “The God Most High”. El-Elyon has supremacy over all false gods.

I don’t know about you, but I need a God who is above and beyond me, not beneath me.

I don’t need a God that I created. I need a God that created me.

I need a God who has feet to walk. A God who can walk with me through good times and the bad. A God who can run after me when I lose my way. A God who can carry me when I am too weak to carry myself.

I need a God who has hands to handle. A God who can reach down and pick me up when I fall. A God who can hold my hand as I walk through dangerous territory. A God who can smite the enemies who stand before me and strengthen the brothers and sisters who stand beside me.

I need a God who has eyes to see. A God who can look not only upon my body but into my heart and see what is really going on beneath the surface. A God that can look around the corner and see what is coming in my life before I do. A God who can see what my future holds and prepare me for the destiny I don’t even know exists.

I need a God who has ears to hear. A God who can listen to my prayers as I cry out in agony. A God who will hear the pain and suffering of my heart when I don’t even know what to say. A God who will listen to the misery of my tears as they leave stains on His altar.

I need a God who has a nose to smell. A God who can smell when I got something brewing in my heart that is full of poison. A God who can smell when my intentions are misplaced and my thoughts are misguided.

You say that you don’t want a God nosing around in your business. That’s fine. You can have your gods of stone and clay. Take your gods of silver and gold.

I need a God who can smell the sacrifices of my heart as they are lifted up to Him in praise. A God who can sift through all of the odors in my life and tell what the main ingredients are.

I need a God who has a mouth to speak. A God who can speak into my life what is needed and speak out of my life what is not. A God who will speak what I need to hear and not just what I want to hear. I need a God who will speak truth to me. If there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun, I want to know every single detail of what that looks like. I do not want to be guessing about eternity. I need truth.

Their Gods are Destructive

Notice that it says “Those who make them and put their trust in them are like them”.

These gods are dead. Those who worship them receive nothing from them. How can they?

This means that they get used to nothing.

Performing spiritual acts helps us to sleep better at night, even if those acts are not actually for the glory of God.

Some have been reading the Bible for years. With that, there is a tendency for the Bible reading to become more about checking boxes than actually learning of God.

Some pray every night. With that, there is a tendency to form a kind of recited, shopping-list style prayer that becomes redundant and loses meaning.

Some have been in church their entire lives, but it has been ages since they have actually felt the Spirit of God move within them.

Is this you? Are you just going through the motions? Have you, unknowingly and unaware, allowed someone or something else to take the throne of your heart?

When you worship dead things, you become dead inside as well.

When the object of your worship has no feelings, you begin to accept a life without emotion.

When the object of your worship has no answers, you begin to accept a life without truth.

When the thing you value the most seems to have no interest in you, you begin to accept the idea that maybe you do not matter at all.

You do not dead gods in your life. You need El-Elyon, The God Most High. You need a God who can relate and understand you. You need the one and only living and true God, the God of the Bible.

The Faithfulness of God (vv. 9-15)

Everyone, trust in the Lord

O Israel (O Allons Baptist Church)

O Aaron (O pastors & deacons)

You who fear the Lord (Those of you who do not belong to this church but fear God as we do)

This is a call from God to His children. It is a call to trust in Him. Trust in the Lord.

Why? Because He has been mindful of us (v. 12)

When has He ever let us down yet?

He has always been there.

He has always heard our prayers.

He has always intervened in our lives to bring about the best possible results.

He has always spoke truth into our souls to lead, guide, and direct us.

He has repeatedly shown His love for us, mainly by sending His Son Jesus to die in our place.

What has He done to make us doubt? What has He not done to prove His reliability? We must trust Him. What reason do we have not to?

The term increase here in vs. 14 means to add to.

Remember back then that having children meant carrying on a legacy. It meant carrying on the family name. Having many children was a sign of blessing from God.

Let us not worry about adding to the Church, that is God’s business. Let us focus more on being faithful in our walk with Him, and He will add to the Church daily such as should be saved. He will bring souls for our labor.

That is not to say that we should let the church run down. That is not to say that we should not have a playground for children to enjoy when they come. That is not to say that we should not have outreach programs, go visiting, post things to Facebook and the internet.

We simply do not need to make growing the church the main thing. You can grow a church physically and have no spiritual insight. This is called building a church a mile wide and only an inch deep. We want to make sure we are building the church with depth as it grows in width.

He continues to offer reasons of why we should trust the Lord in vs. 15.

Because the God we serve is the creator of Heaven and earth.

If God can do that, what can’t God do.

He has already earlier in the chapter compared God to the lifeless idols of others, and he is now building on that.

What is it that separates God from them? What is it about God that makes Him different?

It is because He is the only living God. He is El-Elyon! He is The God Most High!

If God created you, who better to take care of you?

If God orchestrated the chain of events that brought you to where you are, can He not also see you through what is in front of you right now?

If God brings you into something, He does so because it is necessary for you. It is beneficial for what is coming later on. It is a preparation for things yet unseen.

We must trust in the Lord.

The Focus of God’s People (vv. 16-18)

The psalmist ends this psalm by once again lifting up praises to God.

Heaven belongs to the Lord. It is His home. It will one day be our home, but right now it is His home, where He dwells.

It is where Jesus is, where He has been now these some two thousand years.

Its wonders are beyond comprehension. Any time Scripture attempts a description of Heaven it resorts to symbolic language. It is as though human language does not have the vocabulary to describe it. Paul cam back from there and said that he saw things “not lawful to be uttered”. In other words, it was indescribable.

The earth He has given to us. We have made a mess of it, but He gave it to us nonetheless. He created this world with everything necessary to sustain life and enjoy life. What a blessing that God would equip us with such an estate.

This tiny little planet is the focus of great interest in heavenly places. Angels and archangels, cherubim and seraphim, thrones and dominions, principalities and powers, the vast empires of God in regions beyond our knowledge, the dark domains of Satan - all are intensely interested in this globe of ours.

Here is the spot where redemption was wrought, where Jesus’ blood was shed, and the spot in which He is to return. This place will be the center of everything for all eternity.

We talk about not being able to wait to get to heaven, but have you ever realized that you are already where Heaven will be. God has allowed you to walk the ground in which His Holy City will one day be built.

What we do now matters. The current generation always lays the foundation for the generation that is to come. We all know that one day this world of flesh will be destroyed and a new Jerusalem will come down, but we don’t know when.

Let us make the best of what we have now, knowing that one day, long after our leaving this place, that we will one day be back. But when we come back to this place, it will have been transformed by the hand of Almighty God.

This is also the focus of the next two verses.

I do not think the word dead here simply refers to physical death.

2 Corinthians 5:8 NKJV

8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

As believers, we will go to be with God as soon as we die here. I also believe that when we are in the presence of the Lord, we will be giving Him praise.

I think this verse is referring back to those in vs. 8. Remember that it said those who worship dead gods will become like them. They will be dead while they yet live. Those who are dead cannot offer praise to a living God.

I think this verse stresses the importance of the praise of His people. We are to praise the Lord, for no one else can.

God has done so much for us, He deserves our praise. Which is what the last verse proclaims:

“We will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!!!

Commitment