Where are the Faithful
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
D.L. Moody once said “The ship is meant to be in the sea. But God help the ship when the sea gets into the ship.” What he is saying here is clear, boats are made to be on the water but if the water is getting in there is a problem and it is sinking. The target of this quote though is to illustrate something though, Christians are meant to be in the world but if the world starts to get into the Christians then there is a big problem. “The ship is meant to be in the sea. But God help the ship when the sea gets into the ship.”
In the passage that I want to look at this morning this is exactly what has happened. Water has gotten in the ship so to speak. There is a great problem and David is crying out. This cry is one just like we may feel today, I think it is one that we should all feel. It is also one that I think we should act on and that is why I want to leave you all with this as we launch into the summer break for our group.
So now I will read Psalm 12.1-2
Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
David is crying out that the godly ones are gone and the faithful have vanished. There is a deep sorrow as he cries out, Save O Lord! He is saying God help us!
In our day I see you men, the godly ones, I see you men, the faithful ones. But where are the rest? I hear stories from the past about the Church as people reminisce about the past and I ask where did it go? What happened? The faithful have vanished.
This is the sad reality that we live in today and it is tough and I often want to cry out to the Lord, help! So what should we do, us the remnant. I have a few points that I want to consider this morning.
Be Disciples
Be Disciples
When we look at the issue we face the first thing that we can do is to increase our own godliness and faithfulness. May we shine brighter in the dark world and be a beacon for Christ.
A few things happen when we each increase in these things, the first is that to some it will be an attractive thing. I have been reading a book lately that is fictitious letters between a guy named Antipas and Luke the apostle. Antipas is a leader in his Roman city and he has all of these priorities or honor and bringing praise to the emperor. In a round about way he begins to send letters to Luke and Luke sends him a copy of the gospel of Luke. They then begin to talk about what is written about Jesus. Luke eventually convinces him to essentially go to church where he is living to meet the believers there. He does this and quickly realizes this is completely against his beliefs about honor and status, yet it is an attractive thing. He becomes a regular here at this house church and I have not got there yet but I know that by the end of the story he will put his faith in Christ.
In that story it is the deep faithfulness and godliness of the people that keeps Antipas coming back. He thinks the story of Jesus is very interesting but he is captivated by the people who order their lives according to it. In the same way to those whom God is working on their hearts, our godliness and faithfulness can be an attractive thing.
The second thing that can happen when we increase ourselves is that we can build a strong sense of community knowing that we are not alone. When we are doing this others can look at us and see that they are not the only ones striving for this but there are others too. This encouragement alone can bring great change. Think about this, David is crying out because he feels alone. Through increasing ourselves others can see that they are not alone.
Make Disciples
Make Disciples
The second thing that we can do in a world where the godly and faithful and decreasing is to make disciples. Consider the passage you all know very well Matthew 28.19
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
This is the great command by Jesus but it is often misunderstood. The facet that we look at most with this verse is evangelism but this neglects so much when nothing else is taught about. Making disciples starts with evangelism but then it goes to teaching them the way of Christ. Teaching them to be faithful and godly. For example Rod here sits with one of my youth boys each week after church and does exactly that.
In the disciple making process we need more men walking with other men and helping them be built up in the faith, helping them to grow in godliness. I know of a lot of guys around here that profess faith in Jesus but are not walking like godly faithful men and how are we to expect them to when we are not there instructing them in the way that they are to go.
The faithful have vanished, so let us teach men to be faithful, the godly are gone, so let us raise up godly men.
Evangelism is important in this as well and we should not neglect it we should just learn to not stop at it. We need to all get in a regular habit of sharing the gospel. This is an intimidating thing to do. This could look like asking a guy you know that does not attend church where he is spiritually or why he doesn’t attend. Maybe it is somebody that does attend but you don’t know where they are spiritually, ask them. Say hey you have been coming around for quite a while and I was wondering where you are spiritually. These simple questions can launch you into a spiritual conversation.
On the topic of evangelism too we need to know what the gospel truly is and how we are saved. God made everything perfect, man brought sin into the world, sin is a problem we all have and need forgiven for, Jesus died and rose again so that we could be forgiven, and it is faith and repentance that saves. This is a true heart change that we are seeking. We are not looking for people to pray a little prayer we are looking for them to put their faith in Jesus and it to be true faith that leads them to live godly and faithful lives.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone;
for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
Everyone utters lies to his neighbor;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
The sad reality is that this Psalm is our cry as well but how joyous that we get to take part in the solution. Change starts with ourselves. When we change ourselves it will lead to outward results and we will start to make disciples. We will share the gospel with passion and clarity and then we will teach them to observe all that Jesus commanded us.
The beauty of it too is that Jesus is with us the whole way, we have the power of the Holy Spirit. May we seize this power and go forth in the fight. It is men that are to lead the charge and that is what we are to do. My prayer for all of us this morning is that we would realize the problem that is before us and we would feel its weight and then we would react to it just as teh godly and faithful should. Let’s pray.
