Remember God in Your Isolation

Psalm 56 ESV

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A Miktam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. 1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; 2 my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. 3 When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. 4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? 5 All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. 6 They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life. 7 For their crime will they escape? In wrath cast down the peoples, O God! 8 You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? 9 Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me. 10 In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, 11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? 12 I must perform my vows to you, O God; I will render thank offerings to you. 13 For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.

1 Samuel 21 - David flees from Saul and pretends to be insane - v12 David was afraid

This message is part of the remember conference, an online conference at rememberconference.com from June 22-29.

It is a free event. You don’t need to register but by registering online you will receive a free digital copy of pastor John MacArthur's book, None Other

For this year’s Remember Conference, I am preaching on the topic: Remember God in Your isolation

In eternity past there was the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Perfect unity, perfect communion, perfect peace, perfect joy. And perfect love. They were not alone. They were not isolated.

And it was decreed that in the goodness of God and for the glory of God that the trinity would create. That they would delight in sharing this love with their creation. But knowing that their creation needed to be able to freely experience this love they also knew that their creation could also freely reject their love.

And so in the plan of sharing their love there was also the plan of redemption. A redemption that involved a demonstration of the greatness of God’s love, a love so great that it involved the ultimate act of love - the giving of the Son of God as the sinless savior of the world.

A love so great that the apostle John describes it this way:

1 John 3:1 ESV

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

What kind of love does the Father have for you?

We know He loves the lost...

John 3:16 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

We know He loves the church...

Ephesians 5:25 ESV

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

But what about God’s love for you?

The Trinity's Love for You is Lavish, Unending and Perfectly Complete

The upper room discourse, Jesus has washed their feet, Jesus has said the world will know that they are his disciples if they have love for one another.

But how will the world know that Jesus loves the disciples? How will the disciples themselves know that jesus loves them?

Let us go deeper than the children;s song: Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so

What does the Bible say that shows us the Lavish, Unending and Perfectly complete Love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?

How can I know that I am never alone, that in my isolation God is always with me?

In John 14 we see the love of the Father Son and Holy Spirit. A love that is always with the believer.

(1) It is a Prepared love (John 14:1-3)

John 14:1–3 ESV

1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

(1) It is a Prepared love (John 14:1-3)

(2) It is a Revealed love (John 14:4-9)

John 14:4–9 ESV

4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

(2) It is a Revealed love (John 14:4-9)

(3) It is an Empowering love (John 14:16-20)

John 14:10–20 ESV

10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

(3) It is an Empowering love (John 14:16-20)

v10 the Father who dwells in me - the mystery of indwelling

v16 he will give you another helper - Jesus is the first helper, but this time the HS will be with you forever

v 17 - whom the world cannot receive - he dwells with you and will be in you

RC Sproul - comforter - com forte - the one who comes alongside to strengthen

v18 - I will not leave you as orphans - the wonderful doctrine of adoption - oh how l love people who adopt. We are not orphans, we are loved and cared for and cherished.

(4) It is an indwelling love (John 14:21-31)

John 14:21–31 ESV

21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. 25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

(4) It is an indwelling love (John 14:21-31)

v21 I will love him and manifest myself to him ( to cause something to be fully known by revealing clearly and in some detail—‘to make known, to make plain, to reveal, to bring to the light, to disclose, revelation.’)

v22 - the other Judas - you may know him as Thaddeus, or by the name Jude - his question was sincere. How will our relationship with you be different than the world’s?

v23 - my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him

v26 - how? - by sending the Holy Spirit, the Helper - the role of the trinity in loving you - the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit

Notice that the love of God is a prepared love, it is a revealed love, it is an empowering love, it is an indwelling love

Notice how much deeper and more lavish and how much more personal the love of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is for the believer.

Yes God loves the lost but his love for you is so much more. So lavish, never ending, so complete and perfect.

But how should we respond to this wonderful, lavish love of God?

We love, we share, we keep on loving, we worship

We love

1 John 4:19 ESV

We love because he first loved us.

We share

2 Corinthians 5:14 ESV

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;

The love of Christ controls us

(37.17 ὑπερέχωb; συνέχωa; κατέχωd: to exercise continuous control over someone or something—‘to control, to restrain.’ )

Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 473.

In the same way that the Holy Trinity wanted to share the love they have for one another with us, we need to have the same generous attitude in loving the lost.

We often get beat up in our failures but we forget that love is described from the perspective of God. When John writes that God is love we then need to see that God is patient and kind. We need to understand that while for the believer love never fails there will come a point where the wrath of God will be poured out on everyone who rejects Christ and so while Christ is patient with the unbeliever and is kind with the unbeliever he is a jealous God and he wants us to turn to him from the idols we have made.

We keep on loving, we don’t stop

1 Peter 4:8 ESV

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Love does not ignore sin - it confronts sin out of love, it forgives sin out of love

We worship

Romans 5:5 ESV

and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

We worship because of the hope that those who are lavishly loved are able to possess.