Is God First?

Introduction

2 Samuel 12:1–13 KJV 1900

1 And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: 3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up: and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man’s lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 5 And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: 6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 8 And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. 9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 11 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

David got to the place where he exalted his own desires above obedience to the commandment of God

He would never have thought that, and if you would have asked him, I’ve no doubt he would say he put God first in everything

Even when his actions told an entirely different story, he was still able to believe he was putting God first

Body

Talk about king David leading up to this

We are in the grip of self-deception when we are committed to certain values and we begin to act against those values

We don’t want to take responsibility for our actions

Here we have two choices

Either fess up, be honest with ourselves and admit our guilt

Cover it up. Justify it. Excuse it.

More times than we’d like to admit, we choose #2

Jeremiah 17:9 “9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

We know David was in the throes of self-deception because he felt no remorse. No guilt for what he had done

He, like us, probably created false narratives, excuses, justifications, cover-ups, denials, and rationales to convince himself he was still right in the sight of God

I love Bathsheba and the rules don’t matter

Our love is different. It must be from God

She consented to the affair so she must have wanted out of her marriage anyway

I’m the king!!!

It wouldn’t have been too difficult to get to the place where he was completely justified in his actions

BUT HE WASN’T!!!

Sometimes self-deception is impossible for us to see in ourselves

Haggai 1:1–9 KJV 1900

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying, 2 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built. 3 Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, And this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; Ye eat, but ye have not enough; Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; Ye clothe you, but there is none warm; And he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; And I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord. 9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; And when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, And ye run every man unto his own house.

You ever been in a place where it seems the harder you try to make things work out for yourself, the more they don’t?

Synopsis of Haggai

God wanted them to rebuild His temple so that He would have the preeminence in their lives

Numbers 2 - God commanded that when they set up camp, the Tabernacle was to be at the center

Exodus 20:3 “3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

Since their return, it had been 16 years and all they had done was built the foundation of the temple

They seemed to have plenty of time to rebuild their own homes and lives…without the Temple

But no time…in 16 years…to work on God’s House

Deuteronomy 6:4-5 “4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: 5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

Mark 12:30 “30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”

Did they love the Lord their God with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their might?

Matthew 15:8 “8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”

Jeremiah 3:10 “10 And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord.”

Now to us

Do we love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our might?

Are we building our own lives, our own careers, our own families, our own plans WITHOUT God?

Is God in the center of EVERYTHING we’re doing?

Who gets to be in the center of our lives?

Who gets to be God? Who has the authority?

Or, are we in the grip of self-deception this evening?

Matthew 6:24–34 KJV 1900

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Do we live our lives as if this were true?

“Well, we gotta eat!”

“We have to meet our responsibilities!”

“If you don’t work you don’t eat!”

“God wants me to enjoy life!”

“God wants me to be happy!”

Etc...

If God told you to quit your job, or told you to sign over your retirement, or told you to start working someplace else, would you be able to obey that command, or would excuses and rationalization kick in?

Who is providing your needs?

Your employer?

The government?

God?

Is our heart’s desire always toward the things of God, or is it sometimes toward what will please me at the expense of serving God?

Conclusion

I Corinthians 10 31 “31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

EVERYTHING we do should ultimately be serving, or giving glory to God

It will give God glory when He is pleased with our activities

Haggai 1:8 “8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; And I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.”

Colossians 1 16 “16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”

EVERYTHING is God’s, and is created for Him

That includes you, and me

That includes every material possession God has blessed us with

That includes the time we have access to

Matthew 10:37-39 “37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”

Luke 14 33 “33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”

This is at the heart of putting God first in our lives. Does He come before EVERYTHING?

We need to recognize that EVERYTHING is the Lord’s, and He does with His possession as He chooses

Proverbs 3 6 “6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths.”

Deuteronomy 28:1–14 KJV 1900

1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: 2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. 3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. 5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. 6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. 7 The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. 8 The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 9 The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. 10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11 And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. 13 And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: 14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.