Sermon for 9/11/22 "Todays Fools?" 17 Minutes

Psalm 14

This morning I'll be reading Psalm chapter 14 verses 1 through 7. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Psalm 14 This psalm,,, stated to be written by David,,, talks about the way that God looks down,,, and sees that the people have turned away from Him. Psalm 14 (HCSB) For the choir director. Davidic. 1 The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.” They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God. 3 All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one. 4 Will evildoers never understand? They consume My people as they consume bread; they do not call on the Lord. 5 Then they will be filled with terror, for God is with those who are righteous. 6 You sinners frustrate the plans of the afflicted, but the Lord is his refuge. 7 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday we looked at Luke 14:25-33 and we seen that there is a “Cost Versus Gain”,,, and that the cost of following Jesus must be considered,,, even though the gain is greater than anything that we can imagine.

But once that is done,,, and we have fully decided to follow Jesus,,, the “Cost versus Gain” is worth it.

But we must understand the cost,,, and be committed when we make that decision.

That’s not the end of the process,,, that’s when you actually begin to work towards perfection.

The prayer time,,, Bible study,,, time spent with the Lord each day,,, Sunday school,,, worship service,,, all of these are a part of the learning process,,, the way to strengthen your relationship with God,,, all of these things can be done,,,

But they must be done diligently.

You don’t need to begin,,, but then,,, put it off for awhile.

Because if you do,,, you stand the chance of being left behind.

So remember,,, the work starts at the time you accept Christ,,, it doesn’t end,,, it continues!

This morning we will look at these verses in Psalm 14 and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

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Today is the 21st anniversary of 9/11 and the terror that we witnessed that day.

The ones responsible for this terrible day are going to answer for the deaths that they have caused.

It was a stressful day in our history,,, but at the same time,,, for a little while,,, we came together as Americans,,, without thought of anything dividing us.

I long for that feeling of belonging together that we all experienced immediately afterward.

We know that these individuals were confused in their way of thinking,,, and apparently that clouded their judgement.

They thought that it would strike terror in our hearts,,, but instead,,, it brought us together as a nation,,, not for long,,, but long enough to make a difference during that time.

The “fools” that David talks about here might have had the same thoughts.

But as we will see,,, that never works where God is concerned.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 1 says: 1 The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.” They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good.

The creed of the fool is “There is no God.”

He does not want there to be a God,,, therefore he denies the existence of God.

It is an irrational position to take.

First of all,,, it is a claim to omniscience; it says, “I know everything. It is not possible that a God could exist if I don’t know about it.”

Second,,, this attitude claims omnipresence; it says, “I am present in all places at one and the same time, and it is not possible that God could exist any where in the universe without my knowledge.”

This position ignores the wonders of God in creation—the immensity of the universe,,, the amazingly precise movement of the planets,,, the way that the earth can sustain life,,, the intricate design of the human body,,, the fantastic complexity of the human brain,,, and on and on,,,

When you look at pictures of the earth that are taken from outer space,,, you can’t help but be amazed at the way that everything fits and works together.

The earth rotates just right.

Not too fast or too slow.

Best position in relation to the sun,,, so that we can survive.

The pictures of the planets surrounding earth are amazing as well.

Everything rotating just so,,, and always staying on course.

The possibility that all this happened by chance is too unbelievable.

That is why the Bible says that atheists are fools.

They are moral fools.

It is not a question of their intelligence,,, but a question of their morality.

God’s verdict on these fools is that they are corrupt in themselves and that they act in a way that doesn’t glorify God,,, which is what we are supposed to do.

There is a close connection between what a man believes,,, and his conduct.

The lower his conception of God,,, the lower his morals tend to be.

The belief that there is no God is usually found in those that desire to live a wicked life,,, or already actually live a wicked life,,, with a desire to justify themselves and to avoid the fear of punishment.

But that will never work,,, as we see from the next verses.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 2 and 3 say: 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God. 3 All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.

We have a tendency to forget that God watches us.

He is with us every second of the day,,, at all times,,, no matter what we are doing.

God notices the bad things that we do,,, the things that are not so bad,,, and,,, the good things that we do as well.

But here David says that God looks down from heaven to see,,, if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God.

And,,, His findings are dismal.

If God would have left us alone,,, we would never seek God on our own.

It’s only through the Holy Spirit that we become aware of our need of Him.

Especially in the midst of the turmoil that we live in.

Paul quotes from the first three verses of this Psalm in Romans 3:10–12 to show that sin has affected all mankind and every part of everyone’s being.

Here in this Psalm,,, David is not thinking about the whole human race,,, although the description would certainly be true; --- instead,,, he is thinking of those that deny God in contrast to the righteous.

They are morally corrupt.

God cannot find one of them who does good,,, it says,,, There is no one who does good, not even one.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 4 through 6 say: 4 Will evildoers never understand? They consume My people as they consume bread; they do not call on the Lord. 5 Then they will be filled with terror, for God is with those who are righteous. 6 You sinners frustrate the plans of the afflicted, but the Lord is his refuge.

The ignorance of those that deny God,,, is apparent in the way they treat God’s people.

If they realized how God defends the poor and punishes sin,,, they would never treat believers the way that they do!

If they knew the goodness,,, and,,, along with that goodness,,, the severity of God,,, they would not go through life without praying.

When the Lord takes the side of the innocent,,, the unrighteous will be greatly terrified.

They had always mocked the poor for their simple faith,,, but now they will see that the God they denied,,, is the refuge of His own.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 7 says: 7 Oh, that Israel’s deliverance would come from Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of His people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be glad.

David says,,, What a glorious day that will be,,, when Jesus comes out of Zion to deliver His people.

Israel’s joy will be unbounded when Christ’s Jewish saints are fully and finally rescued from captivity among the nations that deny the only true God.

What a glorious day it will be for us,,, when Jesus returns,,, and every knee shall bow,,, and we are rescued from the captivity of the sin of this world! ----------------------------------------------------------- David wrote this psalm during a troubling time for Israel.

A time when God looked down from heaven,,, to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God. 3 All have turned away; all alike have become corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one.

But David knew that the day will come when the people that didn’t believe in God would have to answer for their mistakes.

We are witnesses of these things as well.

When people get confused about God and use religion to justify their mistakes,,, we must remember that one day they will answer for those times that they used violence as a way to get what they want.

We want their punishment to come today,,, but God gives them chances to turn their life around just like He did for each one of us.

It helps when we look back at the terrible things that are going on around us,,, to know that one day,,, they will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,,, and at His name,,, every knee shall bow,,, and every tongue confess,,, and they will answer for those times,,, unless they turn from their wicked ways,,, just as those of Israel did,,, time after time.

We’ve gone through a lot of hard,,, tough times,,, but to know that these psalms exist to help us in our faith,,, to give us the word that we need,,, to continue forward,,, no matter what trial we are going through at the time,,, that’s a comforting thought.

And one that David wanted everyone to remember going forward.

----------------------------------------------------------- So as we begin our new week of work in our individual communities,,, remember these verses in this psalm.

Hopefully they will help us to remember that,,, no matter how much someone professes that God doesn’t exist,,, the day will come when they will see the error of their ways,,, and regret their actions at that time.

And they will help us to understand that even when it seems unlikely,,, God “is” in control,,, we just need to keep believing and living as God would have us to do.

Because we have our own set of “Today's Fools” as well!

They might not be as outspoken,,, but the way that they live their lives seem to say that there is no God!

And they will answer for their mistakes,,, just like those of David’s time!

So be sure that you continue in faith,,, living a life pleasing to God,,, and don’t worry about things that you cannot control!

God will take care of us,,, just as He has,,, all throughout the Old and New Testament,,, for those that have gone,,, before us!

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