DATE: 4-19-26

As always, it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time or if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend. In his letter, James has taken some teachings from his older brother and is showing us how to apply what Jesus taught to everyday life. Thus — when we listen to James — we’re learning what it means to be wise — for wisdom is taking God at his Word and applying his Word to our lives. So let’s see what James has for us today.

If you have your Bible, please turn with me to James chapter three. We’ll be in James chapter three — looking at verses one through twelve together today. We’re in James chapter three — beginning in verse one. There we read…

James 3:1–12 ESV

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. 2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. 3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Years ago, someone said, “Direction, not intention, determines your destination.” What the person was pointing out is that — often — we give our intentions way more credit than they deserve. 

• We may intend to improve our health. 
• We may intend to have a loving marriage. 
• We may intend to raise our children to know and love Jesus. 

There are lots of things that we intend — or have the intent to do — but direction, not intention, ultimately determines our destination.

Our intention is to improve our health, but for many, our direction is towards an inactive lifestyle and foods that are full of sugar and other highly processed ingredients that aren’t great for us. And, our direction determines our destination — not being as healthy as we intend to be.

Our intention is to have a loving marriage, but our direction — working extra late hours to impress our boss, coming home and gluing ourselves to screens, not praying together as husband and wife — leads to a marriage that resembles having a roommate rather than a spouse.

Our intention is to raise our children to know and love Jesus, but our direction — not having family devotional times, not regularly attending church, allowing sports and other activities to control our calendars — leads to children who are disinterested in Jesus.

Direction, not intention, determines your destination.

But what determines our direction? What causes us to go this way instead of that — to make this decision instead of that one? If direction, not intention, determines our destination — what determines our direction? James is going to tell us that it’s our words. The words we say out loud and the words we say to ourselves in our heads, are what determine our direction in life. And — to make this personal — your words are determining the direction of your life.

Earlier in James, we read…

James 1:19 ESV

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;

James also told us…

James 1:26 ESV

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

So the tongue and our words aren’t a new topic for James. He’s just going to show us a bit more about this very practical topic — the power of our words.

But there’s one more question for us. If direction, not intention, determines our destination. And our words are what determine our direction — what determines our words? I mean, if our words are this important — if they determine our direction, which leads to the destination our lives are headed to — what determines our words? This is the question we’ll let Jesus answer.

But before we get to his answer, let’s return to our verses, where we find a warning about our words. Then we’ll look at both words of cursing and words of blessing, before we turn to Jesus’ answer to our final question.

A WARNING TO TEACHERS (AND TO ALL OF US)

So, first, a warning. We’re in verse one.

James 3:1 ESV

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

So James starts with a warning directed at teachers. And, to be clear, he means teachers of God’s Word. And his point is this: Those of us who teach God’s Word use words to do so. And, because we use words, we’re going to be judged with greater strictness because the words we say — one — usually have a much bigger audience than what most people experience — and two — when one teaches God’s Word, you are saying words of eternal importance. 

Now, with this warning, James isn’t trying to get Bible teachers to quit. He doesn’t want to stop people from becoming Bible teachers. He’s just warning us that the more words you speak, and teachers speak more words than most, the more evaluation God is doing of what you say. And, unfortunately, the more you speak, the more you can become careless with the words you say — especially when we fail to heed the warning James gave earlier about being quick to listen and slow to speak. 

On Tuesday, I was at BGSU to do a Q&A session with students. I’ve been doing this for a few years now. And college ministries always start past my bedtime. We spent over an hour on questions and answers, with follow-up questions sent in response to something I said in my answer to a previous question — it was a great time, and I love seeing how eager the next generation is to understand how the Christian faith applies to life. 

This is just one example of how teachers of God’s Word are often asked to give their opinion on something or answer an individual’s question, meaning they speak, speak, speak into all kinds of situations. And more words usually — not always — but usually more words mean more errors — especially when it’s past your bedtime. Thus, those who teach — and not just preach on a big stage like this — but those who take on any form of teaching the Bible to others — are warned: Be careful with your words.

But James’s warning isn’t solely for those of us who teach. In fact, his warning to teachers is meant to grab our attention — so that we hear his general warning that’s for all of us. James continues in verse two with…

James 3:2 ESV

2 For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.

Notice that he doesn’t say that teachers stumble in many ways. Nor does he say that “only teachers” stumble in many ways. The verse says, “We all stumble in many ways.” And “we” is inclusive. It includes teachers and non-teachers. It includes men and women. Young and old. Christians and non-Christians. His point is simple: All of us have stumbled when it comes to the words we’ve said.

The word “stumble” means to be defeated. Defeated by what? Sin. This is the word James used in the previous chapter when he wrote…

James 2:10 ESV

10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

“Fails” is the same word as “stumble.” Remember, when it comes to being right with God by the law, the standard is perfection. You must obey all of the law, or you’ve failed. And now — in our chapter — James acknowledges that we’ve all failed — or stumbled — in many ways when it comes to the words that come out of our mouths. For if you hadn’t stumbled — or failed — with your words, you’d be a perfect man or woman. You’d be able to control your entire being when it comes to sin and its temptations. He explains it this way.

James 3:3–8 ESV

3 If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. 4 Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. 5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

By way of illustration, James shows us the power of our words. Though we’ve got some folks in our church with farms and animals, horses and bits aren’t used by as many of us as in James’s day. The same goes for rudders of a ship. If we were to use a twenty-first-century illustration, we’d say the tongue is like the steering wheel in your car. The steering wheel is a small part of the car, but it determines the direction the car is headed. And that’s what your words are like.

In contrast to our tongues, James first brings up animals. And he reminds us of how we’ve tamed all kinds of animals and creatures. We can go to a zoo, see all kinds of dangerous animals behind glass, and be amazed by their beauty without fearing their power. That’s what the word tame means in our verses. It means to subdue or make something your subject. And, what James is saying, is that though we’ve tamed and made subject all kinds of beasts and animals — this little part of our body — the tongue, representing our words, can’t be tamed. We can’t subdue it, we can’t break it in, we can’t make it our subject. Even those of us who “bite our tongues” still say some awful things to other people or to ourselves.

James goes so far as to say that the tongue is set on fire by hell, and the tongue sets our lives on fire. I wonder if you’ve experienced this? 

You don’t have to live very long to be burned by the fire of hell coming out of the mouth of someone else, do you? Just like it doesn’t take long in life to see how your words can cause destruction and pain, not only to others, but to your own life. 

• Our lives can be suddenly on fire because of some words that came out of our mouths. 
• Relationships are no more because words of fire came out of your mouth. 
• Unemployment because words of fire came out of your mouth. 
• Self-hatred because of words of fire that — even if they’ve never been spoken out loud — are on repeat in your mind constantly — setting your life on fire. And not a holy refining fire — but the destructive fire that comes from hell.

James — being familiar with the Old Testament — probably had passages in mind like…

Proverbs 16:27 NLT

27 Scoundrels create trouble; their words are a destructive blaze.

He may have been thinking of…

Proverbs 26:21 NLT

21 A quarrelsome person starts fights as easily as hot embers light charcoal or fire lights wood.

People who like to quarrel and fight use their words like hot embers, igniting a fire. And though fire isn’t mentioned, James could’ve been thinking of these words of King David.

Psalm 140:1–3 NLT

1 O Lord, rescue me from evil people. Protect me from those who are violent, 2 those who plot evil in their hearts and stir up trouble all day long. 3 Their tongues sting like a snake; the venom of a viper drips from their lips.

Which is quoted by Paul when he writes…

Romans 3:10–14 NLT

10 As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous — not even one. 11 No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. 12 All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” 13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.” 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

• Foul talk — words that have a stench to them like decaying flesh. We once had a mouse die in the wall of our home. The stench — from such a small creature — was awful. 
• Our tongues are filled with lies — like venom dripping from our lips. We put labels on bottles to make sure we avoid ingesting poison. If only we had labels to warn people that poison was about to be spewed at them from our mouths.
• And our mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. 

What an indictment about our words — about your words — about my words. 

I wonder how you’re responding to what God’s Word is saying to you about your words? 

• Are you dismissing what you’re hearing — “none of this is true of me.” 
• Are you pointing the finger — “So and so needs to hear this.”
• Are you ashamed — “Man, I’ve said some horrible things.” 
• Or are you hoping for an answer — “What am I supposed to do about this?” 

How are you responding to what God is saying to you about the words you speak?

Something important for all of us to see is what James says in verse eight. He says…

James 3:8 ESV

8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

About this verse, Augustine — who lived in the fourth century — said, “James does not say ‘no one came tame the tongue’, but ‘[no human being],’ so that, when it is tamed, we admit that it was done by the mercy of God, the assistance of God, the grace of God.” 

So, first, know that it’s impossible for you to tame your tongue. That’s the bad news. Now, the good news. Though it’s impossible for any human to tame their tongue, it’s not impossible for God. In fact, God’s power over our tongues is seen in an incredible moment in the early life of the church. Forty days after Jesus’ resurrection…

Acts 2:1–4 NLT

1 On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.

These tongues of ours — which can spew fire from hell that burns others and sets destruction to our lives — God — as we just saw — is able to use for his own purpose. He can set his people’s tongues ablaze with a message of holy fire — the gospel — the news of what Jesus has done in his life, death, and resurrection. And when God’s people submit their words to God’s authority, the gospel message will go forth like a fire setting a forest ablaze. 

And the question for each of us is this: Which fire will come out of our mouths? Words that come from the fire of hell or words that come from the fire of Heaven?

WORDS OF CURSING AND BLESSING

Which leads us to words of cursing and words of blessing. Let’s briefly look at the difference between the words from hell and the words of Heaven. We’re in verse nine. There, James writes…

James 3:9–12 ESV

9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

In the beginning God spoke, and he said, “Let there be light” — and there was light. God speaks, and blessings follow. Whether it be life to all that exists or a wife for Adam, who was alone in the Garden. God speaks, and blessings follow. 

And a truth that James emphasizes is how all people are made in the likeness of God. Part of our being made in God’s likeness — or image — is that God created us to use our words in a way that images — or reflects — or is like the way he uses words. And how are we to reflect — or imitate — how God uses words? By speaking words of blessing.

But — after God speaks — we come to Genesis chapter three, where Satan speaks. And do you know what Satan got Adam and Eve to doubt? God’s word of blessing to them.

Genesis 3:1–4 NLT

1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’ ” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman.

Now the woman spoke back to Satan with information that wasn’t accurate. And Satan both uses her inaccurate words — and twists God’s words — resulting in the man and the woman disobeying God, leading to sin entering God’s creation and us all living under a curse. The snake of hell spoke words from hell to deceive the man and woman into inviting hell into God’s perfect creation. And ever since, we’ve all used our words to curse each other.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never”…how does it go? That’s right. “But words will never hurt me.” What a lie. One person has said, “It’s a terrible thing that children have gotten hold of this nursery poem. Let me tell you what the poem should say. [It should say…} ‘Sticks and stones can only break my bones, but words can pollute and distort and destroy my very soul.’ [But that] doesn’t rhyme.”

With our words, we curse people who are made in the likeness — or image — of God. And, we do so, as Christians. We curse people with our words while we use our words to bless our God in Heaven. And, about this reality, James says…

James 3:10 NLT

10 Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!

Though a freshwater spring does what God created it to do — it produces fresh water. And though a fig tree produces figs, as God created it to do. And an olive tree produces olives, and a vine produces grapes, and an apple tree produces apples, and so on — though all of these creations do what God made them to do — our tongues don’t. Our tongues are like a banana tree producing apples. Yet our tongues — which were created to produce words of blessing — which demonstrate our being made in God’s image — instead produce words of cursing in the image of our Enemy. So, yes, James. This isn’t right!

CONCLUSION: JESUS THE TEACHER TO LISTEN TO

Which leads us to our only hope. His name is Jesus. And Jesus said quite a bit about our words. To some religious leaders, he said…

Matthew 12:34–37 NLT

34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. 35 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. 36 And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. 37 The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.”

Another time he said…

Mark 7:20–23 NLT

20 And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. 21 For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

Ultimately, the words of cursing that we speak — whether to ourselves or to others — reveal something about the condition of our hearts. It reveals to us the curse we all live under because of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God’s words of blessing to them. And we’re incapable of changing the condition of our hearts. Thus, we need a word spoken to us by Someone whose words can change us — and our hearts — forever. 

As someone has said, “We need words. Words are powerful. We don’t have a self without words. You can say all you want, ‘All that matters is how I feel about myself.’ No. Somebody from the outside has to tell you you’re valuable. Somebody from the outside has to tell you you’re great. Somebody from the outside has to tell you you’re acceptable, or you won’t believe it. The Bible tells us God said to his Son, “You are my beloved Son in whom I’m well pleased.” The Bible tells us that if we believe in Jesus, the Father loves us in the same way as he loves his own Son. Until you hear over and over and over in your own heart through prayer, through reading the Word of God, through a variety of ways, unless you hear God saying to you, “You are my beloved child in whom I’m well pleased”…Until you hear a word from the outside that tells you who you are, you’re going to be trying desperately, through all kinds of duplicity and all kinds of deception, to create a self by getting people to tell you how great you are…[You see,] underneath it all, we know we’re unacceptable until [a] word from the outside [says…] “This is my beloved child in whom I’m well pleased.” That’ll heal your tongue. It’ll set your tongue on fire with a different kind of fire, the fire that came down at Pentecost, [a fire] not from hell but from heaven.”

I wonder if, even right now, you’re hearing that life-changing word from Someone else? A word from the God who created you. A word from Jesus, who came to live and die for you because he loves you. A word from the Spirit of God who is saying right now, “Receive my word: You are loved. You are forgiven. You are set free from the curse. You are mine.” I wonder whose word you’re listening to right now? The word of the Serpent, who wants to keep you enslaved under his curse, or the word of the God who is in Heaven, who created you, and who wants to set you free?

Later this year, my friend and fellow pastor, Alan Wright, will be with us. Alan has written many books, including The Power to Bless: How to Speak Life and Empower the People You Love. I was so impacted by Alan’s book that I bought all the staff and elders a copy for Christmas last year and invited Alan to come speak on the topic so we can all learn to use our words to be better blessers of others. 

So if you want to be someone who uses your words to bless God and others — and even yourself — grab a copy of Alan’s book — again, it’s titled The Power to Bless. There’s a QR code at your campus’s Resource Center if you forget the title. If your Life Group is looking for something to study, it’d be a great option. And be sure to block off your calendar for the weekend of October 18th when Alan will be with us. He’s going to teach a Saturday seminar on blessing others with our words and preach for us during our worship services that weekend. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for being a God who speaks. Who speaks words of blessing over your people and creation. As Creator, you have made each of us in your image — creating us to use our words to mirror your words — which are words of blessing.

Spirit, we confess that because of the curse and our own sinful choices, we’ve often used our words to curse others instead of blessing them. We’ve even used our words to curse ourselves. We confess this, ask for forgiveness, and Spirit, we ask you to lead us in a new direction with our words. Teach us how to bless. Guide us in what we say. All so that we reflect our God who blesses others with his words as we bless a world full of people who are desperate to hear some good news.

And, Jesus, you are God’s Word in flesh. The perfect Word of blessing to your people. And you continue to speak words of blessing to us. May we have ears to hear, so that our hearts and lives are forever changed, so that we head in a new direction. A direction of blessing others — for that is who you have called, created, and saved us to be. Thank you for this purpose. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / Resource Center for QR to book)

May you go imitating the God who had created you in his image by using your words to bless others. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 2-8-26

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

PASTORAL PRAYER

Today we’re going to start something new — a time of pastoral prayer. It’s actually not really new — just an old practice that we’re going to renew in our worship time together. Where — each week — we’ll be more intentional about praying for people, circumstances, and situations going on in our congregation, community, country, and the world. One critique of the contemporary church in the US is how prayer is often just a time of transition — a time for the worship team to get on or off the stage. Yet prayer — historically — has been a sacred practice by God’s gathered people. So we’re going to take time each week to develop this sacred practice even more than what has been our practice around here. 

Feel free to take these prayers — or the topics prayed for — and use them throughout the week. For — when God’s people unite together in prayer — quite often — amazing things happen. So — with that — please join me in prayer.

Gracious Father, we begin by praising you for being a God who is full of generosity towards your creation and especially your people. You are the God who meets our every need according to your glorious riches in Christ Jesus. And you have called us to be a generous people. 

Holy Spirit, thank you for teaching us what it means to be generous. We ask you to inspire in us an ever increasing spirit of generosity as a congregation. Thank you for the faithful giving of your people in this local church — and stretch us towards even greater generosity.

For our local community, Father, Son, and Spirit, I want to bring before you other local pastors in our city — friends of mine — my co-laborers in ministry. For pastor Blair at Living Hope, pastor Mike at First Naz, pastor Chris at Cedar Creek, pastor Travis at Bible Methodist, pastor Kirk at College First, and pastor Ken at the Upper Room — may you speak through them in a mighty way this morning. Change lives for all eternity as your Word is preached through these men. May they trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to speak through them to awaken many to new life in Christ.

As we turn our attention to our nation — tonight is a night when many will be gathered to enjoy a football game. Enjoyment of such things are good gifts from you. So my prayer for our nation is that this evening — for many people — hundreds of thousands of people even — that the joy they find in watching the Super Bowl would point them to the infinitely greater joy that’s found in Jesus. For football games come and go — even Super Bowl victories for our team are nothing more than fleeting moments — but Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And the joy that’s found in him endures forever.

Finally — as we now pray for the world — we lift up to you the Arora people group. Nearly four point one million people who — today — don’t believe in Jesus because they haven’t heard about him. Your Word tells us that “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” — may men, women, and children of the Arora people group look up to the sky, recognize that you exist, and see their need to be in right relationship with you. And Father we ask that — at the very moment when they recognize their need — may someone you’ve called and anointed for this very purpose bring them the Good News of Jesus Christ. Though this may seem impossible to us — nothing is impossible for you. For you are the God who is orchestrating all things for the good of the people that Jesus came to seek and save.

Thank you for hearing our prayers. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend. We’ll be in James chapter one today. James chapter one — looking at verses nine through eleven. There we read…

James 1:9–11 ESV

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

This is the first of a few warnings that James will give to the rich. And — immediately — our thought is, “Well, I’m glad he’s not speaking to me. I’m not rich!” Be careful with that thought. Most of us are rich in James’ estimation. Either way — the principle James is teaching applies to the rich and the humble — interestingly — that’s the two categories of people James uses in our verses. The rich and the humble.

But — today — we’re going to — first — explore an echo of the Bible — I’ll explain what I mean by that in a moment. Then we’ll briefly look at two false gospels. Then we’ll face the fact that life is fading away. But we’ll end on a high note of being amazed by Christ.

An echo of the Bible. Two false gospels. Life is fading. And Christ — that’s where we’re headed.

THE BIBLE’S ECHO

First — the Bible has an echo to it. By that — I mean — when you get to know the Bible better — you’ll find repeated themes — or echoes — throughout it. Where something said early on in the Bible is echoed later in another part of the Bible. And then it echoes again. And again. And again.

James — if you recall — is writing to Christians of Jewish background. And — for the most part — the Jews knew their Bibles — what we call the Old Testament — really well. And they would’ve immediately recognized the passage that James is echoing in our verses.

Maybe you recognized the echo as well. It’s in his words about the rich when he writes…

James 1:10–11 ESV

10 because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes.

The Old Testament passage that James is referring to — or echoing — is from the prophet Isaiah. For some context — the people of God have been living in exile. They’re being punished for abandoning God who had graciously warned them to come back to him or face the consequence of their sin. They refused to do so and their punishment was being conquered by another nation.

Now — you can imagine how demoralizing, depressing, and disheartening it must have been to experience being defeated by another nation. And it’s in the midst of this situation that the prophet — on behalf of God — says…

Isaiah 40 NLT

1 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God. 2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned. Yes, the Lord has punished her twice over for all her sins.” 3 Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, “Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! 4 Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places. 5 Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!” 6 A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the Lord. And so it is with people. 8 The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.” 9 O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops! Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!” 10 Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power. He will rule with a powerful arm. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes. 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. 12 Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? 13 Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him? 14 Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice? Does he need instruction about what is good? Did someone teach him what is right or show him the path of justice? 15 No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand. 16 All the wood in Lebanon’s forests and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough to make a burnt offering worthy of our God. 17 The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing — mere emptiness and froth. 18 To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him? 19 Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains? 20 Or if people are too poor for that, they might at least choose wood that won’t decay and a skilled craftsman to carve an image that won’t fall down! 21 Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand? Are you deaf to the words of God — the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant? 22 God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. 23 He judges the great people of the world and brings them all to nothing. 24 They hardly get started, barely taking root, when he blows on them and they wither. The wind carries them off like chaff. 25 “To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. 26 Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing. 27 O Jacob, how can you say the Lord does not see your troubles? O Israel, how can you say God ignores your rights? 28 Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. 30 Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. 31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

Even though the people are presently in exile — experiencing the punishment for their sins against God — God speaks words of comfort and hope and of power to them. He tells his people that their sad days are over. Their sins have been forgiven. A path will be made which will lead them back to God — back to the Promised Land — back from the wilderness to their home.

I can’t help but think that some among us need to know that God’s words still echo to his people today. That your sad days are coming to an end. Your sins have been forgiven. God has made the path for you to walk on which is leading you to an eternal Promised Land — heaven — for this wilderness of a world is not your home.

Now for the people in Isaiah’s day — this is all an echo of an earlier part of their history. For — just like when they wandered in the wilderness during the Exodus — some of the people in Isaiah’s day will fade away — they will die before the promise is fulfilled when God’s people return to the Promised Land. But what will never fade away is the Word of God — it stands forever. 

The Word of God which declares — and tells us to shout from the mountaintops, “Our God is coming to rule! He’s coming in power and is bringing his reward with him. He will feed his people like a shepherd — and he’ll carry them in his arms. He’ll hold them close to his heart and will lead them gently back to him.” Words of comfort for his people. Words that I hope give you comfort today — if you believe in Jesus.

And the Word of God — which will never fade — says some amazing truths about God. For example…

• He holds the oceans in his hands.
• And has measured the heavens.
• And knows the weight of the world.
• And he is all-knowing and needs no one to instruct him on anything.
• He knows what is good.
• He knows what is just.
• And all people — along with all of creation — are mere dust compared to him.

Isaiah goes on and on and then concludes by asking, “What compares to God?” The answer? No one and nothing — that’s what. But oh how easy it is to get excited about — and distracted by — and give our lives to things — like money — that don’t even come close to the awesomeness that is our God.

This is the passage James is echoing in our verses. For he wants his original readers — who were living in exile — dispersed from Jerusalem because of persecution — and us — his people living in exile as we await the return of our King — to remember — and have great confidence in — who our God is so that our lives become more and more committed to living for him alone. And — by the way — the benefits of living this way are countless.

For example — if you’re feeling weak right now — remember — your God is the God who gives strength. If you’re feeling powerless — remember — your God gives power to his people. For — as Isaiah says — those who trust in him will find new strength. They will soar like eagles. They’ll run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

If you’ve been with us during our journey in James — which we’re just a few weeks into — me mentioning that I memorize books of the Bible a few weeks ago may have made you think that I’m pretty weird — and if you talk to folks who know me — they’ll tell you that I’m weird. One of my other weird habits is that I have a list of life resolutions. These are statements of who God says I am in Christ that I know I’m prone to forgetting — so I’ve collected them as a list and read them regularly to remember who I am and who God’s called me to be.

Resolution number twenty-seven is based on the passage from Isaiah that we just read — in fact — it’s based on the last verse. My resolution number twenty-seven is this: To be thankful during soaring seasons. Faithful in running seasons. And to persevere in walking seasons.

And the way you and I can be thankful, and faithful, and even demonstrate perseverance — when life is soaring or when it’s soul-crushing — is by remembering who our great and mighty and powerful and saving God is as he’s told us in his never-fading Word.

TWO FALSE GOSPELS

Which leads us to two false gospels I want to point out to us. But — first — our verses again. This time in a different translation.

James 1:9–11 NLT

9 Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. 10 And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. 11 The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.

There are two false gospels that are a constant source of division in the church: the prosperity gospel and the poverty gospel. The prosperity gospel is the false teaching that God rewards our faith with health and wealth and that Christians should expect God to bless them with health and wealth in an ever increasing way. The poverty gospel — on the other hand — is the false teaching that God requires poverty — or denying oneself of material goods — as a sign that your faith is genuine.

Obviously, our verses in James would be correcting those who believe the prosperity gospel — as the rich — in our verses — are given a warning. And the prosperity gospel — if nothing else — is about being rich. Yet our verses have the potential to be used to justify the poverty gospel — which again — like the prosperity gospel — is false. It’s a lie. And it’s to be rejected.

The Bible has much to say about the poor — but never is being economically poor a way to judge the spiritual state or maturity of a person. Maybe the person was foolish with their money. Or maybe they were called by God to exercise the spiritual gift of generosity in a way that few have been called to. Their bank accounts may have the same amount in them — but for very different reasons. And — generally speaking — we’re all pretty terrible at judging people’s motives.

I bring these false gospels up to warn you to be careful with what you consume in books, podcasts, and sermons. There are many prosperity gospel preachers and teachers in our country today. They sell a message that entices our sinful desire to be rich. And these false teachers cause many people to be disappointed in God when he doesn’t live up to the lies they’ve been sold — which is why you must know who God says he is on his own terms in his unfading Word.

And though not as popular — poverty gospel false teachers are also out there. And — ironically — they make quite a bit of money selling a false message — telling their readers and listeners to denounce wealth and give everything away as a sign of spiritual maturity. Both the prosperity and poverty gospels can be quite lucrative for the false teachers selling such lies.

So — remember — God calls his people to — one — love him and not money — because you can’t love both according to Jesus. Two — God calls us to be generous with our money — really, I should say — be generous with his money because it’s not our money anyway. Which is why generosity is one of the values we hope to see in all who follow Jesus here at Gateway — and I’m continually blown away by your generosity. And — three — we must remember…

2 Corinthians 8:9 NLT

9 The generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.

We’ll reflect more on this truth in a moment. 

LIFE IS FADING

But — before we get to Jesus — let’s face the fact that life is fading for all of us. James tells us this a few times in our verses.

James 1:9–11 ESV

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

Passing away. Withering. Falling. Perishing. Fading away — they all mean the same thing: The rich — and the poor — the proud and the humble — all of us are experiencing the fading away of our lives. I recently heard someone say, “I’ve got a lot of good years behind me.” That’s not how we expect that sentence to go, is it? Most of the time we talk about good years that are ahead of us — and often people talk as if the years are never gonna run out.

But — according to James — life is like grass in a field. The sun rises and dries out the grass — and it withers and dies. The flowers wilt and the petals fall off and the flower’s beauty is gone forever. Later James will say…

James 4:14 NLT

14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog — it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.

The morning fog is something we’re all familiar with living in Northwest Ohio. Growing up in Florida — I didn’t have fog delays when I was a student. But — here — we occasionally get a fog delay or cancellation. And — inevitably — when school’s cancelled — the sun comes out — warms everything up — and the fog burns off leaving a beautiful day for the students to enjoy. Our life — James says — is like that — fog. It’s here in the morning and gone in a few hours.

In the Old Testament our lives are described as a handbreadth.

Psalm 39:5 ESV

5 Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah

A handbreadth — if you don’t know — is this — four fingers. Essentially each finger represents a quarter of a person’s life. Some of us are under twenty years old. So this first finger — though not all the way up — hasn’t completely closed. Some of us are between twenty and forty. The first finger is down — and the second is on its way down — but you’ve still got two full fingers of life left ahead of you. Some of us have passed forty — which is middle age by the way — not sixty — we’re not living to a hundred and twenty these days. Once you pass forty — the third finger is starting to creep its way down. And when you pass the sixty year old mark — you’re on the last finger — and it’s started its way down.

And — in response to this truth — the psalmist says, “Selah.” Which means — pause, reflect, meditate on the reality of how brief your life is — for this is the only way to not waste your life — but to live it to the full.

Our culture wants us to not think about such things. Ignore your mortality. Ignore the wrinkles — botox them away even. We idolize youthfulness and despair when there’s nothing more we can do to cover up the fact that our life is fading away.

If you saw a picture of me from my twenties — you’d recognize it’s me — but you’d probably think, “What happened?” A few years ago — during a sermon I quoted from a television show I watched growing up and someone said to me, “When you said that, I realized I never imagined that you were a kid. I just always think of you as being this age.” I remember hearing a pastor lament because he was already up there in age when recording sermons on video became a thing. He said something like, “People will always think of me as an old preacher even though I’ve been doing this for decades.”

But age happens. Gravity’s been pulling on my body for nearly five decades. I don’t dye my hair — so gray is happening. My life is passing away.

I’ve had to give up on many pursuits I once dreamed of accomplishing — there’s just not enough life left to pursue everything — which is good — because now what matters makes it to the top of my priorities — at least I hope it is. Life has a great way — if you allow it — to prioritize things for you.

And — to what should be the biggest priority — for those who follow Jesus — we now turn.

CONCLUSION: CHRIST’S HUMILIATION AND EXALTATION

In our verses — two words kept sticking out to me over and over again. Humiliation and exaltation. The lowly — or the humble — are exalted. And the rich are humiliated. And here’s where my mind kept going.

A few weeks ago I read our Essentials of the Faith. Think of them as the standard of beliefs that Christians have always held regardless of denomination, church affiliation, and so on. They unite us together with other local churches in Findlay — like Living Hope, Cedar Creek, First Naz, College First, Bible Methodist, the Upper Room, and so on. Churches in town whose pastors I’m friends with and meet with on a monthly basis.

Yet — in our church tradition — we’re part of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church if you’re newer to Gateway — in our church tradition we also hold to the Westminster Confession of Faith and its catechisms. Catechisms are a list of questions and answers — which are very helpful as they cover many of the questions people have about the Christian faith.

What does any of that have to do with humiliation and exaltation? Well when the two words kept sticking out to me — where my mind went to was the Larger Catechism. It’s called “larger” because it has more questions than the shorter catechism. And the forty-sixth question in the larger catechism is this.

Q. 46. How was Christ humiliated?

The answer.

A. For our sakes, Christ emptied himself of his own glory and took on the form of a servant, and so was humiliated in all the poor circumstances involving his conception and birth, life on earth, death, and after his death until he was resurrected.

Paul speaks of this when he writes…

Philippians 2:6–8 ESV

6 [Jesus], though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

The next few questions are…

Q. 47. How did Christ humble himself in his conception and birth?

And…

Q. 48. How did Christ humble himself in his life?

And…

Q. 49. How did Christ humble himself in his death?

And…

Q. 50. How was Christ humiliated after his death?

And what the answers to these questions reveal — and I’d encourage you to go read them for yourself — the answers reveal that Jesus — the Rich Man of Heaven — left his infinite riches and humbled himself — in love — for our sake. What love displayed for you and me. What compassion towards us who are spiritually poor. The Rich Man gave up everything for us — he gave up everything for you. Christ humbled himself in love for you.

Yet that’s not all. Remember — there were two words that stuck out to me: humiliation and exaltation. The last question we just read — on Christ’s humiliation — was number fifty. The next question asks this.

Q. 51. How was Christ exalted?

A. Christ’s exaltation includes his resurrection, ascension, sitting at the right hand of the Father, and coming again to judge the world.

The catechism goes on to ask.

Q. 52. How was Christ exalted in his resurrection?

And…

Q. 53. How was Christ exalted in his ascension?

And…

Q. 54. How is Christ exalted by sitting at the right hand of God?

And what the answers to these questions reveal is that — the Rich Man became poor for your sake. And — just like James tells us — the humble man — Jesus Christ — is now exalted to the heavenly places. And because of all that he’s done in love — for you and for me — we’re to exalt the name of Jesus together. Meaning — we’re to lift up the name of Jesus in song and praise — and we’re to honor him in how we live as we show the world that — though the flower fades and its beauty perishes — not so with Jesus Christ. 

Though you and I age and get old, and bare the physical scars of medical procedures and surgeries to help fight off sickness and diseases and decay — the Word of the Lord — the Bible — will never fade away — just as the Word of the Lord — Jesus Christ — though he still has the scars in his hands and feet from the cross — he will never fade away. For he considered his humiliation a small price to pay to save his people from their sin — and to rescue them from the wilderness — so that they might experience being lifted up to Heaven where they’ll be with their exalted Savior for all eternity.

Wisdom has been speaking to us today. Wisdom’s told us much about who God is, who we are, and what Jesus has done for us. How will you respond to what wisdom has said to you today? May you receive the advice that wisdom has graciously taught you today and turn to the humble — and now — exalted Savior, Jesus Christ. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father in Heaven, your ways are not our ways. If anything — we’ve learned that today.

Spirit of God, may you take the truth of your Word — which is never-fading — and apply it deep into our hearts at this very moment. Maybe it’s the truth of how awesome God is, or how fading our lives are, or how beautiful Jesus is, or the love that is ours because of what Christ has done. 

And — Jesus — the Rich Man of heaven, our humble and exalted Savior — we now prepare our hearts to join together in praising your awesome and mighty name. May you receive our praise. If it’s praise from those who are soaring like eagles. If it’s praise from those who are running. And especially if it’s the praise coming from those whose lives are in a season of walking. May our praise bring you honor and joy. In your name we pray. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

In love — Christ humbled himself for your sake. Therefore — in love — may you go and exalt his name by living for him. Amen

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 1-18-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

INTRODUCTION

We’re continuing our series in the book of James this weekend. As we learned two weeks ago — James — our author — is the younger brother of Jesus — and he was also a key leader in the early church. And James — the book — is essentially a collection of mini-sermons — or teachings — on a variety of topics. The book is considered by many to be the wisdom literature of the New Testament — sort of like the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament — as it contains many short statements that show us how life generally works.

Last week’s topic was on the purpose of the trials we experience in life. Those unexpected — and often — unwanted moments — those experiences in life that are trying and hard and exhausting do have a purpose. Again — that’s what we saw last week. And — today — we’re on to a new — but somewhat related — topic. Here’s what James has for us today. We’re in James chapter one — beginning in verse five. There we read…

James 1:5–8 ESV

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Christian or not — here’s a topic that’s relevant and practical for all of us. For — inevitably — we come to moments in life when we don’t know what to do — where we lack wisdom — and James is going to tell us what to do in these moments. And — spoiler alert — his advice isn’t to turn to Google or to ChatGPT. No — James is going to tell us to turn somewhere else — or — I should say — to Someone else — when we find ourselves in need of wisdom.

But before we get to our destination — here’s how we’re going to get there. We’re going to first answer the question, “What is wisdom?” Then we’ll look at the generosity of God which — believe it or not — has everything to do with where wisdom is found. And — finally — we’ll look at how we receive — or find — wisdom.

What is wisdom? The generosity of God. And how we receive wisdom. That’s where we’re headed today.

WHAT IS WISDOM?

We’ll begin with our question, “What is wisdom?” As James says in verse five…

James 1:5 ESV

5 If any of you lacks wisdom…

If wisdom is what we lack — we need to make sure we’re in agreement with what we mean by wisdom. I say this because there are two very different meanings of the word wisdom that are used by people today. 

The first definition is something like this: Wisdom is applying knowledge to a situation. 

Now — that doesn’t sound all that bad. And — it’s not — except for one significant aspect. Often — with this definition of wisdom — morality and theology are not taken into consideration. And that’s because this view of wisdom is human-centric — meaning — it puts the power and responsibility of determining what is wise in the hands of us humans.

The second definition of wisdom is nearly identical to the first — but with a significant change. If definition one is “applying knowledge to a situation” our second definition of wisdom is “applying biblical and theological knowledge to a situation.” 

This second definition emphasizes that wisdom — foundationally — is biblical and theological. And — theology — if you’re unfamiliar with the word — has to do with God. Thus, wisdom is understanding our — humanity’s — proper place in relationship to God as found in the Bible. Which means — to live wisely means we must live according to what the Bible tells us about God, ourselves, and our relationship with him.

Here’s another way to show the difference in these two definitions of wisdom. Wisdom — under definition number one — asks, “What works?” Wisdom — under definition number two — asks, “What honors God and reflects his character?” 

And we live in a “what works” world created by a God who is more concerned with “what honors him.”

For example,listen to what the Bible has to say about wisdom and notice its relationship to God.

Proverbs 1:7 ESV

7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

And…

Proverbs 9:10 ESV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

And…

Psalm 111:10 ESV

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.

And…

Job 28:28 ESV

28 And he said to man, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

Fear — in these verses — means to revere — to hold in admiration — to have a profound respect for someone or something. And in these verses we learn that wisdom’s birthplace is in having fear of — or a profound respect for — the Lord. 

Now fear is a word we quickly associate with something scary. So let me try and help us all out. To fear the Lord means that — in knowing who God is — for example — in knowing that God is holy — that he’s pure and without sin — and that he’s righteous — meaning God always does what’s right — and that he’s just — meaning God doesn’t play favorites or take bribes — and that he’s loving and kind and good and merciful and wrathful — that last one means that God hates wickedness, sin, and will punish those who do such things — in knowing who God is — on his terms and in his own words — we then fear him — are in awe of him — have great respect for him — and live accordingly. 

So there’s a theological aspect of wisdom — it’s God-focused. Yet there’s also a moral aspect of wisdom. We saw this in the verse from Job which mentioned “turning away from evil.” Turning away from evil is a statement of morality. It supposes that there’s a definition of good and evil and that — to be wise — means you turn away from evil and turn to God who is good.

Having said all of that — even in the church — the wisdom of “what works” continues to dominate — at least in the church in the US — I won’t speak of churches around the world. Here in the US — we’re such pragmatic people — that the wisdom of “what works” — and the success it often brings — in relationships, in business, in politics, even in the church — the wisdom of “what works” excites us. 

But the wisdom of “what works” will not produce righteousness — which is the goal of biblical wisdom. And — righteousness — as you may know — when it comes to us humans means to be right with God. And there are many people who call themselves Christians today — and many organizations that call themselves churches — who are very successful — they’ve figured out “what works” — and yet — they are not right with God. 

Many people have discovered “what works” — again — in relationships, in business, in politics, even in the church — and they think this makes them right with God. But our works — what we do — have never made us right with God — even works that bring about great success. And those who are biblically wise understand this. For it’s not our works — that makes us righteous — but the work of the One who’s called the Wisdom of God. We’ll get to him in a moment.

So wisdom — according to God — means more than just “what works” — for many sinful decisions may bring about success. Dictators — who have their opponents killed — win elections — a shocking example, I know — but when wisdom is solely about “what works” — people will go to extremes. 

But “what works” and what honors and pleases God are not always the same thing. And we who claim to follow Jesus need to be very careful of which definition of wisdom we allow to influence the decisions we make. We who follow Jesus need to be careful about which definition of wisdom we expect and tolerate those in leadership to use. Because God will not bless the wisdom of “what works” when it does not bring him honor and glory. And — many people — after doing nothing other than “what works” — then try to spin their decision as if honoring God was always their goal. But God is no fool.

Interestingly, provocatively, and — what’s quite possibly one of the most shocking statements in his entire letter — James will later say this about wisdom. In chapter three he writes…

James 3:13–18 NLT

13 If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. 15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. 17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

We’ll get to these verses in a later sermon, but — for now — I want you to notice what James says about wisdom in verses fifteen and sixteen. I’ll read them to you again.

James 3:15–16 NLT

15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.

What’s often called wisdom — the pragmatic kind that “gets the job done” and is “what works” — is often wisdom clothed in jealousy, selfish ambition, disorder, and evil of every kind. And James says that this kind of wisdom is earthly, unspiritual, and — wait for it — demonic. And — friends — this is why we need to be so very careful about giving into the spirit of our age in which getting things done — and “what works” — matters more than whether or not something is demonic.

THE GENEROSITY OF GOD

A moment ago I said, “God is no fool” — but he is generous. Which leads us to some extremely great news about wisdom found in our verses. We’re in verse five again.

James 1:5 ESV

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

James — being a good Jewish man — may’ve been thinking of a verse like this one from the book of Proverbs when he wrote these words. In Proverbs we read…

Proverbs 2:6 ESV

6 For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

God has, is, and will always be the source of true wisdom. And though it may seem overwhelming — especially when thinking that something may work and bring about success and still be grounded in something like the demonic — though it may seem impossible to know where to begin — “How do I even know what’s biblical wisdom or just something that works” — James points us directly to step one — which will never lead you astray. For James essentially says, “Do you lack wisdom? Here’s step one: Ask God.” 

Ask God.

Yet how many of us make decisions — and not just small or insignificant ones — but even really huge decisions — without ever asking God, “Hey God, I’m about to make a decision about — marriage or a promotion or switching careers or having a hard conversation with a friend — and I need some help here. What’s the wise thing to do?” And — my goal — is to encourage all of us — myself included — to do more asking. Let’s ask God more and more for wisdom.

“OK. But how will I know what he’s telling me?” Great question! Did you know that there are many ways that God responds to us when we ask him for wisdom?

In his cleverly titled book, God Told Me: Who to Marry, Where to Work, Which Car to Buy…And I’m Pretty Sure I’m Not Crazy, author Jim Samra lists twelve different ways that God speaks to us. His list includes the Bible, the preached Word, individual prayer and fasting, corporate prayer and fasting, the inner prompting of the Spirit, spiritual direction from others, to name a few.

We’ll look at just two ways that God answers us when we ask him for wisdom: 1) God’s Word — the Bible — and 2) Prayer. His Word and prayer.

By far — prayer is perceived as the less demanding of these two. You can pray whenever and wherever — but reading the Bible — well that’s a lot more work. But here’s something I’ve found to be a principle of following Jesus: The better we know his Word — the Bible — the better we’ll know his answers to us in prayer. Meaning — God’s answers to us in the Bible are clear. Yes, this is a big book with lots of words — but — instead of viewing that as an insurmountable obstacle — I wonder what would happen if we viewed the bigness of this book — and the vast amount of words in it — as God’s gracious way of making sure we know how to be wise. And — again — the principle I’ve found is that the better I know what he’s said in the Bible — the better I know what he’s saying to me in prayer.

A recent survey by the Barna Group found a hopeful trend regarding Bible reading in our country. Forty-two percent of adults in the US say they read their Bible weekly — up from thirty percent in 2024. That’s forty-two percent of all US adults — Christian or not. Can you believe that? Nearly half of all adults in our country say they read the Bible weekly. That’s pretty encouraging to me!

So what about those of us who claim to follow Jesus? If forty-two percent is the national average — surely we Christians are tipping the scales, right? Not so fast. In that same survey, just fifty percent of self-identified Christians report reading their Bible weekly. 

Though I’m thankful that both numbers have seen an increase — I see such an opportunity for Christians to engage more and more with God’s Word — so that — we’ll be people who grow in wisdom and influence our nation for the better. 

Here at Gateway we describe this as our desire for us to be Word and Spirit Christians. Where — as followers of Jesus — we live under the authority of the Word of God and by the power of the Spirit of God. And — to do this — we must be people who know this book.

That same Barna survey revealed another piece of data about Bible reading. This data focused on what’s going on generationally in our country in regards to Bible reading. Though Bible reading has grown among Boomers, Gen-Xers, Millennials, and Gen Z — one of these groups is lagging behind the others in their weekly Bible reading. Any guesses as to which generation in our country is falling behind the others? 

Who thinks it’s Gen Z — the youngest generation surveyed? They’re just on video games and social media, right? I bet they’re not reading their Bible.

What about the Millennials — who thinks it’s them? They’re all depressed because we’ve moved on from talking about their generation and now it’s all about Gen Z, right? I bet it’s them — they’re probably the ones not reading their Bibles.

Who thinks it’s the Gen Xers? Nobody does — because everyone forgets about my generation.

Well — it’s not Gen Z. It’s not the Millennials. And it’s not Gen X. The generation falling behind the others — when it comes to Bible reading in our country — are the Boomers. 

Forty-nine percent of Gen-Z, fifty percent of Millennials, and forty-one percent of Gen-Xers read the Bible weekly — but only thirty-one percent of Boomers do. So — to the Boomers among us — first, I love you. And I see this data as an opportunity for you to lead your generation. You have an opportunity to be an example to your peers when it comes to the practice of reading God’s Word and living by his wisdom.

God answers us in his Word and in prayer. 

But I want to take this a step further — because we need to push back against our individualistic view of the Christian faith. How many of us make decisions without ever asking a fellow Christian, “What do you think God would say is the wise thing to do here?” I bring this up — because often — for those of us who do read our Bible and pray about our decisions — God’s leading often ends up being the choice we wanted to make anyway.

You know. I know it. And God knows it. 

Whether it’s a relationship decision, a business decision, a church decision, and so on. And we know if we clothe our decision with “God’s leading me” or some other spiritual sounding statement — we know that no one can question our decision. Even if it’s just a “what works” decision or a decision that’s nothing more than selfish ambition on our part. 

I mean who does God think he is that he can use someone else to tell me what to do? Or have someone point out a verse in Scripture that should cause me to pause in the decision I’m about to make. Or have the preacher say something that — even though he has no idea of what choice I’m thinking about making — well that preacher said something in his sermon that’s clearly a direct warning to me to stop in my tracks.

Will we be people who desire biblical wisdom — wisdom whose primary purpose is to make our God look glorious in all of our decisions — and not just be people who make decisions that work? If so, then we must ask God for wisdom — knowing that he’s generous and has given us the Bible, prayer, sermons, our fellow Christians, and much more to give us his wisdom.

RECEIVING GOD’S WISDOM

Which leads to our final thought for today — receiving God’s wisdom. We’re in verse six. There James writes…

James 1:6–8 ESV

6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

The way we receive God’s wisdom is by asking him in faith — with no doubting. James then goes on to describe what he means by using the illustration of waves of the seas being tossed around by the wind — an illustration we looked at last week. But — now — James goes on to call the person who doubts a double-minded individual who’s unstable. And this tells us something very important about what James means when he says we must ask in faith without doubting: He’s describing our posture towards God. 

And — when we remember our two definitions of wisdom — one based on “what works” — the other based on “what honors God” — this shows us that James is definitely meaning the second definition of wisdom.

The apostle Paul says something similar to the Christians in Ephesus in a passage we looked at last week as well. Though he doesn’t specifically use the word wisdom — notice the similar illustration he uses to describe why we — together as a church — need to mature in faith. He writes…

Ephesians 4:11–16 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Here Paul warns about doctrinal instability causing us — as a church — to be tossed around by the deceitfulness of false teachers and their lies that lead us away from faith in Christ. James is warning about the personal instability that comes from this kind of doctrinal instability. 

And this all becomes clear when we understand that the word ‘doubt’ — in verse six — doesn’t mean a moment of uncertainty — but rather having a divided mind or being double-minded. The word means to have a discrimination against God — where our default setting is to take God out of the picture when it comes to our decision making and what we think is the wise thing to do. Whereas faith — and this will not surprise you — means to have a commitment to God — a wholehearted commitment, in fact. Where you keep God — not just in the picture — but in the center of your life — where your desire is for your decisions to honor him.

Or — to say it another way — it means to…

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on — or trust only in — your own understanding — even if it’s “what works.” Thus — to receive God’s wisdom — requires a humble and teachable spirit. Humble — because — we recognize our limitations in what we know and understand. Teachable — because — even what we do know and understand will need some correction. And then you can add to that — how all of us have a lot of unlearning we need to do as well — especially when it comes to believing that the wisdom of “what works” is what matters most.

But — ultimately — the key to receiving God’s wisdom — is to know the One who is the Wisdom of God — which is where we turn to as we end our time together.

CONCLUSION: TO KNOW WISDOM IS TO KNOW JESUS

For quite a few years — we did a series here at Gateway that was called Finding Jesus. In that series I preached one sermon on every book in the Old Testament. For the sermon on the book of Proverbs — which is part of the wisdom literature of the Old Testament — and a book I’ve quoted quite a bit from today — I helped us find Jesus by looking at verses from Proverbs chapter eight. Specifically these words that wisdom speaks…

Proverbs 8:35–36 ESV

35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord, 36 but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”

Throughout Proverbs chapter eight — wisdom is personified as if it — wisdom — is a person. And there’s a reason for this — the wisdom of God is a person. The apostle Paul tells us so.

1 Corinthians 1:24 NLT

24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Jesus is the wisdom of God. 

And wisdom — whether in Proverbs chapter eight or in James chapter one — or in all of Scripture, for that matter — wisdom is pointing us to Jesus. In fact, true wisdom will always point you to Jesus because Jesus is true wisdom. And all who find Jesus — who believe that he is who he says he is and has done what he says he’s done — all who find Jesus find life and favor from the Lord. And all who fail to find him — all who reject him instead of believing in him — whether they realize it or not — love death. For eternal death — separation from the wisdom of God for all eternity — is what’s in store for them.

You see, in obedience to his Father’s will — and in love for you — Jesus went to the cross. He did so accomplishing the wisest plan ever made — the salvation of the people of God. And — in finding Jesus — the wisdom of God tells us that we must take the step of repentance. For — as one person has said, “The most basic act of wisdom is repentance.” 

What is repentance? Repentance is turning from the direction you’re headed in and turning to the Wisdom of God — Jesus Christ. It’s the “turning away from evil” that we saw in the passage from Job. We repent — and turn away from evil — as we turn to Jesus in faith. And faith is more than just knowing that Jesus lived, or knowing that he was crucified, or knowing that he rose from the grave — faith means you act on the knowledge of his life, death, and resurrection. That you live accordingly — in response to now realizing that he — Jesus — is God in flesh. 

For — as Paul — just before telling us that Christ is the wisdom of God — writes…

1 Corinthians 1:18–24 NLT

18 The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 19 As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.” 20 So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. 24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Jesus is the wisdom of God. And the message of what he accomplished on the cross is foolishness to the world. And — though the world may find it foolish — it’s the news all people need to hear. For it’s the news that must be received in order to be saved. It’s not a message that makes the most sense — it’s not the obvious “what works” — yet Jesus and his cross is the wisest plan ever to have been made. And — not only that — it’s the wisest plan ever to be accomplished. And — not only that — it’s the most loving act in all of history. 

So — now — having heard of God’s wise plan — let me ask you: What’s the wise thing to do in response to the news about Jesus that you’ve just heard? Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father, we begin by being struck in awe with who you are: wise, good, kind, righteous, holy, all-knowing, all-powerful, just, wrathful, the God who saves, and the one who is in control of all things. You are awesome.

Holy Spirit, help us to fight against the lure of “what works” wisdom — and instead — commit ourselves to “what honors God” wisdom. And help us to search our hearts and desires — especially in those decisions of life where we’re prone to deceiving others and ourselves into thinking our desire is to honor God when — in reality — we’re selfishly doing nothing more than “what works.” 

Jesus — to you the Wisdom of God — as we turn ourselves to you — we turn ourselves from our sinful ways. We thank you for loving us. Thank you for your commitment to us. Thank you for showing us what it means to be wise. And may we honor you as we follow in your footsteps. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

May you go asking God for the wisdom you need. And may you remember that he is always generous in giving his wisdom to those who ask. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 10-12-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend and — I don’t want to get you all too excited — but we’re down to our last four sermons in Romans. I believe that today’s sermon is the seventieth one I’ve preached during our time in Romans. And — if you think that’s a bit much — pastor John Piper preached around two hundred and twenty-five sermons when he took his church through the book. We literally could go through Romans two more times to equal that number. So — yeah — you’re welcome for the speediness at which we’ve made our way through the book.

If you’ve been with us in recent weeks and months — you know that we’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where — after eleven chapters of rich theological truths — Paul’s now in the “so what” section of his letter. Meaning he’s addressing how all of the theology — that’s found in the first eleven chapters — is to play itself out in how we live. Or at least how it should influence the way we live.

And we just finished a three part mini-series within our series in Romans — as Paul just concluded a lengthy section on how Christians are to disagree with one another regarding secondary issues — or what are sometimes called non-essentials.

For over a chapter Paul has stressed how uniting around the essentials that we believe — beliefs about God, salvation, sin, the Bible, and so on — along with our love for one another — will create an atmosphere of unity even when we disagree with each other over non-essential beliefs or behaviors. And this kind of unity is a signal to the unbelieving world that our faith in Christ actually affects and shapes the way we live.

For we live in a world where division is the norm. Where even the smallest and most minor of disagreements is reason for judgment, name calling, questioning of character, and so on. God dishonoring behaviors that have found their way into the church and among God’s people as we’ve taken our cues from the world instead of the Word. And — any behavior that dishonors God — brings joy and delight to our enemy and foe — the devil. And he’d much rather we fight against our fellow Christians than unite together to fight against him.

Thus the question Paul’s put before us is this: Who will we fight against? One another or our real enemy?

Now — though the mini-series on how to disagree was only a three parter — today’s sermon does reveal to us a result of what happens when we disagree biblically with one another. What result is that? That as a faith family we’ll experience and display hope-filled, Christ-exalting living. For hope-filled, Christ-exalting living is a characteristic of God’s people when they’re unitied together on the essentials of the faith and disagree — biblically — when it comes to non-essentials.

This is what we find in our text for today — which is Romans chapter fifteen — verses eight through thirteen. So if you have your Bible — please turn with me there — to Romans chapter fifteen — we’ll begin in verse eight. There Paul writes…

Romans 15:8–13 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives — that’s our focus for today. For hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives will be a result of our commitment to being united and unified on the essentials of the faith. Hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives fueled by knowing that…

• One — Christ came to reveal God’s truth.
• Two — Christ came to confirm God’s promises.
• Three — Christ came to show God’s mercy.
• Which leads to Christ being our hope.

That’s where we’re headed today — today — like every time we gather together — is all about Jesus. For he came to reveal God’s truth, to confirm God’s promises, to show God’s mercy, which results in him being our hope.

CHRIST CAME TO REVEAL GOD’S TRUTH

Let’s begin by seeing how Christ came to reveal God’s truth. We’re back in verse eight. There Paul writes…

Romans 15:8 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness…

Here Paul tells us that Jesus came to earth to be a servant to the circumcised — that’s the Jewish people. And Paul tells us that Jesus became their servant to show them God’s truthfulness. 

Now — before we get to how Jesus did this — we need to remember that — part of the reason there was disagreement and conflict in the church in Rome is because there were Christians coming from Jewish backgrounds along with Christians coming from Gentile — or non-Jewish — backgrounds. The examples of what they were disagreeing over — that Paul used in the previous chapter — show us how their different backgrounds — even different religious backgrounds and upbringings — was causing division and disunity in the church.

I bring this up as a reminder because — here in our verse — Paul reminds us that Jesus came to earth as a Jewish man to show the Jewish people God’s truthfulness. Why would Jesus need to come to reveal God’s truthfulness to the Jewish people? Because the Jews had drifted from God’s truth. 

There are all kinds of reasons for their drift from God’s truth — but they’d drifted so far that — when Jesus came to earth — the Jewish people — especially the Jewish religious leaders and experts in the law — or the Old Testament — thought Jesus was a rebellious law breaker when all he was doing was revealing to them how far they’d drifted from God’s truth.

Think of how far one must drift from the truth in order to see Jesus — not as revelation of God’s truthfulness — but the opposite. I wonder how accurately your view of Jesus aligns with God’s truth? The only way to know is to compare the Jesus you believe in with the Jesus found in God’s Word.

The apostle John — in his gospel — his account of the life of Jesus — emphasizes the connection between Jesus and God’s truth.

For example, in some of the first words of his gospel — John describes Jesus this way.

John 1:14 ESV

14 And the Word (that’s Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

A few verses later — John adds…

John 1:17 ESV

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

A few chapters later John records Jesus’ conversation with a Samaritan woman who he met at a well. In his conversation with her — the topic of worship comes up — to which Jesus replied…

John 4:23–24 ESV

23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

True worshipers of God will worship him in spirit and in truth. Truth matters — for Jesus came to reveal truth.

And pay close attention to what we read in a lengthy encounter that Jesus has with a crowd of people. The crowd was split in their opinion of Jesus. Some believed him — others didn’t.

John 8:31–47 ESV

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide (or stay) in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They (these are the folks who didn’t believe in him…they…) answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Jesus tells the crowd — and us — that the words he speaks are words of truth. Then he adds that — in believing his words of truth — one will find freedom. Freedom from what? Freedom from being enslaved to sin. Freedom from being ensnared by the lies of the devil. Freedom from self-salvation and other false forms of salvation — for there’s only one way of salvation: faith in Jesus Christ.

• We’re not saved by our opinions about Jesus.
• We’re not saved by our political affiliations.
• We’re not saved because we attend church.
• We’re not saved because the popular vote happens to agree with Scripture.
• We’re not saved because they — the other side of whatever division we find ourselves in — welcomes worse sinners than our side.
• No — we’re saved when we repent of our sins — the big ones and the small ones — and turn to Jesus Christ in faith for our salvation — for he is the only way of salvation.

Well that sounds awfully intolerant. Is Jesus the only way of salvation? This is exactly what Jesus said to his disciples when they were troubled. Jesus said these comforting words to them.

John 14:1–7 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. 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.”

Jesus is the only way of salvation. He is the revelation of God’s truth. And he is where life — the “abundant and overflowing with joy for all eternity” life — is found.

And — in his tenderness towards us — those who follow him today — Jesus says…

John 14:15–17 ESV

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.

In his love for us — Jesus — who reveals to us God’s truth — with the Father has sent the Spirit of truth to live in his people. And the Holy Spirit lives in us to lead, guide, and direct us according to the truth.

Yet Jesus is still not done revealing to us the truth. For Jesus prayed this prayer.

John 17:14–19 ESV

14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Sanctify means “to make holy” — the word can also mean to be “set apart.” And — here — Jesus says that he’s set his disciples — those who believe in him — apart from falsehoods and apart from lies and has set them in the truth. 

And where is this truth found? According to Jesus — now that he’s in Heaven — truth is found in God’s Word to us — the Bible — and in the Holy Spirit — who dwells in us. Thus we long to be Word and Spirit Christians here at Gateway — followers of Jesus who are being made holy by the truth — for Jesus came to reveal God’s truth.

CHRIST CAME TO CONFIRM GOD’S PROMISES

Which leads us to another reason why Jesus came — to confirm God’s promises to his people. This is what Paul tells us in verse eight when he writes…

Romans 15:8 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs,

Here Paul echoes back to something he wrote earlier in Romans. Way back in chapter nine we read…

Romans 9:1–5 ESV

1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Both here — and in our chapter — Paul’s wanting to remind the Christians with Jewish background that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises God had made to their ancestors — the Israelites. Promises that God made to his people are often called covenant promises. In fact, one definition of the word covenant is a “relationship God establishes with people on the basis of his promises.” (Lexham Survey of Theology)

• Examples of covenant promises would include the covenant God made with Abraham — when God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. 
• A covenant promise is what God made with the Israelites after he rescued them out of their slavery in Egypt. 
• God made a covenant promise with David — for God promised to David that — from his line will one day come a King whose reign and rule will never come to an end. Paul even alludes to this covenant promise with David in some of his first words in the letter when he writes…

Romans 1:1–4 NLT

1 This letter is from Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2 God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

And what may be the most familiar covenant promise of all — is what’s called the new covenant.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 NLT

31 “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. 33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

And — in Jesus — we see the confirmation of all of God’s promises come to fruition. In Christ — God shows us that he can be trusted to fulfill every promise he’s made to us. For from his birth through his death and resurrection — and all that comes in between — Jesus reveals to us the faithfulness of God in fulfilling his promises to his people. 

CHRIST CAME TO SHOW GOD’S MERCY

Which leads us to another reason why Christ came — to show God’s mercy. Let’s go back to verse eight again.

Romans 15:8–12 ESV

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” 10 And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” 12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”

In these verses Paul quotes from the Old Testament a lot! For example, “I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name” — in verse nine — is a quote of…

2 Samuel 22:50 ESV

50 “For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.

And…

Psalm 18:49 ESV

49 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name.

David sang these words of praise to his God who had rescued him from the hands of his enemies. Though the “waves of death” nearly overwhelmed him — and the “torrents of destruction” terrified him — David called upon his God for his rescue — for his salvation — and believed that God would deliver him. And it’s in response to being saved that David praises God — and sings songs of praise to God’s glorious and mercifully saving name — and longs for these songs of praise to be sung by people of all nations.

In our verses Paul also quotes…

Psalm 117:1 ESV

1 Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!

And…

Isaiah 11:10 ESV

10 In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

The nations, the nations, the nations! 

• People from all nations praising the God who saves. 
• Praising the One who’s a descendant of Jesse — King David’s father. 
• Praising the One who fulfills the promise that God made to David — that he would have a descendant sitting on an eternal throne as King of kings forever and ever. 
• This is the One whom people of all nations will turn to in praise.

And — in this church in Rome — the nations were represented. For many in the church were believers in Jesus who came from Gentile backgrounds. Paul acknowledges this near the beginning of his letter when he writes…

Romans 1:16 ESV

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

The gospel — the Good News that God is merciful and saves sinners who put their faith in his Son — the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. People of Jewish background as well as people from all nations.

This is why you’ll often hear that one of our desires — for those who follow Jesus here at Gateway — is that we’d all be Kingdom-minded. Where our desire is for the gospel of Jesus Christ to not only change our community, our state, and our country — but that the gospel would be Good News that changes our world. For that’s what God intends his news to do. For the gospel is news of God’s mercy towards sinners who turn to his Son in faith.

Mercy for all who turn to Jesus. No matter your race or gender. No matter your nationality or socio-economic background. No matter all of the ways the world tries to divide us. Christ came to show all people the mercy of God.

CONCLUSION

And where does all of this lead? That Christ came to reveal God’s truth, that he came to confirm God’s promises, and that he came to show us God’s mercy — where does all of this lead us? What destination have we arrived at? 

To hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives.

In verse twelve Paul writes…

Romans 15:12–13 ESV

12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

The root of Jesse — the descendant of King David — Jesus Christ — is the hope of all who believe in him. For Jews who believe — Jesus is their hope. For Gentiles who believe — Jesus is their hope as well. And — in being our hope — those who believe in Jesus are filled with joy and peace — echoing back to what Paul said earlier are characteristics of what it means to live according to the values of the kingdom of God.

Romans 14:17 ESV

17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

For the Holy Spirit — who lives in the people of God — fills us with joy, peace, and hope — a hope that abounds — or overflows — in our lives because of what Christ has done. And — by hope — Paul doesn’t mean wanting something to be true while being uncertain if it’ll come to pass. No — hope — according to Paul — and all the authors of Scripture — is a confidence in God’s faithfulness to his people. A confidence that his words are true and trustworthy. A confidence that every promise he’s made will be fulfilled. A confidence that he is merciful to all who believe in his Son. A confidence that overflows in a person’s life — changing how they live and how they view the world. Leading to a life that is hope-filled and that exalts — or magnifies — the worthiness and beauty of Christ.

The way we describe this kind of hope-filled, Christ-exalting life — here at Gateway — is a life that worships, connects, serves, and goes.

Though a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of worship is much more than just gathering on Sundays with God’s people — it’s no less than that. Meaning — rare is the individual who doesn’t prioritize weekly worship with God’s people who still prioritizes hope-filled, Christ-exalting living in the rest of his or her life.

And though a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of connecting to others — or fellowship, as it’s sometimes called — is much more than gathering with God’s people in small groups — what we call Life Groups here at Gateway — it’s no less than that. Meaning — rare is the individual who doesn’t prioritize regularly gathering with God’s people to apply God’s Word to life and care for one another — who still prioritizes hope-filled, Christ-exalting living in the rest of his or her life.

And though a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of service is much more than serving God’s people in a local church — it’s no less than that. Meaning — rare is the individual who doesn’t prioritize serving God’s people in a local church who still prioritizes hope-filled, Christ-exalting living in the rest of his or her life.

And though a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of going is much more than a local church’s missions program — it’s no less than that. Meaning — rare is the individual who doesn’t prioritize going with people in their local church to proclaim the gospel who still prioritizes hope-filled, Christ-exalting living in the rest of his or her life.

And — like Paul — for in just a few verses he’s about to start name dropping in his letter — naming people who model a hope-filled, Christ-exalting life of worshiping, connecting, serving, and going in this church in Rome — it’s tempting for me to want to get ahead of Paul and start name dropping the many of you who are examples of what it means to live hope-filled, Christ-exalting lives here at Gateway. To praise the good works you’re doing to make your Savior look glorious to the world. To tell others of your commitment to God’s truth as revealed to us in his Word. To share stories of your trust in his promises to his people even in the midst of sorrows and tragedies of life. To thank you for displaying God’s mercy to those suffering and in need of care in life’s most sensitive moments.

But — like Paul — I’ll resist name dropping for now. That’ll come when we get to chapter sixteen. Instead — a general thank you will have to suffice for now — a thank you to the faithful ones of our Gateway Church family.

Thank you for worshiping, connecting, serving, and going. Thank you for your commitment to the truth which is God’s Word. Thank you for your trust in God’s promises. Thank you for displaying his mercy to one another. And thank you for living hope-filled and Christ-exalting lives. Thank you — for you are making your Savior look glorious to the world. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for always and only speaking words of truth. For this makes you absolutely and unwaveringly trustworthy. Thank you for guaranteeing that every promise that you’ve made to your people will be fulfilled. This also makes you absolutely and unwaveringly trustworthy. And thank you for being merciful towards us — your people. Mercy is not what we deserve — but mercy is what you’ve chosen to give — making you absolutely and unwaveringly trustworthy.

Holy Spirit, for the truthfulness of your Word to be seen and believed — we first need you to open our eyes and give us hearts to receive. For without you doing so — we remain spiritually blind and cannot see — with spiritually dead hearts that cannot respond. This act of mercy — you giving us eyes to see and hearts to respond — is the fulfillment of a promise given to your people. Open more eyes — give life to more hearts — we ask — so that more might respond and experience your mercy.

And — Jesus — we can confidently and expectantly pray such a prayer because of all that you’ve done for us. You came to seek and save those who were lost. To reveal truth to those who’d fallen for the lies of our enemy. To fulfill promises that would cost you your life — so that — we might live. For the life we live is because of the mercy we’ve received which came at the cost of your death.

But not even the grave could keep its hold on you — for there was another promise to be fulfilled. The resurrection. The defeat of death. The defeat of sin. The defeat of the devil. And the defeat of hopelessness. For your resurrection is the reason why we can live lives full of hope that make you look glorious to the world.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — thank you for truth. Thank you for fulfilling your promises to us. Thank you for mercy. And — friends — “may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available / How to Grow booklet)

May you go living hope-filled and Christ-exalting lives. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 10-5-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series in Romans this weekend and we’re in the practical application section of Paul’s letter where — after eleven chapters of theological truths — we’re now in the “so what” section of Paul’s letter. Meaning he’s now addressing how all of the theology — that’s found in the first eleven chapters — is to play itself out in how we live. Or at least how it should influence the way we live.

And — today — we’re concluding our mini-series within our series in Romans — as Paul continues to address the same topic we’ve looked at the last two times we’ve been together. What topic is that? How to disagree.

When Paul started his discussion on how to disagree, he began with something quite controversial for the times in which we live. He says that part of the reason why we have disagreements with each other is because — and this is the controversial part — some of us are weak and some of us are strong. And — what he means by that — is that some of us are weak and strong when it comes to our understanding of the Christian faith and how it applies to life — which tells us that Paul is focusing on disagreements among Christians — though there are many ways to apply what he teaches to all of our relationships.

Last time — Paul instructed us on what we’re to do — and not do — when we disagree with one another. We were told to not despise or pass judgment on Christians with whom we disagree over a non-essential matter. This isn’t disagreement over an essential of the faith — doctrines like faith alone in Christ alone for salvation — this is about disagreements over non-essential matters. The examples Paul uses indicate that the Christians in Rome disagreed over what foods were acceptable to eat as followers of Jesus and whether or not there were special days for worship. Neither of these topics are essential to being a Christian.

And — as I’ve said again and again — non-essential doesn’t mean non-important. Many non-essential beliefs and practices are very important — they’re just not essential in determining whether someone’s a Christian or not. Non-essential also doesn’t mean that we believe in subjectivism — that what’s true for you is true for you, but for me this other thing is true. It just means that — in our fallibility and human limitations — we haven’t come to unity on what the Bible teaches on these matters and we believe that Christians on both sides are trying to be faithful to God and what they believe he’s said on the matter in the Bible.

So with that as a guide as to where we’ve been — if you have your Bible — please turn with me to Romans chapter fifteen. We’ll be in Romans chapter fifteen today — looking at verses one through seven. Where Paul — concluding his discussion on how to disagree — writes…

Romans 15:1–7 ESV

1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

In this — our final look at how to disagree — Paul reminds us of our ultimate goal in life. What goal? That God would be glorified in all areas of our life — including how we disagree with one another. We’ll look at this goal before turning our attention to an obligation we must fulfill in order for us to accomplish our goal. And — finally — we’ll see how we fulfill our obligation.

We’ll begin with our goal: the glory of God. Then we’ll look at an obligation we must fulfill in order for God to be glorified in our disagreements. And — finally — how we accomplish our obligation.

FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

So — first — our ultimate goal in life. The ultimate goal — when we disagree — should be the same for all areas of our life as followers of Jesus: That God would be glorified. That’s why Paul ends his section on how to disagree with the words — this is verse seven…

Romans 15:7 ESV

7 Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Now — why did I say that the glory of God is our ultimate goal — not just in our disagreements — but in all areas of life? Because this is what we read in Scripture. For example…

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Including using the spiritual gifts that God’s given to each of us — which we looked at earlier this year — for Peter writes…

1 Peter 4:10–11 ESV

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Glorifying God also includes what we do and don’t do with our bodies…

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ESV

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

And why must we do this? For God is the One who created us…

Isaiah 43:6–7 ESV

6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I (God) created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Which means all that we do is to be done for the glory of God so that others might turn to him. For as Jesus said…

Matthew 5:16 ESV

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

And…

John 15:8 ESV

8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

And — when we live this way — we’ll join the psalmist and say…

Psalm 115:1 ESV

1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

And join the saints in heaven who proclaim…

Revelation 4:11 ESV

11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

And join creation for…

Psalm 19:1 ESV

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Because we agree with Paul who said…

Romans 11:36 ESV

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

All things — including our salvation — which is a gift from God. For…

Ephesians 1:11–12 ESV

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.

All things — including grace…

2 Corinthians 4:15 ESV

15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

All things — including our love for and unity with one another…

Philippians 1:9–11 ESV

9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Thus we say…

Psalm 86:12 ESV

12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

Knowing that God’s glory will continue to expand across creation…

Habakkuk 2:14 ESV

14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Therefore we’re to…

1 Chronicles 16:28–29 ESV

28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! 29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;

So…

Isaiah 60:1–2 ESV

1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. 2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

And — at just the right time — the moment when darkness covered the earth — the Light of the world pierced the darkness…

Philippians 2:9–11 ESV

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

For God has said…

Isaiah 42:8 ESV

8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Therefore when Jesus had fulfilled all that his Father required of him — and as the cross was just before him — he said…

John 17:4 ESV

4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.

To glorify God in all of our life — that’s the ultimate goal for every Christian — including our goal in how we disagree with one another. This means that displaying God’s greatness and praising his name is the primary goal in our disagreement. Not winning an argument. Not proving our point. Not getting the other side to concede. For you can be on the right side of the debate and not have God being glorified as your goal — and that would mean you win an argument and yet fail to fulfill your God given purpose. 

For God being glorified in your life is why you — and I — and all people exist. This is why you exist — Christian or not. God being glorified is why you’re alive and breathing — Christian or not. And we’re either moving towards this goal — as followers of Jesus — the theological term is growing in our sanctification — so that God being glorified is more and more the goal of our life. For — if we’re not growing in our spiritual maturity — then we won’t disagree with one another in a way that glorifies our God.

AN OBLIGATION FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

So how do we grow in our spiritual maturity when it comes to our disagreeing with one another? Because — in order for us to accomplish our goal — that God would be glorified even in our disagreements — we must recognize the obligation that’s now before each of us who follow Jesus. For our goal — that God would be glorified in our disagreements — comes with an obligation. There’s something expected and required of us who follow Jesus. Paul tells us this in verse one.

Romans 15:1–2 ESV

1 We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Here’s our obligation if God is going to be glorified in our disagreements: We who are strong are to bear with the failings of the weak — and none of us are to please ourselves, but we’re to please our neighbors — our fellow Christians — so we build them up in the faith.

Bearing with the failings of the weak — and pleasing them — doesn’t mean that we just capitulate and give them whatever they’re asking for. After all — our goal is to build them up. And often the very thing the weak think will please them is what’s keeping them from maturing in the faith. That’s what Paul means by “the failings of the weak.” These aren’t moral failings — or necessarily sinful behaviors — this is a lack of spiritual maturity on their part when it comes to non-essential beliefs and behaviors.

And I want to be clear about something: A person can be spiritually mature in many areas and weak in others. So it’s not that one person is always a weak Christian or always a strong Christian — for one can be strong in ninety percent of their Christian faith and yet incredibly weak in the other ten percent. And this is why disagreements among Christians are so tricky — for most of us think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. We think, “Well I read my Bible regularly. I attend worship every week. I’m actively involved in my Life Group. I serve. I give. I go on missions trips. I’ve memorized lots of God’s Word. I can defend my view of the end times and so on.” And all that is great and spiritual growth and to be commended. But all of that can be true — and yet — you’re still an immature spiritual leader in the home. Or unaware how the religion of your political party has sunk its nails in you. Or how social media has consumed your time and thoughts and views in many areas of life. 

Not to mention how many of us don’t read our Bible regularly, or attend worship weekly, or serve, or give, or go on missions trips and so on — and yet — view ourselves as spiritually refined and mature in our views on — well — on everything!

All that to say — though some of us may be new to the faith — and thus — generally speaking — weak in most areas — while others of us have been faithfully following Jesus and growing in the faith for years — and thus — generally speaking — strong in most areas — the majority of us fall somewhere in between. We’re strong in some areas — really strong in others — weak in some — and more weak than we realize in other areas.

But our aim — if you remember — is to glorify God — to please him first and foremost. And that means — especially if you happen to be the weak brother or sister in Christ in a particular situation — that we realize that — just because you don’t get what you want or what you think you should — that doesn’t mean that the strong are being unloving, unkind, or disobedient.

And — for those who happen to be the strong — in a particular situation — the strong are to be bearing — which means enduring — and kind towards your weaker spiritual siblings. Your goal should be to help them mature in the faith in this area. For Paul wants the weak to become strong — which should be the desire of all of us — we should desire for all who follow Jesus to grow stronger and stronger in the faith.

I wonder what your attitude is towards those whom you think are weak or spiritually immature on a particular non-essential issue? Sometimes everything about them is immature. Other times it’s just one area where you happen to disagree with them. Regardless, what’s your attitude towards the other person? Is your desire to help them grow and mature? Or do you just want to avoid another long conversation with them? Maybe you just want to prove to them how wrong they are? Or to get them to agree with you? I wonder if your answers to these questions reveal that — maybe — just maybe — you’re not as strong as you think you are?

HOW WE FULFILL OUR OBLIGATION

At this point — we now know our goal — that God would be glorified — and that we have an obligation we must fulfill in order to accomplish our goal — we’re to bear with the failings of the weak, not please ourselves, but seek to please our fellow Christians instead. And that sounds good and all — but how do we actually fulfill our obligation? Do we just grin and bear it? Tighten our belts and trudge on through the disagreements among us? Give up and go our separate ways?

Paul explains how we do all of this beginning in verse three.

Romans 15:3–6 ESV

3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul gives us three reminders that we must keep before us in order to fulfill our obligation when we disagree — so that God is glorified in our disagreements. Three reminders — think of them as instructions that you most likely already know — that Paul gives us so that we become the kind of people who glorify God in our disagreements.

First, we must look to Christ. In verse three Paul writes…

Romans 15:3 ESV

3 For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

To fulfill our obligation we must look to Jesus and remember that Christ did not please himself. But notice that Paul doesn’t say, “For Christ did not please himself, instead, he did what we wanted.” That’s not what Paul writes. Paul goes from Christ not pleasing himself to something Christ did that is unexpected and challenging to those who follow him: he gave his life on the cross. And it’s his sacrifice which ultimately pleases his people — for his sacrifice is the reason we have found true life.

You see, Jesus didn’t try to appease the unappeasable. He knew us — he knew our hearts — he knew that we’d never be pleased for there’s always one more demand, suggestion, “helpful piece of feedback” we’d have given him. Yet he denied himself for our sake anyway — he gave up his freedom so we might be set free from our enslavement to Satan, sin, death, and hell.

And — when we look to Christ — we see the One who welcomed us into his family, into a relationship with him — not because we deserved it or even because he looked around at humanity and thought we were the best options available. No — he did so because he chose — in love — to take our sins — our reproaches — that were offenses against him — and instead of giving us what we deserve — he experienced the judgment we deserved for our sins on the cross.

Thus what we’re to remember is this: Whatever we may have to give up for the sake of our brothers and sisters in Christ is — as they say — small potatoes. Not even worth comparing to what Jesus gave up for our sake. A great question to ask yourself is this: Am I seeking to please others as Jesus has first pleased me? Am I following Christ — and his example — of what it means to bear with the failings of the weak?

Remember — he is the One…

Philippians 2:6–11 ESV

6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

To be the kind of people who glorify God in our disagreements we must look to Christ.

Second, we must turn to the Bible. In verse four Paul writes…

Romans 15:4 ESV

4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

This book is what was written in former days. For sure — Paul would’ve been thinking of the Old Testament — but we’re blessed with the Old and New Testaments. And as Paul writes elsewhere…

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Thus all of God’s Word is written for our instruction — so that we may be complete and equipped for every good work. Including the good work of disagreeing with one another in a way that glorifies God.

Yet Paul tells us that we’re to turn to the Bible with a specific purpose in mind: We turn to it for both endurance and encouragement. Again in verse four we read…

Romans 15:4 ESV

4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Do you know what makes division so easy when you find yourself in a disagreement? It requires no enduring with the other person. Do you know why it’s so easy to allow divisiveness to spill over into words that do anything else but encourage the other person? Because we’re not submitting ourselves to God’s Word.

God’s Word — at all times — but especially when we disagree with a fellow Christian over a non-essential matter — will give us the endurance and encouragement that both parties need so that unity — not division — is the result — which leads to us living with hope. 

Again in verse four Paul writes…

Romans 15:4 ESV

4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

And hope is what we all need in this divisive age in which we live. Culture says, “Oh, you disagree with me — we’re through — it’s hopeless.” Yet God says to his people, “Endure with one another. Encourage one another. Stay unified with one another. Continue to love one another. In this way you will have hope — hope that abounds and overflows.” Whose voice will we listen to? Whose voice will you listen to? Culture’s voice or God’s?

Finally, we must remember to pray. Did you notice how — after all of chapter fourteen — and four verses of chapter fifteen — in this lengthy instruction on how to disagree — Paul suddenly starts to pray? Look at what happens in verse five.

Romans 15:5–6 ESV

5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul goes from instruction straight into prayer. No “let’s all bow our heads and close our eyes” — none of that. He just goes straight into prayer. 

And what does Paul pray for? He prays for everything he just instructed us to do in order to fulfill our obligation so that God is glorified in our disagreements. For our God is the “God of endurance and encouragement” who grants us the endurance and encouragement we discover when we turn to the Bible as our final authority. And doing so gives us hope. This is the very endurance and encouragement we need in order to live in harmony with one another. And all of this follows the example of our Savior — Jesus — who we’re to turn to. So Paul ends his discussion on how to disagree by praying — and he prays that God would be glorified in our lives.

CONCLUSION

Christ. The Word. And prayer. 

Jesus. The Bible. And bringing one another — and our disagreements — to God in prayer. 

This is our goal. This is how we disagree in a way that brings glory to our God. This is how we can disagree over non-essential matters — and not have to go our separate ways. But only if we’re all committed to following Christ, submitting to God’s Word, and to prayer.

Our unity is in our hands. No one of us can maintain our unity — we must all work to maintain it together. But it only takes one of us to create division. Which will you choose to be? A promoter of unity or of division?

That’s the question before each of us. And my prayer — and even more — my hope for all of us — is that we will fight for our unity — especially in our disagreements. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, when we think of all that you’ve done to unite us with you — and with each other — all we can do is stand in amazement — and ask for forgiveness. For often we work against you and the unity you desire for us to display to the world.

Holy Spirit, this is why we’re so desperate for your power in our lives. For the only way that we’ll submit to the Word of God in all areas of our lives — including in how we disagree — is by being empowered by you who lives in all who believe in Jesus. For Scripture calls you the Spirit of unity — unite our hearts together we pray.

And — Jesus — our unity with your Father — and each other — is only possible because of the loving sacrifice you offered when you gave your life on the cross. You came to earth to fulfill what we failed to do — which ultimately led to your death in our place. May we look to you. May we look to your love for us. May we look to the love you displayed — with your arms stretched open wide on the cross — for each other — and maintain the unity you died for.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — it’s hard not to see the division in our world — and the division is exhausting. May those who don’t yet believe in you — hear of the unity you offer — and see it in our faith family — so that they respond by believing in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. And we pray all of this in his name. Amen.

COMMUNION (JOSH MOVES TO TABLE)

As we turn our attention to the table — the Lord’s Table — in the words of Paul that we’ve looked at today…

Romans 15:5–7 ESV

5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant us to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together we may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 May we welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us, for the glory of God.

Therefore…

Leader: Lift up your hearts.

Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord.

Leader: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

Congregation: It is right for us to give thanks and praise.

Leader: With joy we praise you, gracious God, for you have created heaven and earth, made us in your image, and kept covenant with us — even when we fell into sin.

Congregation: We give you thanks for Jesus Christ, our Lord, who by his life, death, and resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life. Therefore we join our voices with all the saints and angels and the whole creation to proclaim the glory of your name.

We give thanks to God the Father that our Savior, Jesus Christ, before he suffered, gave us this memorial of his sacrifice, until he comes again. At his last supper, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup after supper and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this in remembrance of me.” For whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Leader: Therefore we proclaim our faith as signed and sealed in this sacrament.

Congregation: Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.

INSTRUCTIONS

At this time, I’d like to invite forward those who are going to be serving us. And — while they make their way forward — know that as the bread and cup are passed down your rows, you’re to take the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together. Also — there’s a gluten free option in the trays with the bread. 

If you’re not taking communion today — first — know that no one is judging you. And — second — we’d appreciate it if you could help those who are taking communion by passing the trays to the next person in your row. If you have any questions about communion — or what it means to follow Jesus — please stop by the resource center before you leave today.

Eat the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together.

COMMUNION PASSED OUT (Worship song)

The blood of Christ, shed for you.

CLOSING WORSHIP SONG

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

I think it’ll be good for us to hear Paul’s prayer one last time:

Romans 15:5–7 ESV

May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

I’m glad you asked for verses(s), because there’s not a single verse that conveys the idea I shared. The idea comes from multiple passages in the Bible. I’ll share a few below, but know there are many that I’m leaving out!

Overall, when we take what we learn in the verses below, and elsewhere in Scripture (especially in the historical accounts of people who didn’t speak honestly), we see there being a tie between dishonesty in our lives (even about what’s going on personally, which is what I referred to as “keeping up appearances”), and the experience of anxiety. For those of us who follow Jesus, who is the Truth, speaking truthfully is the standard for all areas of our lives. For when we don’t speak truthfully, there will be a consequence for our disobedience. Often, when our dishonesty is over a personal matter, anxiety is often a consequence we experience.

On anxiety:

Proverbs 12:25 – Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

Proverbs 29:25 – The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Matthew 6:25-34 – ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 

Philippians 4:4-8 – ⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

1 Peter 5:6-7 – ⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, ⁷ casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

On honesty:

Psalm 32:3 – For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

Psalm 101:7 – No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes. 

Jeremiah 9:5 – Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity.

Mark 8:36 – “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

John 14:6 – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Ephesians 4:15 – Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

DATE: 7-13-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re returning to our series in Romans this weekend. After taking a few weeks to explore the topic of suffering — we’re returning to the apostle Paul’s letter to Christians living in the city of Rome. And — if you remember — the chapter that we’re currently in — chapter twelve — is the pivotal point in Paul’s letter. 

After eleven chapters of rich theological truths — he gets to the so what? Meaning — how does all of the theology — of the first eleven chapters — play itself out in how we live — or at least — how should it influence how we live? That’s the journey we began earlier this year with Paul’s big “therefore” statement — when he writes…

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

In light of the theology he’s taught us — Paul now tells us to live our lives as sacrificial offerings to God — where our lives are acts of worship that make our God look glorious to the world.

And since the beginning of Romans twelve — and for the majority of our remaining time in Romans — we’re getting very specific with ways that our lives can make God look glorious. We’re getting into the nitty gritty of life so we see how — what we believe — shapes how we live. And how — as Christians — what we believe — is to change how we live compared to how we lived when we didn’t believe in Jesus. So incredibly practical stuff — how the Christian faith changes us.

With that — if you have your Bible — please turn with me to Romans chapter twelve. We’ll be in Romans chapter twelve — looking at verses fourteen through twenty-one. There Paul writes…

Romans 12:14–21 ESV

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

The summary verse — of all we just read and will encounter today — is verse twenty-one. If you want to know the point of this sermon — where we’re headed today — it’s in Paul’s words:

Romans 12:21 ESV

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Everything else is an explanation of this summary verse. So our goal for today — is to understand what it means to not be overcome by evil — but instead — to overcome evil with good. For this is a change Paul says we should expect in those who believe in Jesus.

But a few important ground rules before we begin.

If you’re here today and wouldn’t consider yourself to be a Christian — I know this may be hard — but I need you to set aside whatever definitions you have for evil and good. We’re reading Paul’s letter and so Paul gets to define for us what he means by evil and good. All I’m asking you to do is to give Paul the same consideration you’d want us to give to you if you were the author of the letter — you’d want us to use your definitions of evil and good.

A quick example: If you’re a business owner and you make a contract with a company to supply you with a certain number of items for a specific price — definitions matter. You want the exact number of items for the exact cost you agreed to. If the shipment contains less items than you paid for — or if the bill comes back at a much higher price than you agreed to — I don’t think anyone would simply accept the excuse, “Well, I was using different definitions than you when we made the contract.”

When Paul uses the words evil and good — he’s using biblical definitions. He was highly trained in the Jewish religion and — after an encounter with the resurrected Jesus — became a follower of Christ. So — for Paul — evil is anything that is “morally disgraceful, sinful, or wicked.” And evil — biblically speaking — usually falls into two categories: evil against fellow humans (murder, theft, adultery, and so on…) and evil against God (unbelief, idolatry, blasphemy, and so on…). Though you may have your own opinion on what is evil — Paul would be thinking biblically.

Good is biblically defined by God’s nature — meaning his character — and his actions. And this means that for us — humanity — to do good — whatever it is we do must be done with God’s nature and actions in mind. Which means that the good we do is only truly good if it’s done to make God look glorious.

Again — a quick example may be helpful. Helping an older gentleman reach something off of the top shelf at Walmart is a good deed. But — biblically speaking — if the act isn’t done with the intent of making God look glorious — then it missed the mark. “How dare God demand that our good deeds be done with making him look glorious in mind!” Think of it this way — though admittedly this is an imperfect illustration.

If while helping the old man get something off the top shelf — you simultaneously steal his wallet — did you do a good deed? Yes and no, right? You did help him get something off the top shelf — good — but you stole his wallet — evil. When we do good things without the purpose of God being glorified — we’re doing the equivalent of robbing from God what he deserves.

“Well that’s a high standard Josh. Am I really supposed to have God on my mind that much?” That’s what Paul’s “therefore” statement is all about. If you believe what the Bible says — your goal in life will be to grow in glorifying God in all that you think, say, and do — because — your life is not your own — but belongs to God. For Jesus gave his life in love for you — and now in response — in love — you give your life — all of it — for him.

That’s the goal of the Christian — to give more and more of our life — in love — to Jesus. And — today — we’re learning how to give more of our life to him by not being overcome by evil — but by overcoming evil with good.

BLESS OTHERS

To this we now turn — how do we avoid being overcome by evil and — instead — overcome evil with good? Part of Paul’s answer is that we do so by blessing others. We’re in verse fourteen.

Romans 12:14–16a ESV

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.

We have a repeated command — and its counterpart — and then a description of what obeying this command looks like. The repeated command is to “bless.” Paul tells us to “bless those who persecute you; bless…” and then comes the counterpart — “do not curse them.” The rest of the verses just read explain what it means to bless and not curse.

Now right away — if you’re familiar with the Bible — you may be thinking, “This sounds awfully familiar — ‘this whole bless those who persecute you’ stuff.” And you’d be right. In fact — it seems that Paul has words that Jesus spoke on his mind. For Jesus said…

Luke 6:27–36 ESV 

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. 32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

In a day and age when it was acceptable to love those who were part of your tribe and hate those who weren’t — Jesus says something radically countercultural. Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you.

In saying this — was he just being idealistic? Sentimental maybe? Or was Jesus showing us what it means to live a “therefore” kind of life — a life that exhibits a change between who we were — before we believed — and who we are — having believed?

Think of some of Jesus’ final words while he hung on the cross. He said…

Luke 23:34 ESV

34 “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Even as he was dying — Jesus blessed those who were murdering him.

What do you make of Jesus’ words — or Paul’s rendition of them? Are these options that we can pick and choose from? Or are these expectations that God has for those who are his people? I think the answer is obvious — though it’s not easy, right? Jesus isn’t giving us options to choose from — he’s giving us the characteristics of a life that’s been changed by him.

A life like Stephen’s who…

Acts 7:59–60 NLT

59 As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.

Stephen shows us that it’s possible to live a “therefore” life. A life where — because of what we believe — we bless those who persecute us — even as they kill us — we bless and do not curse them.

Blessing others doesn’t mean we have to put ourselves in potential danger — for example — if someone abuses you — it’s good to remove yourself from them and the situation. But that doesn’t mean you can’t bless them. And pray for them — as Jesus said. Their sin doesn’t justify you disobeying what God has said in his Word: do not curse them. 

Now I know — because it’s the cultural air that we can’t help but breathe in — I know we’re told to get revenge, to take back what’s ours, and so on. That’s the way of the world but not the way of Jesus. You can either follow the world or Jesus — but you can’t follow both — for they’re headed in two very different directions.

Back to Paul. In fleshing out what it means to be a blessing to others — Paul tells us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Rejoicing with those who rejoice can be incredibly hard, can’t it? Why is this? If we’re honest it’s because we can easily be jealous of others’ success and achievements and reasons for rejoicing.

• It’s hard to rejoice with the individual who got the promotion you also applied for.
• It’s hard to rejoice with the couple who announce their pregnancy when you struggle with infertility.
• It’s hard to rejoice with the parents of a child who’s doing great when you parent a child who has significant struggles.
• It’s hard to rejoice when your college roommate gets engaged when you’re still waiting to go on a date.

Rejoicing when others rejoice can be incredibly challenging — impossible even — when we try to live with any other goal than God being glorified in our life. For when that’s our goal — God gives us everything we need to overcome evil with good.

And we’re to weep with those who weep. Generally speaking — we Christians are much better at this than we are at rejoicing with others. I think this is partly due to our society still viewing it to be pretty nasty to not be sympathetic with those who are in the midst of sorrow. 

We recently had to put down our family cat. He lived a long good life — but his body started to shut down and it was time. One of our Gateway families is a vet in town and they were so kind to us throughout the process. The whole staff were very gracious. About a week later — we received a sympathy card in the mail that the staff had signed.

Weeping with those who weep is still valued in our culture.

• This would include weeping with your friend who didn’t get a promotion.
• And weeping with those unable to get pregnant — even if you’ve just announced your pregnancy.
• Weeping with the parents whose child is struggling.
• Weeping with your friend who’s still longing for a godly relationship.

Though we must be careful to neither rejoice or weep when the cause of either is dishonoring to God — it’s good and godly to rejoice with those who are rejoicing and weep with those who are weeping when what we’re rejoicing or weeping is biblically justified. And all of this is where our value of being a family is best experienced — a value most clearly expressed when we gather in Life Groups.

Though I know it’s summer — and many Life Groups are taking a break — may I encourage you to check in with each other? Reasons to rejoice and weep don’t take the summer off — and there may be folks you can come alongside — even during the summer — and bless them as you rejoice or weep with them.

Paul also tells us that — to bless others — means we live in harmony with one another. This is one of Paul’s favorite ways to describe the “therefore” life — a life of living in harmony with your fellow Christians. For example, later in Romans he writes…

Romans 15:5–6 ESV

5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To the Corinthians he writes…

2 Corinthians 13:11 ESV

11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

And to the Christians in Philippi he writes…

Philippians 2:1–2 NLT

1 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

And to two Christian women who found themselves in a disagreement Paul writes…

Philippians 4:2–3 NLT

2 Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement. 3 And I ask you, my true partner, to help these two women, for they worked hard with me in telling others the Good News. They worked along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are written in the Book of Life.

Notice why Paul appeals to us living in harmony with one another.

• To the Romans — so that with one voice — together — we glorify our God and Father.
• To the Corinthians — agree with one another — because — the God of love and peace will be with us.
• To the Philippians — work together with one mind and purpose — because — you belong to Christ.
• To the two women — settle your disagreement — because — you both belong to the Lord.

The purpose of living in harmony with one another isn’t self-serving — it’s not about what we’ll get out of it — it’s about who we belong to and who we honor by living in harmony with each other.

Finally — to be a blessing to others — Paul tells us to not be haughty — but to associate with the lowly. To be haughty is to be proud — and God opposes the proud.

As Jesus’s younger brother — James — reminds us.

James 4:6 ESV

6 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

And as Peter tells us…

1 Peter 5:5 ESV

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

For as David writes…

Psalm 18:27 ESV

27 For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.

And…

Psalm 31:23 ESV

23 Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.

And — though these warnings against pride should be sufficient in themselves — there’s the positive example of Jesus that Paul puts before us.

Philippians 2:3–11 NLT

3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. 9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Christ — the only Savior — humbled himself for our sake. He didn’t look out for his own interests — but ours. He gave up his divine privileges and took the position of a criminal on a cross. He did so in love. And in keeping with Paul’s theme — “therefore” — we who benefit from Christ’s humility are to be men and women of humility — who are not proud or haughty — who associate with the lowly. The outcasts of society. The lonely and forgotten. The discarded.

The people of God are at their God-glorifying best when they humble themselves and serve those the world has forgotten. This is how we conquer evil by doing good.

YOUR VIEW OF YOURSELF

But this isn’t the only way that we do so. For — not only are we to bless others — we’re to have a biblical view of ourselves. We’ve touched on this briefly — but now Paul turns our attention directly to the idea — when he writes in verse sixteen…

Romans 12:16–20 ESV

16b Never be wise in your own sight. 17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Here there’s just one command — but this single command comes with a lengthy description of what it means to obey it. The command is “never be wise in your own sight.” Other Bible translations say, “Don’t be conceited.” (NET/NIV) Or, “Don’t think you know it all.” (NLT)

Who wants to raise their hand when I ask, “Who thinks they’re a know it all?” Though many of us may want to raise our hand for someone else — few of us really desire to be the “know it all” in our circle of friends, family, co-workers, and — hopefully — the church.

Something I find interesting about the age in which we live is how we can’t get enough of “know it all” types. There’s a whole group of people who are popular solely because they’re conceited. This is the person who records street interviews where their sole goal is to make the other person look like an idiot. We can’t get enough of this junk — as long as the people they go after aren’t our kind of people, right?

Yet — when this kind of individual shows up in your life — well — we all know how we feel about a “know it all”. 

• They’re the family member everyone does their best to avoid at the holiday gathering. 
• The guy no one talks to at the high school reunion. 
• The gal who everyone dreads showing up to the book club.

And though some of us enjoy having a conversation with a “know it all” — for me — my enjoyment doesn’t come from a very God-honoring part of my heart. I once had to kick a “know it all” out of my house — the only person I’ve ever had to kick out of my house. But it was intolerable. I mean — I enjoyed it for a while because his assertions were so ridiculous. But when he started saying that we — Gateway — have a basement here at our County Road 9 Campus where we sacrifice chickens — and I couldn’t convince him that we don’t even have a basement — much less sacrifice chickens — and my kids were present — well — my enjoyment was over — so I kicked him out when he wouldn’t apologize. I remember laying in bed and just waiting for my wife to let me have it for not being patient enough with him. So I brought it up — and she totally surprised me. She said something like, “I can’t believe you lasted as long as you did.”

Don’t be a “know it all” — no one will like you. You wouldn’t even like yourself if you weren’t so blind to who you are.

Having a godly view of ourselves also influences how we treat others. We saw this earlier — but Paul repeats the idea. Don’t repay evil with evil — do what’s honorable instead. We live in a “pay back evil with not only evil — but amp it up a notch” culture, don’t we? We even see justification for striking with evil first — “get them before they get you.” Whether it be celebrity feuds or the way politicians speak about each other — we live in a culture that lacks being honorable — and far too many of us are taking cues from culture instead of God’s Word. For God’s Word tells us…

Ephesians 4:29 NLT

29 Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

I wonder how many of us are surprised to find out that God forbids us using foul language? It’s a biblical idea, not just a “wash your mouth out with soap” conservative cultural one. 

Peter tells us to…

1 Peter 2:12 NLT

12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

Additionally, we’re to live peaceably as Paul says. For those who follow the Prince of Peace are to be peacemakers in this world at war. To do so we must be aware of ourselves — our tendencies — ways in which we promote war and division and dishonor instead of the peace that God has called us to. And Paul tells us to live peaceably with all people. And “all” means “all” here. 

What a high expectation in our “therefore” lives, right? This doesn’t mean we won’t experience conflict or disagreement, but what it does mean is that we each have the responsibility to not leave things there. We’re to pursue peace — meaning — if you find yourself in a conflict — even if you think it’s the other person’s fault — you’re responsible for pursuing peace with them.

“But, Josh. Don’t you know how stubborn people can be? How they can be so convinced that they’re right and I’m wrong that there’s no peace to be had.” I didn’t say you had to convince them that they’re wrong and you’re right — you may be right, they may be wrong — they may be right, you may be wrong — even both of you may be wrong. What I said is that you must pursue peace with them.

• This may mean forgiving them for sinning against you even if they don’t ask for forgiveness — and — not holding on to any bitterness against them. This is pursuing spiritual peace with them even when relational peace is unattainable. This is what I had to do with the guy I kicked out of my house. 
• This may mean making an uncomfortable phone call and setting up a time to meet. I know how easy it is to wait for them to initiate — but as a follower of Jesus — you follow the Peacemaker who entered into our warring world of conflict — he didn’t wait for us to come to him — he took the initiative — and he commands his followers do likewise.
• This may mean making yourself a resolution — like my life resolution number eleven: To stop postponing difficult conversations. Do you know why I have life resolutions — “Yeah, because you’re weird, Josh.” That’s probably the case — but in addition to that — I have them because I’ve recognized areas in my life where I need to grow — where — by having a biblical view of myself and who God calls me to be — I see a gap that I want to narrow. One of those gaps is my natural ability to postpone difficult conversations. If there was an award given out for being the best at postponing difficult conversations — I would’ve been the winner many times over. But not anymore. In fact — if you talk to the elders and staff that I work most closely with — they’d probably tell you of other areas I need to work on instead of this — because — having this life resolution has worked. Having a proper view of myself led me to be dissatisfied with a gap between who I was and who God had called me to be.
• I wonder where there’s a gap in your life when it comes to being a peacemaker? I wonder how content you are with that gap? I also wonder how satisfied God is with this gap in your life?

In having a proper view of ourselves — in our effort to overcome evil with good — Paul tells us to never avenge ourselves. Never. Like ever. You and avenging yourself are like Taylor Swift and an ex-boyfriend. You’re never ever getting back together. That was for my daughter. 

For God’s people are to trust him when he says, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” Instead of getting revenge — what we’ve been commanded to do is to love our enemies. If they’re hungry — feed them. If they’re thirsty — give them a drink.” For as we heard Jesus say earlier…

Matthew 5:43–44 NLT

43 “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. 44 But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!

CONCLUSION

You see — in the end — the way we overcome evil with good — is by being people who love God and love others — who obey what Jesus called the greatest commandments. Neither creating our own god to love — a god who always agrees with us, never challenges us, never asks us to change — nor choosing who we’ll love. Instead — we follow Jesus and obey his commands. And — when we do — evil will be conquered in our lives and in our world — and good will prevail — as we live a “therefore” life. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for your word to us today. Reminding us that evil can be conquered — that it doesn’t have to prevail — that it doesn’t have to rule our lives — but instead — good can overcome it. Good as you define good to be — not us — for you are God and we’re not — and we must submit — not only our lives — but also our definitions of good and evil to you.

Holy Spirit, we need your help and power to live this “therefore” life we’ve been called to live. To be a blessing to others — to have a proper view of ourselves. To love. To be peacemakers. To not seek revenge. All of these things — and more — can only be done by your powerful presence in our lives. May we live by your power and not our own.

And to you — Jesus — the Prince of Peace. The One who first loved us. The One who lived honorably. The One who conquered evil with good…thank you. Thank you for all that you’ve done — in love — for us. May many respond to your love today — resting in your love — receiving your love — and allowing your love to change them so they now live a “therefore” life. And we pray all of this in your name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

Μay you gο conquering evil with good — by being a blessing to others as you follow Jesus and all he’s commanded. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 7-6-25

It’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

Today we’re finishing our series looking at some of King David’s psalms that address the topic of suffering. We’ve seen that there are many aspects to suffering — many reasons for our suffering that David touches on in his psalms. And — whether or not you’re currently in a season of suffering — suffering has a way of showing up in our lives — and it often does so  unexpectedly — which tells us we’d be wise to prepare for it. 

Being prepared doesn’t mean that suffering will be easy — often suffering comes when life is most challenging. Yet — though not easy — suffering provides us with a unique opportunity — because — when life’s most challenging we’re forced to change in some way.

And — in this series — we’ve been seeing how our Christian faith offers us the opportunity to become more like our Savior — Jesus — who — in love for us — experienced suffering, trials, persecution, hardships, rejection, hatred — you name it — he experienced it so that we might have hope in the midst of the sorrows we face.

Yet I know not all of us believe in Jesus. But all of us have experienced suffering or know others who have. And — if you’re honest — it’s scary. Because there’s no good answer offered by our world as to why we suffer — and even more importantly — how to suffer well. There’s just a huge hopelessness — thus many turn to coping mechanisms to numb themselves — or give up on life altogether in a seemingly never-ending depression.

But is this all there is — is this the best offer on the table in a world full of suffering? It’s not — and we should be thankful it’s not.

And that’s what we’ve been exploring in this series as we’ve looked at some of David’s psalms — including today’s psalm — psalm one hundred and forty-three. So — if you have your Bible — please turn with me there — to psalm one hundred and forty-three. 

• While you’re finding psalm one hundred and forty-three — let me remind you that we began this series by looking at psalm six and the relationship between suffering and our prayer life. 
• Then we looked at psalm thirty-two and the suffering we experience due to unrepentant sin in our lives. 
• Then we looked at psalm fifty-six and the suffering we experience at the hands of others. 
• Last week — we looked at the relationship between suffering and worship. 
• And — today — we’re going to look at the important relationship between suffering and salvation. 

David addresses this in our psalm for today — psalm one hundred and forty-three — when he writes…

Psalm 143 ESV

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! 2 Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you. 3 For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. 4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled. 5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. 6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah 7 Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. 8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. 9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground! 11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! 12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.

We’ll briefly look at David’s description of his suffering, which will show us how suffering reveals our need for salvation. Then we’ll look at the foundation of salvation, the result of salvation, the purpose of salvation, and the means of salvation. 

The foundation of salvation — what’s the basis for our salvation? The result of salvation — what happens to a person when they’re saved? The purpose of salvation — what’s the goal of salvation? And — finally — the means of salvation — from the foundation to its goal — how is any of this possible?

DAVID’S SUFFERING AND OUR NEED FOR SALVATION

But — first — David’s suffering. He describes his suffering in verse three — where we read…

Psalm 143:3–4 ESV

3 For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. 4 Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.

And skipping to verse seven he writes…

Psalm 143:7 ESV

7 Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.

In addition to these verses — in verse nine David mentions his “enemies” — which he does again in verse twelve where he also mentions his “adversaries.” Here’s what all of this tells us: This suffering is — once again — due to others being out to get him. And —though we’re not certain of the exact situation David’s writing about — whatever’s going on — we know that enemies and adversaries are against him and are pursuing him. David feels as if his life is being crushed. He says his life is surrounded by darkness. He’s faint, he’s weak, and he’s appalled because of what he’s going through.

And it’s in this situation that David shows us how suffering reveals to us our need for salvation — a word that means rescue. In verse two he writes…

Psalm 143:2 ESV

2 Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.

Though suffering — David makes a profound theological statement. He says, “No one living is righteous before you.” To be righteous means to be “right with God.” And — here — David says that none are righteous. A profound statement. We’d expect David to say that his enemies are not righteous — but to say “no one living is righteous” would include who? David. 

You see — just how suffering reveals to us our inability to save ourselves from whatever’s the cause of our suffering — you can’t save yourself from the grief of the death of someone you love — doctors can’t save themselves from cancer when it shows up in their life — and those addicted — whether to drugs, alcohol, porn, or whatever — those addicted can’t save themselves from their addiction — just as suffering reveals to us our inability to save ourselves from the cause of our suffering — it can also reveal to us our inability to save ourselves from our unrighteousness. For no one can save him- or herself from their not being right with God.

Now many think they can — they think if they do enough good things they’ll be right with God. Many people confuse this horrible idea with Christianity — but Christianity and saving yourself by what you do are not the same — they’re not even friends. A “what I do makes me right with God” religion or philosophy or worldview makes rule following — and not love — the basis of one’s relationship with God. Instead of a loving Father you get a taskmaster or referee.

And none of us play by God’s rules when it comes to this kind of relationship. We may pick and choose a few of his rules that we’re good at — but we’re cunningly good at deceiving ourselves from even considering the many rules we’re horrible at obeying. And — though we may fool ourselves — no one fools God — he knows that none of us are righteous before him.

What David’s describing here is the biblical doctrine of sin and — even more specifically — the doctrine known as total depravity. 

Here’s one of the clearest passages in Scripture describing in more detail what David says in the short phrase, “No one living is righteous before you.” The apostle Paul writes…

Romans 3:9–20 ESV

9b For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

All people — it doesn’t matter your race, nationality, gender, political affiliation, whether you root for the team in Columbus or Ann Arbor — everyone is under sin. 

Imagine two buildings — one building is for people who are under — or enslaved to sin — and the other is for those not under — or free from — sin. Everyone — Paul says — is under one roof. This is our spiritual condition from birth — because we inherited this condition from our first parents — Adam and Eve. And I know this may seem unfair — but we all made it fair when we made the decision to sin ourselves. 

You see, similar to what we inherit from our parents — some inherit red hair or blue eyes — a morally neutral inheritance — while others inherit a disposition towards being an alcoholic — which is not morally neutral. Though genetics may play a part in one being an alcoholic — at some point the choice to drink or not is yours. And the same is true for sin — we’ve both inherited sin and chosen it — thus we’re all guilty and — as David and Paul both say — unrighteous — or not right with God.

Paul goes on to describe this unrighteousness of ours. 

• We don’t understand or seek after God. 
• We don’t do good — good being defined as “done to make God look glorious.” 
• We deceive with our words. 
• Our mouths are full of curses and bitterness. 
• We’re swift to kill. 
• We experience and cause ruin and misery. 
• We continually war with one another and inhibit peace. 
• We don’t fear God.

This is Paul’s description of how sin has affected us — it’s affected all of who we are — which is what the doctrine of total depravity is about. Total depravity doesn’t mean that you or I are as bad as we could possibly be — it means that there’s no part of us that isn’t tainted — or affected — or infected — by sin. 

• Physically — we’re affected by sin. 
• Mentally — we’re affected by sin. 
• Emotionally — we’re affected by sin. 
• Relationally — we’re affected by sin. 
• Spiritually — we’re affected by sin. 
• And so on.

And the suffering we experience — either because of choices we’ve made or because of the choices of others — is a result of all of this. In fact — even suffering that’s not because of anyone’s choice — like cancer — is still a result of our sin and rebellion against God. It’s our body’s way of screaming at us, “Something’s gone seriously wrong and you need to be rescued from it!”

THE FOUNDATION OF SALVATION

Which leads us to good news — the way of salvation — which begins with the foundation — or the basis for salvation. We’re back in verse one.

Psalm 143:1 ESV

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!

And skipping to verse five he writes…

Psalm 143:5 ESV

5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.

What’s the foundation — or basis — for salvation? God’s faithfulness and righteousness. Let’s start with God’s righteousness. God’s righteousness is great news — it means that God always does what is right. Remember — we’re unrighteous. This doesn’t mean we always do what’s wrong — but we definitely don’t always do what is right. Yet God does — he only does what is right. 

Now — when we suffer — something I find to immediately pop into my mind — and maybe you can relate — is that I doubt God’s righteousness — that he always does what is right. When things are going well — I have no doubt in God’s righteousness. But now that I’m suffering — it’s like, “Hey God, why’d you change?” As if he still isn’t doing what is right.

So let me show you something wonderfully practical about theology — this is how theology goes from being all up in our head and gets down into our heart and to the core of who we are. I’m reading a book on the life and ministry of a pastor who died a few years ago. The author quotes the pastor on the relationship between our theology and life by encouraging us to ask…

“How would I be different if I took this theological truth seriously? How would it change my attitudes and actions if I really believed this from the bottom of my heart?”

How would you be different — suffering or not — if you took the theological truth seriously that God is always righteous — that he only does what is right? How would really believing this truth change your attitude or actions in your suffering? How would it change your view of what you’re currently going through?

Second, David tells us that God is faithful — another layer of the foundation of our salvation. David remembers and meditates on all that God has done in the past — he ponders God’s works. God’s past faithfulness — in Scripture, in history, and in your life — when remembered — will give you confidence in his faithfulness to you today — suffering or not.

You’ve heard me say in many sermons that one of the most popular commands in the Bible is to remember. Why remember? Because we’re a forgetful people! And what do we forget most often? God’s faithfulness to us — thus we doubt if he’ll be faithful to us when we suffer.

Yet the God…

• Who rescued the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and led them on a journey to the Promised Land…
• Who sent prophets to warn the people to repent of their sins and turn back to him or face the consequences of their sins…
• Who told his people ahead of time — you will spend seventy years in exile because of your sin — but you will return to your land…
• Who came to earth in the form of a servant — doing only what was right — speaking words of grace and truth…
• Who promised new life to all who turn to him in faith…

Is the God who is always faithful to his people. He is the God who is always righteous — and only does what is right. He is the God of salvation — the One who came to rescue us.

THE RESULT OF SALVATION

Which leads to the result of salvation. We’re in verse six where David writes…

Psalm 143:6 ESV

6 I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

And skipping to verse eight he writes…

Psalm 143:8–10 ESV

8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. 9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

If — as we saw earlier — none are righteous and none seek God and so on — including David — how did he get here? With his hands stretched out to God? And thirsting for God? And trusting God? In lifting up his soul to God? In fleeing to God for refuge and protection? What happened to David that changed his desires so he now longs for God to teach him his will and to declare, “You are my God” — and to believe that God’s Spirit is leading him?

He experienced salvation. And — specifically — he experienced the change that happens to a person who’s been saved. 

What happens to us when we’re saved? According to Scripture — what happens to us is that we’re given a new heart. Other passages call this being given new life or a new birth or being born again or being Spirit-filled. This is something God does to us resulting in us repenting of our sins — turning from our sin and rebellion against God — as we turn to him in faith — that’s called conversion.

The point is that salvation always results in change — always. And this results in us doing some of the very same things we used to do — thinking we could make ourselves right with God — but now we do them because God has made us right with him. Works we now do — not to earn God’s love or favor — works done because God has graciously given us his love and favor.

Yet I know that many people struggle at this point — not only in discerning whether or not they’re doing something to earn God’s love — but even in knowing whether or not they’re a true Christian. Which another quote — from the pastor I mentioned earlier — I think will be helpful. And — not only helpful — but will circle us back to where we began in this series on suffering — back to prayer. He says…

“Your prayer life is the litmus test for your relationship with God. How do you know if you’re really a Christian? How do you know? That’s a hard question, but I’ll tell you this. Your prayer life is the best way to find out. Don’t look at whether you witness day and night on the street corner. Don’t look at whether you’re a moral person. Don’t look at whether you go to church. Don’t look at even how much you know your Bible. Because, you realize, other people see [those things]…and so it’s possible to be motivated out of a desire to look good. It’s possible to have an external kind of religion and be motivated by environmental factors. But only God sees you when you pray. As a result, it’s your prayer life that tells you what you’re really made of spiritually.”

Be honest with yourself: What does your private prayer life say about the reality of your salvation? Does it speak volumes? Is it barely a whisper? Does it give you assurance? Or is it non-existent? 

David’s been teaching us how to pray during this series. Has he fallen on deaf ears or on a heart eager to pour itself out to a saving God who is always faithful and righteous?

THE PURPOSE OF SALVATION

Which leads us to the purpose of salvation. We’re in verse eleven.

Psalm 143:11–12 ESV

11 For your name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble! 12 And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.

The goal of your salvation — the goal of my salvation — the goal of anyone’s salvation — is the glory of God. Salvation makes God — the One who saves — look glorious. For the One who brings our soul out of trouble — whose steadfast love cuts off our enemies — who destroys all adversaries of our soul — is the One who our lives are to glorify. 

For the enemies who he’s protected us from — and cut off and destroyed on our behalf — are Satan, sin, death, and Hell. And the promise he’s made to us is that he will preserve us. God will ensure that we experience all that it means to be saved. Including the great and glorious promise that John saw in his vision when he writes…

Revelation 21:1–5 ESV

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

This is salvation fulfilled to its ultimate purpose: God’s people living in God’s presence for God’s glory for all eternity. Where separation from him — because of sin — is no more. Along with no more crying and no more death and no more pain or mourning or suffering or sorrow. For these things will have passed away and be no more. Leaving only new things for God’s people — as he makes new — and restores — everything for his glory. 

CONCLUSION: THE ONLY MEANS OF SALVATION

And that’s good and that’s glorious — but I’ve left out the best part: how we get there — the means of our salvation. Back to verse one.

Psalm 143:1 ESV

1 Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!

The mercy that David pleas for — the faithfulness and righteousness of God that we looked at earlier — are most clearly seen in the One who came to be our righteousness.

As the apostle Peter tells us…

1 Peter 3:18 NIV

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

And as the apostle Paul reminds us…

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 ESV

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Let the one who boasts — boast in the Lord indeed. For then — even our suffering will make our saving God look glorious to a world full of suffering. Even then — we’ll join the mighty chorus of voices in singing about the hope we have in Christ and make our saving God look glorious in a world that sings the music of self-righteousness and despair. For when he — Jesus — who is the Righteousness of God — is your righteousness — your life will be changed — gloriously so — for God’s glory alone — forever and ever. Amen. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, what a God you are! Faithful. Righteous. Merciful. Protecting. And a saving God. What a God you are indeed.

Holy Spirit, you apply all that Jesus has accomplished in the lives of your people. From giving us new hearts to keeping us from falling away — salvation from beginning to end is a work not in our hands — but in yours. And this is more than comforting because you are righteous — we are not. You only do what is right — we often choose otherwise. Your love is unconditional — our love often comes with conditions. Why would we want salvation to be in anyone’s hands but yours?

And — Jesus — this wonderful salvation that we’ve seen today is possible because you — the Righteous One of God — came to earth to give your life in place of ours. To pay the debt we owe for our sin. To satisfy the wrath of God while protecting us from our enemies and adversaries.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — help all who hear my voice to receive this Good News. To respond to it. To believe it to be more true than any of us currently do — for none of us believe this to the infinite degree that it’s true. And —we ask this — so that you would look glorious in all of our “changed for all eternity lives” that we now live because you have saved us. And we pray all of this in Jesus’s name. Amen.

COMMUNION (JOSH MOVES TO TABLE / VIDEO CONTINUES FOR NM)

As we turn to the Lord’s Table — it’s hard to not think back on the night Jesus first ate this meal with his disciples. The apostle Paul records the meal this way.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

As you may know — after the meal — Jesus went with his disciples to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. Before we remember this moment — I want to read some verses from our psalm one more time for you — I want you to see a connection between the words in our psalm and what happens in the garden.

From our psalm.

Psalm 143:8–10 ESV

8 Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. 9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord! I have fled to you for refuge. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!

And now we turn to Matthew’s gospel.

Matthew 26:36–46 ESV

36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

• In the morning — Jesus — though he trusted his Heavenly Father — experienced judgment — not love. 
• He did so — so that — as this meal reminds us — we might receive his Father’s love and not the judgment we deserve. 
• Instead of being delivered from his enemies — he was given over to their sinful thirst for death — so that all who put their faith in him might experience salvation from their enemies — including death. 
• He did his Father’s will and did so perfectly — even when it meant he would suffer. 
• And — he did so — so that we — who’ve rebelled against God’s will — might be rescued from our path of eternal destruction — from the building for the unrighteous — and be placed on the path that leads to eternal life — and are now residents of the building for those who’ve been made righteous by the Righteous One.

In this meal — there is salvation and much grace for us to be thankful for.

INSTRUCTIONS

At this time, I’d like to invite forward those who are going to be serving us. And — while they make their way forward — know that as the bread and cup are passed down your rows, you’re to take the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together. Also — in the trays with the bread — there’s a gluten free option in the center of the tray. Eat the bread on your own — but save the cup — which we’ll drink together.

COMMUNION PASSED OUT

The blood of Christ, shed for you.

WORSHIP TRANSITION

Please stand as we continue to praise our saving God in worship.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available)

Having believed in Jesus — may you go and make your saving God look glorious. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 6-29-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And — if this happens to be your first time worshiping with us — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series where we’re looking at some of King David’s psalms that address the topic of suffering. We’ve seen that there are many aspects to suffering — many reasons for our suffering — that David touches on in his psalms. And regardless if you’re currently in a season of suffering — I think we all understand that suffering has a way of showing up in our lives — often unexpectedly — which makes it wise for us to prepare for. 

We’ve also seen that — for the follower of Jesus — suffering is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to spiritually grow for those of us who follow a Savior who experienced suffering. Not an easy opportunity to grow — it’s often a painful opportunity — for suffering comes when life is most challenging. But — in another sense — suffering is one of the easiest times to grow — because — when life’s most challenging we’re forced to change.

And today we’re going to continue to see how our Christian faith offers a different opportunity in these hard moments of life: an opportunity to become more like our Savior — Jesus — who — in love for us — experienced suffering, trials, persecution, hardships, rejection, hatred — and he experienced all of this so we might have hope in the midst of the sorrows we face.

And I say this knowing not all of us believe in Jesus. But all of us have experienced suffering — or know others who have. And — if you’re honest — it’s frightening. Because our culture offers no good reason as to why we suffer or how to suffer well. Which is where the Christian faith comes in with unexpected hope for all of us travelers in a suffering-filled world.

This hope is what we’ve been discovering as we look at a few of David’s psalms — including today’s psalm — psalm eighty-six. So — if you have your Bible — please turn there — to psalm eighty-six. 

• While you’re finding psalm eighty-six — especially if you’re just joining us — we began this series by looking at psalm six and the relationship between suffering and our prayer life. 
• Then we looked at psalm thirty-two and the suffering we experience due to unrepentant sin in our lives. 
• Last week we looked at psalm fifty-six and the suffering we experience at the hands of others. 
• And — next week — our final week in this series — we’ll look at the important relationship between suffering and salvation. 
• But — today — we’re looking at the relationship between our suffering and our worship. 

David addresses this in our psalm for today — psalm eighty-six — when he writes…

Psalm 86 ESV

1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God. 3 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. 4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. 6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. 7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me. 8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. 9 All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. 10 For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. 11 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. 12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. 13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. 14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them. 15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. 16 Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant. 17 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Here’s where we’re headed. We’re going to begin by briefly looking at David’s suffering. Then we’ll see how — even in our suffering — worship always begins with God. And — finally — we’ll see how — when our worship begins with God — our prayers will be bold and worshipful. 

David’s suffering. Worship always begins with God. Which leads to bold worshipful prayers.

DAVID’S SUFFERING

We’ll begin by looking at David’s suffering — we’ll begin in verse three. There David writes…

Psalm 86:3 ESV

3 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day.

Skipping to verse seven we read…

Psalm 86:7 ESV

7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.

Jumping down to verse fourteen we read…

Psalm 86:14 ESV

14 O God, insolent men have risen up against me; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, and they do not set you before them.

And a few verses later — in verse seventeen — David writes…

Psalm 86:17 ESV

17 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Like some of the other psalms we’ve looked at — David doesn’t give us enough information to know the specific situation he’s writing about. Verse fourteen gives us the most detail — a group of individuals are seeking his life — but that’s not enough for us to nail down exactly what moment David’s describing for us — for he experienced many “people seeking his life” moments.

Regardless — whatever he’s going through has caused him to cry out to God — which he says he’s doing quite often. He calls this time in his life as the “day of his trouble” because — as I said earlier — there are people out to get him because they hate him. 

Now given that this is our fourth week in this series — and having looked at David’s history with suffering — I don’t think we need to spend any more time on the specific reasons for his suffering in this psalm. I just want to make the point — again — that if you’re suffering — if you can relate to any of what David’s describing in our psalm — if your days are full of trouble — if there are people against you — if you’re in a situation where you are endlessly crying out to God — Christian or not — if you know what it’s like to ask why me — or have ever vented to friends or on social media about the injustice you’ve experienced — if you know the life companion whose name is sorrow — then there’s something for you to learn from David today.

And — even if you’re not in sorrow right now — David’s going to give you some advice that — if taken — it’ll be a source of strength when a season of suffering comes upon you.

WORSHIP BEGINS WITH GOD (EVEN IN SUFFERING)

Now — even without knowing all the specifics of David’s suffering — we’re going to see the connection between suffering and worship. And what David’s going to show us is that worship begins with God. Even in our suffering — our worship begins with God — because worship always begins with God. 

In verse five David writes…

Psalm 86:5 ESV

5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

Skipping to verse eight we read…

Psalm 86:8–10 ESV

8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. 9 All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. 10 For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.

Remember — these are the words of a man who’s in the midst of much suffering. Later — in verse thirteen — David says…

Psalm 86:13 ESV

13 For great is your steadfast love toward me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

And in verse fifteen he writes…

Psalm 86:15 ESV

15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

First things first about worship. If you’re here today and you wouldn’t consider yourself a Christian — or even a religious person — you may think, “This worship stuff is only for religious people — what does this have to do with me?” Worship and suffering are much more practical to you than you might think — because — regardless if you’re a Christian or not — and regardless if you view yourself as a religious person or not — all of us are worshippers. We can’t help it. It’s like it’s part of our DNA or something.

By worship — I simply mean how we’re all prone to center our lives around something or someone. Your career or family, being seen as successful or being free to live however you want, having a romantic partner or being viewed as smart and capable, people even center their lives around not suffering — you name it — people worship it. And — to worship — means we pursue whatever it is — we make sacrifices for it — it gets our time, energy, and money. We give our lives to it — because it — whatever it is — gives us meaning and purpose — it gives us our identity. 

These its we worship have been called idols of the heart. Idols — as you probably know — used to come in the form of wood or metal statues — and you’ll still find those in many parts of the world today. But for us in the West — idols take on other forms — career, family, success, money, youth, beauty, and so on. As one pastor has said, “Nobody is truly an unbeliever. Either you trust the real God or you’re enslaved to something you treat as a god.” And this may surprise you — but non-Christians agree. 

Twenty years ago — while delivering the commencement speech at Kenyon College — David Foster Wallace — who wasn’t a Christian — said, “A huge percentage of the stuff that I tend to be automatically certain of is, it turns out, totally wrong and deluded. Here’s one example of the utter wrongness of something I tend to be automatically sure of: Everything in my own immediate experience supports my deep belief that I am the absolute center of the universe, the realest, most vivid and important person in existence. We rarely talk about this sort of natural, basic self-centeredness, because it’s so socially repulsive, but it’s pretty much the same for all of us, deep down.” That’s his way of saying, “Here’s something else we worship — ourselves.”

He goes on to say, “There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. [Remember — he’s not a Christian. He goes on to say…] And an outstanding reason for choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing to worship — be it J.C. or Allah, be it Yahweh or the Wiccan mother-goddess or the Four Noble Truths…is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things — if they are where you tap real meaning in life — then you will never have enough. Never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you…Worship power — you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to keep the fear at bay. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart — you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out…Look, the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful; it is that they are unconscious. They are default-settings. They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing.”

So be open to the idea that you are a worshiper — even if you’re not sure exactly what it is that you worship. And — if you call yourself a Christian — be open to the idea that there are some idols of your heart that you may not be aware are vying for your worship. 

So — for all of us worshipers — I want to show us Someone who’s worthy of our worship — in fact the only Someone worthy of our worship. We find this Someone in verse five of our psalm.

Psalm 86:5 ESV

5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

What a powerful statement, right? About this verse, one scholar has said…

The chief encouragement in prayer is knowing the character of God. David has come to know God through his Word and through his experience as a believer. The better he knows God, the more certain he is of God’s willingness to help him in his need. What an incentive this is for us to study the attributes of God—his divine characteristics as they are revealed in Holy Scripture—and to walk with God [in] faith so [we] know him better!

The character of God that David’s focusing on — while he suffers — is God’s steadfast love — which he mentions three times in our psalm. One children’s book author has described God’s steadfast love as his, “Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love.”

We have our definitions of love — this is God’s definition. And this is what he means when he says he loves his people. 

It’s a love that never stops. The Christian faith teaches that there’s nothing you can do to earn God’s love — which means — and this is glorious — there’s nothing you can do to un-earn his love. When God loves you — he loves you. And there’s nothing you can do to stop him from loving you.

Additionally, his love for you never gives up. Though we may reach our breaking point — or turn our backs on God — and distrust him and question him and doubt him and betray him — he never gives up on us. He pursues us. He calls us back. He whispers to us — in our sorrow and grief — I love you.

His love for us is unbreaking. God’s love is an always and forever love. From eternity past to eternity future — those whom God loves — he eternally loves.

This is just one attribute of God that’s meant to change the way we worship him. For our God is also compassionate, and faithful, and all-knowing, and all-powerful, and just, and righteous, and merciful, and slow to anger, and good, and kind, and eternal, and Creator, and so much more — which is why our worship must begin with God. For — when it begins with him — our worship will be spiritually red hot — on fire — regardless of our circumstances — yes — even when we’re suffering.

Don’t believe me? You don’t have to take my — or even David’s — word for it. Take Job — who after the tragic death of all of his children and the loss of all of his wealth…

Job 1:20–21 NLT

20 Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. 21 He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!”

Or take Paul and Silas who — while locked in chains in prison — at…

Acts 16:25–26 ESV

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.

Or take Hannah — who though childless and ridiculed by others because of it — continued to pour out her soul before the LORD in prayer. And — after the fulfillment of the promise given to her — that she would have a son — she prayed…

1 Samuel 2:1–2 NLT

1 “My heart rejoices in the Lord! The Lord has made me strong. Now I have an answer for my enemies; I rejoice because you rescued me. 2 No one is holy like the Lord! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

Or take the prophet Habakkuk who was given a prophecy of judgment for the people of Judah. Habakkuk received a hard word about the punishment the people of God were going to experience. And yet his book ends with these words.

Habakkuk 3:17–19 NLT

17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! 19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights. (For the choir director: This prayer is to be accompanied by stringed instruments.)

The words in parenthesis tell us this was a song to be sung in worship by the people of God. “When there’s no fruit on the trees — when there’s a famine in the land — when all of the herds have died — I will still rejoice in the God of my salvation.” That’s some red hot, spiritually on fire, kind of worship, right?

“But, come on Josh. Those were people in the Bible. Of course they could worship God in the midst of suffering. Don’t you have to be a super spiritual hero to make it in the Bible anyway?” You don’t have to be a super spiritual hero to make it in the Bible — but here are some non-biblical folks who show us that this kind of worship — while suffering — is possible.

Take Horatio Spafford who — after his four daughters drowned in a shipwreck — penned the hymn It is Well with My Soul as he traveled by ship to meet his wife. One of the lines in the hymn states “Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well, with my soul.”

Or take Corrie ten Boom who was imprisoned in a concentration camp because she and her family had helped around eight hundred Jews flee from the Nazis. Her family was betrayed and were arrested. Corrie smuggled a Bible into the concentration camp and held worship services. She famously said, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.” If God’s steadfast love could meet Corrie and others imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp — might it be possible for his love to meet you in whatever dark pit of suffering you find yourself in?

WHICH LEADS TO BOLD WORSHIPFUL PRAYERS

The examples could go on — but I think you get the point. For many — because of the God they worship — the God who’s revealed himself in this book — they were able to worship even as they suffered. And when we follow in their steps — by worshiping the same “steadfast-loving us always-God”  — we will find ourselves praying big, bold, worshipful prayers. We’re back in verse one where David writes…

Psalm 86:1–4 ESV

1 Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God. 3 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. 4 Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

Jumping to verse six we read…

Psalm 86:6–7 ESV

6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. 7 In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.

Skipping to verse eleven David writes…

Psalm 86:11–12 ESV

11 Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. 12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.

Finally in verse sixteen we read…

Psalm 86:16–17 ESV

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant. 17 Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Pay attention to how David begins his big, bold, worshipful prayer. He begins with humility — acknowledging that he’s poor and needy. Now — remember — he’s king David. The giant slaying hero who God appointed as leader over his people. This is no man in an ordinary position — this is like being the president of our country — and yet David begins his prayer displaying God-honoring humility.

How do your prayers begin?

Once Jesus told a parable — a short story meant to teach a moral truth — to…

Luke 18:9–14 ESV

9 some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In Jesus’s day, everyone would’ve assumed that a tax collector would need to humble himself before God — but a Pharisee? If anyone was a super spiritual hero of the day it was a Pharisee. Yet Jesus makes it clear that everyone must approach God in prayer with humility. Something David — though a king — understood. And if it’s fitting for a king to humble himself before God — I think it’s safe to conclude that the same is true for all of us non-kings and queens.

Bold prayers are still humble prayers. Boldness and humility are not enemies — they’re friends — partners — boldness and humility are characteristics of those whose worship of God begins with who God is — as we saw earlier.

“But, wait. Josh, you may’ve gotten ahead of yourself. Don’t you see how David describes himself in verse two? He says, ‘I am godly’ and that doesn’t sound very humble to me — that sounds just like the Pharisee.” David isn’t making a self-righteous statement — he’s simply saying that he trusts in God. In today’s language David would say, “I’ve put my trust in Christ alone.” That’s not what the Pharisee was doing.

Yet David knows how his heart is fickle. Our hearts chase after many lovers and gods — even after we’ve put our trust in Christ. That’s why David prays — in verse eleven — for God to unite his heart to fear his name. Remember — men are after David. They want him dead and obviously don’t want him to be their king — there’s division in the land. Yet here — as he prays — David shows that he’s just as concerned for his divided heart as he is for the divided nation. His desire is that his whole heart would be committed to trusting in God’s promises and doing God’s will.

What’s the bigger concern for you — which gets the greater attention of your prayer life? Divisions around you — political divisions, racial divisions, relational divisions, religious divisions, and so on — or the division within your own heart? Does it even bother you — for this is true of you just as it’s true of me — that your heart isn’t fully committed to trusting God’s promises and accomplishing the will he has for you? That even though you long to love the Lord with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength — yet — you know you live with a heart that’s divided.

Those who are humble before God — who — even in suffering — worship him — will ask God not only to relieve them of their suffering — which they do ask for in prayer! — but also to teach them. To teach them about their divided heart. To help them walk in truth even as they suffer. To not allow their suffering to give voice to the lies that chirp in our ears: “If God loved you — you wouldn’t be suffering like this.” “See, you’re not a good person. Good people don’t go through what you’re going through.” “You’re unloveable. You’re unforgivable. You’re worthless. You’re ugly. You deserve this.” 

CONCLUSION

The way to combat these lies is to know God’s Word. For this book tells us wonderful, life-changing, hope-in-the-midst-of-suffering truths. Who God is. Who we are. What God is doing in the world. What Jesus accomplished in his life, death, and resurrection. And where all of history is headed.

I know that for many — the Bible is intimidating. So — if you don’t know where to begin — let me encourage you to grab a copy of this booklet — how to make the most of your devotional time — at the Resource Center at your campus. You can also get a digital copy on our website — gatewayepc.org. 

Here’s another step you can take to grow in your understanding of who God is: Worship with us weekly. Every week your heart faces a battle — it goes to war. Will an idol of your heart get your allegiance and worship or will the one true God? I know that we get sick. I understand that we go on vacation. But the vast majority of people who don’t worship weekly aren’t missing because they’re sick or on vacation — they miss because an idol has demanded their worship. We don’t call it worship — but go back to what I said earlier and see if you can find a better word. And on a day you find yourself in the midst of suffering — none of those idols will give you what you need. And you may even find yourself wondering where the One true God went off to — when the truth is — he never went anywhere. The question is: Where’d you go?

But know that — even in our wandering — and even with our divided hearts — God is so good, and kind, and patient, and gracious, and forgiving, and — yes — loving — that he always welcomes his children back into his loving arms when we return to him. Even when our suffering’s caused by our own hands — even when it’s caused by others — and even when there’s no one to blame for our suffering — the God who is good and forgiving — who abounds in steadfast love to all who call upon him — is with us. His name is Jesus. And may you turn to him right now — receive his love — and worship him even in your suffering. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Father, as we pray to you we want to begin by acknowledging who you are. As we’ve been reminded today — you are good and your steadfast love endures forever. What hope is found in knowing that you are good. Not a tyrant. Not wicked. Not unfair. Good. And your steadfast — never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever — love endures for us today, tomorrow, and always.

Holy Spirit, comfort those in need of comfort. Point all of us in the direction of knowing who you are more clearly and accurately. Reveal to us the idols of our hearts — false gods vying for our worship and demanding our devotion. Call us to repentance and help us to do so as we trust that you always forgive those who come to you repenting of their sins.

And — Jesus — all of this great and glorious good news is possible and true because of you. What you accomplished in your perfect life, death, and in your Satan, sin, death, and Hell defeating resurrection. We have hope and can worship you — even in suffering — because you — in love — first suffered for us. And you are with us in our suffering. And you love us through our suffering.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — call many to believe, trust, rest, and worship you today. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available | DEVO BOOKLET | Suffering and need prayer)

May you go worshiping the One true God — for he is good — and his steadfast love for you endures forever. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

DATE: 6-22-25

As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And there’s one thing I want you to know — and this is true if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — if you’re joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.

SERIES INTRO

We’re continuing our series looking at some of King David’s psalms that address the topic of suffering. There are many aspects to suffering — many reasons for our suffering that David touches on in his psalms — and each of these are important for us to consider because — whether or not you’re currently in a season of suffering — suffering has a way of showing up — often unexpectedly — which we’d be wise to prepare for. Yet — for the follower of Jesus — suffering is an opportunity. For suffering’s an opportunity to spiritually grow for those of us who follow a Savior who experienced suffering.

Now — for sure — suffering is not an easy opportunity to grow — often suffering comes when life is most challenging. But — in another sense — suffering is one of the easiest opportunities to spiritually grow — because — when life’s most challenging we’re forced to change in some way.

And I say this knowing that not all of us believe in Jesus — but all of us have experienced suffering or know others who’ve experienced it. And — if you’re honest — it’s scary. Because there’s no good answer offered by our world, society, or culture as to why we suffer — and even more importantly — how to suffer well. There’s just a huge hopelessness — thus many turn to coping mechanisms to numb themselves — drugs, alcohol, binge watching Netflix — or give up on life altogether in a seemingly never-ending depression.

But is that all there is — is that the best offer on the table in a world full of suffering? It’s not — thank God it’s not.

So let’s continue to see how our Christian faith offers a different opportunity in these hard moments of life: an opportunity to become more like our Savior — Jesus — who — in love for us — experienced suffering, trials, persecution, hardships, rejection, hatred — you name it — he experienced it so that we might have hope in the midst of the sorrows we face.

This is what we’re exploring in this series as we look at some of David’s psalms — including today’s psalm — psalm fifty-six. So — if you have your Bible — please turn there — to psalm fifty-six. And while you’re finding psalm fifty-six — if you weren’t with us — we began this series by looking at psalm six and the relationship between suffering and our prayer life. And — last time — we looked at psalm thirty-two and the suffering we experience due to unrepentant sin in our lives. In the coming weeks we’re going to look at the important relationship between our suffering and worship — as well as the relationship between suffering and salvation. But — today — we’re looking at the suffering we experience that’s caused by others. David addresses this in our psalm for today — psalm fifty-six — when he writes…

Psalm 56 ESV

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.

Here’s where we’re headed. First, we’re going to look at suffering we experience that’s caused by others. Then we’ll remind ourselves of the outcome of our suffering. Finally, we’ll look at the in-between time — the time between the moment that’s the cause of our suffering and the day we will no longer suffer — this lengthy in-between time.

SUFFERING CAUSED BY OTHERS

So — first — let’s look at suffering that’s caused by others. And we’ll begin with David’s reason for writing this psalm. We’re back in verse one where David writes…

Psalm 56:1–2 ESV

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.

And in verse five we read…

Psalm 56:5–7 ESV

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. 7a For their crime will they escape?

So what’s happening in David’s life that’s caused him to write these words? Though added after the psalm was written, the introductory section helps us understand what David’s referring to. The introduction says…

TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO THE DOVE ON FAR-OFF TEREBINTHS. A MIKTAM OF DAVID, WHEN THE PHILISTINES SEIZED HIM IN GATH.

Your Bible probably has something similar just above the psalm. The words for us to focus on are “when the Philistines seized him in Gath.” That’s our context clue pointing us to when this all took place in David’s life. And it points us to the book of First Samuel — chapter twenty-one. 

Jonathan — Saul’s son — has finally realized that his dad wants to kill David. And — just as he promised David — he meets David and warns him that his dad definitely wants to kill him. Which leads to David going on the run. And here’s what happens.

1 Samuel 21 NLT

1 David went to the town of Nob to see Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when he saw him. “Why are you alone?” he asked. “Why is no one with you?” 2 “The king has sent me on a private matter,” David said. “He told me not to tell anyone why I am here. I have told my men where to meet me later. 3 Now, what is there to eat? Give me five loaves of bread or anything else you have.” 4 “We don’t have any regular bread,” the priest replied. “But there is the holy bread, which you can have if your young men have not slept with any women recently.” 5 “Don’t worry,” David replied. “I never allow my men to be with women when we are on a campaign. And since they stay clean even on ordinary trips, how much more on this one!” 6 Since there was no other food available, the priest gave him the holy bread—the Bread of the Presence that was placed before the Lord in the Tabernacle. It had just been replaced that day with fresh bread. 7 Now Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief herdsman, was there that day, having been detained before the Lord. 8 David asked Ahimelech, “Do you have a spear or sword? The king’s business was so urgent that I didn’t even have time to grab a weapon!” 9 “I only have the sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah,” the priest replied. “It is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. Take that if you want it, for there is nothing else here.” “There is nothing like it!” David replied. “Give it to me!” 10 So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath. 11 But the officers of Achish were unhappy about his being there. “Isn’t this David, the king of the land?” they asked. “Isn’t he the one the people honor with dances, singing, ‘Saul has killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” 12 David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him. 13 So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard. 14 Finally, King Achish said to his men, “Must you bring me a madman? 15 We already have enough of them around here! Why should I let someone like this be my guest?”

Now the psalm’s introduction says that David was seized — but he isn’t seized how we might have assumed. He’s on the run and ends up in the Philistine city of Gath which — by the way — is the hometown of Goliath — the Philistine hero who David had killed. So — guess what? The Philistines in Gath don’t trust David — so he has to act insane in order to escape from them. Later — in chapter twenty-seven — David returns to Gath and appears to live in relative peace — though he’s never fully trusted by some of the Philistine commanders. 

But this is a moment in his life when others want him dead — Saul and his army — and the Philistines don’t trust him — which can help us understand what he’s describing in our psalm: People are against him. He’s on the run. Saul wants him dead. Plainly — he’s experiencing suffering caused by others.

Like David — have you ever experienced someone else’s actions putting you in a situation you never wanted to be in? And — we’re not talking about accidents today — we’re talking about intentional actions by others who wanted to cause you harm. Suffering that comes with a face attached to it — an individual with a name who’s hurt you. This is the kind of suffering David’s writing about in our psalm. Again — we’re not talking flat tires on your way to a job interview kind of suffering — we’re talking about words spoken behind your back by people you trusted — where voices turn into weapons that cause you harm — or the hand that hit you — or the friend who stole your money.

This kind of suffering is different, isn’t it?

Back to David — his pain isn’t vague — it’s quite specific. Back in verses one and two — twice he describes his situation as if he’s being trampled on. The Hebrew word means to be crushed or having the wind knocked out of you. It implies violence and aggression. David’s suffering makes him feel like he’s being squeezed — not cared for.

Later — in verse one — he says an attacker oppresses him. He’s describing an on-going, relentless kind of situation. This isn’t a one time experience — but a continual oppression done by the hands of others.

In verse five he says that they “injure his cause”. Other Bible translations say, “They cause me trouble” (NET), “they twist my words” (NIV), or “they smear my reputation” (MSG). The idea — here — is that his opponents are taking his words and making them mean something he never intended. 

Can you relate? Have you ever had someone take your words and use them against you? It’s bad enough just being misunderstood — but here the twisting of words is intentional and meant to cause harm.

Finally, these enemies of David “lurk and watch his steps.” They’re plotting to get him. 

So David’s on edge — and rightly so. His paranoia is backed by a real threat.

This is the suffering he experienced by the hands of others. A kind of suffering not unusual and — unfortunately — quite relatable for many today. But here’s where David will simultaneously challenge and encourage us. Especially if you’re not a Christian — pay attention to how David’s response differs from what’s common today.

Christian or not — how do we often respond when we experience this kind of suffering? We think…

• No one sees or cares about what I’m going through.
• I shouldn’t be going through this.
• Why doesn’t anyone believe me?
• We may get vengeful.
• And — for the Christian we can add questions like — where’s God? Or why is God silent?

That’s what we do — but what did David do? How did he respond to the suffering he experienced that was caused by others? Back to the opening words of the psalm.

Psalm 56:1 ESV

1 Be gracious to me, O God…

David prays. He takes the pain he’s experiencing — because of others — straight to God. We looked at prayer in the first sermon in this series on suffering — but prayer is important enough that we don’t want to just start with it — we want to remind ourselves of its importance throughout this series. 

But David doesn’t just pray, “Be gracious to me, O God…” — no — his prayer starts with…

Psalm 56:1 ESV

1 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me;

“God, I need your grace right now. Amen.” Nope. That’s not his prayer. He gets right to it. “God, I need your grace right now because people are doing bad things to me.” 

I wonder how many of us pray like this? I wonder how many of us think that God can handle us praying like this? Now I’ll put this caveat in here — because someone’s going to bring it up if I don’t — yes — you need to make sure that your suffering isn’t because of sin in your life — go listen to the last sermon in this series — but let’s not be a people who are so “your suffering must be caused by your sin” focused that we never allow suffering in someone’s life to be caused by the sins of others.

Yes, our prayers will be a bit more messy. Yes, it may get uncomfortable in your Life Group when someone prays like this. But is this psalm — and others like it — just for David to pray? Or is it an example for how God’s people can pray when we experience suffering at the hands of others? 

I believe it’s an example teaching us how to pray — which is why it’s a challenge for all of us. For not only are we to pray acknowledging the reality of the cause of our suffering — like David — we’re also to pray and endure suffering with hope that the outcome of our situation has been guaranteed.

Otherwise, how do we have an answer to David’s open-ended question in verse seven?

Psalm 56:7 ESV

7 For their crime will they escape?

Will they go unpunished? Will they get away with this? A question that demands an answer if the Christian faith offers any hope to us.

THE OUTCOME

Now — for anyone worried about what may happen to our prayers if we’re honest like David — well — this raw honesty must come with the same hope that David has: hope in knowing that the outcome of our situation is guaranteed. For David’s hope — even in the midst of his suffering — even as he asks, “will they get away with this” — is that God will act. 

• David’s hope isn’t in getting revenge against those who’ve harmed him. 
• His hope isn’t being able to manipulate the situation so that others see what’s really going on. 
• His hope isn’t even in his name being cleared of the words that have been twisted. 
• His hope is in none of that.

Let’s stop and pause and ask ourselves: When our suffering is caused by others — what’s our hope in? 

You know what your hope’s in because it’s what you dream about happening. Be honest — what do you hope will happen? If you’re not suffering right now — I’m sure you either have before or can imagine what it’d be like — so what would your hope be in?

Instead of revenge or others knowing what’s really going on or his name being cleared — David’s hope is in something much more secure: He hopes in God’s justice and presence.

We’re in verse seven where David writes…

Psalm 56:7–9 ESV

7b 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? 9a Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call.

And in verse thirteen we read…

Psalm 56:13 ESV

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.

David’s hope is in God’s justice and presence. First, he hopes in God’s justice. In verse seven — can you believe he writes this — David says, “In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!” Other Bible translations say something like, “In your anger bring them down” (NET/NIV/NLT). 

Can we pray like this? Not only can we — we must! For this is not a prayer of vengefulness — this is a prayer calling on the Judge of the earth to be just — which is who he’s told us he is.

Let me reveal a lie you may be believing. When you’ve been wronged — sinned against — harmed by others — it’s not wrong to desire justice. Though we’re to watch taking justice into our own hands — praying to God to be faithful to who he’s said he will be — just — is a God-honoring response by those who trust him. This isn’t a prayer of, “God, give me the chance to get even with them” — that’s not what this is. This is a prayer of, “God, I trust you to do what’s right. You’ve seen what they’ve done. You’ve seen what I’ve done. May you judge justly.” Trusting in God’s justice means we believe that evil does not win.

Second, David hopes in God’s presence. Part of the guaranteed outcome of his present suffering — and this is something David has great confidence in — is in God’s presence with him in his suffering. We see this in verse eight when David writes about God keeping count of his tossing and putting his tears in a bottle and that God has recorded all that he’s experienced in a book. This is David’s way of expressing the intimate presence of God in his life — the same intimate presence that all who trust in Jesus experience.

The phrase “you’ve put my tears in your bottle” is meant to comfort us — for it reminds us that — God so treasures our pain that he holds on to every tear we’ve cried. You see — those lies we so easily believe — for example — that we’re forgotten — no, no, — you’re not forgotten. Not even your tears have gone unnoticed by your ever present and loving Savior. May God’s nearness to you not only comfort you — but inspire you to praise your loving God even in your suffering.

THE IN-BETWEEN

And it’s to the time of suffering that we now turn. What I’m calling the “in-between” time. The time between the incident that caused our suffering and the outcome we just looked at. We’re in verse three.

Psalm 56:3–4 ESV

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?

And skipping to verse nine we read…

Psalm 56:9–12 ESV

9b 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.

The in-between time is the time we’re most familiar with, isn’t it? This is the time of suffering.

David says, “When I’m afraid, I put my trust in you.” Notice that he says, “When I’m afraid” not “if I’m afraid.” David admits that he’s afraid. 

Did you know that being afraid isn’t necessarily sinful? Sometimes we think that being afraid is always sinful, don’t we? To be sure — fear can lead us to sin if we don’t point our fear in the right direction: to God. That’s why David says — three times! — “When I’m afraid, I put my trust in you.”

“But, OK, David. How does that work exactly? Because when I’m afraid…I panic.” For someone else it’s, “When I’m afraid…I get angry.” For others it’s, “When I’m afraid…I give up.” And “What can man do to me?” Um…the list is pretty long David. Man can…

• Fire me.
• Slander me.
• Falsely accuse me.
• Molest me.
• Beat me.
• Rape me.

So what about all of that David? How do we trust God when we’re afraid?

The first thing to know about trust is that trust is a conscious decision. It’s active — not passive. And trust is strengthened similar to a muscle — through daily exercise. The exercises that build our trust in God have been called spiritual disciplines in church history. And these take the same dedication and devotion as does wanting to build physical strength in the gym. 

You can go to the gym once a month, do a bunch of bicep curls and — guess what — if you only do this once a month you’re not going to see any change. Which makes me question why we’re shocked that our trust in God is so weak. Any recent research on Bible reading, prayer, worship attendance, or other key “building our trust in God” activities — whether by Pew Research Center, Barna Group, or Lifeway Research — reveal statistics like…

• 39-45% of us read our Bible weekly. 11-14% read our Bible daily. Leaving 35-40% of self-identified Christians rarely or never reading their Bibles. About 85% of us read our Bibles about the equivalent of going to the gym once a week or less. Do you think this is strengthening our trust in God?
• We do better with prayer — 60-65% of us pray daily. 
• Worship attendance sees a big drop — 25-30% of us worship weekly. 20-25% of us worship once or twice a month. Leaving 40-50% of self-identified Christians seldom or never worship services. And — because you may be wondering about it — researchers now take into account online worship attendance. 
• When it comes to serving in the church, 20-25% regularly serve. 30-35% occasionally serve. And 40-50% rarely or never serve.
• Only 10-15% practice fasting as a spiritual discipline.
• 5-10% of Christians tithe or give 10% of their income to a local church.
• 30-35% of Christians are in a small group that focuses on discipleship.
• And under 20% practice Bible memorization.

None of these spiritual disciplines are a silver bullet but — through regular practice of them — just like regularly going to the gym — you will see progress. Meaning — by doing them — you will experience growth in your trust in God. But if you wait until you feel like doing any of these spiritual disciplines — just like waiting until you feel like going to the gym — you’ll never get started. Instead — as many can attest — by making these spiritual disciplines regular habits — though at first they didn’t necessarily enjoy or feel like doing them — after some time — they found that their desires had changed. And suddenly they’re no longer disciplines of duty — but disciplines of delight.

So — if like David — you want to do more than just survive your suffering — if you want to thrive even as you suffer — you must be relentless in practicing spiritual disciplines — including worshiping God with his people. For worship is your response to the outcome that you’ve put your hope in: rescue. And — not just rescue from your present suffering — but a rescue from eternal suffering.

For worship is the response when one believes the truth…

Psalm 56:9 ESV

9b This I know, that God is for me.

This is our anchor in the storm of suffering. An anchor the apostle Paul describes this way…

Romans 8:28–39 NLT

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. 31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. 35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is God’s powerful love on display. And — when we trust in God’s love for us — fear will not have the final word. Suffering will not have the final word. Even us getting revenge will not have the final word. His love will have the final word.

CONCLUSION

Today David’s given us an example and an invitation. An example of how we can suffer at the hands of others and do so with hope. We do so by being honest in our prayers — by trusting God for the outcome — and while we’re in the in-between time — by building our trust in him. 

That’s the example — here’s the invitation: If you’re in a season of suffering because of what someone’s done to you — how will you now respond to your suffering?

I know that you may feel trampled, and that your words have been twisted, and that you’re surrounded by those who oppose you — but where will you find hope?

Jesus — who came to earth to be Immanuel — which means “God with us” — on the night of his crucifixion was slandered by others. His words were twisted. He was surrounded by his enemies. He was trampled on as he was beaten and whipped. All because he was betrayed by the kiss of a friend. Jesus knows what it means to suffer at the hands of others.

Yet Jesus also knew that his Heavenly Father was for him. And that his Father in Heaven would deliver him from death. And three days later the tomb was empty and his enemies — and ours — were forever defeated.

And — through faith in Jesus — we know — we know, we know — and you can know too — that God is for us. And not just us — but he’s for me. And he will be for you — if you turn to Jesus in faith — trusting in his love for you — which is what I want us to pray for right now. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, be gracious to all of us — for we’re all in need of your grace — whether we’re suffering or not. But for those suffering because of what others have done — we pray especially for your great grace to shower over them. Even now — we ask — may they know they’re recipients of your love.

Holy Spirit, protect your people. How many times are we unaware of your protection and — only when suffering comes upon us — do we question your protection. Forgive us — we ask — both for not appreciating your protection that often goes unrecognized and for doubting your goodness and love for us when we experience suffering.

And — Jesus — because of all that you’ve done — in your life, death, and resurrection — we can say with certainty: This I know, God is for me. And you are causing everything — including our suffering — to work together for our good. And nothing in all of creation — not even those who have caused our present suffering — will ever separate us from your love.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — may we rest in your love. May we make you look glorious in our suffering. And may those who are suffering — Christian or not — turn to you — right now — for their hope. And we pray all of this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (Prayer teams available | Suffering caused by others)

May you go knowing that God is for you and loves you — even in your suffering. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.