Lest We Forget - Teaching the Generations to Come

Temple Baptist Church - 3-23-2025

Psalm 78:1-11

 

Introduction:

 

A.  Psalm 78 is a very special “wake-up” Psalm.  It examines the failures of earlier generations and God's judgment and love from Moses to David. Many of God’s children are “asleep at the wheel” today, unaware of what is happening around them.  Psalm 78 is an amazing portion of Scripture!  After all that God did for Israel, there arose another generation who “knew not the Lord.”

 

1.  The Lord Delivered The People From Egypt.

 

2.  The Lord Opened The Red Sea.

 

3.  The Lord Fed The Multitude In The Wilderness.

 

4.  The Lord Delivered Canaan Into Their Hands.

 

5. Yet?

 

Judges 2:8-10  And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old.  (9)  And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash.  (10)  And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

 

B. The older generation failed to teach the younger generation about the Lord. 

 

C.  Three generations are mentioned in the text: 

 

1.  Verse 3 – Our Fathers had their successes and failures from which we can observe and learn.  Don’t try to reinvent the wheel; learn from their wisdom.  Don’t fall into the same pitfalls that they fell into.  Mark and avoid them.  If it worked for them, it will work for you.  If it failed for them, it will fail for you.

 

Proverbs 22:28  Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.

 

2.  Verse 3 – Us.  It is now our responsibility to carry the Word of God.  Don’t expect the liberal or the lost to do it for us. 

 

Jeremiah 6:16  Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

 

3.  Verse 6 – Generation to come.  These are the underaged who are not yet responsible.  In war, the beginning of a warrior’s life began at 20 years old.  There was no upper age limit where old men were excused from battle.

 

D.  In verses 1-5:

 

1.  Verse 1.  We find the responsibility of the fathers and mothers.  Dad and Mom, listen up!  “Give ear … to my law … incline your ears.”  This means to pay close attention to what God says.  History tends to repeat itself in the next generations.

 

2.  Verse 2.  Parables and dark sayings.  Like a proverb, the world will not understand a parable, a generally true maxim.  

 

a)  Parables (earthly stories with heavenly meanings used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson) are dark sayings that are to be understood by enlightened people.  The world will not only fail to hear, but they will also not understand. 

 

b)  Proverbs are called “dark sayings.” 

 

Proverbs 1:1-7  The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;  (2)  To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;  (3)  To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;  (4)  To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.  (5)  A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:  (6)  To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.  (7)  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

 

c)  Parables and Dark Sayings (spiritual mysteries) are given to and accepted by the biblically enlightened.

 

3.  Verse 3.  We were biblically taught. 

 

a)  We have heard and known what our fathers have told us.  Earthly fathers should teach their children heavenly principles by which to live and prosper.

 

 

b)   Learning to err on the side of safety.  When unsure or in doubt, don’t!  Give God the benefit of the doubt.  If you are not sure if something is right or wrong, abstain!  It's as simple as that.

 

4.  Verse 4.  The danger of “hiding from our children” by not setting the right example or not teaching them God’s Word.  So many homes attend church irregularly and have little or no spiritual emphasis apparent within the home.   “Praises, strength, wonderful works.”

 

5.  Verse 5.  Establish a testimony of obedience to the law as a law teacher to our children.

 

E.  Verses 8-64.  In the following verses, we find the earthly story with a heavenly or spiritual meaning:

 

1.  The Unfaithfulness of Israel.    From Israel’s deliverance from Egypt to the reign of King David. 

 

2.  The Faithfulness of God’s Judgements.  When Israel went into idolatry and sinfulness, God chastened those whom He loved. 

 

3.  The wonderful Love and Grace of God to deliver a repentant Israel.  God supplied Israel’s every need. 

 

F.  Verses 6-8.    The desired end result that God wants for our children.

 

1.  Verse 6.  That our children might know the Law of God, our Bible, we find every “jot and tittle” of it.  This is the reason so many religious organizations never encourage their people to read and study the Bible.  God help us to teach our children and grandchildren the Bible.

 

2.  Verse 6.  That our children might teach these same laws to their children.  Someone once said that true biblical Christianity is always just one generation away from perishing. 

 

3.  Verse 7.  That our children might be saved and set their hope in God!  There is no hope in this world as it continues in decline.  The hope of our children is the same as our hope, and His name is Jesus Christ!

 

4.  Verse 7.  That our children might live sold-out lives for the cause of Christ.  God give us Joshuas.  Young men and women who will not only live for Christ but will also step up and say, “Here am I; send me!”

 

5.  Verse 8.  That our children may learn to choose God's blessings, not God's cursings!

 

G.  Verse 8-11.  That they “might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.”

 

1. The consequences of disobedience were cowardice and defeat.

 

2. Ephraim, prepared for battle, went forth without God on their side. This likely refers to Israel’s defeat at Ai. God instructed Israel to return to the wilderness, but they refused and engaged in battle without Him.

 

3. Their actions resulted in cowardice and defeat. Like our fathers, our children cannot succeed in life without God! God will not assist us when we move forward and disobey His Word.

Reminding the Lord

 Temple Baptist Church - 7-14-2024

Psalm 70

 

Introduction: 

 

A.  The introduction of this Psalm is important:

 

1.  This Psalm is Davidic.  David was a musician and song writer long before he ascended the throne of Israel.  King David became a Worshipper before he became a Warrior!

 

2.  The Psalm is written to the “chief Musician.”  It was a Psalm to be sung by the Nation of Israel. 

 

a)  These Psalms were of great worth to Israel as our Songs are important to God’s People today.  I think of the vast spiritual worth of the hymns that we sing in church.  Songs to admonish us as well as to encourage s. 

 

b)  When I think of hymns, my mind goes back to Fanny Crosby, who was born blind and remained so all her life.  At age eight, Crosby wrote her first poem which described her condition.  This she stated concerning her blindness: "It seemed intended by the blessed providence of God that I should be blind all my life, and I thank him for the dispensation. If perfect earthly sight were offered me tomorrow I would not accept it. I might not have sung hymns to the praise of God if I had been distracted by the beautiful and interesting things about me."  She said later, “When I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior".

 

3.  This Psalm is one of Remembrance. 

 

a)  This Psalm is Reminding God!  Sounds unnecessary?  After all, God knows all things and forgets nothing.  God is always on time with His perfect answer to our prayers. 

 

b)  God’s answer may or may not be exactly what we ask Him for, but it will always be perfectly right. 

 

Jeremiah 33:3  Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

 

Ephesians 3:20-21  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,  (21)  Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

 

c)  The Bible admonishes us to continually bring our petitions to God.  Praying over and over for the things that we desire.  This is not the “vain repetition” of the heathen.  There is nothing wrong with reminding the Lord as long as it is done with inditing Him.

 

Luke 18:2-8  Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:  (3)  And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.  (4)  And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man;  (5)  Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.  (6)  And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.  (7)  And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?  (8)  I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

 

d)  This Psalm is also Imprecatory in nature!  Verses 2-3 are a call for God to reward David’s enemies.  There is a time for imprecatory praying.  The is not vengeance, it is a cry for justice and deliverance.  Imprecatory praying is to invoke evil or to curse (this is not modern day cussing but rather to invoke evil that is supposedly deserved).

 

B.  Now, the prayer.

 

1.  Verse 1.  A prayer of:

 

a.  Haste.  David is calling on the Lord to “hurry up.”  Nothing wrong with this type of praying as attention to time is often of the essence.  I call this the “Popeye Syndrome:”  “I’ve had all I can stand and I can’t stands no more!”  David has had enough!  There are limits in the flesh for even the strongest of people.

 

b.  A Plea for Deliverance.  There are things in life that only God can do!  David finds no human way out!  Human nature does not like extended evil times.  We understand that life is hard and there will be many times when we are not, humanly speaking, “Happy Campers!”  It is so sad that evil so often seems to have the advantage.

 

c.  A Cry for Devine Intervention.  Now, it is God’s turn!  Here, we find that circumstances had gotten far beyond human intervention.  I have been a “fighter” all my life but there have been times when I took and continued to take a “whuppin.” 

 

2.  Verse 2.  Here we find the imprecatory desires of a man after God’s own heart.  He David can pray this way and the Holy Spirit record it; we can pray this way also.

 

a.  “Let them be ashamed.”  They will never act right if they never get right!  Shame brings reproach and often desire to do better.

 

b.  “Let them be confounded.”  They seek after my soul so disappoint them, Lord!  Take my side and give me divine help that they will recognize.

 

c.  “Let them be turned backward.”  Make the sound “Retreat!”  Yosemite Sam used to say, “Back Off.”  Give me some respite from the battle and let the enemy be in disarray. 

 

d.  “Let them be confused.”  Confusion causes one to stand still or stop what they are doing.

 

e.  Notice that in his imprecatory praying, David did not pray for their destruction or for them to be cut off.  Each aspect of verse 2 is to 1)  Stop them and 2) to Turn them.  This is as beneficial to them as it was to David.

 

3. Verse 3.  “Let them be turned back for a reward of their shame.”  Remembrance brings about shame and shame bring about repentance which is their reward. 

 

Proverbs 16:7  When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

 

4.  Verse 4.  Here we find magnification of God. 

 

a.  Rejoicing and gladness know that the seeker finds an ever present, all powerful God on his side.

 

b.  Rejoicing and gladness because of divine deliverance.  It is good when one can deliver himself by his own power but so much greater when he cannot deliver himself, but God does!

 

5.  Verse 5.  Lessons learned from this Psalm.  Here we find reinforcement. 

 

a.  That we are poor and needy.  Pride in self is both sinfulness and self-delusion.  When we come to the point that we realize that God is all that we have, it is then that we find that God is all we need.

 

b.  Please Hurry!  There are times when we are to “wait upon the Lord,” but there will also be times when we need an answer or an action from God in the immediate.

 

c.  A reminder that God is on our side.  “Greater is He that is in you.”  “If God be for us.”  “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” 

 

d.  A reminder that time and power is in God’s hands.  He said in Isaiah 45:11-12: “Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.  (12)  I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.”

Remind Me, Dear Lord - Part 2 - Our Great Salvation

Temple Baptist Church - 8-14-2022

1 Peter 1:1-5

 

A.  Last week, I historically introduced this series of messages with the to whom, the why, and the how that 1 Peter was written.  Briefly, their limited spiritual growth (these were new converts—by this I mean that they may have been saved for some time but because of the dispersion, they were not able to:

 

1.  Read their Bible because the canon of Scripture had not been either completed nor had it been printed and placed in their hands.

 

2.  Because they did not have the opportunity to sit in a local church under a doctrinally sound pastor.  Because they were scattered, they could not enjoy the fellowship that we enjoy this morning.

 

3.  This caused some of them to doubt their newly found relationship with God.

 

B.  By the same token, believers today undergo trials and tribulations that cause them to doubt to some degree their relationship to God but our problem with doubts is reversed and, therefore, most time willful.

 

1.  We have the completed canon of Scripture and every one of us has a copy of God’s Word in our hands this morning, but I fear that too many of God’s people do not read it!

 

2.  We have a biblical local church to assemble in and its services are regular.  We do have a fellowship to enjoy but many of God’s people choose to skip the services thus missing the teaching and preaching of God’s Word along with the exhortation of the saints.

 

3.  The end result of all these things is normally doubting the things of God and our relationship with God.

 

4.  And tribulations and trials are a way of life. 

 

a)  Tribulations because of Spiritual Persecution – The world will hate you and you will suffer persecution.

 

John 15:18  If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

 

2 Timothy 3:12  Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.

 

b)  Tribulations because of Worldly Problems – Problems are a way of life so get used to it.

 

Matthew 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

 

C.  THE FIRST THING PETER DOES IS TO REAFIRM THEIR GREAT SALVATION!  It is not by accident that Peter begins his first epistle by reaffirming to these “strangers scattered” that they had passed from death to life through a saving knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

D.  This morning, I want the Lord to remind us in the same way that we are SAVED and secured in Jesus Christ. 

 

1.  What a great salvation we have, and nothing can either change it or take it away! 

 

2.  Our salvation is the most important and enduring thing that we could ever have in this world or the world to come.

 

E.  What a thrill; what a joy; what a rejoicing that we have in Christ Jesus!  Never get used to it and never get over it.  Just glory in it.

 

F.  I fear that you and I too often forget just what a wonderful thing that our Lord Jesus Christ did for us at Calvary and, therefore, give little thought to just how great our salvation is.

 

1.  We Have A Wonderful Redemption - Romans 3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (Freely by His grace!)

 

Hebrews 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

 

2.  The Lord Has Given Us A Divine Deliverance - 2 Corinthians 1:10  Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

 

Colossians 1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Delivered from Satan)

 

1 Thessalonians 1:10  And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.  (Delivered from hell)

 

3.  The Lord Has Given Us A Wonderful Transformation - 1 Corinthians 6:9-11  Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,  Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.  (What a wonderful change has been made since Jesus came into my heart!)

 

4.  The Lord Has Given Us A Complete Forgiveness - Ephesians 1:7  In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

 

Romans 4:7  Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.

 

Colossians 2:13  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;  (Past, present, and future)

 

5.  The Lord Has Given Us A Glorious Reconciliation - Colossians 1:21  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in you mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled

 

2 Corinthians 5:19  To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (Reconcile - Brought into friendship from a state of disagreement or enmity)

 

6.  The Lord Has Given Us A Blessed Peace - John 14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 

Colossians 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

 

Philippians 4:7  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

 

7.  The Lord Has Given Us An Eternal Inheritance - Ephesians 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

 

1 Corinthians 2:9  But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

 

          1 Corinthians 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

 

8.  The Lord Will Give Us A Heavenly Translation - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

 

Conclusion:  We could spend a lot of time here, but I think that we all know these things but so often forget just how great our salvation is.