The Lord Will Win the War!

They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens. Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice. Thou visitest the earth and waterest it. Thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water. Thou preparest them corn when hast so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly, Thou settlest the furrows thereof. Thou makest it soft with showers.

Thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness. They drop up in the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks, the valleys also are covered over with corn. They shout for joy, they also sing. Let’s pray together. Our Lord, we thank you for this Psalm and for the truths in it. Lord, we thank you that that you’ve given us not only this Psalm but all these Psalms, the book of Psalms that have been such a help to us as we’ve gone through them. And I pray that tonight as we look at this truth that we see perhaps in seed form or in a in a in a basic form in this Psalm that you would help us to understand it, open our eyes to it, but especially, Lord, give us encouragement as we study this truth. Help us to derive some edification as we sometimes feel like we’re losing the battle, but we’re not.

And help us to see and understand that and walk by faith. So bless our time in your word. Give me wisdom, Lord, to say what you would have me to say to help your people in Jesus’ name. Amen. Now, you’ll notice verse number two is just just a couple things to mention. I want to look at verse two and verse four. Oh thou that hearest prayer unto thee shall all flesh come. Now, this this could be a reference to all flesh coming in the in the final judgment. You could say that. You could also say it’s all unto these all flesh come in the, you know, in the millennium when all the world is finally acknowledging god and giving him worship, acknowledging the lord Jesus Christ ruling but either way, unto thee shall all flesh come no matter the the tongue or tribe or people or nation. So, these are this is one of the places in the Old Testament where Israel is not being focused upon but all nations are being focused upon and it says, oh thou that hearest prayer. That that should be something that’s integrated into our prayer life. Lord, you are the one who hears prayer.

Lord, you hear prayer. You take that to God, you you you toss it up to the Lord before you as a as a as a prerequisite, as a a heading on your prayer? Lord, you are the one who hears prayer. Now, note note it however, this does not say he answers prayer. Though we know he does. What’s being emphasized is that god hears prayer. You know, sometimes and oftentimes we pray and we don’t hear an answer. We don’t see an answer immediately. Sometimes it’s many years, much time passes before we see an answer. But prayer is not just about that. Prayer is also about the act of faith where we give something to God believing that he hears.

Is there not a discontinuity between what we believe and what we act as if we believe. Oftentimes we we we don’t pray because with our words we say we believe God is the God that hears prayer, but in actions we do not act as if he does because we do not pray. And so, that’s just a fact but this is one thing we can take to the lord and say, oh lord, oh thou that hearest prayer.

Then, if you would look at verse number four, blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts. Now, notice that, whom thou choosest and then it goes on to say this, we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house even of thy holy temple. So, in the context of the Old Testament, those who were chosen referred to a very specific group of of people. Do you remember who that was? That was the the priests, the children of Aaron, the sons of Aaron and they were not just anyone could approach the courts of god, not just anyone could approach the holy things, not just anyone god invite to come close to him.

It was a specific set of people, a specific group. In this case, it was the priest and kind of that’s what’s in view. The mention of the temple and the house of God, and those who are chosen to do that. And I, you know, you just pair that with the New Testament truth, the Bible says, of course, Jesus is the high priest, right? Jesus is the high priest after the order of Melchizedek in the book of Hebrews.

And so, being seeing that we are in his the household of of of God, Jesus is the high priest and that makes us as the scripture defines us as the priests of God, a a people who are priests of God. And to be a priest, what that means is, in the same way that Israel, not just any Israelite could be a priest, it had to be a he had to be in a certain tribe and and not only that in a certain family and it was only those in that family who were given an invitation to draw near to god, to approach him, and to serve him in the holy things, in the temple, in the house of god, but yet to us, as priests of God, that is what God has called us to be.

That no. That is what he that is what he has said we are. As the saints, we are the priests of God. He has made us kings and priests under our God. Revelation chapter one says that, but as priests, what do we have? We have the same privilege to approach the holy things, to approach god. God calls us. He gives us a privilege. So, we’re not just saved.

We’re not just forgiven. There are many Israelites where they’re not in Israel. There were many Hebrews that were saved, that is they were forgiven, they were justified in the Old Testament. But not all of them were given the special privilege of approaching god. That were chosen for that. But yet, in our time, in our, if you will, economy, all saints are given that privilege to approach God.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace. And the Lord calls us. He lays out an invitation and he calls us to approach him, to come into his courts, to serve him like the like the priest served in the temple and in the house of God. And you know what? When we serve him in the temple and the temple is the the church of god. That’s the New Testament temple is the church of god, not the building but the people. When we do that, we are satisfied with the goodness of thy house. Let me tell you something.

In your Christian life, in your Christian life, I think, let me back up. I think many Christians live a life that is not satisfactory. They are not fulfilled, they are not happy, they’re not satisfied. This is what the verse says here, satisfied with the goodness. You know why? I think the reason that is, is because that they’re looking for satisfaction in everywhere except the place that God ordained to get that satisfaction.

And for the saint of God, that is among the people of God, serving the people of God. I mean, look, this is And you wanna boil it down to kind of one statement, the church of God is where God is, is where God is working. This is where the people of god gather. This is where the people of god serve and the where the people of god live and and and all the interactions we have.

It’s all about the church. It’s not the TV or the internet preacher, not all of that’s bad. You know that. But it’s about the church of god where the people of god meet, where you eyeball to eyeball, person to person have the chance to serve others, pray for others, and grow with others, and sometimes, it’s a little bit uncomfortable because you gotta learn to get along with others.

You gotta put up with everybody’s quibbles and be long suffering but that’s how you grow. And by our interaction with the house of God is how we get that satisfaction of of that comes from our spiritual life. It’s not good enough to be a Christian all alone. We can go to heaven that way but we’re not gonna have that satisfaction like we have with others and yet, I mean, we all know how how this works.

People get it, people get upset, they get church hurt, do they not? They get offended at something, and so they withdraw from the church. But by doing that, for all of its faults, they withdraw from the place where you get that satisfaction from the Lord because of that place where you can serve the Lord together. You know, think about going this trip down going down to Atlanta to share the gospel. You know, one of the funniest, one of the most satisfact satisfactory, satisfying things that you can do is stick your neck out to serve god with your church people.

That’s one of the most satisfying things that you can do in your Christian life. I mean, that’s, you know, when we go out on evangelism, sometimes it’s hot, right brother Ben? To brother Ben, 65 is hot? It’s an inside joke we always jab him about. And sometimes it’s very cold, and sometimes it’s hard, and sometimes we don’t get any results as far as visible results, and sometimes we have opportunity to talk to people.

You know, as one example, but yet when we go we inevitably, our fellowship is sweetened, our bond is tightened, and we go away. I don’t, I mean, I can think of very few times where I’ve come back from some sort of ministry like that and thought to myself, man, why did I go? I wasted my time. No, you go back with that like, praise God I did something for the Lord today, and we saw some fruit and to be with God’s people, that’s what that’s the satisfaction we’re talking about. If you want to be satisfied with the goodness of God’s house, here on this earth, serving God with God’s people is one of the best ways to get it. It’s just great. And sometimes it’s digging in the flower bed, right? Sometimes it’s praying with one another, sometimes it’s crawling in attics with one another, although Devin would argue.

The place of satisfaction. Now, let’s look at verse number three, and we’ll stay here just briefly. Really, I wanted to get to verse number three. The Bible says this, Iniquities prevail against me.

Has anyone here ever felt that way about your own iniquities? Lord, I’m losing this battle. I’m losing this battle with sin. It’s washing over me. I can’t stop, I can’t do better.

Iniquities prevail against me. In this verse, we can see that our iniquities, if we wanna compare it to warfare, might be described as our enemies. David in this verse, verse three, is lamenting that he seems to be losing the war, and his iniquities are getting his sins are getting the better of him. And it’s is it not similar similar to what we find in Romans seven where Paul says, I Well, let’s just go there. Let’s just go there. Romans seven.

The beautiful sound of a cupped mouth. Romans seven. I’m just glad she’s happy, right? Alright, Romans seven, look at this, verse number 15. When you read this, do you get the impression that maybe sin is getting the better of Paul? For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Drop down to verse number 19. For the good that I would, I do not, But the evil which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do that, I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

Paul sounds like he’s whipped. He sounds like David. Iniquities prevail against me. Now notice these verses here, you can write them down if you like. The reference is first Peter two eleven. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. Notice how they’re described. They’re described as enemies. They’re described as at war with us. Fleshly lusts, various kinds of sin. Now this is sin related to the flesh.

Not even talking about the world, although that pulls on the flesh, or the devil, which also pulls on the flesh, uses the flesh against us. But we’re talking about the flesh. Romans seven twenty three, I just read it, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind. That law in my members is the law of sin. It’s warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. You know what that sounds like? That sounds like warfare language and it sounds like he’s losing.

The law of sin, his enemy is actually is actually capturing him. That’s what Romans seven is saying. Iniquities prevail against me. Every child of God, I think, every child of God who has the spirit of God, for every child of God has the spirit of God, every person who has the spirit of God in them should know this sensation. I’m losing this battle. I’m losing this battle.

The waves of sin are going over me and I’m not getting any better. In fact, oftentimes I feel like I’m getting worse. Now read the second part of verse number three.

As for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away. Though it sometimes feel feels to us like we are losing this war with sin, we are not fighting this war alone. Furthermore, we are not losing the war despite how it appears. Now you and I might feel on a practical level, on a daily level, we might feel like we’re losing the war of sin and it’s taking over and it’s having its way, and we’re captured by it as we saw in Romans seven.

But this war is not lost. Because God is on our side in this war. He cannot lose the war. He will win the war. We might feel like we’re losing the war at this moment, but we will never lose this war with sin. It’s impossible. It’s impossible. The verse says, as for our transgressions, we will cease doing them. No, no, no. Here’s where the Lord invites himself. The Lord involves himself and intervenes in this war with sin. He says, thou shalt purge them away.

This reminds us that God is in this war and we are not fighting it alone. You see, God will purge away our sins, and and think of this on several levels, and I just wanna just briefly kind of overview these, but look at look at look at this idea of purging away sin. Purging means to purify or cleanse from sin. How is God going to purge away our sins? This is in this is in future tense. You see it? Thou shalt purge away, purge them away.

This is future. God will purge away our sins first of all and in and to us. To David, this isn’t this didn’t was not yet fully realized. You know why? Because Christ had not yet come. The Bible says in the book of Romans that God forgave sin by his forbearance, with that looking forward to the time in which Christ would come and and bear actually, you know, because the blood of bulls and of goats can never take away sin. So all of those sacrifices in the Old Testament were just provisional.

Until Christ came as the fulfillment of all those, at which time they were truly and completely forgiven. That which was was atoned for on a temporary or provisional basis was completely wiped away and forgiven forever.

But God purges our sins away, first of all, by his forgiveness. But that purging came at a great cost. God does not purge sin away freely, freely to us, but not freely to him.

His war against our sin to rid us of our sin, to purge us of our sin was not a safe war for God nor is any never is war safe, and it is not a war that cost him nothing, it in fact cost him dearly. Hebrews nine fourteen says this, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God.

Purge, note the word, your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. You see that? Purge our conscience from dead works. That was done how? Through the blood of Christ. Amen. People in this world have this idea that God’s such a big, nice teddy bear. If we just go to God and say, God, I’m sorry. God said, Oh, I love you. Don’t worry about it. That is not biblical forgiveness.

God’s justice required a steep price. This is why every person must be saved, because if they get justice, it will be an eternity in the lake of fire. And the only escape, the only way to be forgiven, the only way to to be purged from that punishment and the sin that brought it is if the son of god bear that punishment. That’s right. That’s a high price, is it not?

Represented as a token of that sacrifice, his blood, right? First John one seven, but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. That’s purging. Notice, the purging is by the blood of Christ. There is no purging apart from his blood. Notice, thou shalt purge them away. It’s not the blood of Christ is not mentioned here but it is we know that verse three requires the blood of Christ.

Revelation one five says this, and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed us, press purging, from our sins in his own, what does it say? Blood. Blood required.

You see, there is no purging. As I’ve said, without except by the blood of Christ. There’s no way to cleanse sin away but by Christ’s blood. There’s You know why it’s impossible to purge or cleanse our sin, or remove us from our sin and the just penalty? Do you know why it’s not possible without the blood of Christ? One of the many reasons, is because it is impossible to remove it from God’s mind.

There’s nothing that anybody can do to erase it from a God who is omniscient. You know what? When God forgives a sinner, he doesn’t forgive them in the sense of of just blotting it out of his mind. The reason why he can blot it out of his mind and not remember their sins is because that sin has been fully and completely paid for. His justice is fully and completely satisfied.

Only then can he forget it. Because he is holy and eternal. So, you think of the idea of purging us from our sins. You just think of it terms of forgiveness. When God forgives us, you could say he purges us from our sins. He forgives us, he cleanses us from our sins. But there’s one, there’s at least one other aspect I want you to think about. If if I if I come to Christ and I trust in him and he forgives me on the basis of the cross, right?

I’m clean. I’m cleansed but I and in that way, I’m purged, right? But I’m not completely purged. You know that? Because in me, in my flesh is still this sin. Law of sin, the body of sin, it’s called different things in scripture, it’s sometimes just just called sin in in the book of Romans in particular. It’s still there. So, in some form, I’m not purged yet. But this says, he will purge them away.

You see why he’s in this battle? Beyond forgiveness, how will we be rid of the sin that is still with us, though we might be forgiven? Now, we are thrilled that God has forgiven us, but when will he destroy it forever, sin, so that we don’t need forgiveness any longer in the future?

When will He forever and completely and totally separate us from our sin? In these verses that I’m gonna read in just a second, there is particular emphasis upon the future. Notice what it says here. Second Corinthians one ten, Who delivered us in the past from so great a death and doth deliver, that’s present, in whom we trust that He will yet deliver us. So, deliverance done, deliverance at present, deliverance in the future.

You see that? Philippians three twenty one says something pretty similar. It says this, when Christ returns it says, who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body? Now, notice the words. In fact, let let’s turn there because the last verse is in Philippians as well. Look at Philippians chapter three.

Philippians three verse 21. Or verse 20 to pick up the context. For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that’s the sin, the body of sin, Romans seven says that, the body of sin.

Who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. Here it is. Here’s these warfare words, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue, put down all things unto himself. You know what it’s talking about? It’s talking about putting down this body of sin. He’s forgiven us already, and one day when the Lord Jesus returns and He comes for us and He gives us a new body, He will subdue every inkling, every urge, every instinct, every desire and lust for sin that still exists in us though we have already been forgiven.

He will purge us, if you will. And he will rid it from us forever. You know, here’s the thing you gotta remember about that. That is a fact and it has nothing to do with how obedient you are, you should be obedient. It has nothing to do with how faithful you are, though you should be faithful. It has nothing to do with your performance. It is solely based upon the promise of God. He will rid us of our sin. Now that’s a fact, that’s a future fact.

To him it’s done. Now go to Philippians one. But what about now? He forgave us of our sin, and then he tells us, I’m going to completely eradicate sin in your life. I’m gonna completely eradicate sin in your person, in your in your being entirely. He’s gonna purge us from our sin. But here we are, you know where we are right now? We’re right there in the middle. We’ve been forgiven, but we still live in this wicked sinful body.

That is where David is, where he says, it’s whipping me. I’m losing here, I’m losing the battle. Philippians one six. This is the this is my my life verse if you will, the one I If I sign Bibles this is the one I put. Philippians one six. Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you. Now that’s that’s at the beginning, that’s the forgiveness part.

Right? When he purged our sin from us in the sense of forgiveness. It says, will perform it, the good work, until the day of Jesus Christ. So you see the day of Jesus Christ, of course, that’s when the work is complete. When he subdues and eradicates sin from us entirely, and the war is totally won. But you know where we are? We are right there in the middle.

Will perform it until. Will perform it until. You know what the Lord is doing in your life right now? By little and little, what he’s doing in you and what he’s doing in me, is he is little and little eradicating, as in a war, sins dominance over us. Sins captivity over us, sins power over us by the working of the spirit of God, by the power of the word of God, by the church and the people of God, and all of these methods he has to effect change in our life, to to bring us so that we need less and less forgiveness because we’re sinning less and less, right? He’s purging it away by the work of his spirit. Now we know we’re not finished. He that had begun a good work, we’re not done.

But he’ll continue it. So the reason I said this to you is I want to take heart, I want you to take heart. Don’t give up on this battle, and I think some people do. It’s hard, they’re very disappointed in themselves. They get discouraged, and they find like, just forget it. And now they’re wholly given over to sin, all it does is bind them and bring them into captivity further.

Take heart. God is with you in this battle. He will not lose it. Sin will be purged. Let’s pray.