Oct. 29, 2017 10:30 AM
First Baptist Church, Earlville, NY —  J B Stopford, Pastor

TODAY’S SPECIAL

(shared with me by my good friend Dr. Becker of Texas):

“A Seniors’ Perspective of Facebook”
I am trying to make friends outside of Facebook while applying the same principles.

Therefore, every day I walk down the street and tell passers-by what I have eaten, how I feel at the moment, what I have done the night before, what I will do later and with whom.

I give them pictures of my family, my dog, and of me gardening, taking things apart in the garage, watering the lawn, standing in front of landmarks, driving around town, having lunch, and doing what anybody and everybody does every day.

I also listen to their conversations, give them the “thumbs up” and tell them I like them. And it works just like Facebook.

I already have four people following me: two police officers, a private investigator and a psychiatrist.

INTRODUCTION

Tuesday is Halloween, and Wednesday is November 1. In and of themselves they are but dates on the calendar marking the changing of one month to another. But in the history of Biblical Christianity, these are 2 very important dates. For some religions, Halloween is a significant day. It marks the day that, in the Middle Ages, poor people in the community begged for “soul cakes,” and upon receiving these doughnuts, they would agree to pray for departed souls. This is the root of our modern day “trick-or-treat.” The custom of masks and costumes developed to mock evil and perhaps confuse the evil spirits by dressing as one of their own.

Throughout the centuries after the days of the Savior and the apostles, when a person was martyred for one’s faith, that person immediately was considered a “saint”, and each year the day of that person’s death was celebrated by visiting his tomb and giving communion. Over the course of time, there were so many “saints” that the Roman Church declared November 1st to be the one day to celebrate the martyrdom of all the saints, hence, “All Saints Day”.
Yet 500 years ago this Tuesday, a priest named Martin Luther changed the course of history with the nailing of his “95 Theses” on the door of a church in Wittenburg, Germany. It ultimately was republished and sent throughout the land. In them, Dr. Luther refuted the Roman church’s practice of the sale of “indulgences”, the purchasing within the Roman church of the forgiveness of sins. Thus October 31, 1517 marks the day of the beginning of what became known as the Protestant Reformation.

But, as Martin Luther would wisely ask, what do the Scriptures say? It is fascinating that in our text in Psalm 145, written years before the time of Christ, people were labelled as “saints” – not for dying for their faith, but for LIVING for their faith! Our text gives us at least 4 marks which should describe every “saint” in a Biblical sense. PRAYER

#1. Saints surrender to their King (intro, vs. 1-2)

Did you notice the psalm’s introduction? Most of us skip over these words – but these here are most important. This is a “psalm of praise” – NOT of prayer! That is a most unusual description. AND the psalm marks the author as being “of David” – hence, this is the last psalm in the record that David wrote. This psalm is in essence the prelude to the “hallel” psalms (146-150), and this one teaches us David’s view of true praise.
But did you catch King David’s proclamation in the first two verses? He said, “I will exalt You, my God the King”. Did you really catch that? David was finally king of Israel. Yet he recognizes Who the True King of Israel is: God Himself.

True saints surrender to God as their King.
But it wasn’t always that way. One day, in fulfillment of Psalm 118, King Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt (Matthew 21). Remember the crowd’s yell? “Hosanna to the Son of David.” “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord”. “Hosanna in the highest”. (Matthew 21) “The King of Israel!” (John 12:13).

Yet later in that same passage in Matthew, Jesus exclaims “the Stone which the builders rejected is the cornerstone”. The chief priests and Pharisees knew that He was talking about their rejection, and sought to arrest Him. Later, In Matthew 23, Jesus gives the lesson about David calling his Son, ‘Lord’ (in essence, in his lineage). Yet Jesus questions how the descendant could be the Lord, if He was His Son? The answer, of course, is that Jesus the Messiah is the Lord Himself! And shortly thereafter, Jesus prays for the Jerusalem He was willing, as a wise mother hen, to bear under His wings.
And soon we hear the cry, “We have no King but Caesar”. John wisely writes, “He came unto His own, but His own received Him not.”

The point is this: do we as Jesus’ true saints, those who have received Him as Lord and Savior, reject Him as Lord and King, or do we surrender to Him – the first mark of a saint of God?

#2. Saints meditate on Jesus (verse 5b)

David writes, “I will meditate on Your wonderful works”.
I like that David’s testimony is current! He isn’t remembering a walk with God of the early days of being a shepherd when under his father’s roof. No, no! These are current musings, first of God’s works (vs. 5-6): creation, His awesome works (note, only things referring to God should be called “awesome”), His great deeds. David saw God’s handiwork every day, and he not only meditated about them, he praised God for them.
But he also meditated on God’s character (vs. 7-9): His abundant goodness, His righteousness, His being gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, rich in love, good to all, compassion on all He has made! And no doubt, as David meditated on God’s character, that character became a part of his life.
Saints meditate on Jesus!

#3. Saints share their faith. (vs. 3-5a, 13)

Did you pick up on the phrase, “one generation will commend Your works to another” (v. 4a) and “Your dominion endures through all generations” (v. 13b). Saints share their faith!

How would the opposite of that look like in our church? Let’s suppose you are a grandmother, age 70. Your youngest grandchild is 10. For you and that grandchild, your generation is 60 years, the difference in those two ages. But what if you didn’t share with your grandchild anything about your family and its heritage. What would happen? That dear child would have no idea how rich a heritage you have. And as a result, that child could no longer share your heritage with future generations.

I’m afraid that is what often happens in the church. It has got content with growing internally, presuming that “it will always be this way. Babies are being born; young ‘uns are saved and being baptized. Our church is growing!” But what really happens? Those babies grow up, they go off to college, and never return. Then there is an huge gap, like the age gap between grandma and her youngest grandchild. And eventually? The church dies.
Saints share their faith OUTSIDE the comfort zone of their church.

#4. Saints are satisfied with Jesus. (vs. 16, 19)

Twice David wisely writes, “You…satisfy the desires of every living thing” (v. 16) and “He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him” (v. 19).
That says it all. True saints are satisfied with Jesus. Alone. Only. There isn’t anything else a saint needs besides Jesus!

CONCLUSION

The psalmist began “I will praise Your name for ever and ever” (v. 1) and ends with “let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever.”

My vision of the King and the world begins with my BEING a saint. Not “declared” a saint by some council. But by position belonging to the Lord Jesus through faith in His finished work at the cross. And by practice through a daily walk which involves my surrender, my meditation, my sharing, and my satisfaction with Jesus alone.

How about you?

This has been Saint Jeremy speaking today.