The Danger of Dissatisfaction With
One’s Lot in Life - Part XVI
Psalm 16:8-11; 9:16-17; Job 19:25-27;
Revelation 2:20-23
Ezekiel
16:18-63; Proverbs
5:15-23; et. al.
September 15, 2024
Last week
I ended the lesson:
I Corinthians 6:9-11
the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of
God! Among them
specifically mentioned are:
fornicators,
idolaters,
adulterers,
effeminate,
abusers of themselves with mankind,
thieves,
covetous,
drunkards,
revilers,
extortioners, shall inherit the
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.
Revelation 22:10-15
10 And he saith unto
me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this
book: for the time is at hand.
11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust
still: and he which is filthy, let
him be filthy still: and he that is righteous,
let him be righteous still:
and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my rewar d is with me, to give
every man according as his work shall be.
13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the end, the first and the last.
14 Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have
right to the tree of life, and may enter in
through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs (κύνες
- kunes - dogs
- used here metaphorically
of those whose moral impurity will exclude
them from the New Jerusalem)
and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and
murderers, and idolaters, and
whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Today, I want to emphasize:
Jeremiah 5:3
“O Lord, are
not thine eyes upon the truth? Thou
has stricken them, but they
have not grieveed;
thou hast consumed them but they have refused to receive
correction:
they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused
to return.”
“......they have refused to return.”
I want to read to you the introduction to Spurgeon’s sermon Decided Ungodliness
delivered August 20, 1882 (142 years ago - He being dead, yet speaketh)
THERE is,
in the heart of every one of us, the primary evil of sin; we have
all transgressed against the Lord. So far, so bad; but that natural sin of ours
may be greatly increased by a refusal to turn from
it. It is bad enough to
have violated God’s righteous law, but to refuse to repent, and to continue
presumptuously in our iniquity, must greatly increase
our guilt in the sight
of God. This guilt may also be still further increased if
we refuse to return
unto the Lord when we are earnestly and
affectionately invited to yield
submission to Him. If gracious terms of peace are
presented to us, and
matchless promises of blessing are made to us on condition that
we do
return,— and if we are often warned, and often
entreated, and often
threatened, and yet we still refuse to return, then we continue to pile sin
upon sin, till we make our first transgression to be incredibly great.
(Some of
you are no doubt financially savvy and understand what compound interest *is in
money (*
Compound interest is interest calculated on both the initial principal
and all
of the previously accumulated interest. Generating
"interest on interest" is known
as the power of compound interest. Interest can be compounded
on a variety of
frequencies, such as daily, monthly, quarterly, or annually
- Google),
but are
unaware of the compound interest of sin. CY - 2024) If I were now to preach to
men as simply sinners, it would be a weighty message for me to
have to tell them
that “all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God;” but, alas! I have to
preach to impenitent sinners, to those who, as our text puts it, “have refused
to return,” ay, and to
some who have given that refusal with great deliberation,
after having been long entreated and persuaded. to turn from the error of
their ways. Some have
been addressed in such tender, pleading language as this,
“Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of
or this: “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is
near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:
and
let him return unto
the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our
God, for He will abundantly
pardon.” If we have
heard such language as
that, and yet have persisted in refusing to return, we
have heaped guilt
upon guilt, and the wrath of God will be in proportion
to our sin.
The coming of Christ to a soul, to a community,
is a moral probation (subjection
of an individual to a period of testing and trial to ascertain
fitness, as for a job or
school) ,
involving the most serious responsibility.
TO REJECT
JESUS CHRIST AND THE WITNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT is the
only UNFORGIVABLE SIN.
The first stages of Christian life in the individual and in the
historic Church
are marked by low ideas of the person and work of Christ, producing
estrangement from Him, fear, and weakness.
A few months back, at a Bible Study, our
teacher, Bro. David Smith, mentioned
coincidently, about those with dissatisfaction in life, always seeking
for something,
but
basically not knowing what they want, never finding it.
I add until fortunately, meeting Jesus
Christ.
Have I not mentioned U2 - I Still Haven’t
Found What I’m Looking?
In Psalm 16:8-11 is a remedy, as the Bible, in many other
passages offers:
8 I have set the LORD always before me: because He is at my
right
hand, I shall not
be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also
shall rest in hope.
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou
suffer
thine
Holy One to see corruption.
11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of
joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
But there is another side: There is a clear explanation of the problem in v. 4.
4 Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another
God:
Psalm 9:16-17
“The
Lord is known by the judgment which He executeth:
the wicked is snared in the work of his own
hands. Higgaion.* Selah.**
The
wicked shall be turned into hell, and all nations
that forget God.
* A technical term of musical direction - The word may
signify either a solemn,
deep-toned harp interlude or a
solemn pause conducive to meditation.
How much thought have you put into your situation?
** A transliterated Hebrew expression found frequently
in the Psalms and also
appearing in Habakkuk chapter 3. Selah indicates a pause in the text.
Selah is a synonym of Hebrew words that mean “forever.”
eternal
implications?? CY (Wow!)
The Scripture reveals that “Blessed is the nation whose God is
the Lord.”
(Psalm 33:12) At first I put happy in my browser,
the word
being hid in my heart, but not knowing where to find it. -
Bro. Christian always said that “blessed” - means happy.
Oh the blessings of the man, the family, the city, the
country side,
the nation
- that has realized the truth of vs. 5-7 of Psalm 16
5 The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup:
thou
maintainest
my lot.
6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I
have a
goodly heritage.
“Thus
saith the Lord; I remember thee, the kindness of thy
youth,
the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest
after me in the wilderness,
in a land that was not
sown. Israel was holiness unto the LORD,
and
the firstfruits
of his increase: all that devour him shall offend;
evil shall come upon
them, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah
2:2-3)
7 I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins* also
instruct me in the
night seasons.
νεφρός - nephros - kidney
νεφροί
* mind,
heart, kidneys - metamorphically of the will and the affections which
were regarded as
having their seat in the “kidneys.”
instruct -
they-CHASTEN/CORRECT/TRAIN - discipline/teach/educate
Job 19:25-27
25 For I know that my redeemer liveth,
and that He shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth:
26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh
shall I see God:
27 Whom I shall see for myself,
and mine eyes shall behold, and not
another; though my reins be consumed within me.
Revelation
2:20-23
20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because
thou
sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth
herself a prophetess, to
teach and to seduce my servants
to commit fornication, and to eat
things sacrificed unto idols.
21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she
repented
not. (Do you think that God
would give that wicked woman, Jezebel space
to repent
and not you!!??? How much space have you used up or abused? -
CY - 2024)
22 Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit
adultery
with her into great tribulation, except they repent of
their deeds.
23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the
churches shall
know that I am He which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will
give unto every one of you
according to your works.
There seems to be something in the word bed - do you
remember last
week me
mentioning “nor abusers of themselves with mankind
ἀρσενοκοῖται - arsenokoitai - malebedders; from αρσενος - apsoenos -
male and κοιτην - koitaen - bed. It has
a sexual connotation, but with
whom the male is bedding is
not specified.
Thinking about sexual matters now is a good place to go back
to
Ezekiel 16 where I began and left off on May 26, fourteen
weeks ago, at v.18.
Ezekiel
16
This still
from the NIV
The use of Ezekiel 16 from the NIV
to get ideas across of what I am trying to
illustrate today. The first
seventeen verses I discussed on an earlier occasion
and if interested, see May 26, 2024 lesson.
18 And you took your embroidered
clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil
and incense before them.
19 Also the food I provided for
you—the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you
to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is
what happened,
declares the Sovereign Lord.
20 “‘And you took your sons and
daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed
them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough?
21 You slaughtered my children and sacrificed
them to the idols.
22 In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not
remember
the days of your youth, when you were naked and
bare, kicking about in
your blood.
23 “‘Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other
wickedness, Woe unto thee, etc.! The interjectional parenthesis, half
anathema and half lamentation, looks forward rather
than backward. Up to
this point Ezekiel had dwelt on the forms of
idolatry which were
indigenous to
enters on the later forms of evil which had
been adopted from more distant
nations. We pass from the time of Solomon to that of
Ahaz and Manasseh.
24 You built a mound for yourself
and made a lofty shrine in every public square.
25 At every street corner you built your lofty shrines and degraded
your beauty,
spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone
who passed by.
26 You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your
neighbors with
large genitals, and aroused my anger with your
increasing promiscuity.
For modesty’s sake, I will substitute
“sexual prowess” for the term used. What
was really said
can be found in the NIV’s rendition of Ezekiel 16:26
- CY - 2024)
27 So I stretched out my
hand against you and reduced your territory;
I gave you over to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines,
who were shocked by your lewd conduct.
28 You engaged in prostitution
with the Assyrians too, because you were insatiable;
and even after that, you still
were not satisfied. (I am
going to take the liberty
to add, what I
perceive as a bedfellow of insatiability, incorrigiblity. Often a person
who is
insatiable, ends up incorrigible.
Insatiable = unquenchable,
unappeasable, uncontrollable, voracious, prodigious (huge).
unsatiable
- impossible to satisfy; incapable of being satisfied
Incorrigible = incapable of being corrected, amended, or
reformed, not manageable :
Incorrigibility = bad
and impossible to change or improve
Elementary
school - heard of Reform School
High School -
heard of marijuana in locker at a high school in the county -
I knew the person
accused -
Rarity of this in my upbringing.
29 Then you increased your
promiscuity to include
but even with this you were not satisfied. (Somewhere along the line in my
life
I ran across the idea that “Man wants what he can’t get but if he ever gets it,
that is not what
he wanted after all! - a non -sexual reference but holds
true in
physical escapades also - I cite the teaching of Proverbs
5:15-23 * below -CY - 2024)
Proverbs 15
*15 Drink waters out of thine
own cistern, and running waters out of thine own
well.
16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and
rivers of waters in the streets.
17 Let them be only thine
own, and not strangers’ with thee.
18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice
with the wife of thy youth.
19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant
roe; let her breasts
satisfy thee at
all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished
with a strange woman, and
embrace the
bosom of a stranger?
21 For the ways of
man are before the eyes of the LORD, and He
pondereth all his goings.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked
himself, and he shall be
holden with the cords of his sins.
23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his
folly he
shall go astray. (Proverbs 5:15-23)
Also:
“Marriage
is honorable in all and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers
and adulterers, God will judge.” (Hebrews 13:5)
While I am at it - “....whosoever committeth adultery with a woman lacketh
understanding:
he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul.
A wound and dishonor shall
he get, and his reproach shall
not be wiped away.” (Proverbs 6:32-33)
Compare the case of the woman taken in
adultery (John 8:3-11)
The words of Jesus are: “....all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be
forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost
shall not be
forgiven unto men......neither in this world , neither
in the world to come.”
(Matthew 12:31-32)
30 “‘I am filled with fury against you, declares the
Sovereign Lord, when you do
all these things, acting like a brazen
prostitute!
31 When you built your mounds at
every street corner and made your lofty
shrines in every public square, you were unlike a
prostitute, because you
scorned payment.
32 “You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband!
33 All prostitutes receive
gifts, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing
them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit
favors.
34 So in your prostitution you are
the opposite of others; no one runs after you
for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give
payment and none is
given to you.
35 “‘Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord!
36 This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: Because you poured out your
lust
and exposed your naked body in your promiscuity with your lovers, and
because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your
children’s blood,
37 Therefore I am going to gather
all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure,
those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather
them against you
from all around and will strip you in front of them,
and they will see
you stark
naked.
38 I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery
and who shed blood; I will bring on you the blood vengeance of my wrath
and jealous
anger.
39 Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they
will tear
down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you
of your clothes
and take your fine jewelry and leave you stark naked.
40 They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to
pieces with their swords.
41They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in
the
sight of many women. I will put a stop to your
prostitution, and you will
no longer pay your lovers.
42Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn
away
from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.
43 “‘Because you did not remember the days
of your youth but enraged me with
all these things,
I will surely bring down on your head what you have done,
declares the
Sovereign Lord. Did you not add lewdness to
all your other
detestable practices?
44 “‘Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb
about you:
“Like mother, like daughter.”
45 You are a true daughter of your
mother, who despised her husband and her
children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who
despised their husbands
and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your
father an Amorite.
46 Your older sister was
daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south
of you with her
daughters, was
47 You not only followed their
ways and copied their detestable practices,
but in all your ways you soon became more depraved
than they.
48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, your sister
her daughters never did what you and your daughters have
done.
49 “‘Now
this was the sin of your sister
arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not
help the poor and needy.
50They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away
with them as you have seen. (Although not here, sixty-tw0 [62] times in
Ezekiel, it is said, “and they shall know that I am the Lord” I would say
that this statement is its equivalent, stated in other words - see
# 223.
Ezekiel – Study of God’s Use of the
Word Know
51
Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You
have done more
detestable things than they, and have made
your sisters seem righteous