Grace Bible Church
Pastor-Teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Friday,
October 12, 2018
He almost fell and slipped because he had become jealous and envied the prosperity of the wicked.
Are you thinking in the realm of human viewpoint which really has no solution to your problems or are you thinking divine viewpoint which is life in the PPOG by living in your very own PSD?
Do you see divine viewpoint with eyes of your soul or do you see human viewpoint with all of its limitations, doubts and fears?
Asaph, the author of Psa 73, saw what the wicked had as far as prosperity and blessings are concern but he forgot their future.
He saw what God had given them.
He saw their outward display of prosperity and the fact that He saw what they had and what he did not.
The principle of prosperity without capacity.
They see the New car, the New home, the better job, the fine clothing, no problems with the finances, everything is going just right….that is “FOR NOW.
The God of all grace loves to give, especially those who have learned and metabolized the doctrine to do so.
JOH 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
2CO 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
“though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.
MAT 7:11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
Be careful when you find yourself looking back at those same old ways you use to live in.
Back to the same old vomit that you thought was God’s blessings or the same old garbage that you use to think was great only to realize that without Him, we can do nothing.
Be careful then how you look at what the wicked have because you only see their outward display not the inner changes.
We do not see the discomfort and lack of contentment in the wicked soul.
Notice once again that our battles are not against people but our spiritual warfare which is really invisible, Eph 6:12; 2Co 4:17-18.
Do not see when the wicked or the unbelievers go to sleep at night that they have all these riches and all these things and all this form of prosperity, but there’s something missing in their soul.
They (the wicked) do not have that peace that goes beyond understanding, PHI 4:6.
PHI 4:6 Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Our Lord also taught the danger of the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it [the choking word] becomes unfruitful.
MAT 13:22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”
Mary is the type of woman who understood the importance of doctrine and the fellowship of the teachings by our Lord.
Martha was worried about the details of life while Mary loved the doctrinal teachings of TLJC.
All of us need to make sure what the number one priority is and also how to handle anything that comes our way.
“You would be shocked if you could trade places with a millionaire, or a person who has everything going for them but they still lack contentment as well as inner peace.”
You would be shocked at how fast you would say, “I want to come back to my life, I don’t want to trade places with them.”
Our Lord wants us to be able to handle death because death is always God’s victory and God gives this victory to all believers through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Physical death cannot separate the believer from God, ROM 8:38‑39.
ROM 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
ROM 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Physical death is a matter of the sovereign decision of God, based on His perfect knowledge of all the facts, Psa 68:19‑20.
No matter how you feel it is the Lord who decides when it’s time to take us home, and that’s it.
HEB 2:9 But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, {namely,} Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.
God can and does prolong physical life, Psa 102:19: 118:18; Pro 14:27 The respect of the Lord is a fountain of life that one may avoid the snares of death.
God also delivers the believer from death, Job 5:20; Psa 33:19, 56:13; 116:8.
JOB 5:19 “From six troubles He will deliver you, Even in seven evil will not touch you. In famine He will redeem you from death, And in war from the power of the sword.
PSA 33:18-19 To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness and to deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.
Also when the believer who has attained spiritual maturity departs under dying grace, Psa 23:4 .
- There is no fear of death as well as confidence for all believers, 1Co 15:54‑57.
- Death also means no appointment with judgment, Heb 9:27.
- Death means being face to face with the Lord, 2Co 5:8; this implies an interim body.
- Death means the end of pain and suffering; Rev 21:4.
There is no mourning, crying, or pain in the interim body which is only until the Rapture and then we all will receive our resurrection body.
- Death means an eternal inheritance, 1Pe 1:4‑5.
- Death means a new home, especially a new body; Joh 14:1‑6.
- Death means realization of eternal life, Joh 11:25, 10:28.
For the believer who spends his life in the cosmic system, death is horrible.
Better an end with horror than horror without end.
Anytime you become critical or upset, blaming God for the departure of a loved one, you’re in a state of blasphemy.
It isn’t a matter of when we think the death should be; it is a matter of when God has decided.
If God decides to take you out by some terrible disease, all the health food and vitamins in the world won’t help you; you will die of disease.
Nothing will prolong your life beyond God’s time for you to die.
For the believer who spends his life in the cosmic system, death is horrible.
However, better an end with horror than horror without end.
Anytime you become critical or upset, blaming God for the departure of a loved one, you’re in a state of blasphemy.
- We have no appointment with judgment, Rom 8:1.
Heb 9:27‑28 teaches that death is a terror to the unbeliever.
- We are “face to face with the Lord,” 2Co 5:8.
- Rev 21:4 teaches there is no pain, sorrow, or embarrassment beyond the grave, (except for ashamedness at the Judgment Seat of Christ).
To ascribe to heaven what you think is good and enjoyable in life is a heathenistic thought.
- We have an eternal inheritance, 1Pe 1:4‑5.
We share Christ’s inheritance no matter how we fail in time; Jer 31:3.
- We have a new home, Joh 14:1‑3.
- We have eternal life, 1Jo 5:11‑12.
- We receive a resurrection body, Joh 11:25; Phi 3:21; 1Jo 3:1‑2; Job 19:25‑26.
We cannot stop normal living because our loved ones have died and gone to heaven.
Those whom we love who have preceded us into heaven have far greater blessing and happiness in heaven than we can ever know or experience in this life.
Your comfort in time of grief and sorrow must come from the Lord, which means that the source of comfort is metabolized doctrine circulating in the right lobe of the soul.
Because you are directly involved in the death of a loved one, your grief and sorrow will continue throughout your lifetime.
You must release your friends to go on living, and you must take your comfort and solace from Bible doctrine circulating in your soul.
In death, your loved ones have entered a place of far greater happiness and blessing than you could ever experience on this earth.
With your sorrow, you will also carry your fragrance of memories.
You too must go on living, which means that your grief is a private matter between you and the Lord.
Your loneliness in grief and sorrow belongs to you personally.
Your fragrance of memories belongs to you personally.
Your comfort from metabolized doctrine in your soul belongs to you personally.
Your assurance and tranquility that your loved ones are in heaven belongs to you personally.
It is not honoring to our Lord Jesus Christ or the dead in Christ to become abnormal in your grief or to perpetuate your sorrow to the point of mental disorders.
Bible doctrine circulating in the soul gives you the power to carry on, and even to rejoice that your loved ones are in the presence of the Lord and that there someday you will join them.
1Th 4:13 “For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope.”
Your grief is a private matter between you and the Lord.
Your loneliness and sorrow belongs to you.
Your fragrance of memories belong to you.
Your comfort from the word of God belongs to you.
You will know that the one you love is in a place of no more sorrow, no more fears, no more pain, no more death; Rev 21:4.
You may be down and out, but you’re not to run around and advertise the fact in some way.
Asaph can only guess what is happening but he has no idea what is really going on because no one knows the day or the hour of anyone’s death.
Only God knows what an individual is going when faced with death.
Job expressed this in Job 1:21, “The Lord gave, the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
David expressed this in Psa 68:19 “God is to us a God of deliverance, and to Jehovah the Lord belongs escape from death.”
Solomon expressed this in Ecc 8:8 No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death;
- The believer must realize that physical death is precious in the sight of the Lord, Psa 116:15.
Psa 116:15 “Precious [valuable] in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”
The death of any believer is valuable in the eyes of the Lord.
Ecc 7:1, A good name is better than a good ointment, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.
This man doesn’t know whether or not there are “no pains” in their death, only God knows the details that are involved concerning what the individual is going through.
Asaph has no idea of what happens to the wealthy or the wicked at death.
He doesn’t know whether or not there are “no pains” in their death, only God knows the details that are involved concerning what the individual is going through.
In this passage, what really is important are the lessons that this man will learn and apply concerning WHY the wicked prosper while the believer always seems to be in need, one way or another.
The answers will come but they may not be the answers we expected or the blessings you thought would give you +H or inner happiness and contentment.
We want those blessings in “our time,” or “under our timing” rather than waiting for the Divine Timing of our Lord to act on our behalf according to His timing and not ours.
We need to perceive the “Word of God” under the “power of God the Holy Spirit” so that we are always “able and ready” to worship our Lord according to His Word.
Our Lord also taught the importance of always being ready when He said to His disciples LUK 12:40 “You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”