God NOTS

July 9, 2017 (0511)

God Nots:  What We Don’t Have In Christ

Psalm 23

SIS: We are accustomed to thinking about how much we “have” in Christ, but another way of looking at our blessings as believers is what we do NOT have in Christ.

Someone once said, “There are two basic groups of people:  the haves and the have yachts!”

It does seem that the rich just keep getting richer and the poor just keep getting poorer.  Just recently I read a report that analyzed the growing gap between the “haves and have nots” in America.

Far More Americans Now See Their Country as Sharply Divided Along Economic Lines  by Jodie T. Allen, Senior Editor, Pew Research Center (September 13, 2007).

Over the past two decades, a growing share of the public has come to the view that American society is divided into two groups, the "haves" and the "have-nots."

The number of Americans who see themselves among the "have-nots" of society has doubled over the past two decades, from 17% in 1988 to 34% today. In 1988, far more Americans said that, if they had to choose, they probably were among the "haves" (59%) than the "have-nots" (17%). Today, this gap is far narrower (45% "haves" vs. 34% "have-nots")

Clearly, more people in America view themselves as “have nots.” Being in the “have not” group is not a good thing according to the world’s stands—particularly American standards.  But when you apply the “have not” test to a relationship with God in Christ, being a “have not” takes on a whole new meaning.  One way of looking at the blessings we have as believers is to consider: not what we have, but what we “have not.”  I call it the “God Nots—What we don’t Have in Christ.”  Let’s read about the God Nots together.  Psalm 23:1-6

Before we get into our text this morning, I want to point out something very important in understanding the Psalms.  Notice that most the Psalms have a “superscription” before what we call verse one.  In this case the “title” or superscription is simply:  “A Davidic Psalm.”  There are about 73 Psalms (not quite) half that are attributed to David.  As you know, David was the most significant King of Israel, and a preview (or type) of the New King, who Jesus Christ, that would come out of David’s line. 

While not all of David’s psalms are “messianic” in a strict sense, this foreshadowing of Christ is always present, in my humble opinion.  So, when we think of this Psalm as the Shepherd’s Song, as it is commonly referred to, we have to allow our hearts to move from David the King who was a good shepherd of Israel, to Jesus Christ who is The King and The Good Shepherd.

This Psalm is rich in blessings for the people of God.  I want to examine those blessings by looking for “What We Do Not Have in Christ,” or what I call:  “God Nots.”  In this Psalm we see that as children of the Good Shepherd who is Our King we “want not, fear not, and fail not.”

1.  With Christ as Our Kingly Shepherd, we WANT Not (1-3, 5b)

A child of God who truly trusts in Him never lacks for anything.  Let’s examine this Psalm again to see how we “Want Not.”

1 The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. 2 He lets me lie down in green pastures;  He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He renews my life; He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake.   Then 5Bb:

………………………………..

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

It was customary in those days to receive a guest by anointing him with fragrant perfume and with a cup filled with a choice wine. In this way, the host indicated that nothing was to be considered too good for his guest.

A major emphasis of this Psalm, and an important theme throughout the Bible all the way up to the Banquet at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when all of God’s children will be gathered, is the theme of God’s overabundant love and meticulous care of His Children.

Verse 1 states the matter clearly:  God’s children “want not.”  We lack nothing—absolutely nothing.  The picture the Psalmist paints with his pen is of a “contented sheep so full he lies down in the middle of grass he has gorged himself on.” 

An equivalent metaphor would be of someone at the Thanksgiving table eating himself or herself into holiday bliss and then taking a nap without a care in the world.

The word that comes to mind for me is: “satisfied.”  Absolutely satisfied.  Or, as Momma would say:  “stuffed to the gills.”

Are you satisfied?  Is the needle of your satisfaction meter pushing past full?  The key to understanding what it means to “want not” is to understand the difference between “pleasure” and “satisfaction.”

Many people get a lot of “pleasure” out of life.  I think of movie stars, sports stars, or politicians endlessly campaigning to stay on the public dole.   A lot of people have all the stuff money can buy – and then some – but they are still not “satisfied.”

Anyone ever hear of Mick Jagger, or the Rolling Stones.  The wrote and produced a little song that has gone down in Rock n’ Roll history as the #2 song of all time.  When one considers the title, the irony is hard to miss.  This song brought the Stones great wealth to buy even more pleasures.  The irony is the song is title:  “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.”

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards lived a riotous life of drugs and perpetual parties.  They indulged in every pleasure imaginable – but are they satisfied?  Not according to their own song. 

What great irony that lyrics like “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction would give you enough money to pursue and pleasure you can imagine – but never bring you satisfaction.

Rock stars, movies stars, sports stars, tech stars like Bill Gates and an assortment of other “stars” have all the pleasure money can buy, but all the money in the world cannot buy satisfaction.

Satisfaction is one of the God Nots:  we WANT not.  If you really want to know what it means to be blessed by God, then it is to understand that One of the things we don’t have in Christ is: want.

The word can me to “lack, be diminished, or to be inferior.”  As believers we lack nothing, we gain everything, and we are God’s special guest, “anointed with the oil of gladness.”

2.  In Christ there is something else we do not have:  we FEAR not (4-5a).

⁴ Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff —they comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

When God walks with us, we fear not.

It has long been known that “fear” is a major weapon in any war.  This is the whole point of “terrorism.”  To instill fear in the enemies of Allah.  The more gruesome the acts of terrorism, the more value those acts are to the terrorists.

That is why they have broadcast several beheadings of those considered enemies of Allah.  Using fear to gain an upper hand in conquest is as ancient as war itself.

One of the most feared warriors in history is Attila the Hun.  They rode across Europe in the late 4^th and 5^th centuries AD.  They were a fearsome people.  They would destroy everything and everyone in their path.  The reputation of the Huns almost rivals the mythical creatures like Dracula, or werewolves.  The very name:  Attila or Hun struck fear in the hearts of their opponents.

One custom of this strangely feared culture custom was to strap their children's noses flat from an early age, in order to widen their faces, as to increase the terror their looks instilled upon their enemies.

I point out the relationship between fear and warfare because we are in a war – a great spiritual war.  The Devil wants to paralyze God’s people with fear.  He does a pretty good job of it.  If the Devil can get us to live in fear, even if he cannot get our soul, he can paralyze our faith.

Yet, one of the God Nots – a major God Not – is we should “fear not.”  What does the Psalmist use as the ultimate example of why we should “fear not?”  Verse 4 in the King James version is perhaps one of the most often quoted and most familiar verses in the Bible.  We hear it all the time at funeral services:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;

The words “of the shadow of death” translate one compound Hebrew word that refers to a “darkness so deep it is like being dead.”  The connection of this word with death has gained prominence in many ancient translations.  The word is also associated with “terror.”  It is just a very graphic word.

Let’s look at this darkness as indeed related to “death.”  Death is a formidable enemy and man has sought different ways to try to cheat death—none of which work of course.  Death is described in the Bible as a final, great enemy to be faced and conquered because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross.

Jesus died and gained absolute victory over death and as long as we are walking in His Presence, we have that same victory over death.  The Word of God says of this greatest of all enemies (1Cor. 15):

55 Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?  56 Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin  is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, death has been robbed of its sting—that is, it has not lasting power.  We have complete “victory through Jesus Christ Our Lord.”

Now, here’s my point:  if the greatest enemy we will ever face, that is the darkest valley we will every go through has been totally conquered by Jesus Christ, then what is left to fear?  Nothing.  One of the God Nots is “fear not” because “we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who loves us.”

Notice in the text the word clearly says, “through” the darkest valley.  Just like death cannot stop our life in Christ, Christ will not leaven us, or abandon us in any challenge in life—however dark it may seem.  We “fear not” “because God is with us through Christ.”

THE LAW OF THE PENDULUM  In college a student was asked to prepare a lesson to teach his speech class. He was to be graded on creativity and ability to drive home a point in a memorable way. The title of his talk was, “The Law of the Pendulum.” He spent twenty minutes carefully teaching the physical principle that governs a swinging pendulum. The law of the pendulum is: A pendulum can never return to a point higher than the point from which it was released. Because of friction and gravity, when the pendulum returns, it will fall short of its original release point. Each time it swings it makes less and less of an arc, until finally it is at rest. This point of rest is called the state of equilibrium, where all forces acting on the pendulum are equal.

The student attached a three-foot string to a child’s toy top and secured it to the top the blackboard with a thumbtack. He pulled the top to one side and made a mark on the blackboard where he let it go. Each time it swung back he made a new mark. It took less than a minute for the top to complete its swinging and come to rest. When he finished the demonstration, the markings on the blackboard proved the law of the pendulum.

The student then asked how many people in the room believed the law of the pendulum was true. All of his classmates raised their hands and so did the teacher. The teacher started to walk to the front of the room thinking the class was over. In reality it had only begun. Hanging from the steal beams in the middle of the room was a large, crude but functional pendulum made from 250 pounds of metal weights tied to four strands of 500 pound test parachute cord. The student invited the instructor to climb up on a table and sit in a chair with back of his head against a cement wall. Then the student brought the 250 pounds of metal up to the teachers’ nose. Holding the huge pendulum just a fraction of an inch from the teacher’s face, the student once again explained the law of the pendulum he had applauded only moments before, “If the law of the pendulum is true, then when I release this mass of metal, it will swing across the room and return short of the release point. Your nose will be in no danger.”

After that final restatement of this law, the student looked his teacher in the eye and asked, “Sir, do you believe this law is true?” There was a long pause. Huge beads of sweat formed on his upper lip and then weakly he nodded and whispered, “Yes.”

The student released the pendulum. It made a swishing sound as it arced across the room. At the far end of its swing, it paused momentarily and started back. The student later testified that he had never seen a man move so fast in his entire life as the teacher literally dove from the table.

It was easy for this teacher to believe in the law of the pendulum when it was all theoretical. How easy it is for us to believe in God’s sufficiency in church on Sunday morning or in a Bible study. But in the real world where our lives are on the line too many of us demonstrate that our belief was only theoretical.

If you as a believer, or our church as a fellowship of faith, are going to overcome our fears and make real progress in growing in our faith, then we have to trust God when we face a dark valley.

God Nots include “Want Not, and Fear Not,” but

3.  Another God Not is “FAIL Not.” (4, 6)

⁶ Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in  the house of the Lord as long as I live.

This God Not is closely related to FEAR not.  So many people never succeed in life to the degree God wants us to succeed because we see FAILURE as the worst thing that can happen to us (short of death which we have already mentioned).

But, I’ve become thoroughly convinced that there is something much worse in life that can happen to a person than “failure.”  That is what we call status quo.  Status quo comes into English directly from Latin and means, “the state in which,” Status quo describes staying perpetually in the same state which you are in now.

Status quo keeps us from moving forward.  It keeps us from ever experiencing the thrill and exhilaration of accomplishing something new.  Status quo keeps us from “failure,” but at the expense of never making any progress or experiencing anything new – which if you ask me, is a fate much worse than failure.

When you read verse 6 really carefully something amazing simply jumps off the page:

6 Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in  the house of the Lord as long as I live.

Tell me, does that sound a lot like this verse from the Apostle Paul:

Rom 8:28 We know that all things work together  for the good  of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose

Friends I want to tell you one of the most remarkable truths I think God has ever revealed to me since becoming a believer:

“a believer doesn’t have to die to experience heaven!”

Because of the God Not of “FAIL Not” we can move out into a great adventure with God and experience unimaginable stuff we cannot even experience in our wildest dreams.  God, Himself invites us:

“Call upon me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you cannot even imagine”  (Jer. 33:3).

Oh, friends, I’ve had a little taste of heaven’s “goodness and faithful love” and it tasted sweet.  Oh how I want more.  We can reach out and experience life in a way that is stunningly remarkable because:

“failure is NOT an option.”

This week I watched a movie in which Aliens from outer space were invading our country, and they were landing in Los Angeles.  And, when aliens invade our shores, who do we send to drive them out – that’s right, the United States Marines.

I don’t need to tell you how it ends because we all know how it ends when the United States Marines arrive on the scene.  Why do we know how it ends?  Because when a Marine is given a mission there are may be many options on how to fulfill that mission but there is one option that is never an option and that is failure!

Failure is NOT an option for a Marine, and failure is NOT an option for a believer.

My dearest friends and church family, we have so much in Christ.  One way to understand just how much we DO have in Christ is to consider what we do NOT have in Christ.

In Christ we “want not, fear not, and fail not.”  These are God Nots.  These three “nots” can be thought of as the “k-n-o-t-s” that attach us to God through Christ.

I hope you will consider this morning to put your complete trust in Almighty God so that you will “want not, fear not, and fail not” as you make your way from here to eternity.

Let’s Pray.