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So this morning, we dealt with
the goal of glorifying God publicly by testifying of his goodness
to us in the past. And we saw that from Psalm 126,
the first three verses. This afternoon, we're going on
to the second goal, which is to renew our personal commitment
to the church's future progress. to renew our personal commitment
to the church's future progress. Let's read the psalm then, bearing
that in mind, and we'll read the whole of it. The Bible says,
a song of ascents, when the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with
laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy. Then they said
among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them. The
Lord has done great things for us. We are glad. Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like streams in the Negev. Those who sow in tears shall
reap with shouts of joy. He who goes out weeping, bearing
the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing
his sheaves with him. I mentioned the fact this morning
that in coming to Psalm 126 in order to learn from it something
of God's expectation of us as we seek to celebrate his goodness
among us, we are not really going to a passage that brings out
everything that we ought to do. The reason is quite simple. There
is a difference between Israel and the New Testament church. Here, no doubt about it, the
psalmist was, first of all, referring back to the restoration of Israel
from Assyrian and Babylonian captivity. It was an amazing
situation. where instead of them having
an army to fight for their own liberation, the king of Israel,
rather the king of Babylon, simply produced a decree that enabled
the Israelites to be freed from captivity and to make their way
back to the promised land. And hence you can well understand
why they are rejoicing here. It was an amazing situation. They themselves are saying here
that we were like those who dream. In other words, it was almost
too good to be true. It was a sudden situation, whereas
for us, we're not so much speaking about some sudden deliverance
that took place that we should be rejoicing in, we are celebrating
progressive We are progressing, we are celebrating God saving
souls among us, God sanctifying us, God preserving evangelical
Christianity, evangelical truth among us as it is taught in scripture. We are celebrating the level
of financial sacrifice that we are putting into the Christian
church here. We are celebrating the outward
nature of the ministries that are among us. We are celebrating
the church planting efforts that are taking place from the context
of this church. We are celebrating all those
realities that are clearly there before us. So clearly, there
is some level of difference. But again, as I said this morning,
it's the principle that I want us to capture, the principle.
And there's no doubt about it that when you read Psalm 126,
verse 1 to verse 3, what you are finding there is a recollection
of the Lord's past blessings. A recollection of the Lord's
past blessings. And then on the other hand, when
you look at verse four to verse six, what you are seeing there
in principle is the seeking of the Lord's future blessing. The seeking of the Lord's future
blessing. And that's a second responsibility
that we clearly see from the Lord upon us, that we don't just
celebrate God has been good to us and then forget about it.
No. We then renew our commitment
that we are going to play our role to ensure that the Christian
church shines with the splendor of the noontime sun so that All
who come around can find a truly healthy church when we ourselves
are gathered with our fathers. And so I want us to look at this
4 to 6 in that light, this seeking of the Lord, seeking of the Lord,
which is the second goal that we have for us. What do we learn
from these verses? First of all, it is the fact
that we seek the Lord because we know that things among us
could be more God-glorifying. The situation among us could
be more God-glorifying. And that is surely what made
the psalmist pray to God for a restoration of fortunes. He
says there in verse four, Psalm 126 and verse 4. Restore our
fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negev. Restore our fortunes,
O Lord, like streams in the Negev. Now, let's tie it up with verse
1. Because in verse 1 he had said,
when the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who
dream. Basically the same language.
The Lord restored the fortunes and we're like those who dream.
Now we are saying, Lord, restore our fortunes and do it like streams
in the Negev. Earlier, the restoration had
to do with the children of Israel being brought from captivity
in Babylon and being brought back to the promised land. What
then was the psalmist praying about now when he says, restore
our fortunes? Is it that they are back in captivity? The answer is no. At least we
don't know of a time after this happened when the children of
Israel were again chased out of the promised land and taken
by another nation in such a way that before the Old Testament
was put together, somebody could write about it. We certainly
don't know that. Bible commentators have obviously
wrestled with this issue. The first restoration is not
difficult because we have it in the scriptures. The people
of Israel were taken into captivity by Assyria and later by Babylon. And as we are already reading
in Isaiah, towards the end, they were then later on restored back
to the promised land. What is this restoration that
was being prayed about. There's no obvious answer, but
many commentators take us to the more spiritual decline rather
than a physical decline. And in speaking about the spiritual
decline, they take us to at least two passages in the Old Testament. One is Haggai. and the other
is Malakai. Haggai and then Malakai. Haggai and then Malakai. Now,
let me help you to find Haggai. Begin with Malakai, which is
the last book in the Old Testament. Then go back two books, Kwasila,
you find Haggai. It's literally just one paper,
that's why it's a little difficult to find. Okay, so begin with
Malachi, then go backwards to Zechariah, and then you'll find
Haggai. Haggai chapter one, this is what
it says. I begin from verse two. Thus
says the Lord of hosts, These people say that time has not
yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord. Then the word of
the Lord came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, and this
is what he said, is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in
your paneled houses while this house, referring to the temple,
lies in ruins? Now, therefore, That says the
Lord of hosts, consider your ways. And this is the frustration
that you're now going through. You have so much and harvested
little. You eat, but you never have enough. You drink, but you never have
your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no
one is warm. And he who earns wages does so
to put them into a bag with holes. I'm tempted to add, you put money
in the bank account and the currency is halved. Eh? You sow and then there are
no rains coming. Eh? You fill your fridge with
things, Zesko Katspa. Okay, you know what I mean, just
trying to make it more recent or applicable there. That's one
passage that they tend to refer to, that clearly here was a restoration
of fortunes, a very real restoration of fortunes in the sense that
they've come back. They never thought they would
come back. But having come back, instead
of putting all their efforts into bringing back a most glorious
temple, a most glorious day, each one has gone to his own
activity. And consequently, the actual cult, which is the worship
center, is still begging for attention. And consequently,
the author of Psalm 126 could cry out, Lord, restore our fortunes. Let's see something of that past
glory again. and chapter one, Malachi chapter
one. Now, if you don't know where
to find Malachi, now I'm despairing. Okay, chapter one. This is what it says, I begin
from verse 6. A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where
is my honor? And if I'm a master, where is
my fear, says the Lord of hosts. to you, O priests, who despise
my name." And it is this despising that is often spoken about. But you say, how have we despised
your name? And here it is, by offering polluted
food upon my altar. But you say, how have we polluted
you? By saying that the Lord's table may be despised. When you
offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you
offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present them to your governor.
Will he accept you or show you favor, says the Lord God of hosts? And now, entreat the favor of
God that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your
hand, will he show favor to any of you, says the Lord of Hosts?
And then this is what he says. Oh, that there were one among
you who would shut the doors that you might not Kindle fire
on my altar in vain. I have no pleasure in you says
the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your
hand. Okay. Again, the picture there
is obvious. It is the fact that the Israelites
did not stop going to the temple. They did not stop the outward
form of religion. They were back in the promised
land, by the way. But clearly, true religion, spiritually
speaking, had been drained out of them. So when a man was going
through the flock to choose which one he should take to the temple
for sacrifice, he would say to his shepherd boys, that one,
which is limping, that one, come on, get it, get it for me. That's
the one I'm taking. In other words, it's that which
I would even want to get rid of anyway. That's the one I take
to the Lord. And it's, again, very easy for
Christianity, if we cross over to where we are, to reach those
levels where, yes, clearly we are not that bad. There has been real spiritual
progress. There has been real spiritual
achievement, but we know that we could be better. We know that
the vast majority are simply following along. They are not
throwing in their weight to ensure that there is God-glorifying
achievement. Well, it becomes assuming that
most commentators who take us there are right. It then enables
us to begin to see that it's the spiritual eye that was now
more active. Yes, physically, we had been
brought into the promised land and we rejoicing, but there was
a better day. there was a better day that God
might restore us to that better day. And what is important is
this note of dissatisfaction in the souls of God's true children,
knowing that we could be better. And brethren, this ought to be
the effect on us, especially when we read the book of Acts. When you read there about the
thousands that were getting saved from one same one, about the love that belonged
to the people of God, about the way in which an entire city was
being turned upside down by the gospel, that even the enemies
of the Christian church would say that these men who have turned
the world upside down, they are here. When you hear of the commitment
of the church to its prayer meetings, surely it ought to challenge us that
we could have a better day. we could have a better day. So however growing a picture
I may have presented earlier on this morning, when we look
at God's amazing acts among us, we must long for a better church
of Jesus Christ. That's what we should long for.
There must be holy dissatisfaction in our souls. We must be conscious
that this is not showers of blessings. It is not. These are but mercy
drops. That's what they are, mercy drops. We could do a thousand times
more if we were all truly filled with the Spirit of God. We can.
And consequently, we will cry to the Lord, restore our fortunes,
oh Lord, like streams in the Negev. Now that phrase, streams
in the Negev, refers to the southern part of the land of Israel, where
when there would be a drought, as soon as the first rains come,
they would pour so much in torrents that all the dry river beds,
particularly in the Negev itself, would suddenly be filled with
rivers. Suddenly be filled with rivers. Water would be flowing there.
And that's what he's saying. Lord, let it be like that. One moment, drought, dryness. The next moment, water, rivers
flowing. Lord, do this among us. And all I'm saying, brethren,
is that that should be our longing. Yes, we thank God for what he
has done and we don't want to despise it. We don't want to
belittle it. But at the same time, there is
such holy dissatisfaction in our souls that we still cry out to him. Now, Clearly, there are two ways
in which this holy dissatisfaction will express itself. First of
all, it is through ardent prayer. It is through ardent prayer.
And whereas in the morning service, I had to come up with illustrations
to try and bring those first three verses into life. And you
remember, we went all the way to Gabon, didn't we, in order
to see the Zambian national team winning the Africa Cup, to just
try and capture something of the atmosphere of this passage.
Thankfully, the psalmist, as he now deals with this five and
six, he himself provides an illustration. And he uses the picture of agriculture,
of sowing and reaping. Let's read that in verse 5. Let's read that in verse 5. It
says there, those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts
of joy. Those who sow in tears shall
reap with shouts of joy. Clearly, what he is picturing
here is something of Prayer. Remember the previous verse was
a cry, it was prayer. Restore our fortunes, oh God,
like streams in the Negev. He's crying out to the Lord,
Lord, restore. And then comes this next verse,
which is saying, those who are doing this, who are thus sowing
in tears, something's going to happen. They are going to reap. and they're going to reap with
shouts of joy. So I can immediately see that
he must have something along the lines of prayer in mind. That ultimately, it is God we
are longing to see acting. It is the Lord who must restore
the fortunes of Zion. and he will do it in answer to
our prayers. Brethren, it's exactly the same
challenge to us. We must commit ourselves to the
church's prayer meetings. We must. You know, to many of
us, we still have the attitude that Spurgeon once named his
own book And it is, imagine a title of a book, it is only a prayer
meeting. It is only a prayer meeting. And he was capturing something
of an attitude. Perhaps a wife saying to the
husband, you know, honey, we are late to church this morning. And the husband answers with
a very sort of strong male voice, it's okay dear. It's only a prayer
meeting today. That's the point of that. In
other words, prayer meeting is not important, even if we miss
it. And what I'm saying is that that
is a fatal mistake. It's a fatal mistake. Because true spirituality can
only be produced by God, can only be produced by God, the
Holy Spirit. And God acts in answer to the
prayers of his people. I mean, read concerning any revival
in history. Read it, and you'll soon discover
that behind that revival were a people that were praying, praying
hard, even when circumstances were getting from bad to worse. And God ultimately answered the
prayers of his people. It is said of C.H. Spajon, that
one day, and if you don't know about Sitsperson, let me quickly
tell you, he was perhaps the most outstanding preacher of
the Word of God at the end of the 19th century. In fact, his
sermons, beyond any other human being in the history of the world,
continue to be sold up to today. and they are in many volumes. I think it's between 50 and 60,
if not between 60 and 70 such volumes. He had an outstanding
ministry. But one morning he got to church
and found a man sitting outside the church building and it was
very, very cold. You know, it was in the center
of London. So The gentleman didn't know who had arrived. Because
of the weather, he was in very big coats and covered all over. And as he found this gentleman,
he opened the door and said, come quickly, let me take you
downstairs to the heating chamber of this building. You must be
dying with cold. And as he took him down, the
man thought this is the janitor of this building, in other words,
the caretaker. And they finally opened a room
where they found something like 500 people praying. And then Spejon said to the man,
this is what keeps this place warm. Can you imagine? More people than would feel this
place or just about feeling this place. All of them crying to
the Lord that he might rain down a blessing. Are you surprised
at the effectiveness of the ministry in that place? Of course not. Why? Because they were sowing
in tears and consequently they were reaping with shouts of joy. Brethren, there's need for a
personal commitment. If the church is important, if
it's welfare is important, then it's church's prayer meeting
is crucial to all of us. Crucial. We need to make the kind of New
Year resolution that says, I'm going to make sure From this
year onwards, I will not miss the church's prayer meeting,
unless it's a matter of life and death, unless perhaps I'll
be fired from work. I'm going to make sure I'll be
sowing with tears that I might reap with joy. But I also want to suggest that
the psalmist had more than just prayer in mind. He also had preaching,
or what I'm calling in my notes here, true service, saving the
Lord. In other words, not just speaking
to the Lord on behalf of souls, but also speaking to souls on
behalf of God, both at the same time. How do I know that? Look at the
way he phrases the same thing in verse six. When he says, he
who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing. There seems to be a slight transition
there. First of all, the emphasis was
sowing in tears and then reaping with joy. Crying to the Lord,
experiencing joy afterwards. Crying to the Lord, experiencing
joy afterwards. Here, there seems to be an emphasis
on going out. Not only going out, but bearing
the seed for sowing. So they're still weeping, there's
no doubt about it, but there seems to be this slight emphasis
on bearing the seed for sowing. In other words, for Israel, this
would have meant, for instance, the prophets speaking to the
people, doing what Haggai was doing, doing what Malachi was
doing, taking the word, taking the truth, and challenging people
with it, and challenging them even with tears. even with tears. And this is something again that
we must never divorce from prayer. I mentioned this morning that
the prosperity of the Christian church is achieved through two
things. praying and preaching, praying
and preaching, praying and preaching. That's what turns the tide around. And that's why the apostles,
when they were now bogged down with feeding widows, finally
said, let's come up with a diaconate so that we can give ourselves
to the ministry of the word and to prayer. And brethren, we can
be closed up in a room and cry to God and cry to God and cry
to God, but if we finally don't get the word out there, we still
will not see Christianity progressing and going from strength to strength.
In fact, if you read the account that I've just spoken about in
the book of Acts, immediately the deacons were appointed. The
Bible goes on to say that many ended up being converted as a
result of that. You say, how? You appoint deacons
who are feeding widows. And then many get converted.
The word of God spread. In fact, that's the way it is
put. Spread. How? Oh, simple. It is the fact
that now these people were freed from the cumbersome work of feeding
widows, that they may commit themselves to preaching, to sharing
the word, getting it out there so that it can produce its fruit. Well, For Israel, the prophets
were speaking. For us, it's gospel preaching. It's gospel preaching. And not all of us are preachers.
That's why we use ministries, so that we can play different
roles in the ministries and finally aid those that are called to
the work of preaching. so that they can preach. The
rest of us also are witnesses. We can play different roles in
terms of following up individuals, sharing the gospel with them
on one-on-one, in the homes, and so on and so forth. The word
of God getting out there is how we are going to see prosperity
for the Christian church. Hence the challenge. If we're going to see a better
Kabwata Baptist Church in years to come, which is a goal we are
aiming for, each one of us must answer those two questions. What
am I doing with respect to prayer? What am I doing with respect
to aiding the gospel to go out? Aiding the gospel to go out,
what am I doing? And am I doing it passionately? Am I doing it with heart and
soul? Is it something that I can even
weep about, cry to the Lord about? Is that so? It is out of this that we have
the promise, finally, at the end of verse six. Those who sow
in tears shall reap the sows of joy. He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of
joy, bringing his sheaves with him. Sheaves are basically bundles
of harvest. Bundles of harvest. He will bring
these things along. Clearly, again, if I can rush
on to conclude, this is the same picture. But it's now a harvester
coming back home. And it's coming back with a truckload
of goats from the farm. Truckload of goats. One of my
favorite jokes is about visiting my village in April. Never really
happens. But the reason why I joke about
it that way is because I know that by April, there will be
mountains of groundnuts in the village. Mountains. So that's
a good time to visit, because all you'll be doing is just... You know, the whole day, giving
them stories about life in the city while you are eating away
at the groundnuts. If you go this time, probably
you'll be part of those who are going sowing with WIPI. So it's the picture of harvest
that is being caught here. This is what you want, two things. First of all, the joy that is
being spoken about shall come home with shouts of joy. That's what we're learning about
earlier on. Shouts of joy. Why? Well, the second, bringing the
sheaves with them. In other words, we will see God
glorifying churches at levels we have not seen before. We,
our theme for our celebrations is Christ, the church rather,
Christ's glorious bride. Glorious, glorious. That's what we're going to be
celebrating. That's what we'll be rejoicing about when we see
the church shining in all its glory. But that's only going to happen
because we are paying the price. May God help us not to end our
celebrations with simply popping bottles of champagne. Now that's
figurative. I hope none of you will end up
doing that. And then that's it. We've had
a nice time. Life is back to square one. God
forbid that that should be the case. May we end our celebrations
with renewed commitment, with resolution that we are going
to be committed to prayer as never before. We're going to
be committed to the dissemination of the word of God as never before. And this won't be other people
while I'm laughing in the background. This is going to be all of us. The hymn that we'll be singing, I hope I'm correct, says, consecrate
me now to thy service, Lord, by the power of grace divine. Consecrate me now. That's the
way it ought to be, to say, Lord, consecrate me, not him, not her,
not them, me as an individual. Consecrate me now. to thy service so that I can
share your word. Consecrate me." It also speaks
about prayer. It says, oh, the pure delight
of a single hour that before thy throne I spent when I kneel
in prayer and commune with thee as friend with friend. Again, the word and prayer, the
word and prayer. And what we should be doing is
really praying to the Lord that he might draw us nearer and nearer
to him until this becomes a reality. Imagine, brethren, if we all
threw our weight into this. Fast forward 30 years. what kind
of church they will be if we all did that. But if we
are satisfied with the Haggai situation and the Malachi situation,
30 years from now, there will be nothing to show for it except
that we popped champagne. God forbid that it should be
so. May we consecrate ourselves so
that so many years from now, as a fruit of these celebrations,
people might say, our fortunes were restored. Amen.
Seeking The Lord's Future Blessings
| Sermon ID | 1416552561 |
| Duration | 41:51 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - PM |
| Bible Text | Psalm 126:4-6 |
| Language | English |
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