First Impulse

Introduction

Oh, indeed. That must be true of us. In the resurrection morning, we shall rise. I want that for everyone here today. When we sang we plow it he plows the fields, I thought of, for some reason, Indian paint brushes and blue bonnets. I mean, it’s the time of year that’s happening. Remember that as you see those beautiful sights around. That’s the wrong sermon. That’s tonight. One second, please. We’ll get to that in about six hours. Lord willing. I’m just going to tell you right now, while Jacob is cueing that up after that colossal mistake. I owe him for all the memes that have been placed on Facebook of my errors in the pulpit, of spiking the remote and hitting the lights. And if you haven’t seen any of those again, you don’t see half of what’s on Facebook.

But Jacob is good at that. But we got it, we got to work on his proficiency with the slides, apparently, because I don’t want to start without them. So I’m going to say this. Some things I will have to say in the next 30 minutes could be uncomfortable for you. And I make no apology about that. Because in some ways they’re still uncomfortable for me. And as has been made reference in regard to my age, yes, I’ve been around the block a few times. And so if you’re younger than me, then you’ve got time to work on the things that I’m going to talk about today. Are we good? Okay. So I wanted to start with this schedule alert. You have lost an hour of sleep.

That’s the bad news. The good news is your stomach should not be growling for another hour yet. Okay, because it really should only feel like 10 o’clock. That didn’t help you at all. Okay, because you ate breakfast an hour earlier. But what I do want to talk to you about this morning actually relates to our reactions in time. Your reaction in time to the events that happen in your life. And they will be unique to you. They will be different than mine. But it is my hope that our reaction, our first impulse, will be the same. I want to take you quickly to Psalm 73. I admittedly spend a lot of time here with this Psalm. I think of all the Psalms, it speaks to me in a very powerful way.

Because I get it. I get it. Asaph is looking around at his world, and he says, This world is a mess. There are inequities everywhere. It seems like the wicked have the world by the tail, and the righteous are putting up with all the junk, and it just doesn’t seem right. It doesn’t seem fair. I can’t make sense of it. And finally he says, I come to the sanctuary of God. I come to the place where I am reminded of who God is and what I owe him. And then it starts to make sense. He says in verse 25, who do I have in heaven but you? And besides you, I desire nothing on the earth. That’s huge. And then verse 26, my flesh and my heart failed.

Have you ever been there? My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the rock of my heart. Hey, we sing that. We sing a song like that. He is the rock of my heart. Where do you think that comes from? Psalm 73. He is the rock of my heart and my portion forever. And then he says in verse 27, those who are far from you will perish. Let your mind be impressed with that. You don’t think you need God, you don’t think you want God. Your prospect is perishing. That’s what it is. No matter how much you may think, you have the world by the tail, and you have things going the way you want them to go, and your bank account is big and your job is good, and your neighborhood is wonderful, and your 401k is great.

Look, you’re going to perish. And he destroys all those who are unfaithful. Don’t forget that. And then this. But as for me, then again, the decision you make, that’s your decision. I want you to be in that resurrection morning that we sung about. But that’s up for you. That’s totally for you to decide. But as for me, and as for you need to make this determination. The nearness of God is my good.

That I may tell of all your works. That’s one very significant thing that we’re doing here today. We are proclaiming all the works of our great God. So do you feel that or not? Are we supposed to talk about feelings? Psalm 73, 28, do you feel that? The nearness of God is my good.

When all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the bad and distressing news comes. What about in challenging and stressful circumstances? Boom. Happens. Has it happened to you this week? Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not. Maybe next week. Maybe a few years from now, but it’s coming. A challenging and stressful circumstance that you did not anticipate. There’s always the ebb and flow of relationships. All of a sudden, this argument develops. My parents are being unreasonable again. Really not that way, but that’s the way we look at it. Conflict. Don’t know how husbands and wives, have you ever gotten an argument with your spouse? Hopefully attain one, a disagreement, a spat, and you about ten minutes in go, how did we get here?

Wasn’t expecting that one. You ever been discouraged? We talked about that last week. One of the members actually talked to me about discouraging circumstances that have to be dealt with. We talked about sometimes we’re just discouraged with ourselves. Sometimes it’s others who, you know, they act poorly. Or it’s just our circumstances. We get discouraged. I’ve been listening to a song a lot that Naraway sings. A lot of people sing it. It’s it’s a great song. It’s called I Will Praise You in the Storm. And the author of the song affirms that God holds our tears in his hand. And though my heart is torn, though it’s still raining outside, though the thunder is still rolling. You hear the whispers in the rain. I’m with you. The nearness of God is my good.

I have made the Lord God my refuge that I may tell of all your works. So this happens. Has it happened to you recently? The argument you weren’t expecting. The news that came out of nowhere. You know what crises do, right? Whatever the crises is, and there are probably some things that are not on the list here. You know what the crises do, right? They knock on your door about three hours ahead of time, knock. Here I am. I’m the next crisis in your life. Oh, by the way, you need to prepare because it’s coming. Get your mind right, get your attitude right, because something is about to be dropped on your doorstep that’s very unpleasant. Are you ready? Have you ever noticed you don’t get the three-hour ahead of time announcement?

Boom. Happens that quiet. That quick. And so my question to you, when that happens and when it’s going to happen again, what is your first impulse? What’s your first impulse when you leave here today? Will it be? Thank God, that I was with the people of God, that I was able in this comfortable place with wonderful people exalt God with my lips in such a fulfilling and encouraging way? Do you do realize, right? What we have here? Do you know how many churches would love to have what we have here? How they would like to stand in a pulpit. Preachers would like to stand in a pulpit and see that many young people in the audience. They would they would give anything to have ten. And we take it for granted, don’t we?

May your first impulse not to be to fry the preacher, but to be thankful. So I want to ask you this question. This really is the nuts and bolts of everything this morning. How can I make God dependence and God inclusion my first impulse, my first reaction in time? And really, what I’m talking about is a concept that we see throughout Scripture, even beginning in the book of Genesis, it’s the idea of walking with God. That’s that’s really all I’m talking about today. What is this lesson about? It is about you walking with God. Do we just give lip service to that? Oh, yeah, Enoch, that guy, that guy in Genesis chapter 5. Well, actually, that comes up later in the slides. Let’s go ahead and get to that.

There we go. Genesis chapter 5. Sometimes I get ahead of myself. Enoch walked with God. And God took him. We’re impressed by that story, right? All of a sudden God says, oh, it’s time for you to be with me. Gone. Enoch, gone. Vanishes. I sort of want to go like that, don’t you?

The house on 19215 Mossy Point Drive is unmanned. Tony disappeared and went straight to heaven. But I want you to notice verse 22. Enoch walked with God three hundred years. Okay. That’s a long time. Enoch walked with God three hundred years. I’m just trying to walk with God for about 50 or 60. 70. By reasonable strength. Because you don’t start that until you’re about 10 or so, at least. At least. Are you walking with God? Is your first impulse in crisis to go to God’s throne? Or is it to fly off the handle? Start ranting and raving. How long does it take you to go to the throne of God in crisis? When your heart is hurting. I know where Asaph went. He said the nearness of God is my good.

How long does it take you to go to the throne of God? Do you at all? And here’s the thing. If that is not your reaction, on a somewhat consistent basis, I’m not saying every time something unfolds, still working on that, folks. If that’s not your reaction, at least some of the time. First impulse. I’m going to the throne of God. That’s where my help comes from. You need to work on your walk with God. I need to work on my walk with God. Because I want to tell you, folks, don’t miss this.

I get that. But I don’t think that’s our problem. I think our problem is that sometimes we spend too much time emphasizing the rules and not the walk. And let me tell you about that in Scripture. God says in the days of Ezekiel, she is wearying me with toil. Ezekiel 24 12. What’s he saying? You know, you know what? I really have a beef with my people. They’re working too hard. You guys have got to quit working so hard. I don’t think that’s what he’s saying. He’s saying, they’re not walking with me. They’re worshiping. They’re not walking with me. Does God want a ton of animal sacrifices? Does he want us to go so extreme in our sacrifice? Oh, our God is so demanding. I’m going to give my firstborn son.

If I did that, I wouldn’t have any more sons. Like Abraham and Isaac. Is he asking me to sacrifice my son? I’m going to give you my son. I’m going to show you the extreme nature of my devotion to you. He goes, I don’t want your son. I want you to do justice. I want you to love mercy. I want you to care about people and treat them a certain way because that’s the way I care about them. I want you to do justice and love mercy, and you know how it finishes. Walk humbly with your God. We can so emphasize the rules. That we can get tithing down to an exact science. I know that’s Old Testament legislation, but I’m referring to Matthew 23. This is how much God wants me to give.

This is the percentage that he wants. And I’ve got to do it in all of these areas, and I got the rule right. Yea, me. This is the way God wants to be worshiped. And we get all the all the little specifics right. This is we’re doing it right. Yay. But what does it mean if we’re not walking with God. Take away from me. Amos V. Take away from me the noise of your songs. Wait a minute. Are the songs saying bad words? The songs aren’t saying correct words. Take away from me the noise of your songs. Take away from me your festivals, your solemn assemblies. Oh, it’s very reverent where you’re worshiping. Take away your solemn assemblies, but let justice and righteousness flow down like an ever-flowing stream.

For all of our knowledge about the rules and what is right.

We emphasize the rules here a lot because there’s so many misconceptions about how God is to be approached in worship. What he expects of our lives and day-to-day living. And so many want to just brush that aside and do their own thing. I understand that. It’s hard for me like it is anybody else. I get that. But my problem isn’t understanding the rules. My problem is walking with God. That’s my challenge. I’ve also been listening to Narrow Way in my car a lot. Because sometimes I know I need to be talking to God and I feel impaired. And what I’ve noticed is that when I turn on highest hope, or Lord, I need you that I find it easier to talk to God. It helps me.

1. Confidence in the Very Real Presence of God

I’ve realized I need to walk with God more. And I want to help you do that this morning. I want to give you three things quickly. I started thinking about what’s it take to walk with God. And it’s really three things very quickly. Number one, if you’re going to make walking with God your pursuit, if it’s going to be your first impulse to turn to God in crisis or in times of joy, you must have a confidence in the very real presence of God. I’ve been talking about that a lot lately. I don’t apologize for it. Sue me. You won’t get much money. But I’m going to tell you will not turn to God in crisis if your God isn’t real. The God of Asaph in Psalm 73 was real.

2. Confidence in God's Ability to Effect Change

The nearness of God is my good. I take my refuge in him. This will serve as a compelling foundation for worship and for the defeat of sin in our lives. To know, to trust, to be confident that God is near. And secondly, and I think this is as important as point number one. We must have confidence in God’s ability to effect change. We talk about it all the time. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes or avails much. We ask God to give us wisdom, James chapter 1, verse 5. Do we believe that God is powerful, that he works in our world to effect change, that he can change our world, that he can change your world. He may not do it today. That’s why we sing in his time.

Because we have examples of God taking his time and doing things in the scope of his purposes. There are all sorts of examples in Scripture of that. He may not work it out for me today. He didn’t work it out for Job in a moment. And sometimes he never works it out on this side of eternity, but heaven is enough. All I know is that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails something. It avails much. And he is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think. We quote that all the time in Ephesians 3 and verse 20. But do you believe God can affect change in your world in his time? If you don’t believe that, you won’t pray. It won’t be your first impulse.

Because you say, Oh, here’s this mess I’m in. I’m in this mess. This is awful. I’m upset. She’s upset. Everybody’s upset. The whole family’s upset. The whole church is upset. Here we are. Why haven’t we included God? Why haven’t we gone to him first? Because I want to tell you’re great folks, but he’s more powerful than you are. He’s more powerful than I am. He can do things I can’t do. The disciples couldn’t cast out a demon because they didn’t have enough faith. This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting. You didn’t tap into the power that was available. That should tell us something. If you had faith as a mustard seed. You had faith as a mustard seed. You could say to this mountain, be cast into the sea, and it will be done.

3. God Will Reward My Trust

I know it’s hyperbole. I guess. I don’t have any example in the scripture of the apostles throwing a mountain into the sea. But don’t think for one second that if that wasn’t necessary for God to accomplish what he wanted done, he would throw a mountain into the sea. He would cause stones to cry out. Yes, stones would cry out. He could do that. Stones can bring water. We saw that in the Old Testament. Do you believe God can affect change in your world? And then this. It’ll be your first impulse if you know that beyond anything else, regardless of what God decides to do or not do, whether I ever perceive what he did or not. He might be doing things I don’t even recognize or see.

He may respond to my prayers in a way that I have no way of seeing the scope of what God has done. But I know this. When I turn to God in trust, that there is a reward to that every time. You prove me now in this and see if I don’t pour you out a blessing until it overflows. You do your part. You bring your faithful offering to me, and you just see what I can do. Test. God says in Malachi chapter 3. God will reward my trust. Period. Regardless of what happens in the circumstances. He will reward me now.

Now, if it’s just fellowship, that’s good enough. And help that far transcends, far transcends anything that the world can offer me. Remember what we said last week? What God has designed for me is better than anything that I can carve out for myself. The reward of the faithful. I go to God and trust, I win. Period. It’s that simple. Doesn’t matter how the circumstances turn out. It doesn’t matter if he relieves me or not. It doesn’t matter if he makes it all go away or not. I win. The reward of the faithful is I win. Because ultimately, on the day of judgment, I’m the big winner. I’m the big winner. You ever watch one of the game shows when somebody wins, you know, a hundred thousand dollars, the new car, and oh my life has changed.

I’ve won the big prize. Christians, the faithful. They get the big prize. The ultimate prize. This came through on my daily Bible app this week. Actually, it was yesterday. I needed this. The New American Standard simply says, My soul rests in God. I think I like that better. My soul rests in God. My salvation is from Him. My soul waits in silence for God only. He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold. I shall not be greatly shaken. Now that’s a little bit a version different from this slide, but I like it. I will not be greatly shaken. You know, there are circumstances that happen that sort of rock us a little bit. But when you respond in faith, you have a foundation to embrace whatever comes.

Conclusion

My soul rests in God. Period. Make it more consistently. Your first impulse. Walk with God. But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. This is a version of Psalm 73. But as for me, God’s presence is all I need. I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter, as I declare all the things that you have done.

The nearness of God is my good. God’s nearness is really all I need. I think I need a lot of things. But that’s really the only thing I need. I have made the sovereign Lord my shelter. Would you make that supreme choice today if you haven’t done so already? I choose the Lord as my shelter. And finally, then act upon the thing that you know and the thing that you have chosen. I will declare all the things, God that you have done. And may that declaration begin. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for me so that my sins could be washed away. And once you’ve made that decision, that confession that leads to obedience, that leads to your immersion in water for the forgiveness of your sins.

May you rise to walk with the purpose of telling with your lips the rest of your days, the great things that God has done. I commend to you the life of walking with God. Won’t you embrace it? Let’s stand and say.