Living Transformed Lives
As we travel our spiritual journey,
we should ask God regularly to deliver us
from dishonest and deceitful people
and to help us live honest and upright lives.
Here's Dr. Gene Getz to explain:
You'll notice in this Principle, I use the
word or phrase "spiritual journey."
There's a reason for that
because we're moving in to what are
called the songs of ascent.
And in this first psalm in this series,
and we're moving to Psalm 120.
There are a series of 15 psalms that are
called the songs of ascent.
That relate to Jewish people who made
a trip to Jerusalem
to worship in Jerusalem at the various festivals.
And as we unfold these psalms, you will see
that there's tremendous application
in relationship to our own spiritual journey.
Which I focused here in this particular Principle.
There are actually a variety of situations
over the centuries, really, where Jewish--
dedicated Jewish people,
faithful Jews--made this trip.
Going all the way back to the time
that the kingdom was divided
up until the time of Jesus.
And if you go to the Gospels,
many times, you'll have reference
to going up to Jerusalem to worship.
And let me give you an illustration of that.
Which I've called the Passover Festival.
Coming from Luke chapter 2, verses 41 and 42.
And this relates to Jesus and His parents:
Every year His parents
[that is every year Jesus' parents]
traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival.
When He was 12 years old, they went up...
Now I want you to notice:
The grammar--the statement.
Because this relates to the songs of ascent.
They went up:
...according to the custom of the festival.
And as you read the Gospels,
many, many times you will see how that concept--
going up to Jerusalem--reflects geography.
And you see that.
And the reason it reflects geography is
because they went up to Jerusalem.
And I'll never forget the times that I've
been able with my wife to conduct tours to Israel.
And I never cease to be excited
about going up to Jerusalem.
We always wait, really until we
have gone north in Israel.
And then going south. Up from the Dead Sea.
Or up from the Mediterranean Sea.
It doesn't matter.
You go up to Jerusalem.
If you go up from the Dead Sea,
you're at the lowest point of the earth.
And you're going to go up about
2,500 feet to Jerusalem.
And that's a large, huge climb.
And I love to see the eyes of people
who see Jerusalem for the very first time.
Let me just give you a little example of that.
Which brings back so many memories.
[Music, Video]
The Gospel writers often record
that Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
And so did we.
By bus of course.
An incredible and awesome worship experience:
[Music]: Jerusalem, Jerusalem
Hark how the angels sing.
Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna to your King.
[Gene:] Obviously, we were Christian pilgrims.
But the psalms of ascent--
or the songs of ascent--take us back to the time
that the Jews went up to Jerusalem.
It's always been up to Jerusalem.
That terrain has never changed.
And it's very significant in relationship
to the biblical story.
Now if we go to the psalm:
Take a look at the first verses.
Because I've called this
"A Prayer For Deliverance:"
In my distress [the psalmist writes, in my distress]
I called to the LORD, and He answered me:
"LORD, deliver me from lying lips
and a deceitful tongue."
Now the question that is natural out of this is:
Why would they pray this prayer?
Now he personalizes this.
But remember now that
the children of Israel, as they're going up to
Jerusalem from the various parts of the world--
their then-known world--
were singing this collectively.
And why would they mention lying lips
and a deceitful tongue?
Well to understand that:
Let me take you back to another Principle
that really comes out of 1st Kings.
And here it is.
I've called it
Deceptions and Distortions:
We must constantly be on guard
against those who claim to be
teaching the truth but who are
distorting the Word of God.
Now that comes from a passage
in 1st Kings chapter 12.
And let me give you a little background on this.
Because basically, what happened is
the kingdom had split.
And Jeroboam was the king of
the northern tribes.
Rehoboam was the king of the southern tribes,
which involved Judah and Benjamin.
They were both very, very wicked men.
Really. Unfortunately.
Jeroboam was incredibly wicked.
And he was very fearful.
Now he lived, you see, north of
Jerusalem at Shechem
where he built his palace.
But he was really concerned about the fact
that he didn't want the children of Israel
going up to Jerusalem.
And he explains this.
These are the words of Jeroboam,
the king of the north:
"If these people regularly go to offer
sacrifices in the Lord's temple in Jerusalem,
the heart of these people will return to their lord,
Rehoboam king of Judah.
They will murder me and go back
to the king of Judah."
In other words:
This thing has become intensely political.
Intensely evil.
So he went to some advisors.
What is he going to do about this?
Because he doesn't want to lose power.
And here's what we read if you
go on into verse 28, 29.
And here you see lies and deceit:
So the king sought advice.
Then he made two golden calves...
And let me simply say:
That was bad advice.
That was advice definitely out of the will of God.
...Then he made two golden calves,
and he said to the people,
"Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. ...
There is a lie.
Coming right from the king of the north.
So he said:
...Israel, here is your God who brought
you out of the land of Egypt." ...
Does that bring back memories
in terms of what happened when Moses
went up into the mountain at Sinai.
And Aaron built that calf at the base:
...He set up one in Bethel...
Now Bethel was pretty close to the
borderline of Judah in the south.
...and he put the other in Dan.
Now Dan is way north.
So this takes in all the northern tribes.
And what he is saying:
Don't go up to Jerusalem.
You don't have to go up to Jerusalem
to worship God.
You can worship these golden calves
in these two locations in Bethel and in Dan.
Now here's an illustration of why this psalm
would read as we have read it.
In this particular verse:
Lord deliver me from lying lips
and a deceitful tongue.
There was evil that existed within
the total environment of Israel.
But there were godly, faithful Jews
who wanted to do the will of God
and to go to Jerusalem and to worship.
And especially to keep those festivals.
Now in terms of the New Testament.
In terms of where we live today
in relationship to history.
Peter reminded all of us that we too are pilgrims.
We're pilgrims--we're pilgrims in this world.
And he states very clearly in 1st Peter--
this epistle that he wrote near the
end of his life, by the way. He said:
Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and
temporary residents to abstain from
fleshly desires that war against you. ...
And I couldn't help but think as I was
reflecting on these verses.
I used to be a member of a
quartet years and years ago.
And one of our favorite little songs
that we would sing is:
This world is not my home.
I'm just a passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere
beyond the blue.
And in essence that concept comes right
out of what Peter was saying.
That we are pilgrims.
This world is not our real home.
In that sense, we are just passing through.
And so Peter continues that.
He says even though we're just passing through.
Here's his statement:
...Conduct yourselves honorably
among the Gentiles,
so that in a case where they speak
against you as those who do what is evil,
they will, by observing your good works,
glorify God on the day of visitation.
What Peter is saying:
We're in this world.
We're not to be a part of the world.
But we're to be light in this world.
As we're passing through.
And our major purpose in being here
is to glorify God.
And be the light that God wants us to be.
We are pilgrims.
And I think sometimes we forget that.
It's so easy to feel at home on planet earth.
But this is really not our home.
At least as the earth exists today.
Someday there will be a new heaven
and a new earth.
Which is really going to be our home.
But in the meantime, we're to be light
in this darkness.
Now here's a question for Reflection and Response:
What steps should we take as
Christians to make sure that we
take Peter's exhortations seriously?
Well the Word of God gives us
some very direct instructions.
And the first thing I would like
to underscore is
that there are certain vital experiences
that we need.
And we read about this as it relates to the
first church that came into existence.
In Acts chapter 2, verse 42:
After 3,000 people believed because of
Peter's message.
After the Lord Jesus had gone back to heaven
and the Holy Spirit had come.
And we read that these new believers--
mostly Jewish believers at that time:
And they devoted themselves to the
apostles' teaching, to the fellowship,
to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.
Now Peter couldn't say:
I want you to take your New Testament.
There was no New Testament.
He couldn't even say:
I want you to take your Old Testament.
They couldn't carry around these big scrolls.
Furthermore, they were safely lock
and key in the synagogues.
But what God was doing was unveiling.
Revealing to these men--to the apostles--
the Word of God as we have today
in the New Testament.
And so one of the ways in which we
definitely can practice this Principle in our lives
so that we don't become conformed to this world,
is to devote ourselves to the Word of God.
But not only to the Word of God
as God's revealed it.
But to fellowship with one another
as we build each other up
in order to walk and mature in Jesus Christ.
So that's number one.
This next comment is really an extension
of what we've just looked at.
Keying off on the fellowship aspect of it.
And I call this accountability and
mutual encouragement:
And let us be concerned about one another...
And I like--just underscore that
word "one another."
In the Greek text it's "allelon"--
in the letters of the New Testament,
used approximately 60 times
as to what we're to do for one another.
In order to build each other up.
And so we read here:
...And let us be concerned about one another
in order to promote love and good works,
not staying away from our worship
meetings, as some habitually do,
but encouraging each other...
And there again you have that
concept of "allelon." Here it's
translated "each other:"
...[but] encouraging each other
[encouraging one another]
and all the more as you see the day [approaching.]