Living with Deceitful Men
Psalm 120 (NKJ)
Ps Sam Powell
In my distress I cried to the Lord,
And He heard me.
Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips
And from a deceitful tongue.
What shall be given to you,
Or what shall be done to you,
You false tongue?
Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With coals of the broom tree!
Woe is me, that I dwell in Meshech,
That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
My soul has dwelt too long
With one who hates peace.
I am for peace;
But when I speak, they are for war.
***
You can listen to the sermon by clicking on the link above.
This sermon along with others can be found on our Resources page: Sermons located on the top menu bar
A Cry For Justice 
Are these sermons printed anywhere to read?
Carolyn,
There is no print version of Ps Powell’s sermons. Audio version is available on SermonAudio, which is the link we provide in the post and also the sermon can be seen live on First Reformed Church of Yuba City’s FB page. Service starts at 11:30 AM PST.
Today there was no sermon, only Sunday School….just in case you tried to tune in and couldn’t.
It was Sam Powell’s first week back after surgery, so it may have been tough to get everything back up and running all at once.
Sunday School was great, though. And it was good to see him so healthy! 🙂
Thanks for those details! I knew Pastor Powell was going to be back in the pulpit this Sunday, but I wasn’t able to listen live so I didn’t realize they only aired Sunday School.
Yes, it was good to see him back!
Thank you for your prayers. We had some technical difficulties with streaming the sermon this morning, but I have it up on SermonAudio. It was good to be back!
Yes. We are listening to it right now. 🙂
For those who would like a link for today’s sermon today, it is here: Blessed are the poor
But I’m sure Barbara and TWBTC will consider it for a post of its own. It’s a great follow-up for the two that were posted last week, even though those were originally preached November 2016. (David’s sin against Bathsheba and Uriah from last week: David’s sin against Bathsheba and Uriah)
I was asked on another site about the blood of Christ and an abusive man.
Here is my answer to a very good question:
That is a very good question. We, of course, believe that the blood of Christ has infinite power and worth, since He is the Eternal Son of God. His blood can cleanse from all sin – even heinous sin.
But the new birth of the Holy Spirit is God’s prerogative, and the “wind blows where it wants” (John 3:8). Ephesians 1 and 2 teach us that the new birth and salvation are miraculous, supernatural events – the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
When it comes to applying this to abusive and deceitful men, the Bible teaches us that we are to make our decisions and act according to wisdom. Believing in the power of God means that we understand that Jesus can turn water into wine; but wisdom means we buy wine before our dinner parties and don’t just fill water pots with water. Faith teaches us that Jesus can walk on water, but wisdom builds bridges. Building a bridge and buying a bottle of wine are not acts of unbelief, since God also created the natural order of things, and we trust Him with our crops and our science and our bridges.
But wisdom acts according to natural order, and wisdom teaches us that as the dog returns to vomit, so a fool returns to folly. Wisdom teaches that abusers say all sorts of things, cry all sorts of tears, they can and do fake every fruit of the spirit, and as soon as the pressure is off, like a dog returning to vomit, they return to abusing. It is what they do.
Can God change them? Of course he can. But I won’t put my loved ones in danger any more than I will jump off of a cliff and say “Catch me, Lord!” In fact, that is forbidden. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord your God.
David truly repented, and we read about it in Psalm 51. True repentance didn’t make any demands, didn’t insist on restoration, didn’t demand that everyone just move on and forget about it. Real sin has real consequences and true repentance accepts those and accepts the blame in its entirety. Of course God can change a heart. But I’ve never seen it in the case of an abuser. They say all sorts of stuff, and then they return freely to their vomit. It’s in their nature. They continue to choose freely to abuse and hurt and destroy.
Accepting that doesn’t make one less faithful; it brings one in line with the teaching of scripture. In fact, accepting that and acting accordingly is truly the only way to heal and to begin to live in freedom – putting away anger and wrath and malice. Be free in the gospel, and leave the abusers in the hands of the One who judges rightly.
Hope this helps.
Amen.
Thank you, Pastor Sam.
Thank you Sam!