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Colin Smith: Faith is never the fruit of commitment. It is always the gift of God. That’s Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8. Faith is a gift that comes down. It is never an effort that is worked up.

Steve Miller: Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, and Colin, today we continue our series taking a look at Asaph, a Christian leader who is struggling in his faith. And it's great to see how God did turn him around. Really, kind of comparing this to a five-point turn where first Asaph had to stop, he had to think, he had to confess, he had to believe, and today we see how he had to commit.

Colin Smith: And isn't it interesting, Steve, that commit is the last in these steps by which God turns Asaph around? If I went to someone looking for help and I said, "Now, I'm absolutely exhausted. I'm at the point of despair. I don't see any point in carrying on," and that person said to me, "You know what, Colin, you need to try harder. You just need to commit." I'm not going to be helped by that.

And how wonderful that that is not how God responds to Asaph when he's feeling like he's at the end of the line. God very, very gently brings him back to truth, brings him to a place where faith is established, gets him off what he’s seeing in himself and onto all that he's able to see by faith in God. And on that basis, he's able to commit and step forward. Now, the order is very, very important, and I hope that that will be a great blessing and encouragement to many today.

Steve Miller: Well, let's get right into today's message. We are in Psalm 73, looking at verses 27 and 28, as we begin this message "Commit". Here's Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Today is the last in a series of five messages from this psalm that tells us the story of Asaph, a mature believer who at one point in his life faced such discouragement that he tells us frankly he almost gave up. Now, I'd like to read through the psalm, picking up what we've learned over this last month together, so that we can understand the flow of this testimony into the ending, which is our particular focus today. So, if you have your Bible open at Psalm 73, that would be helpful as we review together what we have learned.

Asaph tells us at the beginning what he had always believed. Verse 1, "Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart." But he tells us that there came a time, verse 2, "where as for me, my feet had almost slipped. I nearly lost my foothold." The reason for this problem he sets out clearly in verse 3. The reason was "I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked."

And he goes on, "They have no struggles, their bodies are healthy and strong, they're free from the burdens common to man, they are not plagued by human ills. Therefore, pride is their necklace. They clothe themselves with violence. From their callous hearts comes iniquity. The evil conceits of their mind know no limit." And you sense his frustration. You see, here's the problem. God lets them get away with it. Makes no sense.

Verse 12, "This is what the wicked are like. Always carefree, they increase in wealth." So, as Asaph looks at the way in which God rules the world, it makes no sense to him. Things just don't seem to be ordered in a way that adds up. And then as we saw, when he looked at his own life, it didn't make much sense either. Verse 14, "All day long I have been plagued, I have been punished every morning."

Look at my own life. Here I'm trying to honor the Lord, I'm trying to pursue godliness, but look at the way things are. It makes no sense. And so, he's fast coming to the conclusion in verse 13 that there really isn't any point in pursuing a godly life at all. "Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure, in vain I washed my hands in innocence." In vain, you see. What was the point? What was the point?

Now, the first thing that we've learned then from this series is that even the strongest believer—because remember, Asaph was a mature believer, a man in ministry—even the strongest believer can come to an experience like this. My feet had almost slipped. And the good news is that when that happens to you, God knows how to bring you through an Asaph experience.

And we've been seeing the pattern that God brought this man through a five-point turn, and that Asaph's five-point turn is really a pattern of what God will do in your life and in mine in times of discouragement when we feel like giving up. And to review what we've learned, to seal it into our minds on this last Sunday in the series, we saw that first, Asaph had to stop.

His recovery began not with the answering of all his unresolved questions, but with a decision of loyalty to God and to his people. His mind was going off in all the wrong directions, and he had to bring that to a halt. Stop. "If I had said," verse 15, "I will speak thus, I would have betrayed your children." Then secondly, he had to think.

He couldn't make sense of his problems thinking on his own. That's verse 16. "When I tried to understand this, it was oppressive to me." But the turnaround came when he went into the presence of God. Verse 17, "I entered the sanctuary of God, and then I understood their," that's the wicked's, "final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground. You cast them down to ruin. How suddenly they are destroyed, completely swept away by terrors. As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, oh Lord, you will despise them as fantasies."

It was when I came into the presence of God that I remembered his truth, I met with his people, I saw the ultimate outcome of life, and God turned on a light in my mind. Stop, think, and then the third thing we saw, confess. When you embrace God's truth in your life, you will begin to pray. And as you grow in the truth, you will see things in yourself that you did not see before, and they will cause you to confess.

And so, in verse 21, he says, "When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant. I was a brute beast before you." And we learned together that when your heart is grieved, the sins of Asaph will be crouching at the door. So, watch out for them. What are the sins of Asaph? I became bitter. I let my heart rule my head. I acted on impulse. I was a brute beast before you.

Now, the amazing thing we saw, of course, is that God held on to him. Asaph said, "My feet had almost slipped." Well, why didn't he slip? Why didn't he fall to utter disaster? The answer, of course, in verse 23: the reason that Asaph is still and always with the Lord is just this. "You held me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterwards you will receive me to glory."

And so, in this way, his faith is wonderfully renewed and restored. Stop, think, confess, believe, was the fourth thing we saw last week. And he's able to say, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And on earth, there is nothing that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Stop, think, confess, believe.

Steve Miller: You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and a message called "Commit". It's part of a larger series from Psalm 73 called "I Almost Gave Up". And if you've missed any of the broadcasts in our series, visit our website, openthebible.org. You can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. Again, that's at openthebible.org.

Also at the website, an opportunity to see a one-hour film all about heaven and how the thief on the cross who was crucified next to Jesus ended up there. It's called "Heaven, How I Got Here: A Night with the Thief on the Cross". It's been translated into over 20 languages and you can watch this film for free at our website, openthebible.org/heaven. Again, that's openthebible.org/heaven. Let's get back to the message. Once again, here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: So, I want you to notice the order here. The order of progression, the flow throughout this psalm is really very, very important. And for us to grasp this principle, you see that it is faith that leads to commitment, not the other way around. If you want to write down one thing in your notes at this point, that's it. It is faith that leads to commitment. It is not the other way around.

Now, you see, if you get this the wrong way around, you will always struggle. Some folks have the idea that the way you become a real Christian is really all about commitment, and that becoming a real Christian means having a stronger commitment, having more commitment, and so forth, that it is all about being disciplined in your commitment. If you're a 100-percenter, then you'll be the real deal, and so forth and so on.

Their focus, in other words, is entirely on personal effort, discipline, trying harder, behavior modification, trying to do certain things in the hope that this will make you a real Christian. Let me tell you this: it never works. It never works. Faith is never the fruit of commitment. It is always the gift of God. That’s Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 8.

Faith is a gift that comes down. It is never an effort that is worked up. You say, "Well, okay, if it's a gift that comes down, how does the gift come?" Well, Asaph's story has been telling us this. It was not the result of his own effort that he was restored. Indeed, he says verse 16, "When I tried to understand all of this, it was oppressive to me." It got me nowhere.

How was faith restored? It was restored when I came into the sanctuary, he says, into the presence of God. I remembered God's truth, and what happened was that God turned on the light for me. You see, he’s discovered this great principle that salvation is from the Lord. See, it’s God who does things, like turning on the light in your mind so that you begin to see your sin and confess your need.

It is God who does things like bringing you to faith and restoring your soul. Now, you see, this runs all the way through the Bible. We've been looking at Psalm 73. It's the same thing as David found in Psalm 23. "The Lord is my shepherd. That's why I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me by the still waters." And guess what? It’s he who restores my soul. How will your soul be restored when you are desperately discouraged? God will do it. Thank God.

Let me tell you the story of a man I know very well. I'm going to call him Joe. Joe was a pastor for some years. It wasn't easy. Joe and his wife endured great difficulties over many years. They scraped by in ministry on a desperately low income. They did what they did in a small church for the sake of Christ.

After some years, the pressures of the pastorate began to affect Joe's health, and so he left the ministry. He was desperately discouraged, broken. Joe and his wife started attending a church in London. Sometime later, I heard they had stopped going. A short time after that, Joe's wife died. I took the funeral.

It was sometime after that that he told me why he gave up. It has left a deep and a lasting impression on all my thinking. "It was the same every Sunday, Colin," he said. "We just got slammed about making a commitment, and I was desperate. I didn't have any strength, and I was just looking for hope."

Now, Asaph's story tells us what Joe and thousands of others need to grasp in the middle of an Asaph experience, and it's this: God will sustain you when your strength is gone. When your feet are sliding, he will hold you by your right hand. He will guide you with his counsel, and afterwards, he will bring you to glory.

And if you have been wounded by a version of Christianity that makes the gospel seem like an endless list of demands and impossible expectations, you need to take in the grace of God from this psalm. The gospel is not an endless exhortation to what you should be, what you must be, what you ought to do, and all the rest of it. The gospel is about the grace of God, right? And it's not your commitment that will lead to God's grace. It is God's grace that will lead to your commitment. All the difference in the world.

Now, I want to suggest three ways in which we might use this psalm as we come to a conclusion this morning. The first is simply a very practical idea that I hope might be useful, and that is that you may find at times when you go through an Asaph experience that it is useful for you to write your story as Asaph wrote his story here. Now, obviously, this whole psalm is this man writing out his story under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, of course, and it has been preserved for our encouragement in the scriptures.

But think about it. When you go through an Asaph experience, you may find it helpful also to write out your story, and you could use the main points from Psalm 73 as a kind of grid to frame your testimony. Here's how you might do it. You might take a piece of paper and put up the following headings. "My feet almost slipped because..." And then write down what it is, what it has been that has been your struggle.

Write it out as honestly as Asaph did. He wrote it out, no holes barred, right? You can do that. You can write it out before the Lord. It will be helpful for you. "My feet almost slipped because..." Then you'll have a second heading if you're following the grid of the psalm. "God taught me that..." You see, remember that he went into the presence of God and the light went on. Well, "God taught me that..."

Now, if you can't fill this part out yet, ask God that he will turn on the light in your mind, and then do what Asaph did. Keep coming to the place of worship. Keep coming into the presence of God. Keep opening and reading the word of God in the scriptures, because these are the ways in which God will speak through his word and in the company of his people.

Share perhaps what you've written with a friend, if that will be helpful to you. God will draw near, and he will help you. That's his promise. Have some hope in that. He will not leave you without help in your struggle. Then you might use this third heading: "I have confessed." And write down what God has shown you about yourself. That's in the past tense because once you've confessed it, you mustn't go on harboring it.

You must believe that what is confessed in the name of Jesus is forgiven, and therefore, let it go and thank God for his grace that forgives. And lastly, you may write down this heading: "I believe." And write down what you do know from the gospel. It'll do your soul good. There are many things that you don't know, but Asaph affirms what he does know. Never allow what you don't know to hold you back. Instead, use what you do know to enable you to move forward.

So, you may find, as I’ve found at different points in my life, to write out the experience in which the Lord is meeting you and the turn through which he’s bringing you, will help to clarify how he is at work in your life.

Steve Miller: What a great reminder today from Pastor Colin that faith is never the result of our effort; it’s always a gift from God. Well, that’s just the first part of our message entitled "Commit". We’ll continue this teaching next time here on Open the Bible. But if you ever miss a broadcast in our series, come and listen online at openthebible.org. You can stream the broadcast or download an MP3 for free. That’s at openthebible.org.

Well, Open the Bible is a listener-supported ministry. It’s your generosity that keeps Pastor Colin’s teaching on this station. And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to send you a copy of John Stott’s book, "The Incomparable Christ". But Colin, who is John Stott?

Colin Smith: Oh, well, John Stott was one of the most influential Christian leaders of the 20th century. A faithful preacher, a wise pastor, a brilliant scholar who served the church faithfully for over 60 years. He really is one of my heroes of the faith. And you know, I have valued the advice I was given years ago, Steve. Choose a book by its author.

And so, this is a really good author, but it's a really good author on a really great subject. I mean, this is John Stott on the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus? Jesus was the central focus of all of John Stott's work and life, as he should be the central focus of all of our lives.

And this wonderful book just opens up the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ as we find him in the New Testament, as he’s inspired people throughout history, and as one day we’re going to see him when he comes again in power and glory. For anyone who loves Jesus, to read a great book about Jesus Christ is a good thing to do, and I think this is one of the best books you can read about the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Steve Miller: Well, we want to send you a copy as our way of saying thank you for financially supporting Open the Bible this month. You can give online at openthebible.org or when you call 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365. Or again, the website is openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Miller. Thanks for listening, and I hope you'll join us next time.

Colin Smith: Hi, this is Pastor Colin again, and I want you to know about "Watch Your Doctrine". "Watch Your Doctrine" is a six-session course that is geared for leaders but accessible for every believer. The six sessions will introduce you to six central truths of the Christian faith: how we know God, how God speaks to us, how sin affects us, how God's Spirit brings new life, how we're made right with God, and what Jesus accomplished on the cross. There are questions at the end of each session, and you can use them on your own or you can discuss them with a friend. For more information or to begin this free online course, visit openthebible.org/courses. That's openthebible.org/courses.