Open Thy Mouth - Part 2 of 2

Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the worries of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace.

This is L. S. Bradley, Jr., welcoming you to another broadcast of the Baptist Bible Hour. We continue today with the message entitled, Open Thy Mouth Wide. Yes, that indicates that we are to come before the Lord with great expectation. We sometimes, in our days of trial and discouragement, fear to even ask for great things. But we're encouraged to do so, not selfishly, not according to the desire to the flesh, but that which will be to the glory of God.

So I hope that you'll be encouraged as you listen to the second part of this message today. Seeing then that we have before us an admonition to open your mouth wide, while the text itself does not directly state it, it certainly is implied in the context that there is often failure to do so. Would you not concede that often in your own experience you fail to open your mouth wide? You fail by faith to pray and claim the promises of God and expect that He's going to do something. First of all, there is failure to remember that nothing is too hard for the Lord. See, if you've forgotten that, then you're not going to open your mouth wide because you're thinking about what all is hard about this situation.

You're thinking about all of the difficulties. You're thinking about how this isn't going to work. You're looking at your past situation and saying, you know, this is kind of the way life is.

I've become reconciled to it. It's not going to get any better. Life is full of frustration. It's full of disappointment. You can have that same attitude about the church, about the kingdom of God. Say this is the Laodicean age. People are complacent, indifferent.

Just accept it. If you've got a brighter outlook, if you've got fonder expectations, you're going to be disappointed. Where in the scripture does it ever defend the idea that we are to give up and say that things can't be any better? Constantly, the apostle Paul was encouraging the people to move forward to higher ground and praying for their spiritual development that they might grow and that times of greater blessing would be enjoyed within the church. Genesis chapter 18, verse 11. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself.

This is when the message is brought that she's going to have a child. Sarah laughed within herself saying, after I'm waxed old shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham, wherefore did Sarah laugh saying, shall I of assurity bear a child which I'm old? Is anything too hard for the Lord?

At the time appointed I will return unto thee according to the time of life and Sarah shall have a son. The Lord himself raises the question, is anything too hard for the Lord? The next time you're praying and you realize I don't have my mouth open very wide, I'm intimidated, I'm discouraged, my prayer life is not what it ought to be and I haven't had many recent answers to prayer, I'm not going to open my mouth wide, I'm not going to be disappointed, I'm not going to subject myself to this, I don't like the emotional struggle I go through when I can't see an answer to prayer. So I'm just going to open a little bit and ask the Lord to do just a few little things. Is anything too hard for the Lord? If the one to whom we pray is the one that created heaven and earth, is anything too hard for the Lord?

You see a failure to recognize that interferes, it discourages us in prayer, it keeps us from coming truly in faith with great expectation. Psalm 50 verse 10, for every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell thee for the world is mine and the fullness thereof. Now think about it, the one to whom our request is directed, the one whom we're expecting to fill our mouth says the cattle on a thousand hills are mine. You're counting up your resources and it doesn't look very encouraging.

You're looking at your station and your circumstances in life and you just don't see how you're going to be able to move forward. The Lord says the cattle on a thousand hills are mine and if that isn't enough, he says the world is mine and the fullness thereof. The world is mine. How wonderful to know that our God is able. But failure to remember that, failure to constantly have before us the truth that nothing is too hard for the Lord will be a hindrance. Back to our text in Psalm 81, we can see that this was a problem with God's people in the long ago. Because immediately following the admonition to open the mouth wide and the promise I will fill it, verse 11 says, but my people would not harken to my voice and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts lust and they walked in their own councils.

Oh what a tragedy. How many today who claim they love God are walking in their own council. Not the council of God's word, but walking in a path that they have chosen.

Many times listening to the professed wisdom of the world rather than to the council of the word of God. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me and Israel had walked in my ways. I should soon have subdued their enemies and turned my hand against their adversaries.

What's that say to you today? If my people had sought me, had walked in my council, had opened their mouth wide, I would have subdued their enemies. I would have overcome their adversaries. I would have prospered them.

The haters of the Lord should have submitted themselves unto Him, but their time should have endured forever. He should have fed them with the finest of the wheat and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied Thee. You may say I have a lot of frustration in life. I'm not content. I'm not satisfied. I don't feel my soul is being fed. He says I would have fed my people if they'd open their mouth wide. Maybe the reason you're not fed, the reason you don't feel to be satisfied, the reason you're still hungry, you haven't opened your mouth wide. You haven't come to Him genuinely sincerely with a deep burden and a great desire. You're living on the husk of the world rather than to sit at the banquet and table where you can be adequately fed. The things of this world that appeal can certainly be intriguing for a time. You think, oh if I could just have what other people have, if I could have the money, the job, the prestige, the material things.

I could be entertained and be involved like others are. I would be so well satisfied, but you get some of that and you say it's empty. And then there's failure to recognize the need.

If you don't see the need, you're not going to open your mouth wide. In the book of 1 Samuel chapter 4, children of Israel assumed that if they could bring in the ark of the covenant, all would be well. Now there's nothing said about seeking God, nothing said about prayer, nothing said about them humbling themselves before the Lord and say, Lord we need thee. They recovered the ark and when it came into the camp, there was a great shout and now they felt all is well.

And what does it say? They trusted in the ark. But what happened? There was failure. The enemy conquered them.

Why? They didn't have a sense of need. They say, we've got the ark. We're God's people. We're in great shape. Nobody can overcome us. We're well off.

Now two chapters later, they come in an entirely different manner. They take water, pour it out on the ground to demonstrate the fact we're like water poured out. We have no strength. Lord, we can't win this battle. We need thee desperately.

And on that occasion, the Lord intervened and they were successful. But you see, if you get to the place you feel to be self-sufficient, you somehow have the idea that you've surpassed others in your spiritual growth. Your insight is a little deeper.

Your knowledge is a little greater. You're not coming before the Lord humbly. Just as much as they look to the ark for their salvation rather than the God of the ark, you look to your knowledge, your wisdom, your insight, the idea that you've got greater discernment and you're on a higher plane than others.

You're looking to yourself. You're looking to your own accomplishment rather than to pour out your soul before the Lord acknowledging, I need thee desperately. The rich man described by Jesus in the 12th chapter of the book of Luke was a man who did not have a sense of need.

He was glorying in his success. It says in chapter 12 verse 15, he said unto them take heed and beware of covetousness for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. My, how pertinent that text is in the culture in which we're living today. So this lesson is addressed to those who are consumed with an interest in material things.

They're greedy, they're covetous. He spake this parable unto them saying the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully and he thought within himself saying what shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits and he said this I will do I will pull down my barns and build greater and there I will bestow all my fruits and my goods and I will say to my soul soul thou has much goods laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry. Now there's nothing wrong with a farmer being successful.

There's nothing wrong with having to build a second barn. But the error here was that the man was consumed with his interest in material things. He was covetous. All he's thinking about is storing up for the future, not thinking about sharing, not thinking about giving away part of what he had because he had more than he needed.

He goes thinking about himself. He said eat drink and be merry. As long as I've got plenty of material things all is well. But God said unto him thy fool this night thy soul shall be required of thee then who shall those things be which thou hast provided. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. You're laying up treasure for yourself.

All you're thinking about is yourself. You're not thinking about giving. You're not thinking about ministering. You're not thinking about eternal things.

You're not thinking about spiritual things. That's covetousness. Covetousness is idolatry. It is a great sin. God is displeased with it.

You see if that's your focus you're not going to open your mouth wide. The Laodicean church had the same problem. They said we're rich and increase with goods and have need of nothing. So this lesson is applicable to a church as well as to individuals.

Church could have the attitude. We're sound. We're contending for the faith. We're more committed. We're more dedicated. We're rich.

We're increased with goods. The Lord says you're lukewarm. I will spew you out of my mouth. What a terrible figure. God himself spitting out a church because it had become lukewarm. Not cold.

Not hot. Just complacent. Just self-satisfied. We're not interested in growth.

We're not interested in learning anything. We just like it like it is. We're content. But you see there's a difference in being contented in the Lord and being complacent and therefore refusing to grow in grace and the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ. There's often failure then to open our mouth wide because there's a failure to look past the problem. When the spies were sent into the land they came back admitting it was a good land but they were concentrating on the problem. What's the problem? They're giants in the land.

The cities are walled up to the sky. They'd forgotten that the God that promised them the land is the same God that brought them out of bondage and part of the waters of the Red Sea. A God could handle the Egyptian army can certainly handle a few giants. But they didn't look past the problem. All they saw was the problem. Do you get to the place in life that that's all you focus on? You think about your problems. You think about the problems the church faces in this time. You think about the problem of people who are complacent and growing cold. You think about the problem who are people who are not interested and you try to share the gospel with them and they show no interest in it. You think about the problem of financial needs, spiritual needs, physical needs, whatever they are and you can't look past the problem. If you're not looking past the problem you're not going to open your mouth wide.

You're going to say the problem's too big. I just asked for enough grace to survive. Then you think about that servant boy when they were coming after the prophet Elisha come to realize that he was the one who was revealing the plan that the king had to invade and they said we got to get him. Our problem is all one man, Elisha the prophet. So early in the morning hours here comes this great host of people out here to get one unarmed preacher but they're coming after him and the servant boy gets up and looks out and everywhere he looked in every direction there were Syrians, Syrians, Syrians, horses, chariots and more Syrians and more horses and more chariots and he comes in and says alas my master how shall we do? There's no way of escaping.

What on earth can we do? And what did Elisha say? The boy's looking at the problem that's all he can see horses, chariots, soldiers. He saw the enemy on every side. The prophet saw more than that. He said they that are with us are more than they that be with them.

Well you can imagine the young man thinking he didn't want to be disrespectful but this poor old cadre's gone off the deep end. I mean he's got where he can't count and anybody in their right mind can look out there and see that wherever you look there's Syrians and there's only two of us. I've counted several times and that's all it comes to. There's just two of us, just me and the preacher but Elisha says that there's more of them, more more on our side than there is with those who are enemies. And then he prayed for him. Lord opened his eyes and then he saw chariots of fire, chariots of fire that God had sent from heaven, an angelic host coming to defend them. Now he can see like the prophet saw and he believed that God would care for them and he did. What about you?

You seen any chariots of fire recently or have you been focusing on the Syrians? Have you been looking at your enemies and your troubles or you've been looking at a God who can overcome them? So after we see that there is here an admonition to open your mouth wide, an acknowledgement that there is often failure to do so, then we observe the latter part of it there is a great promise to those who do open their mouth wide. A promise to those who open it wide, not just barely open your mouth like you're taking a bite of spinach, you're getting your mouth open wide. Not apprehensive, not cynical, not saying I've had expectations before and it didn't materialize and I just don't want to be disappointed so I'm not going to expect much.

Open your mouth wide. Not to those who neglect to open their mouth, not to those who neglect to pray. James chapter 4 verse 2 says you have not because you ask not. How many times you live in an impoverished state just because you haven't asked?

You haven't asked. Not to those who ask doubting. James chapter 1 verses 5 to 7 says that the Lord will give liberally and upbraid not to those that are asking wisdom but you are to not ask doubting. If you're saying, Lord here's my need, here's my desire, here's what I need in my own life, here's what I need when I view the condition today, as far as the advancement of the cause of Christ, as far as the gospel being preached, as far as the need of the church, I see this great need, then don't doubt but trust him and believe that he's going to do something. It's a promise made not to those that faint.

Jesus gave the lesson in Luke chapter 18. He says men ought always to pray and not to faint and he talks about the widow that goes to the unjust judge and said, sir, avenge me my adversary. He was a man who didn't fear God, didn't respect man, didn't care about this woman, didn't want to be bothered, ignored her, but she didn't give up. Sir, avenge me my adversary. Comes into work in the morning, she's on his doorstep. Sir, avenge me my adversary. Goes out to lunch, she's sitting there. Sir, avenge me my adversary.

Gets ready to leave to go home in the evening. Sir, avenge me my adversary. He got tired of hearing from her. He says, all right, I'll do anything to get rid of you.

Grant your request. I say, well, that's a strange lesson, but Jesus gave it. What's the lesson?

To teach us persistence rather than giving up. That's what he says the lesson is about, that men aren't always to pray and not to faint. Now the point is, that was an unjust judge who didn't care about the woman, but you're praying to one who is just and perfect and who not only is a judge, but is your father. And so he says he's ready to avenge the cry of his elect that come up before him both day and night.

A little condemnation in that, isn't it? Because you realize you don't always pray day and night. See how much of this connects with the message of the morning? Paul is talking about his prayer for those in the Ephesian church applicable in our lives today. It's a lesson that you find throughout the scriptures. Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it. It's a promise then to those who open their mouth wide. It's a promise from one who is ready to give. James chapter 1 verse 17 says that every good and perfect gift cometh down from the father of lights.

Matthew chapter 7 verses 7 to 11 he says ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be open unto you. And then says how many of you if your son would ask you for a piece of bread would you give him a stone? Certainly not. If he asked for a fish would you give him a poisoned serpent?

Certainly not. If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, what about your father in heaven? Why would you not come excitedly into his presence with great expectation?

He's my father and I'm going to call on him. It's a promise from one who is ready to give. He's not not reluctant, not holding back, not stingy about giving. You know some some people do have a problem with the word give. God loves a cheerful giver and God himself is a giver.

God delights to give. Furthermore this is a promise from the one who has already greatly favored you. Now if you've never had any experience with anybody say I don't know I don't know whether this person's generous or not. If I got to ask them for something I'm a little apprehensive. I don't know what their response is going to be. But if somebody has already shown you great love, great kindness, helped you and assisted you in many ways and now you have a need to ask for some help you're encouraged to start with. Seeing what this individual has already done, seeing what my experience has already been.

I'm confident that I'm on safe ground here. Well let's look with respect to the Lord. Romans chapter 8 verse 32, he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things. Look what he's already done. If you are a child of grace God has already chosen you.

Isn't that marvelous? That out of this fallen sinful race God would choose you, elect you, predestinate you. He's already redeemed you. He paid for you by the shedding of the blood of his son Jesus Christ. He called you by the sovereign operation of the Holy Spirit. He created a new nature in you so that you are a new creature in Christ Jesus. He has watched over you, sustained you, delivered you, blessed you, forgiven you, cleansed you, strengthened you, abundantly blessed you multitudes of times in your life. Why would you be reluctant to ask him to do what you have need of?

Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it. He already has tremendous vested interest in you. You belong to him. He bought you. He paid for you. He's going to take you home to be with him someday.

He's delighted to hear your prayer. It's a promise that God makes to satisfy. Oh there's so little in this world that ever brings very much satisfaction.

If it's for a moment it is a brief moment. Moses gave up the pleasures of sin for a season to be identified with the people of God. Sin may have its satisfaction for a moment but it's quickly gone and the terrible consequences follow. But what the Lord gives is something satisfying. Psalm 103 verse 4, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. You open your mouth and I will satisfy it with good things, with good things. As old age takes its toll, you get farther down the road of life, you've got more aches, more pains, more problems, more trips to the doctor, more medicine to keep track of.

You say, well it's never going to be much anymore. The Lord says, you open your mouth wide, I'll fill it and your youth will be renewed like the eagles. Your old body may still be a little decrepit but he'll give you a renewed hope and courage in your heart till you feel young again. Psalm 34 verse 6, this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all of his troubles. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him and deliver them old taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Whether it's your personal need or the need of the church, the apostle Paul says in writing to the church at Philippi, my God will supply all your need. And Ephesians 3 21 says that Jesus Christ is going to receive glory in the church.

Do we want the church to see better days? What do we do? Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it. With great urgent fervency of desire we come before God acknowledging our need with great expectation of what he is able to do. Instead of just praying, Lord help us to survive, we say, Lord pour out a blessing and may it be a revival like we've never witnessed all of our life. Don't just bless us to keep the message going on the radio station we've got.

Help us to double it in the year ahead. Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it. We have brought you the concluding part of a message entitled Open Thy Mouth. The psalm says open thy mouth wide to come before the Lord in faith expecting great things to the glory of his name. If you'd like to get the complete message on CD, request it when writing us at Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Till we greet you next time, this is Lecerre Bradley Jr. bidding you goodbye and may God bless you. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, praising my Savior, praising my Savior all the day long.