Sermon

E07: Psalm 119: Living Life in the Light of God's Word - 7 Blessings From God's Word

Key Life Fellowship - Pulpit Ministry

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  1. You are listening to Key Life Fellowship's Pulpit Ministry

  2. podcast. We thank you for tuning in as we

  3. learn from God's Word together. For more information about Key

  4. Life Fellowship, visit us on the web at keylifefellow-ship.com.

  5. Amen. Are you thankful this morning

  6. that His Word truly is a lamp unto our feed and light unto our

  7. path? I can speak for myself and

  8. saying this, I don't know where I would be without guidance from

  9. His Word. I know one of those options

  10. would be eternity and hell. But I'm thankful that His Word

  11. is definitely a lamp into my feet and a light unto my path,

  12. just as the Psalmist has told us in the 119th Psalm.

  13. And I invite you to turn with me there to Psalm 119.

  14. And we will continue to look at our study this morning entitled

  15. Living a Life in the Light of God's Word as we are verse by

  16. verse traveling through the 119th Psalm.

  17. And here we are in the 7th letter of the Hebrew alpha

  18. alphabet. Evolve in your Bible.

  19. It's spelled in English WAW, but it is evolve in Hebrew.

  20. And the the psalmist is going to take this next acrostic.

  21. And what he's going to do in these 8 verses in this acrostic

  22. Psalm is he's going to give us today 7 blessings that we

  23. receive from God's Word. Seven blessings.

  24. Now I told the men earlier, this is not an exhaustive list.

  25. There are more, but these these are those that in this portion

  26. of this Psalm, the psalmist focuses on.

  27. So we'll, we'll be looking at those seven specific blessings

  28. or what we know as graces from God that directly stem or come

  29. from his word. And I want us to see how

  30. important the word of God is. And so in looking at this many

  31. times, because we fail to see the blessings that He has given

  32. us in His Word, and we fail to utilize the opportunities that

  33. we have to get into His word, we then forfeit the blessings that

  34. He desires that we have. And so in looking at 7 points

  35. that lie ahead of us, you know what we have to do.

  36. We have to jump in rather quickly if we're going to get

  37. all seven points out. And that's what I intend to do

  38. now. I intend to do it before 3:30.

  39. Now make you that promise. But we jump right into Psalm 119

  40. as we look at these seven blessings from God's word.

  41. And I pray that you would bear witness to this and that you

  42. would testify to how God has graced us with His Word and how

  43. every time that we open the pages of Scripture, it is

  44. blessing upon blessing upon endless blessing.

  45. Verse 41 it says, May your unfailing love come to me, O

  46. Lord, your salvation according to your promise.

  47. Then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in your

  48. word. Do not snatch the word of truth

  49. from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.

  50. I will always obey your law. Forever and ever I will walk

  51. about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.

  52. I will speak of your statutes before kings, and will not be

  53. put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love

  54. them. I lift up my hands to your

  55. commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.

  56. Let's pray together, Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to

  57. you now thanking you for your word, thanking you that today as

  58. we open our eyes and our ears and our.

  59. Hearts to your word. Lord, that you're going to give

  60. us understanding and into what a blessing your word is to your

  61. children. God, I pray as we look at these

  62. seven things, Lord, that we would be encouraged that we

  63. would rejoice that our God has given, given us the blessings

  64. that he has through the scriptures.

  65. And God, that we would devote our lives to studying them even

  66. more diligently, diving off into the meditating, as the psalmist

  67. says, loving them. And God, that you would change

  68. our lives through Your Word, as Your Word promises to do, to set

  69. us apart, to sanctify. US.

  70. In your truth, Lord, we pray all these things that we not be

  71. filled up with knowledge and become pompous.

  72. Well, we say all these things and we ask all these things so

  73. that you would receive all glory and honor and praise as a God

  74. who richly blesses his children. God, I pray for the soul who's

  75. here today who does not know Christ, who is going through

  76. life ignoring the greatest blessing of all, the fact that

  77. God sent his only begotten Son to this earth to rescue sinners.

  78. I pray today that you would open the sinner's eyes to that fact

  79. that they are Sinner and they are in need of a Savior.

  80. And Lord, I pray that in your mercy and by your grace you

  81. would meet their need and save them today as only you can, and

  82. God will give you all the glory for it in Jesus name, Amen.

  83. Amen. So we see the Psalmist here in

  84. these 8 verses, these 8 verses coinciding with that 7th Hebrew

  85. letter. He's giving us insight into

  86. blessings that often times we receive from the scripture and

  87. don't really realize the magnitude of these blessings.

  88. What? What does this consist of?

  89. And he jumps right into it. In verse 41, he says this, May

  90. your unfailing love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according

  91. to your promise. It's the psalmist here quickly

  92. recognizing the blessing of salvation that comes through the

  93. Word of God. Let me make that ever so clear.

  94. It is through the Word of God that salvation has been brought

  95. unto any of us. It is the Word of God that has

  96. revealed to us the truth of the gospel.

  97. It is the Word of God that has revealed to us through the

  98. prophets the Messiah that was pointed to.

  99. It is the Word of God that confirms that it was truly Jesus

  100. Christ, God Incarnate, who came to this earth and who offered

  101. himself as a propitiation upon a cross, a payment and atonement

  102. for sinners. And it is the Word that declares

  103. those things, bringing a man to the knowledge of his need for

  104. salvation. And so the psalmist saying this

  105. very quickly, may your unfailing love come to me, O Lord, your

  106. salvation according to your promise.

  107. You know what he's saying. I want to be saved according to

  108. your word. I want to experience your

  109. unfailing love according to your Word, because it's through the

  110. Word that God truly does bring. Salvation to his people.

  111. That's why Paul, in speaking to Timothy in Second Timothy

    2 Timothy 3 chapter mention

  112. chapter 3, says this to Timothy in regards to the Scriptures.

  113. He says the scriptures that he's known from infancy, which are

  114. able to make you wise unto salvation.

  115. Did you know this? There's not a person who is

  116. saved who was saved without hearing the word of God.

  117. It is impossible. It is impossible for a person to

  118. have some kind of traumatic experience and then somehow that

  119. traumatic experience LED them to God.

  120. We are not led to God by traumatic experiences.

  121. We're not led to God by our feelings and our human emotions.

  122. We are led to God through the teaching and the preaching and

  123. the reading and the studying of God's Holy Word.

  124. In fact, salvation is impossible without hearing the word of God.

  125. I know many people are confused about this.

  126. I've heard testimony after false testimony.

  127. I was in this tragic car wreck and I was on the brink of death

  128. or I had some near near death experience.

  129. And then I came back and, and now I'm trying to live a good

  130. life because I've got a second chance.

  131. Well, welcome to legalism. You're going to try to live

  132. alive because you got a second chance.

  133. And you've mentioned nothing about Christ.

  134. You've mentioned nothing about the truth of the word of God.

  135. You've mentioned nothing about the gospel mentioned, mentioned

  136. nothing about truth that is revealed in His Word.

  137. Romans 10 verse 17 makes it very clear it says this.

    Romans 10:17

  138. Consequently, faith comes from hearing.

  139. The message and the message. Is heard through the word of

  140. Christ. And so if faith is birthed

  141. through hearing the message, and the message is the word of

  142. Christ, it is impossible for you to have true saving faith, true

  143. faith in God without the Word of God.

  144. See what a blessing the Scriptures are to us.

  145. Let it be known that this is more than just a book of

  146. instructions for life. This is and contains the very

  147. Word of God that leads and directs us to salvation,

  148. forgiveness of sin, and eternal life.

  149. The psalmist knew that. Oh Lord, your salvation, bring

  150. it to me according to your promise, because you, your

  151. infinite wisdom, will lead me to truth in regard to salvation.

  152. Isn't it funny how there's so many false doctrines out there

  153. that are actually leading men away from salvation, all the

  154. while telling Him that it's leading them towards salvation?

  155. The reason that we know this is because this path that these

  156. false teachers are laying out for these folks, this path is

  157. not defined by scripture alone, but it's defined by their own

  158. philosophies and their own intellect.

  159. But it's God through His scriptures, it brings us to a

  160. place of salvation. Is God through his scriptures

  161. that opens our eyes to see the truth, opens our deaf ears to

  162. hear the truth? Is God through that truth

  163. coupled with the power of His Spirit that quickens us to new

  164. life, bringing about faith, bringing about repentance,

  165. bringing about true salvation. In John chapter 17, verses 6

    John 17:6–8

  166. through 8, Jesus gives us some insight on this.

  167. He says this in verse 6. I have revealed you to those

  168. whom you gave me out of the world, and they were yours, and

  169. you gave them to me, and they have obeyed Your word.

  170. What did they do? They obeyed the Father's word.

  171. How did they receive the word of the Father?

  172. They received the word of the Father through the Old Testament

  173. Scriptures, through the prophets, and then through

  174. Christ Himself. Who taught them how the Old

  175. Testament Scriptures? And the prophets pointed to

  176. himself. It says now they know that

  177. everything you have given me comes from you, for I gave them

  178. the words you gave me and they accepted them.

  179. They knew with certainty that I came from you and they believed

  180. that you sent me. How?

  181. Did they believe that he was sent by the Father because

  182. Christ declared the word of God to his disciples?

  183. And in hearing the word of God, they believed.

  184. And unless you hear the word of God, you cannot believe.

  185. But they did believe in what a blessing salvation is, and it

  186. comes through the Word of God. The psalmist here specifically

  187. saying, according to your promise, the psalmist wanted to

  188. receive salvation God's way. He didn't want to receive

  189. salvation his way or anyone else's way.

  190. He wanted to receive salvation God's way.

  191. He said May your salvation come according to your promises.

  192. Let me just help all of you. If you bought into some man made

  193. gospel that is not based on scripture, you bought into a

  194. lie, therefore you are not saved.

  195. Please hear that. I say that because I am

  196. concerned for your soul in a church culture where they have

  197. lightened the gospel message so much that it's not even

  198. biblical. And so we need to examine the

  199. scriptures. We need to see has the true way

  200. of salvation come to me according to his promises.

  201. What did he promise? He promises how he truly saves

  202. sinners. What does this look like?

  203. We know that Paul gives a very clear description of this in

  204. Romans chapter 10. He says in verse 9 he says that

    Romans 10 chapter mention

  205. if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe

  206. in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be

  207. saved. For it is.

  208. With your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is

  209. with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

  210. As the Scripture says, anyone who trusts in Him will never be

  211. put to shame, for there is no difference between Jew and

  212. Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all and

  213. richly blesses all who call on Him.

  214. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

  215. How do we know this is true? Because Scripture says that it

  216. is true. And so God saves sinners

  217. according to what He has promised long before we get into

  218. any theological debates. If you do call upon the name of

  219. the Lord, and you do believe and you do confess with your mouth

  220. the Lord Jesus, yes, God has done a gracious work in order

  221. for all that to happen. And He's done it first of all

  222. through the preaching and teaching of His word.

  223. Now when that happens, when you truly do believe and you truly

  224. do confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, calling on Him and

  225. Him alone to save you, you were then saved according to

  226. Scripture. Please note this.

  227. Nowhere in there did it say pray a little prayer, ask Jesus into

  228. your heart, walk an aisle, do a dance, nothing of the sort.

  229. It is simply telling you the truth about how a person is

  230. honestly saved. What are the signs that this

  231. person has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit according to the

  232. Word of God? We see Him giving those

  233. indications there in John chapter 3 where He says you must

    John 3 chapter mention

  234. be born again long before he gets to John chapter 3 verse 16.

    John 3:16

  235. But when we get to 16, after a person has been sovereignly

  236. regenerated, what does salvation really look?

  237. Like he says this, for God so loved the world that he gave his

  238. one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish

  239. but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son

  240. into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world

  241. through him. Whoever believes in him is not

  242. condemned. Please pay attention to this.

  243. But whoever does not believe stands condemned already because

  244. he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.

  245. Well, Scripture makes that very clear how salvation comes.

  246. Doesn't it? Salvation comes through faith in

  247. Christ and that alone. Salvation does not come in any

  248. good work that you can do. Salvation does not come in any

  249. religious merit that you have a religious ritual that you have

  250. somehow partaken in. Salvation comes to faith in

  251. Christ alone. A man is justified by faith

  252. apart from any law. The Scripture makes that so

  253. clear, and that's why when we read the scriptures, we can see

  254. what it really means to know Christ as our Lord and Savior.

  255. What does this look like? How does this transpire?

  256. John there in chapter 3 on down to verse 33 says the man who has

  257. accepted it is certified that God is truthful.

  258. When you believe in Christ and you accept Christ, you certify

  259. that God is truthful. What is he saying?

  260. Because God brought this truth to you by His grace through the

  261. preaching of the Scriptures. As you open your eyes, you

  262. certify that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent

  263. speaks the words of God. For God gives the Spirit without

  264. limit. The Father loves his Son and has

  265. placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has

  266. eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see

  267. life, for God's wrath remains on him.

  268. Why are we looking at John chapter 3?

    John 3 chapter mention

  269. We're looking at John chapter 3 because John chapter 3 defines

    John 3 chapter mention John 3 chapter mention

  270. for us true biblical salvation in Christ and in Christ alone.

  271. True faith, true belief, true trust in Christ.

  272. That is why the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God

  273. accurately is so important. Romans chapter 10 verse 14 says

    Romans 10:14

  274. this. How then can they call on the

  275. 1:00 they have not believed in? Why is?

  276. Paul talking about this because you must believe in Christ to be

  277. saved. And how can they call on the one

  278. that they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the

  279. one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without

  280. someone preaching to them? What are we preaching?

  281. We're preaching the Word. We're teaching the truth from

  282. the Scriptures. And how can they preach unless

  283. they are sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of

  284. those who bring good news, who bring the truth of the gospel.

  285. I'm thankful for the beautiful feet of the man who walked into

  286. that church service on that Sunday morning.

  287. And he preached the truth of the Word of God to this young man.

  288. Because God used the Scriptures and the preaching and the

  289. teaching of the Scriptures to open my eyes to my need for a

  290. Savior. And He sovereignly saved me that

  291. morning, giving me faith to believe and strength to repent,

  292. empowered by His Holy Spirit for the very first time.

  293. And how beautiful are the feet of that man?

  294. Who was obedient and preaching the Word of God?

  295. Why? Because God uses His Word to

  296. bless us with salvation. Salvation, the grace that His

  297. Word brings into our life. Let us recognize that.

  298. Let us. Rejoice in that.

  299. You didn't get saved because you made some decision.

  300. You got saved because of the Word of God.

  301. And the Word of God does what the Word of God is intended to

  302. do, and that is to set the sinners free from their sin upon

  303. hearing the truth of His Word. So we see salvation.

  304. May your unfailing love come to me, O Lord, Your salvation

  305. according to your promise. Psalmist then moves on and he

  306. says, then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in

  307. your word. Obviously here someone is

  308. taunting him. It seems to be a theme of the

  309. Psalmist's life. We see that all throughout the

  310. Psalms, right? Someone ridiculing, persecuting,

  311. saying false things against the man of God.

  312. He says that there are these who are here who are taunting me,

  313. probably taunting him for his faith and his trust in the Word

  314. of God when others are not trusting in the Word of God.

  315. And he says, for I trust in your word.

  316. See the confidence there? Is it true that God through his

  317. Word gives us confidence that we would not have otherwise?

  318. The Psalms here displaying this confidence.

  319. I'll answer the one who taunts me, for I trust.

  320. In your word. And trusting in God's Word,

  321. please listen to me, believe you're trusting in God's Word

  322. will bring you confidence to stand even when others are

  323. opposing you. Because you're not standing in

  324. the in the confidence of your own flesh.

  325. You're standing in the confidence of the truth, the

  326. word of God. And it is absolute truth.

  327. And you're standing in that. You're standing on his promises,

  328. you're standing on his precepts, you're standing on his commands.

  329. You're trusting in him over you and over those who are opposing.

  330. You. That's what we see here, the

  331. psalmist standing in that confidence that he has been

  332. blessed with through the word of God.

  333. Where did the confidence come from?

  334. He tells you, for I trust in Your word.

  335. I don't trust in what I see. I don't trust in my critics and

  336. what they say. I don't trust in the things that

  337. I'm going through in this life. I trust in your Word.

  338. He was confident. He was confident that God's Word

  339. is truth. Is that not what Jesus said,

  340. John 1717, where He said your word is truth and what He means

  341. by that? It's absolute truth, and there

  342. is no other absolute truth. God's word is truth.

  343. That truth ought to be our confidence.

  344. We got to stand in it just as the psalmist is standing in it

  345. here, even in the face of our enemies.

  346. God's word is truth. Psalm 12 verse 6 says this.

    Psalms 12:6

  347. And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in

  348. a furnace of clay. Purified 7 times God's number of

  349. perfection all throughout Scripture, it is completely

  350. flawless and pure. Second Samuel Chapter 7 verse 28

    2 Samuel 7:28

  351. says this. O sovereign Lord, you are God,

  352. Your words are. Trustworthy and you have

  353. promised these good things to your servant.

  354. What we see there, the man of God trusting in the Word of God,

  355. the word of God being his confidence.

  356. Again, even in the face of those who would oppose us or oppose.

  357. The truth. You know what I've learned?

  358. I don't have to defend myself when I'm standing in the Word of

  359. God because I am not standing in myself.

  360. I can sit back and I can rest in the confidence of the Word of

  361. God to defend itself when someone wants to oppose the Word

  362. of God. And do you know what I just

  363. continually give to them? The Word of God.

  364. And they are going to tire themselves out.

  365. They are going to exhaust themselves arguing with God.

  366. They will never win. But I will not entertain an

  367. argument with them. That's not what the psalmist is

  368. saying here. He's saying I can answer the one

  369. who taunts me with truth, with solid truth.

  370. I can say thus saith the Lord, and I can walk away.

  371. I don't have to defend myself. I don't have to defend my

  372. stance. I rest in the confidence of

  373. Scripture. You know that's lacking today in

  374. the Christian Church, isn't it? Right.

  375. We were compromising, it seems, at every turn.

  376. I know this is not popular. People are going to get upset

  377. with me and it's OK. My confidence is in the Word of

  378. God, when many so-called Christians are debating things

  379. that they ought not be debating, like sexually immoral

  380. lifestyles, like homosexuality, we are not to be debating at

  381. those things right here. You're not to fornicate, you're

  382. not to sleep with someone who's not your wife.

  383. And we know that scripture says that a man is not to lay with a

  384. man as he lays with a woman. It's very cut and dried.

  385. It's very clear. My confidence is in that when

  386. someone wants to bring accusation against me or they

  387. want to oppose me on that, I simply quote for them what the

  388. scriptures say. Such will not inherit the

  389. Kingdom of. God and I don't have to say

  390. anything else because God has already spoken on that.

  391. My confidence is in the Word of God.

  392. What about this in our liberal way of thinking, right And day

  393. when everyone is embracing things that are unbiblical, for

  394. instance, women pastors, I know some of you are going to get mad

  395. because you're going to say this to me.

  396. Well, my aunt's a pastor. No, she's not.

  397. Your aunt's posing as a pastor because Paul's very clear that a

  398. woman is not the teacher to have authority over a man.

  399. And he's talking about in the church.

  400. It is not supposed to happen. It is not biblical.

  401. I don't have to argue with you about this.

  402. Did you notice the church for almost 2000 years has never

  403. argued this until the the women's liberal movement has

  404. infiltrated our culture. They didn't have to argue about

  405. it. They knew.

  406. What the word of God said and they were confident in the word

  407. of God and they said here's what the Lord says.

  408. There's no need to really debate this.

  409. It's interesting that there are entire denominations debating

  410. these things. The debates over God has spoken,

  411. read the. Text.

  412. I can stand in the confidence of the text.

  413. And say this is what God has said, therefore it's what is

  414. true. There's no room for compromise

  415. in any of this. So the Psalm is your

  416. understanding that he could face those who taunted him, right?

  417. Those who would say, oh, that outdated religion with all those

  418. crazy outdated beliefs, The psalmist could say, thus saith

  419. the Lord. Let's say at the Lord, I don't

  420. have to argue with you, I don't have to get into this with you.

  421. All I have to simply do is say what the Lord has already

  422. spoken. And in that He will defend

  423. himself, and He will defend His word.

  424. And that is my entire confidence.

  425. That ought to be all of our confidence.

  426. And what a blessing that is. What a blessing it is to know

  427. that I am not here to convince everyone that I am right about

  428. something. My job is to simply state that

  429. God is right in everything that He says.

  430. And here's what He said. And you can fight with God if

  431. you want to, but let me just warn you, friend, you're going

  432. to. Lose.

  433. You're going to lose in the end. Well, it may seem like you're

  434. doing OK in this life, but I promise you there will be an

  435. eternity to pay. You will pay for all eternity

  436. facing the wrath and the judgement of God.

  437. Embrace His truth and embrace His truth with confidence.

  438. Mark chapter 13 Jesus Speaking of the confidence that he was

    Mark 13 chapter mention

  439. giving to his disciples. He says this in Mark 13 verse 9.

    Mark 13:9

  440. He says you must be on your guard.

  441. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in

  442. the synagogues. Oh, who wants to be a follower

  443. of Christ? Doesn't sound like modern

  444. invitations where he's going to make your life peachy and Rosie

  445. come, just ask him into your heart, He goes on.

  446. He says on account of me. You will stand before governors

  447. and kings as witnesses to them, and the gospel must first be

  448. preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and

  449. brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say.

  450. Just say whatever's given you at the time, for it is not you

  451. speaking, but the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit speaks,

  452. the Holy Spirit speaks as the word of God, because every

  453. single word that we have from God is breathed by the Holy

  454. Spirit as he carried the men of God of old along.

  455. And so we know this. He's promising his disciples.

  456. You can have confidence in my word when you're standing before

  457. kings and magistrates, you're standing before those people who

  458. are opposing you and can take your very life and, and in fact,

  459. they did. He said, don't worry about what

  460. you're going to say. You don't have to worry about

  461. what you're going to say. You just let my word speak.

  462. We see Jesus teaching that to his disciples.

  463. We see Paul exhorting the Ephesians to confidently use the

  464. word of God there in Ephesians chapter 6 in a very popular and

    Ephesians 6 chapter mention

  465. familiar passage of Scripture, right?

  466. It's talking about the armor of God in the battle that we're

  467. facing. And Paul tells him when the day

  468. of evil comes, not. If the day of evil comes, but

  469. when it comes, he gives them some hope in in the armor of

  470. God. And he says this in verse 17 of

  471. chapter 6 of Ephesians. He says take the helmet of

  472. salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of

  473. God. Oh what great confidence you

  474. have now going into the battle. You have a sword, not only just

  475. a sword, a double edged sword, you have a sword that's.

  476. Provided for you by God for defense and for offense.

  477. And you don't have to rest in your own confidence.

  478. You can rest in the confidence of the Lord.

  479. Psalmist knows this. Then I will answer the one who

  480. taunts me, for I trust in your word.

  481. His confidence was fully in God's blessing and grace of

  482. confidence that comes through the word of God.

  483. Thirdly, we see this as the psalmist continues to walk this

  484. out. He says in verse 43.

  485. Do not snatch. The word of truth from my mouth,

  486. where I have put my hope in Your laws.

  487. Do not snatch the word of truth for my mouth, for I have put my

  488. hope in your laws. You know what the Psalmist knew

  489. here. He knew something that many

  490. times we forget. The Psalmist knew how the Word

  491. of God, if truly absorbed into the heart, will produce an

  492. outward profession. It will come out of your mouth.

  493. He knew exactly how an inward hope would be accompanied by an

  494. outward profession. In fact, first Peter.

  495. Peter says this in chapter 3, verse 15.

  496. But in your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord.

  497. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you

  498. to give the reason for the hope that you have.

  499. But do this with gentleness and respect.

  500. What is Peter saying here? He's saying this that we know in

  501. your. Heart and by faith in the unseen

  502. you will experience salvation, but it will result in a constant

  503. and continual profession of Christ and the hope that you

  504. have inside coming out on the outside.

  505. It's sad that we live in a church culture that thinks

  506. baptism is an option. Baptism is your public

  507. profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

  508. It is you outwardly expressing what Christ has done inwardly

  509. inside of you. There are people who say, you

  510. know, I, I have trusted Jesus in my heart, but I'm not ready to

  511. be baptized. I don't know about going in

  512. front of all those people. To you I say this, I question

  513. the sincerity of your faith. I question the sincerity of your

  514. faith, because inward faith must be present.

  515. But please know this outward expression must be present as

  516. well. That is confirmation that you

  517. are a true believer. Isaiah 51 verse 16, it says, I

    Isaiah 51:16

  518. put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of

  519. my hand. I who set the heavens in place,

  520. who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, you

  521. are my people. He said, I put my very words in

  522. your mouth. If you're his people, He puts

  523. his words in your mouth. He gives you a profession.

  524. That's why we know this. Paul teaches it just like that

  525. in Romans chapter 10. We looked at it a moment ago for

    Romans 10 chapter mention

  526. another example, but let's look at it again that if you confess

  527. verse 9 with your mouth. Jesus is Lord and believe in

  528. your. Heart that God.

  529. Raised him from the dead. You will be saved, for it is

  530. with your heart that you believe and are justified is with your

  531. mouth that you confess and are saved.

  532. So inward faith without an outward profession is not

  533. salvation, it's intellectual knowledge, because true

  534. salvation through the Word of God and according to the Word of

  535. God, you will be graced with a profession.

  536. And what will that profession be?

  537. Christ and Christ alone. If it weren't for Christ, I

  538. would still be destined for hell.

  539. If it weren't for Christ, I would still be condemned.

  540. If it weren't for Christ, I would still be the Sinner that I

  541. always have been. But in Christ I have been

  542. cleansed, I have been washed, I have been given eternal life.

  543. Both are required. Please note that Paul didn't say

  544. that we can confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and we

  545. don't have to worry about it in our heart.

  546. And he didn't say that we have to believe in our heart, not

  547. really worry about our profession.

  548. He said if both are present, you can know this true salvation has

  549. taken place. And a person who says that I

  550. believe, but yet I'm too embarrassed to get baptized.

  551. You fall into the category that Jesus taught about when he said

  552. if you were ashamed of him on this earth, he will be ashamed

  553. of you before his Father in heaven.

  554. Please take that seriously. That's the word of God.

  555. That's not Kirk's opinion. That's not Kirk's

  556. interpretation. That's exactly what the truth of

  557. Scripture says. And so please understand that

  558. today that your profession, you're our profession.

  559. Is a result of a work of God, and it is a result of a work of

  560. God through the Scriptures. He says, do not snatch the word

  561. of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.

  562. He put hope in his laws inwardly, and now he's

  563. professing the truth with his mouth.

  564. He said. I don't want to lose that.

  565. I don't want to be ashamed of my God who's done so much for me.

  566. I don't want to be ashamed of my God who rescued me.

  567. I don't want to be ashamed of my God who sent his only begotten

  568. Son to rescue me on a cross. I want to proclaim that truth to

  569. everyone I know. And then some.

  570. Oh so many times we don't think of our profession as a grace,

  571. but all of our salvation is a grace.

  572. And if professing Christ is a part of our expression of

  573. salvation, then we ought to see it as his grace in and through

  574. us. The reason that I can profess

  575. that Christ is my Lord is because Christ graciously saved

  576. me. And I can profess it according

  577. to the Scriptures accurately because Christ graciously gives

  578. me the truth of Scripture. Jesus is not my homeboy, He's

  579. not my best friend. Scripture says Jesus is my

  580. atoning substitute, that he died in my place, that he.

  581. Who knew no sin? Became sin so that I might

  582. become the righteousness of God. Scripture tells me how he

  583. suffered and how he bled and how he died to rescue me.

  584. And that is what I profess. I profess it because Scripture

  585. dictates it. Scripture mandates it.

  586. So we see that even our profession may we understand

  587. that that required profession. It's a grace that God has given

  588. us through the Scriptures. He has let us know.

  589. It's not enough just to secretly say you're a follower of Jesus,

  590. but you must profess and you will profess according to the

  591. word of God. But you see the blessing that

  592. that is if you do profess Christ, and if you don't profess

  593. Christ, I pray that you would search your soul today.

  594. I pray that you would test yourself to see if you were

  595. really of the faith. So we see the psalmist here

  596. seeing the third blessing, that of profession.

  597. He says, do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth.

  598. Oh, where would I be without that word confirming that I do

  599. truly have hope inwardly because of what Your word says.

  600. Fourthly, we see this, he says in 44.

  601. I will always obey your law, forever and ever.

  602. Oh, we see there the blessing of obedience.

  603. Now let me make this clear to all of you folks here today so

  604. that you know this. When you obey God, don't pat

  605. yourself on the back. That is simply what Ephesians

    Ephesians 2:10

  606. chapter 2 verse 10 calls good works which He prepared in

  607. advance for you to do. And you learn to do these

  608. things. How?

  609. Through the studying and the teaching of the Word of God.

  610. Isn't it the word of God that teaches us right from wrong?

  611. It's the Word of God that teaches us.

  612. Black from white, right? Black from white.

  613. It's the Word of God that teaches us.

  614. Unrighteousness from righteousness.

  615. It's the Word of God that teaches us holiness from

  616. wickedness. We know that we learned those

  617. things through the Scripture, and without the Scripture we

  618. would not even know what obedience is.

  619. That's what Paul said when he got down to the root of the law.

  620. He said it's the law that showed me what sin is.

  621. Had the law not come forth, I wouldn't.

  622. Have even known what coveting is, but His word shows me what

  623. is sinful, and it also shows me what is obedient and righteous.

  624. So the psalmist here is saying, I will always obey your law,

  625. forever and ever. Why?

  626. Because he had been blessed through knowing the Scriptures.

  627. With the gift of obedience, He'd been graced with that God's word

  628. had allowed him to see all of his deficiencies and his need to

  629. count on God in every area of his life.

  630. To know that there is no righteousness that is found in

  631. and of ourselves, but righteousness comes from God.

  632. We know that Paul declares that that righteousness has been.

  633. Revealed in Christ, God's Word, He gives us all the wisdom and

  634. all the direction that we need to be obedient to God.

  635. Proverbs 2 verse 6 says this. For the Lord gives wisdom, and

    Proverbs 2:6

  636. from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

  637. He holds victory in store for the upright.

  638. He is a shield to those who want whose walk is blameless, for He

  639. guards the course of the just and protects the way of his

  640. faithful ones. Then you will understand what is

  641. right and just and fair. Every good path.

  642. How will you know this? Go back to the first part.

  643. The Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and

  644. understanding. How do we have knowledge and

  645. understanding to walk the path of obedience?

  646. It is His Word. It is a lamp unto our feet, and

  647. it is a light unto our path. That's why the psalmist said,

  648. I've hidden Your word in my heart so that I might not sin

  649. against God. He had a desire for obedience,

  650. and where did that desire come from?

  651. Please don't take credit for it. He didn't come from you.

  652. God put that desire for you to obey in you when He saved you,

  653. because it should be the desire of His children to obey Christ

  654. to obey. The Word of God, Jesus, Matthew

    Matthew 17 chapter mention

  655. chapter 17 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter

  656. the Kingdom of heaven, but only he who does what the will of my

  657. Father. Why do you have a desire to do

  658. the will of the Father? Because the word has shown you

  659. that that ought to be your desire and has shown you what it

  660. means to actually live out your faith obediently.

  661. If you're not living out your your claim to faith obediently,

  662. A, you're not truly saved or B, you're ignoring the word of God

  663. because a true believer is going to see the word of God for what

  664. it is, wisdom and direction and how to obey God, how to bring

  665. him glory in your life. Don't forget this.

  666. If you're obedient to any degree in your life, it's because of

  667. His work of sanctification. It's because of His work of

  668. sanctification. And what did Jesus say?

  669. Go back to John 1717 again. He said sanctify them by truth.

  670. Your word is truth. And if you were being

  671. sanctified, that means you were being moved from sinful and

  672. disobedient to holy and righteous and obedient,

  673. conforming to the image of Christ, just as He preordained

  674. for you to conform to. If that is going on in your

  675. life, it does not happen without the blessing that comes from the

  676. Word of God in regard to our obedience.

  677. So if you're obedient, it's because of Him, it's not because

  678. of you. Give the praise that is due.

  679. Luke 11 verse 27, it says this as Jesus was saying these

    Luke 11:27

  680. things, a woman in the crowd called out, blessed is the

  681. mother who gave you birth and nursed you.

  682. She was obviously Catholic. She's obviously wrong.

  683. Watch what he says, He replied. Blessed.

  684. Rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.

  685. What a blessing that it would have been from God.

  686. Can you imagine being Mary? And we know we can read the

  687. account of how she was informed that she was going to bear the

  688. Messiah. What a blessing that would have

  689. been that she would be a vessel chosen by God.

  690. And please know that just the vessel, just the tool chosen by

  691. God for His incarnation. She was even overwhelmed with

  692. that blessing. Now Jesus himself said a greater

  693. blessing that we can receive is this, to hear the word of God

  694. and to obey it. The psalmist understood this.

  695. I will always obey your law forever and ever.

  696. He was devoted to obedience because God had done a work in

  697. him. Through the word.

  698. So when we see obedience toward God in our lives, may we realize

  699. that any and all obedience comes as a blessing, as a grace from

  700. God. Don't pat yourself on the back.

  701. And pat yourself on the back and say how good you are, because

  702. you used to not obey, and now you're obeying.

  703. Now you say how good God is that He would grace you with the

  704. truth of His Word, so that you would walk in obedience to His

  705. Word, and you would walk in that blessing that He desires.

  706. To give you of O obedience. What a gracious God that we

  707. serve, that a once willful center like myself who

  708. contradicted God in every area of my life, every word from my

  709. mouth, every thought in my mind that He would now through His

  710. Word, through the teaching of His Word, grace me with

  711. sanctification and obedience and allow me to now be a vessel who

  712. brings Him glory through that obedience that He has given me

  713. to live out. Psalmist understood that I'll

  714. always obey Your law forever and ever.

  715. We go to verse 45 and we see the 5th blessing.

  716. Of God's word this morning says I will walk about in freedom,

  717. for I have sought out your precepts.

  718. We see freedom here. What a blessing.

  719. The psalmist understood freedom through the word of God, freedom

  720. through sound teaching from the Word of God.

  721. He knew that through His Word, God enlightens us to the fact

  722. that we can be set free from the bondage of sin that once held.

  723. US. The psalmist getting that I will

  724. walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.

  725. Isn't it interesting that the lost world thinks that the Word

  726. of God will confine us? The Word of God will hold us in

  727. bondage to those ancient traditions.

  728. But isn't it true that the opposite really happens to the

  729. child of God? It is the Word of God that sets

  730. us absolutely free from bondage. What the psalmist is saying

  731. here, you know what to be true if you've read the New Testament

  732. and all that. We have freedom in Christ,

  733. number one, we have freedom from sin.

  734. According to Paul, what he wrote in Romans chapter 6, he says in

    Romans 6 chapter mention

  735. verse 18, you have been set free from sin and have become slaves

  736. to righteousness. Why?

  737. Because of God's grace, because of God's mercy, because of the

  738. truth of God's Word, we have been set free from sin, from the

  739. penalty, and the power of sin in our life.

  740. How many people just settle for being freed from the penalty?

  741. Why? It's not going to be held in my

  742. charge eternally, and I'm not going to have to go to hell now,

  743. so I'm going to get to go to heaven, and that's cool.

  744. But Jesus died according to the Word of God, not just.

  745. To free you from the penalty of sin, but to also free you from

  746. the power of sin. So that you can walk in

  747. obedience, so that you can be holy.

  748. For the Lord your God is holy, just as Scripture has commanded

  749. us to do. Jesus Christ has set us free

  750. from the penalty and the power of sin.

  751. And one day ultimately, according to the Word of God, He

  752. will set us free from the presence of sin.

  753. We will dwell with him in a sinless environment for all

  754. eternity thinks be unto God through Jesus.

  755. Christ our Lord, and so we have freedom.

  756. Freedom from the penalty and the power of sin.

  757. Now make no mistake, it's not freedom to sin because

  758. unfortunately the carnal mind hears freedom from sin and you

  759. think freedom to sin. That's not what he's saying.

  760. In fact, we ought to never abuse our freedom from sin by

  761. participating in sin. Galatians chapter 5 verse 13.

    Galatians 5:13

  762. Paul makes this very clear. He said you, my brothers, were

  763. called to be free. But do not use your freedom to

  764. indulge the sinful nature. Rather serve one another in

  765. love. The entire law is summed up in a

  766. single command. Love your neighbor as yourself.

  767. What is Paul saying? He's saying this.

  768. You are freed from the penalty and the power of sin in your

  769. life. There is no sin that is going to

  770. be held to your charge eternally.

  771. If you were in. Christ, they're all forgiven,

  772. past, present and future. He said.

  773. But that's no. Excuse for you to do whatever

  774. you want to do, because you could call somebody else to fall

  775. into sin. You could call someone else to

  776. stumble. You could hurt your testimony to

  777. others. Paul taking that very seriously.

  778. We know that how the word of God is when we look at freedom, the

  779. blessing that we have from the word of God.

  780. We also need to see if freedom is not to be abused.

  781. So we have freedom from sin, not freedom to sin, but we also have

  782. freedom from legalistic righteousness.

  783. Oh, I would to God that some of you would get freedom from

  784. legalistic righteousness. You think that if I check all

  785. the boxes, I'm going to be OK? Galatians 5 says this verse one.

  786. It says it is for freedom that Christ has set you free.

  787. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by

  788. the yoke of slavery. Mark my words.

  789. I Paul tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised,

  790. Christ will be of no value to you at.

  791. All. Again, I declare to every man

  792. who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the

  793. whole law. So what's going on here?

  794. These Judaizers have crept in and they're trying to promote

  795. circumcision. That's always the first step

  796. because we know that circumcision precedes the.

  797. Law. Because circumcision came with

  798. Abraham, the law came with Moses.

  799. So what's happening here? These people are telling the

  800. people that they must be circumcised even though they are

  801. in Christ. And some of them, even Gentile

  802. believers, Paul saying absolutely not.

  803. Don't return to that yoke of slavery and legalistic

  804. righteousness, he says. I tell you that if you let

  805. yourself be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at

  806. all. Again, I declare to every man

  807. who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the

  808. whole law. He says if you're going to go

  809. through with this, you have to obey the other 613 commandments

  810. of the law. If you're counting on that to

  811. justify you, you have to be perfect and your righteousness.

  812. He doesn't. Verse 4, you who are trying to

  813. be justified by the law, that's for all the people who say what

  814. he was talking about circumcision here and not

  815. talking about the entirety of the law.

  816. There you go. Paul has spoken.

  817. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been

  818. alienated from Christ. You have fallen away from grace,

  819. but by faith we eagerly await is through the Spirit, the

  820. righteousness from which we hope.

  821. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision

  822. has any value. The only thing that counts is

  823. faith expressing itself through love.

  824. What's Paul talking about here? He's talking about freedom from

  825. legalistic righteousness. I don't have to earn salvation.

  826. I don't have to do this. I don't have to do anything so

  827. that I can be saved. Jesus Christ has done it all.

  828. I simply by God's grace, trust in that, in that alone,

  829. according to the word of God. And so people who teach you

  830. things, Jesus plus anything, right?

  831. Jesus plus you have to be baptized, Jesus plus you have to

  832. go to church. Jesus plus you have to wear a

  833. black suit and a black tie. Jesus plus anything is

  834. legalistic righteousness. That's not the gospel, That's no

  835. blessing at all. What that is, it's another yoke

  836. of slavery. Paul said don't return to that.

  837. You have freedom from legalistic righteous.

  838. You have freedom from the law. Why?

  839. Because Christ has fulfilled the law fully for those who are in

  840. Christ. And thirdly, we see this in

  841. regard to freedom. We have freedom through the the

  842. truth of God's Word. How does this come about?

  843. Through God's Word? John chapter 8 verse 31 says to

    John 8:31

  844. the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, if you hold to my

  845. teaching, you are really my disciples.

  846. Again teaching the doctrine of perseverance, that a true

  847. disciple will hold to his teachings, the teachings found

  848. in His Word, and then you will know the truth and the truth

  849. will set you free. There's freedom again.

  850. And what has set them free? It is the truth.

  851. The truth of what? The truth of the Word of God.

  852. So it is in the Word of God that true freedom comes to those who

  853. are really in Christ because they have believed the truth of

  854. the Word of God. And we know what he says in 36.

  855. So if the sun sets you free, you will be free indeed.

  856. This is no longer up for discussion.

  857. If you are truly in Christ, set free by the truth of God's Word,

  858. you have the blessing of. Freedom.

  859. You are free now to rejoice and to be obedient to God, not out

  860. of obligation trying to be justified.

  861. You get to be obedient to God out of appreciation for what

  862. Jesus Christ did for you at the cross.

  863. And. Let me tell you this, I've done

  864. it both ways. 1 is a yoke of slavery, legalism and the other

  865. is true freedom and trusting in Christ that if I lay my head on

  866. a pillow tonight and and all the boxes are not checked, Jesus

  867. Christ has already checked all the boxes that need to be

  868. checked for me and I have faith and I have hope in him and him

  869. alone. What freedom that he blesses us

  870. with through knowing his word. Sixthly, we see this as the

  871. Psalmist continues verse 46. He says, I will speak of your

  872. statutes before kings and will not be put to shame.

  873. What are the psalmist doing here?

  874. The psalmist is offering for us boldness, and the psalmist could

  875. boldly proclaim truth, He says, even before kings, before rulers

  876. and those in authority, because he trusted in the word of God,

  877. and he trusted in the word of. God to be his powerful boldness,

  878. he says. I'll speak of your statutes

  879. before kings and will not be put to shame.

  880. That's what Jesus told his disciples they would do as well,

  881. right? You're going to go before kings

  882. and magistrates, but don't worry about what you're going to say.

  883. Holy Spirit's going to give you the word to say My word is in

  884. you. He's going to speak through you.

  885. He's going to give you the boldness that you need.

  886. Isn't that what Jesus promised the followers of Christ there in

  887. Acts chapter one? That they would receive boldness

  888. to be witnesses when the Spirit's power came.

  889. Upon them. And that's exactly what

  890. happened. So we see that.

  891. The psalmist understands the blessing of true boldness from

  892. the Word of God. To simply proclaim God's Word as

  893. truth and not compromise at all, and just to be bold in that

  894. people. Ask all the time, why are How

  895. are you so bold? I'm not bold.

  896. Truth be told, I don't even want to be up here, but God's word is

  897. bold and God has empowered me with his word and when that

  898. comes out, it comes out as bold. Why?

  899. Because God is bold and His Word is bold, that He has graced us

  900. with boldness if we are in Christ, so that when we stand

  901. before whoever, be it kings, be it magistrates, be it governors,

  902. be it a group of people known as Goli Fellowship, when we stand

  903. before those people and we stand in His Word, we stand in the

  904. blessing of boldness. That's what the psalmist is

  905. getting at here. I'm going to speak of your

  906. statutes before kings and will not be put to shame.

  907. I'm not going to be afraid of them, what they can do to me

  908. because kings could take his life.

  909. He's not worried about that. He's going to proclaim boldly

  910. the truth of the word of God because of the truth of the word

  911. of God is bold. So anytime you proclaim God's

  912. truth, it's bold, It's bold truth.

  913. People like you're, you're just black and white.

  914. No, the word of God's black and white.

  915. It says what it means and it means what it says.

  916. And we simply get up here and we just discharge the word of God.

  917. And we we broadcast it out to everyone.

  918. It does what it's intended to do.

  919. It boldly confronts your sin. It boldly confronts your life.

  920. It boldly confronts your unbelief.

  921. It boldly confronts your doubt. It boldly confronts your fears.

  922. It boldly confronts everything in your.

  923. Life because the word of God is bold.

  924. Psalmist here understanding that I'll speak your statutes before

  925. kings and will not be put to shame.

  926. No, we remember the words of Paul where he told Timothy there

  927. in second Timothy chapter 4. Preach the Word, be prepared in

    2 Timothy 4 chapter mention

  928. season and out of season, correct rebuke, encourage with

  929. great patience and careful instruction, for the time will

  930. come when men will not put up with sound doctrine and said to

  931. suit their own desires, they will gather.

  932. Around them a great number of teachers to say what their

  933. itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away

  934. from the truth and turn aside to myths.

  935. In the midst of this, Paul saying that there is going to be

  936. this downgrade and people are not going to want sound

  937. doctrine. He's telling Timothy boldly

  938. stand on the Word of God and let the Word of God be what it is,

  939. bold, and just stand there in season and out of season.

  940. You know what that means when it's popular and when it's not

  941. popular, when it's accepted, when it's not accepted, when the

  942. people who you're talking to are going to prove of it or the

  943. people who you're talking to are going to disapprove of it.

  944. He's saying stand in boldness and it is in the Word of God

  945. that we have boldness. What a blessing that is.

  946. Now we see the example of Paul not only speaking to Timothy

  947. about boldness and preaching the word of God without compromise.

  948. We see it in his life. Paul living this out.

  949. Acts chapter 24 before Felix, standing in the boldness of the

    Acts 24 chapter mention

  950. word of God before Festus in Acts chapter 25, standing in the

    Acts 25 chapter mention

  951. boldness of the word of God before Herod and Griffith.

  952. There again in Acts 25 standing in the boldness of the word of

  953. God. We see in Acts 25.

  954. Many believe that he actually stood before Nero.

  955. How do you stand before Nero? In the boldness of the word of

  956. God, blessed and graced with that boldness that comes from

  957. the Word, we think of men like Luther throughout history,

  958. Martin Luther, who took his stand on the Word of God.

  959. At the deer of worms, he refused to recant the truth of

  960. Scripture. He refused to back down from

  961. what the word of God said and what the word of God taught, and

  962. he stood with these famous words.

  963. Here I stand, I can do no other. How he was facing

  964. excommunication and possibly even facing death.

  965. And Luther stood in the boldness that comes when a man stands on

  966. the truth of the word of God. And he stood there, and he said,

  967. here I stand. I can do no other.

  968. I got no other choice. Preacher, why are you always

  969. confronting issues with the Scriptures so boldly?

  970. I've got no other choice. Here I stand.

  971. I can do no other. Let me just tell you this.

  972. If you claim to be a preacher and you can do something else,

  973. you're mistaken in your calling. The preacher is going to stand

  974. in the boldness of the truth of the Word of God, and he can do

  975. no other. I tell these young ministers all

  976. the time who I work with. If you can do something else, do

  977. it. Start today, put out your

  978. applications, get out of here. There's lots of good jobs.

  979. Go find a job. But if we're going to do what

  980. we're called to do, we're going to have to trust the Word of God

  981. that He's going to give us all the boldness that we need.

  982. And he's going to, you're going to need it.

  983. He's going to give it to you. So we see boldness as a blessing

  984. that comes from God through His Word.

  985. We read account after account in Scripture.

  986. The men and women of God who were equipped with the word of

  987. God and allowed them to be bold. Even in the face of persecution,

  988. even in the face of death, they were bold.

  989. That boldness came from the truth of Scriptures.

  990. And lastly, we see this verse 47, he says, For I delight in

  991. your commands because I love them.

  992. Instead, I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love.

  993. And I meditate on your decrees. I want you.

  994. To see the blessing of affection that he has been given, you say,

  995. well, wait a minute, he's been given.

  996. It sounds like he's given it back.

  997. He had to receive it before he could give it.

  998. And is the Word of God that revealed God's love to the

  999. psalmist, just as the word of God reveals his love to us.

  1000. Psalmist here, obviously overwhelmed with love for God.

  1001. And for his word. The reason that he's overwhelmed

  1002. because he received God's unfailing love that he asked for

  1003. in verse 41. Go back to verse 41.

  1004. What did he say? Go back there, he says, may your

  1005. unfailing love come to me. That's his first request and now

  1006. we see. Here at the end of this Psalm,

  1007. obviously his unfailing love came to him.

  1008. And we know that his unfailing love came to him because we know

  1009. what John teaches in his epistle.

  1010. We love because he first loved us.

  1011. And now, because the psalmist has received, has received the

  1012. blessing of God's love and affection, he now walks in that

  1013. same affection, reciprocating that love back to the Father, so

  1014. having true love for God and for his.

  1015. Word folks, it's a blessing. It's a blessing that is brought

  1016. about in our lives because God has revealed His love to us

  1017. first. And when you see the magnitude

  1018. of God's love, Romans 5/8 God demonstrates his love for us in

  1019. this While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

  1020. When you see the magnitude of God's love, and your response is

  1021. not utter love in return, something is spiritually wrong

  1022. with you. Something is dreadfully off from

  1023. what a believer ought to be. So the psalmist here having

  1024. affection, look at his deep affection.

  1025. For I delight in your commands because I love them.

  1026. I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I

  1027. meditate on your decrees. Oh, think of the psalmist there

  1028. going. Through the Word of God,

  1029. meditating on those truths over and over and over again, and,

  1030. and in doing that, seeing the extent of God's love for him.

  1031. Up in the attic above my garage, I keep a small blue Rubbermaid

  1032. tote that I've had for years. In fact, had it since high

  1033. school. Inside that tote there are love

  1034. letters that I received from my now bride when we were just

  1035. kids, while we were in high school, when she went off to

  1036. college and we thought we were going to die because we were

  1037. away from one another. Many times I have revisited that

  1038. treasured vault, sometimes by myself.

  1039. Sometimes we've actually read these things together.

  1040. Please don't judge us on our grammatical errors.

  1041. But one thing I will I'm reminded of every time and I

  1042. still don't know why. I'm reminded of every time I

  1043. read those letters that that woman loves me and I don't know

  1044. why. And she's loved me since we were

  1045. kids. It's the same.

  1046. And even to a greater degree, when we open up the Word of God,

  1047. we see the truth, and my God loves me.

  1048. And I may not have any idea why. I don't have any idea why I can

  1049. give him a million reasons why not to love me, just as I could

  1050. my wife. But the Lord has determined to

  1051. love me, and His word confirms that.

  1052. Over and over and over again, I think about those letters, when

  1053. I would receive those letters. That's how we used to do it.

  1054. All you youngsters, the mail we didn't have, e-mail we didn't

  1055. have. Text.

  1056. My wife went off to college. She's quite a bit older than me

  1057. while I was still in high school, and it was a difficult

  1058. time because contrary to what anyone else thought, parents

  1059. included, we loved each other. We knew that we were going to

  1060. spend the rest of our life together and that the Lord had a

  1061. plan for us. I'm thankful that he did.

  1062. But I can remember when I knew that she had sent me a letter.

  1063. It would take about 2 1/2 to three days, whatever, from

  1064. getting from where she was to where I was.

  1065. I would listen. I couldn't wait because I don't

  1066. know why the US Postal Service can't fix their brakes, but they

  1067. have the squeakiest brakes in the world.

  1068. And my mail lady would come and I would hear her brakes and I

  1069. would know, oh, that's probably a letter from Brandy.

  1070. And I'd already mailed one off because she made.

  1071. Sure, if I'm sending this, you better send me one.

  1072. How we go out to that mailbox and get that letter as fast as I

  1073. could. I just wanted to know, does she

  1074. still love me like she used to? Does she still want to be mine

  1075. forever? So many times we don't do that

  1076. with the word of God, do we? We don't get excited on Sunday

  1077. morning to come and to hear that He still loves us.

  1078. He still has a plan for our life.

  1079. We're still His children. We're still the apple of his

  1080. eye, even though we don't know why.

  1081. And he sent his only begotten Son to die to rescue us so that

  1082. he could love us, so that we could then love him in return.

  1083. And that's what the psalmist is doing here.

  1084. He is blessed with love in return to God.

  1085. He gets to love God back. And that means a lot from a guy

  1086. who understands that he was once cut off from God, but now I get

  1087. to love him back. I get to approach his throne of

  1088. grace. I get to commune with him, He

  1089. with me. Well, the psalmist understood

  1090. that. And how do I understand that?

  1091. The Word of God, the Word of God, every time I open it up, it

  1092. is 66 volumes of letters that He has left for me so that I can

  1093. know more about Him, so that I can fall deeper in love with

  1094. Him, so I can fall deeper in love with who He is for what He

  1095. has done for me. So that I can long.

  1096. To see him again. Oh, just like those letters used

  1097. to serve that purpose in the human sense.

  1098. Oh, we long to see each other again.

  1099. We couldn't wait till that day and those letters were full.

  1100. We still read them if we open them up today.

  1101. Oh, I can't wait until this weekend.

  1102. I haven't seen you in four weeks and we're about to die then.

  1103. It's sad that sometimes we spend more than four weeks without

  1104. even opening the pages of Scripture, missing out on the

  1105. wonderful love that God has for us so that we can reciprocate.

  1106. That love for him, that's what John said, John says, and John,

  1107. John's epistle, the 4th chapter, he says this is love, not that

  1108. we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an

  1109. atoning sacrifice for our sins. How do we know about that?

  1110. Through the Scriptures. Through the scriptures.

  1111. I wouldn't there at the feet of the cross when Jesus was

  1112. crucified, but I know through the Scriptures that He has

  1113. preserved for me through the ages, for you as well, that God

  1114. has shown us His love through the sacrifice of His Son.

  1115. May we love Him in return. Because we're not for the Word

  1116. of God. We'd have no real understanding

  1117. and real no real knowledge of God's love for His own.

  1118. We'd have no real hope. He has given us his word and we

  1119. have all of those things, Stephen Sharnick said.

  1120. This he said, before the new creation, there was no affection

  1121. toward the law. He said I had no affection

  1122. toward God's Word. It was only a dead letter.

  1123. But when this is written within him, he is.

  1124. So. Pleased with the inscription

  1125. that he would not for. All the world be without the law

  1126. and the love of it. What is Sharnic saying?

  1127. He's saying before you were born again, you gave no regard to

  1128. God's word. But since you have been born

  1129. again. It ought to be a love in your

  1130. life, just as those letters that I received from my wife would

  1131. would assure me of her love and our love for one another as she

  1132. would read letters that I wrote to.

  1133. Her. It ought to be the same for the

  1134. born again believer. A love for God's Word Look what

  1135. the psalmist says here. He says, I'll speak of your

  1136. statues before kings and will not be put to shame.

  1137. Then he says, Fry, delight in your commands because I love

  1138. them, and I lift my hands to your commands.

  1139. Look at the response here, which I.

  1140. Love and I meditate on your decrees.

  1141. What's he saying? I lift my hands.

  1142. Well, we can lift our hands and do a lot of things right.

  1143. Pray, praise. We can lift our hands to work

  1144. for the Lord and to serve Him. Isn't that part of our worship

  1145. and our love toward Him? He's saying because of your law,

  1146. I do these things. You have overwhelmed me with

  1147. your love to a point that I love you and I lift my hands to Your

  1148. word and what Your word says to me and I love it.

  1149. And I love it so much that I meditate on it.

  1150. Just like the letters that I've spoken of.

  1151. I meditated on those things over and over and over.

  1152. I process those things. That we do the same with the

  1153. Word of God, because it is love for God and His Word that moves

  1154. us to worship, that moves us to service, that moves us to

  1155. intense adoration. May we be moved.

  1156. By the Scriptures in regard to all of those areas in our life,

  1157. for not for God's Word revealing God's love for us, we would

  1158. never love neither God nor His Word.

  1159. But because of that blessing that we have received of His

  1160. Word, we know of His love, and we in return love Him, and we

  1161. love His Word and we meditate on it.

  1162. The lover of our soul has revealed Himself to us through

  1163. the Scriptures. May we see the blessing that it

  1164. is, and may we love the Lord and His Word in return.

  1165. So we conclude with this this morning to the believer, I ask

  1166. you this question. Are you reaping the blessings

  1167. and the benefits from God's Word that we see the psalmist reaping

  1168. here? Those blessings and those

  1169. benefits that He intends for you to have?

  1170. Are you thankful for the graces that we have seen, those seven

  1171. blessings that He has covered in God's Word?

  1172. Are you thankful for those things in your life daily, or

  1173. you just simply take them for granted, never giving any

  1174. thought to His Word or to loving His Word?

  1175. Are you thankful for the salvation that His Word has

  1176. brought, the confidence that His Word brings, the profession that

  1177. you have because of His Word, obedience that you have through

  1178. His Word, freedom that you have according to His Word, boldness

  1179. in His word, and affection, It comes from His word.

  1180. Oh, what graces we have received, believers, I'll take

  1181. those things for granted. Don't miss seeing them as the

  1182. blessings that they truly are to the unbeliever.

  1183. I turn your attention back to .1 because until God graces you

  1184. with knowledge of true salvation, none of the other

  1185. things will be applicable to your life.

  1186. So for you it must begin all the way back in .1.

  1187. Salvation and God's word has made it very clear that sinful

  1188. man is in need of salvation. In fact, Romans chapter 3 verse

    Romans 3:10

  1189. 10 says this as it is written. There's no one righteous, not

  1190. even one. There is no one who understands,

  1191. no one who seeks God. All have turned away.

  1192. They have together become worthless.

  1193. There is no one who does good, not even one.

  1194. Their throats are open graves. Their tongues practice deceit.

  1195. The poison of Vipers is on their lips.

  1196. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.

  1197. Their feet are swift to shed blood.

  1198. Ruin and misery mark their ways and the way of peace They do not

  1199. know. There is No Fear of God before

  1200. their eyes. Scripture is very clear about

  1201. this. I told you that it is the truth

  1202. of Scripture that will show you your need for a Savior.

  1203. Scripture is very clear that apart from Christ you are a

  1204. Sinner, that all who are apart from Christ are sinners.

  1205. None are righteous. No one seeks after him.

  1206. In fact, in Romans 3, Paul continues in verse 23, for all

  1207. have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

  1208. Everyone and all are justified freely by His grace through the

  1209. redemption that came through Jesus Christ.

  1210. And God presented Christ as the sacrifice of atonement through

  1211. the shedding of His blood to be received by faith.

  1212. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness because in His

  1213. forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.

  1214. He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present

  1215. time so as to be just in the One who justifies those who have

  1216. faith in Jesus. It is also His Word, and we see

  1217. reveals to us that the only way to experience His unfailing

  1218. love, His forgiveness, His true salvation is through faith in

  1219. Jesus Christ. And that alone and His faith in

  1220. Jesus Christ and that alone that a person will be justified

  1221. before a holy God. He is the only hope for sinners.

  1222. In fact, Scripture tells us that there's no other name given

  1223. under heaven whereby men must be saved other than the name of

  1224. Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 10 gives us the

    Romans 10 chapter mention

  1225. answer to all of this. And I am a Sinner, and I'm

  1226. separated from God, and I'm destined for judgement in hell.

  1227. What does the scripture say for me now?

  1228. It says this, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is

  1229. Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the

  1230. dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that

  1231. you believe and are justified. And it is with your mouth that

  1232. you confess and are saved, as the scripture says.

  1233. Paul going back and quoting the Old Testament scripture showing

  1234. us that people have always been saved the same way both Old

  1235. Testament and New Testament faith, he says anyone who trusts

  1236. in him will never. Be put to shame.

  1237. What is the hope for sinners? Trust in Christ Trust in Christ

  1238. as the only acceptable sacrifice for your sin.

  1239. Romans 10/13 Paul makes it very clear for everyone who calls on

  1240. the name of the Lord, we'll be saved.

  1241. See your desperate condition as God opens your eyes today that

  1242. you are a Sinner and you are separated from a holy God, and

  1243. that you must cry out to Jesus in desperation because he's the

  1244. only hope that you have to ever be forgiven of your sin.

  1245. And this day, cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ calling on His

  1246. name, and you will be saved. Save from what?

  1247. Many people don't even know this.

  1248. Save from what? Save from judgment.

  1249. It is coming. Judgment is coming upon all

  1250. unbelieving sinners. The Word of God says that I

  1251. stand in that truth and I do not compromise.

  1252. Save from the judgment that is to come.

  1253. Save from the wrath of God that will come upon all unrepentant,

  1254. unredeemed sinners. The wrath of God is coming.

  1255. Flee the wrath of God today and be secured in the ark of Christ.

  1256. Flee to Christ today and away from the wrath that is to come.

  1257. Free from judgement, free from wrath, and free from hell.

  1258. Yes, this preacher still believes in hell.

  1259. Why? Because Scripture still

  1260. commands. That we believe in it.

  1261. And so I say to you today, oh, I know what some will do.

  1262. I'm never going back to that church.

  1263. He preaches all that Hellfire, brimstone stuff.

  1264. I preach you nothing but the scriptures.

  1265. I've spent this entire morning showing you the blessings that

  1266. come from hearing the word of God and from learning the word

  1267. of God. And one of those blessings is

  1268. this. And when a person hears the word

  1269. of God and the truth about hell, God can use that to spark

  1270. something in them, to cause them to flee to Christ as their only

  1271. hope. And I pray today that He sparked

  1272. that in you, that He causes you to flee to Christ, calling upon

  1273. His name. Let's pray together, Father, in

  1274. the name of Jesus. We thank You for Your word, and

  1275. it has gone forth, and we trust that it will do exactly what you

  1276. desire for it to do. Break the hearts of sinners.

  1277. Draw them unto yourself. Encourage the Saints.

  1278. Teach them to count. Every blessing that they

  1279. received from your word, as they walk in it, as they learn it, as

  1280. they grow from it. God, we ask in this moment that

  1281. you do what only you can do. That is to draw wicked men unto

  1282. yourself for salvation, granting them forgiveness and eternal

  1283. life. And we pray all these things in

  1284. the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

  1285. Would you stand to your feet? Heads are bowed and eyes are

  1286. closed. You have been listening to Key

  1287. Life Fellowships Pulpit Ministry podcast.

  1288. Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word.

  1289. If you would like to speak with one of our pastors, please visit

  1290. us on the web at keylifefellow-ship.com.

  1291. Thank you again for joining us today.