Sermon
E07: Psalm 119: Living Life in the Light of God's Word - 7 Blessings From God's Word
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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You are listening to Key Life Fellowship's Pulpit Ministry
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podcast. We thank you for tuning in as we
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learn from God's Word together. For more information about Key
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Life Fellowship, visit us on the web at keylifefellow-ship.com.
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Amen. Are you thankful this morning
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that His Word truly is a lamp unto our feed and light unto our
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path? I can speak for myself and
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saying this, I don't know where I would be without guidance from
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His Word. I know one of those options
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would be eternity and hell. But I'm thankful that His Word
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is definitely a lamp into my feet and a light unto my path,
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just as the Psalmist has told us in the 119th Psalm.
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And I invite you to turn with me there to Psalm 119.
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And we will continue to look at our study this morning entitled
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Living a Life in the Light of God's Word as we are verse by
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verse traveling through the 119th Psalm.
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And here we are in the 7th letter of the Hebrew alpha
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alphabet. Evolve in your Bible.
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It's spelled in English WAW, but it is evolve in Hebrew.
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And the the psalmist is going to take this next acrostic.
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And what he's going to do in these 8 verses in this acrostic
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Psalm is he's going to give us today 7 blessings that we
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receive from God's Word. Seven blessings.
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Now I told the men earlier, this is not an exhaustive list.
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There are more, but these these are those that in this portion
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of this Psalm, the psalmist focuses on.
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So we'll, we'll be looking at those seven specific blessings
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or what we know as graces from God that directly stem or come
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from his word. And I want us to see how
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important the word of God is. And so in looking at this many
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times, because we fail to see the blessings that He has given
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us in His Word, and we fail to utilize the opportunities that
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we have to get into His word, we then forfeit the blessings that
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He desires that we have. And so in looking at 7 points
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that lie ahead of us, you know what we have to do.
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We have to jump in rather quickly if we're going to get
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all seven points out. And that's what I intend to do
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now. I intend to do it before 3:30.
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Now make you that promise. But we jump right into Psalm 119
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as we look at these seven blessings from God's word.
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And I pray that you would bear witness to this and that you
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would testify to how God has graced us with His Word and how
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every time that we open the pages of Scripture, it is
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blessing upon blessing upon endless blessing.
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Verse 41 it says, May your unfailing love come to me, O
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Lord, your salvation according to your promise.
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Then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in your
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word. Do not snatch the word of truth
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from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.
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I will always obey your law. Forever and ever I will walk
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about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.
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I will speak of your statutes before kings, and will not be
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put to shame, for I delight in your commands because I love
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them. I lift up my hands to your
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commands, which I love, and I meditate on your decrees.
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Let's pray together, Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to
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you now thanking you for your word, thanking you that today as
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we open our eyes and our ears and our.
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Hearts to your word. Lord, that you're going to give
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us understanding and into what a blessing your word is to your
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children. God, I pray as we look at these
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seven things, Lord, that we would be encouraged that we
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would rejoice that our God has given, given us the blessings
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that he has through the scriptures.
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And God, that we would devote our lives to studying them even
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more diligently, diving off into the meditating, as the psalmist
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says, loving them. And God, that you would change
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our lives through Your Word, as Your Word promises to do, to set
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us apart, to sanctify. US.
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In your truth, Lord, we pray all these things that we not be
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filled up with knowledge and become pompous.
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Well, we say all these things and we ask all these things so
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that you would receive all glory and honor and praise as a God
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who richly blesses his children. God, I pray for the soul who's
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here today who does not know Christ, who is going through
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life ignoring the greatest blessing of all, the fact that
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God sent his only begotten Son to this earth to rescue sinners.
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I pray today that you would open the sinner's eyes to that fact
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that they are Sinner and they are in need of a Savior.
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And Lord, I pray that in your mercy and by your grace you
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would meet their need and save them today as only you can, and
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God will give you all the glory for it in Jesus name, Amen.
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Amen. So we see the Psalmist here in
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these 8 verses, these 8 verses coinciding with that 7th Hebrew
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letter. He's giving us insight into
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blessings that often times we receive from the scripture and
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don't really realize the magnitude of these blessings.
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What? What does this consist of?
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And he jumps right into it. In verse 41, he says this, May
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your unfailing love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according
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to your promise. It's the psalmist here quickly
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recognizing the blessing of salvation that comes through the
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Word of God. Let me make that ever so clear.
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It is through the Word of God that salvation has been brought
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unto any of us. It is the Word of God that has
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revealed to us the truth of the gospel.
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It is the Word of God that has revealed to us through the
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prophets the Messiah that was pointed to.
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It is the Word of God that confirms that it was truly Jesus
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Christ, God Incarnate, who came to this earth and who offered
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himself as a propitiation upon a cross, a payment and atonement
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for sinners. And it is the Word that declares
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those things, bringing a man to the knowledge of his need for
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salvation. And so the psalmist saying this
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very quickly, may your unfailing love come to me, O Lord, your
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salvation according to your promise.
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You know what he's saying. I want to be saved according to
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your word. I want to experience your
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unfailing love according to your Word, because it's through the
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Word that God truly does bring. Salvation to his people.
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That's why Paul, in speaking to Timothy in Second Timothy
2 Timothy 3 chapter mention
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chapter 3, says this to Timothy in regards to the Scriptures.
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He says the scriptures that he's known from infancy, which are
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able to make you wise unto salvation.
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Did you know this? There's not a person who is
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saved who was saved without hearing the word of God.
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It is impossible. It is impossible for a person to
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have some kind of traumatic experience and then somehow that
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traumatic experience LED them to God.
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We are not led to God by traumatic experiences.
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We're not led to God by our feelings and our human emotions.
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We are led to God through the teaching and the preaching and
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the reading and the studying of God's Holy Word.
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In fact, salvation is impossible without hearing the word of God.
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I know many people are confused about this.
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I've heard testimony after false testimony.
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I was in this tragic car wreck and I was on the brink of death
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or I had some near near death experience.
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And then I came back and, and now I'm trying to live a good
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life because I've got a second chance.
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Well, welcome to legalism. You're going to try to live
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alive because you got a second chance.
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And you've mentioned nothing about Christ.
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You've mentioned nothing about the truth of the word of God.
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You've mentioned nothing about the gospel mentioned, mentioned
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nothing about truth that is revealed in His Word.
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Romans 10 verse 17 makes it very clear it says this.
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Consequently, faith comes from hearing.
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The message and the message. Is heard through the word of
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Christ. And so if faith is birthed
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through hearing the message, and the message is the word of
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Christ, it is impossible for you to have true saving faith, true
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faith in God without the Word of God.
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See what a blessing the Scriptures are to us.
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Let it be known that this is more than just a book of
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instructions for life. This is and contains the very
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Word of God that leads and directs us to salvation,
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forgiveness of sin, and eternal life.
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The psalmist knew that. Oh Lord, your salvation, bring
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it to me according to your promise, because you, your
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infinite wisdom, will lead me to truth in regard to salvation.
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Isn't it funny how there's so many false doctrines out there
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that are actually leading men away from salvation, all the
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while telling Him that it's leading them towards salvation?
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The reason that we know this is because this path that these
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false teachers are laying out for these folks, this path is
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not defined by scripture alone, but it's defined by their own
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philosophies and their own intellect.
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But it's God through His scriptures, it brings us to a
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place of salvation. Is God through his scriptures
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that opens our eyes to see the truth, opens our deaf ears to
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hear the truth? Is God through that truth
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coupled with the power of His Spirit that quickens us to new
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life, bringing about faith, bringing about repentance,
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bringing about true salvation. In John chapter 17, verses 6
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through 8, Jesus gives us some insight on this.
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He says this in verse 6. I have revealed you to those
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whom you gave me out of the world, and they were yours, and
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you gave them to me, and they have obeyed Your word.
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What did they do? They obeyed the Father's word.
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How did they receive the word of the Father?
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They received the word of the Father through the Old Testament
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Scriptures, through the prophets, and then through
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Christ Himself. Who taught them how the Old
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Testament Scriptures? And the prophets pointed to
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himself. It says now they know that
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everything you have given me comes from you, for I gave them
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the words you gave me and they accepted them.
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They knew with certainty that I came from you and they believed
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that you sent me. How?
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Did they believe that he was sent by the Father because
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Christ declared the word of God to his disciples?
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And in hearing the word of God, they believed.
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And unless you hear the word of God, you cannot believe.
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But they did believe in what a blessing salvation is, and it
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comes through the Word of God. The psalmist here specifically
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saying, according to your promise, the psalmist wanted to
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receive salvation God's way. He didn't want to receive
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salvation his way or anyone else's way.
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He wanted to receive salvation God's way.
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He said May your salvation come according to your promises.
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Let me just help all of you. If you bought into some man made
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gospel that is not based on scripture, you bought into a
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lie, therefore you are not saved.
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Please hear that. I say that because I am
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concerned for your soul in a church culture where they have
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lightened the gospel message so much that it's not even
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biblical. And so we need to examine the
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scriptures. We need to see has the true way
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of salvation come to me according to his promises.
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What did he promise? He promises how he truly saves
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sinners. What does this look like?
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We know that Paul gives a very clear description of this in
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Romans chapter 10. He says in verse 9 he says that
Romans 10 chapter mention
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if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe
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in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
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saved. For it is.
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With your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is
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with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
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As the Scripture says, anyone who trusts in Him will never be
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put to shame, for there is no difference between Jew and
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Gentile. The same Lord is Lord of all and
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richly blesses all who call on Him.
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For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
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How do we know this is true? Because Scripture says that it
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is true. And so God saves sinners
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according to what He has promised long before we get into
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any theological debates. If you do call upon the name of
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the Lord, and you do believe and you do confess with your mouth
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the Lord Jesus, yes, God has done a gracious work in order
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for all that to happen. And He's done it first of all
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through the preaching and teaching of His word.
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Now when that happens, when you truly do believe and you truly
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do confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, calling on Him and
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Him alone to save you, you were then saved according to
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Scripture. Please note this.
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Nowhere in there did it say pray a little prayer, ask Jesus into
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your heart, walk an aisle, do a dance, nothing of the sort.
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It is simply telling you the truth about how a person is
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honestly saved. What are the signs that this
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person has been regenerated by the Holy Spirit according to the
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Word of God? We see Him giving those
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indications there in John chapter 3 where He says you must
John 3 chapter mention
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be born again long before he gets to John chapter 3 verse 16.
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But when we get to 16, after a person has been sovereignly
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regenerated, what does salvation really look?
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Like he says this, for God so loved the world that he gave his
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one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish
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but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son
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into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world
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through him. Whoever believes in him is not
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condemned. Please pay attention to this.
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But whoever does not believe stands condemned already because
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he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
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Well, Scripture makes that very clear how salvation comes.
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Doesn't it? Salvation comes through faith in
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Christ and that alone. Salvation does not come in any
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good work that you can do. Salvation does not come in any
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religious merit that you have a religious ritual that you have
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somehow partaken in. Salvation comes to faith in
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Christ alone. A man is justified by faith
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apart from any law. The Scripture makes that so
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clear, and that's why when we read the scriptures, we can see
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what it really means to know Christ as our Lord and Savior.
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What does this look like? How does this transpire?
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John there in chapter 3 on down to verse 33 says the man who has
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accepted it is certified that God is truthful.
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When you believe in Christ and you accept Christ, you certify
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that God is truthful. What is he saying?
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Because God brought this truth to you by His grace through the
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preaching of the Scriptures. As you open your eyes, you
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certify that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent
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speaks the words of God. For God gives the Spirit without
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limit. The Father loves his Son and has
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placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has
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eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see
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life, for God's wrath remains on him.
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Why are we looking at John chapter 3?
John 3 chapter mention
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for us true biblical salvation in Christ and in Christ alone.
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True faith, true belief, true trust in Christ.
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That is why the preaching and the teaching of the Word of God
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accurately is so important. Romans chapter 10 verse 14 says
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this. How then can they call on the
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1:00 they have not believed in? Why is?
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Paul talking about this because you must believe in Christ to be
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saved. And how can they call on the one
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that they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the
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one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without
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someone preaching to them? What are we preaching?
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We're preaching the Word. We're teaching the truth from
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the Scriptures. And how can they preach unless
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they are sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of
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those who bring good news, who bring the truth of the gospel.
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I'm thankful for the beautiful feet of the man who walked into
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that church service on that Sunday morning.
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And he preached the truth of the Word of God to this young man.
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Because God used the Scriptures and the preaching and the
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teaching of the Scriptures to open my eyes to my need for a
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Savior. And He sovereignly saved me that
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morning, giving me faith to believe and strength to repent,
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empowered by His Holy Spirit for the very first time.
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And how beautiful are the feet of that man?
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Who was obedient and preaching the Word of God?
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Why? Because God uses His Word to
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bless us with salvation. Salvation, the grace that His
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Word brings into our life. Let us recognize that.
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Let us. Rejoice in that.
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You didn't get saved because you made some decision.
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You got saved because of the Word of God.
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And the Word of God does what the Word of God is intended to
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do, and that is to set the sinners free from their sin upon
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hearing the truth of His Word. So we see salvation.
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May your unfailing love come to me, O Lord, Your salvation
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according to your promise. Psalmist then moves on and he
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says, then I will answer the one who taunts me, for I trust in
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your word. Obviously here someone is
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taunting him. It seems to be a theme of the
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Psalmist's life. We see that all throughout the
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Psalms, right? Someone ridiculing, persecuting,
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saying false things against the man of God.
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He says that there are these who are here who are taunting me,
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probably taunting him for his faith and his trust in the Word
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of God when others are not trusting in the Word of God.
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And he says, for I trust in your word.
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See the confidence there? Is it true that God through his
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Word gives us confidence that we would not have otherwise?
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The Psalms here displaying this confidence.
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I'll answer the one who taunts me, for I trust.
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In your word. And trusting in God's Word,
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please listen to me, believe you're trusting in God's Word
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will bring you confidence to stand even when others are
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opposing you. Because you're not standing in
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the in the confidence of your own flesh.
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You're standing in the confidence of the truth, the
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word of God. And it is absolute truth.
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And you're standing in that. You're standing on his promises,
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you're standing on his precepts, you're standing on his commands.
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You're trusting in him over you and over those who are opposing.
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You. That's what we see here, the
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psalmist standing in that confidence that he has been
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blessed with through the word of God.
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Where did the confidence come from?
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He tells you, for I trust in Your word.
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I don't trust in what I see. I don't trust in my critics and
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what they say. I don't trust in the things that
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I'm going through in this life. I trust in your Word.
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He was confident. He was confident that God's Word
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is truth. Is that not what Jesus said,
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John 1717, where He said your word is truth and what He means
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by that? It's absolute truth, and there
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is no other absolute truth. God's word is truth.
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That truth ought to be our confidence.
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We got to stand in it just as the psalmist is standing in it
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here, even in the face of our enemies.
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God's word is truth. Psalm 12 verse 6 says this.
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And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver refined in
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a furnace of clay. Purified 7 times God's number of
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perfection all throughout Scripture, it is completely
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flawless and pure. Second Samuel Chapter 7 verse 28
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says this. O sovereign Lord, you are God,
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Your words are. Trustworthy and you have
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promised these good things to your servant.
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What we see there, the man of God trusting in the Word of God,
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the word of God being his confidence.
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Again, even in the face of those who would oppose us or oppose.
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The truth. You know what I've learned?
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I don't have to defend myself when I'm standing in the Word of
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God because I am not standing in myself.
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I can sit back and I can rest in the confidence of the Word of
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God to defend itself when someone wants to oppose the Word
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of God. And do you know what I just
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continually give to them? The Word of God.
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And they are going to tire themselves out.
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They are going to exhaust themselves arguing with God.
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They will never win. But I will not entertain an
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argument with them. That's not what the psalmist is
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saying here. He's saying I can answer the one
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who taunts me with truth, with solid truth.
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I can say thus saith the Lord, and I can walk away.
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I don't have to defend myself. I don't have to defend my
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stance. I rest in the confidence of
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Scripture. You know that's lacking today in
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the Christian Church, isn't it? Right.
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We were compromising, it seems, at every turn.
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I know this is not popular. People are going to get upset
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with me and it's OK. My confidence is in the Word of
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God, when many so-called Christians are debating things
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that they ought not be debating, like sexually immoral
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lifestyles, like homosexuality, we are not to be debating at
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those things right here. You're not to fornicate, you're
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not to sleep with someone who's not your wife.
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And we know that scripture says that a man is not to lay with a
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man as he lays with a woman. It's very cut and dried.
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It's very clear. My confidence is in that when
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someone wants to bring accusation against me or they
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want to oppose me on that, I simply quote for them what the
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scriptures say. Such will not inherit the
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Kingdom of. God and I don't have to say
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anything else because God has already spoken on that.
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My confidence is in the Word of God.
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What about this in our liberal way of thinking, right And day
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when everyone is embracing things that are unbiblical, for
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instance, women pastors, I know some of you are going to get mad
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because you're going to say this to me.
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Well, my aunt's a pastor. No, she's not.
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Your aunt's posing as a pastor because Paul's very clear that a
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woman is not the teacher to have authority over a man.
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And he's talking about in the church.
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It is not supposed to happen. It is not biblical.
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I don't have to argue with you about this.
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Did you notice the church for almost 2000 years has never
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argued this until the the women's liberal movement has
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infiltrated our culture. They didn't have to argue about
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it. They knew.
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What the word of God said and they were confident in the word
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of God and they said here's what the Lord says.
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There's no need to really debate this.
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It's interesting that there are entire denominations debating
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these things. The debates over God has spoken,
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read the. Text.
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I can stand in the confidence of the text.
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And say this is what God has said, therefore it's what is
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true. There's no room for compromise
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in any of this. So the Psalm is your
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understanding that he could face those who taunted him, right?
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Those who would say, oh, that outdated religion with all those
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crazy outdated beliefs, The psalmist could say, thus saith
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the Lord. Let's say at the Lord, I don't
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have to argue with you, I don't have to get into this with you.
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All I have to simply do is say what the Lord has already
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spoken. And in that He will defend
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himself, and He will defend His word.
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And that is my entire confidence.
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That ought to be all of our confidence.
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And what a blessing that is. What a blessing it is to know
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that I am not here to convince everyone that I am right about
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something. My job is to simply state that
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God is right in everything that He says.
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And here's what He said. And you can fight with God if
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you want to, but let me just warn you, friend, you're going
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to. Lose.
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You're going to lose in the end. Well, it may seem like you're
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doing OK in this life, but I promise you there will be an
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eternity to pay. You will pay for all eternity
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facing the wrath and the judgement of God.
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Embrace His truth and embrace His truth with confidence.
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Mark chapter 13 Jesus Speaking of the confidence that he was
Mark 13 chapter mention
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giving to his disciples. He says this in Mark 13 verse 9.
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He says you must be on your guard.
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You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in
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the synagogues. Oh, who wants to be a follower
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of Christ? Doesn't sound like modern
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invitations where he's going to make your life peachy and Rosie
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come, just ask him into your heart, He goes on.
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He says on account of me. You will stand before governors
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and kings as witnesses to them, and the gospel must first be
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preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and
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brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say.
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Just say whatever's given you at the time, for it is not you
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speaking, but the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit speaks,
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the Holy Spirit speaks as the word of God, because every
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single word that we have from God is breathed by the Holy
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Spirit as he carried the men of God of old along.
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And so we know this. He's promising his disciples.
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You can have confidence in my word when you're standing before
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kings and magistrates, you're standing before those people who
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are opposing you and can take your very life and, and in fact,
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they did. He said, don't worry about what
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you're going to say. You don't have to worry about
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what you're going to say. You just let my word speak.
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We see Jesus teaching that to his disciples.
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We see Paul exhorting the Ephesians to confidently use the
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word of God there in Ephesians chapter 6 in a very popular and
Ephesians 6 chapter mention
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familiar passage of Scripture, right?
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It's talking about the armor of God in the battle that we're
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facing. And Paul tells him when the day
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of evil comes, not. If the day of evil comes, but
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when it comes, he gives them some hope in in the armor of
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God. And he says this in verse 17 of
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chapter 6 of Ephesians. He says take the helmet of
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salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of
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God. Oh what great confidence you
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have now going into the battle. You have a sword, not only just
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a sword, a double edged sword, you have a sword that's.
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Provided for you by God for defense and for offense.
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And you don't have to rest in your own confidence.
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You can rest in the confidence of the Lord.
-
Psalmist knows this. Then I will answer the one who
-
taunts me, for I trust in your word.
-
His confidence was fully in God's blessing and grace of
-
confidence that comes through the word of God.
-
Thirdly, we see this as the psalmist continues to walk this
-
out. He says in verse 43.
-
Do not snatch. The word of truth from my mouth,
-
where I have put my hope in Your laws.
-
Do not snatch the word of truth for my mouth, for I have put my
-
hope in your laws. You know what the Psalmist knew
-
here. He knew something that many
-
times we forget. The Psalmist knew how the Word
-
of God, if truly absorbed into the heart, will produce an
-
outward profession. It will come out of your mouth.
-
He knew exactly how an inward hope would be accompanied by an
-
outward profession. In fact, first Peter.
-
Peter says this in chapter 3, verse 15.
-
But in your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord.
-
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
-
to give the reason for the hope that you have.
-
But do this with gentleness and respect.
-
What is Peter saying here? He's saying this that we know in
-
your. Heart and by faith in the unseen
-
you will experience salvation, but it will result in a constant
-
and continual profession of Christ and the hope that you
-
have inside coming out on the outside.
-
It's sad that we live in a church culture that thinks
-
baptism is an option. Baptism is your public
-
profession of faith in Jesus Christ.
-
It is you outwardly expressing what Christ has done inwardly
-
inside of you. There are people who say, you
-
know, I, I have trusted Jesus in my heart, but I'm not ready to
-
be baptized. I don't know about going in
-
front of all those people. To you I say this, I question
-
the sincerity of your faith. I question the sincerity of your
-
faith, because inward faith must be present.
-
But please know this outward expression must be present as
-
well. That is confirmation that you
-
are a true believer. Isaiah 51 verse 16, it says, I
-
put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of
-
my hand. I who set the heavens in place,
-
who laid the foundations of the earth, and who say to Zion, you
-
are my people. He said, I put my very words in
-
your mouth. If you're his people, He puts
-
his words in your mouth. He gives you a profession.
-
That's why we know this. Paul teaches it just like that
-
in Romans chapter 10. We looked at it a moment ago for
Romans 10 chapter mention
-
another example, but let's look at it again that if you confess
-
verse 9 with your mouth. Jesus is Lord and believe in
-
your. Heart that God.
-
Raised him from the dead. You will be saved, for it is
-
with your heart that you believe and are justified is with your
-
mouth that you confess and are saved.
-
So inward faith without an outward profession is not
-
salvation, it's intellectual knowledge, because true
-
salvation through the Word of God and according to the Word of
-
God, you will be graced with a profession.
-
And what will that profession be?
-
Christ and Christ alone. If it weren't for Christ, I
-
would still be destined for hell.
-
If it weren't for Christ, I would still be condemned.
-
If it weren't for Christ, I would still be the Sinner that I
-
always have been. But in Christ I have been
-
cleansed, I have been washed, I have been given eternal life.
-
Both are required. Please note that Paul didn't say
-
that we can confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and we
-
don't have to worry about it in our heart.
-
And he didn't say that we have to believe in our heart, not
-
really worry about our profession.
-
He said if both are present, you can know this true salvation has
-
taken place. And a person who says that I
-
believe, but yet I'm too embarrassed to get baptized.
-
You fall into the category that Jesus taught about when he said
-
if you were ashamed of him on this earth, he will be ashamed
-
of you before his Father in heaven.
-
Please take that seriously. That's the word of God.
-
That's not Kirk's opinion. That's not Kirk's
-
interpretation. That's exactly what the truth of
-
Scripture says. And so please understand that
-
today that your profession, you're our profession.
-
Is a result of a work of God, and it is a result of a work of
-
God through the Scriptures. He says, do not snatch the word
-
of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws.
-
He put hope in his laws inwardly, and now he's
-
professing the truth with his mouth.
-
He said. I don't want to lose that.
-
I don't want to be ashamed of my God who's done so much for me.
-
I don't want to be ashamed of my God who rescued me.
-
I don't want to be ashamed of my God who sent his only begotten
-
Son to rescue me on a cross. I want to proclaim that truth to
-
everyone I know. And then some.
-
Oh so many times we don't think of our profession as a grace,
-
but all of our salvation is a grace.
-
And if professing Christ is a part of our expression of
-
salvation, then we ought to see it as his grace in and through
-
us. The reason that I can profess
-
that Christ is my Lord is because Christ graciously saved
-
me. And I can profess it according
-
to the Scriptures accurately because Christ graciously gives
-
me the truth of Scripture. Jesus is not my homeboy, He's
-
not my best friend. Scripture says Jesus is my
-
atoning substitute, that he died in my place, that he.
-
Who knew no sin? Became sin so that I might
-
become the righteousness of God. Scripture tells me how he
-
suffered and how he bled and how he died to rescue me.
-
And that is what I profess. I profess it because Scripture
-
dictates it. Scripture mandates it.
-
So we see that even our profession may we understand
-
that that required profession. It's a grace that God has given
-
us through the Scriptures. He has let us know.
-
It's not enough just to secretly say you're a follower of Jesus,
-
but you must profess and you will profess according to the
-
word of God. But you see the blessing that
-
that is if you do profess Christ, and if you don't profess
-
Christ, I pray that you would search your soul today.
-
I pray that you would test yourself to see if you were
-
really of the faith. So we see the psalmist here
-
seeing the third blessing, that of profession.
-
He says, do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth.
-
Oh, where would I be without that word confirming that I do
-
truly have hope inwardly because of what Your word says.
-
Fourthly, we see this, he says in 44.
-
I will always obey your law, forever and ever.
-
Oh, we see there the blessing of obedience.
-
Now let me make this clear to all of you folks here today so
-
that you know this. When you obey God, don't pat
-
yourself on the back. That is simply what Ephesians
-
chapter 2 verse 10 calls good works which He prepared in
-
advance for you to do. And you learn to do these
-
things. How?
-
Through the studying and the teaching of the Word of God.
-
Isn't it the word of God that teaches us right from wrong?
-
It's the Word of God that teaches us.
-
Black from white, right? Black from white.
-
It's the Word of God that teaches us.
-
Unrighteousness from righteousness.
-
It's the Word of God that teaches us holiness from
-
wickedness. We know that we learned those
-
things through the Scripture, and without the Scripture we
-
would not even know what obedience is.
-
That's what Paul said when he got down to the root of the law.
-
He said it's the law that showed me what sin is.
-
Had the law not come forth, I wouldn't.
-
Have even known what coveting is, but His word shows me what
-
is sinful, and it also shows me what is obedient and righteous.
-
So the psalmist here is saying, I will always obey your law,
-
forever and ever. Why?
-
Because he had been blessed through knowing the Scriptures.
-
With the gift of obedience, He'd been graced with that God's word
-
had allowed him to see all of his deficiencies and his need to
-
count on God in every area of his life.
-
To know that there is no righteousness that is found in
-
and of ourselves, but righteousness comes from God.
-
We know that Paul declares that that righteousness has been.
-
Revealed in Christ, God's Word, He gives us all the wisdom and
-
all the direction that we need to be obedient to God.
-
Proverbs 2 verse 6 says this. For the Lord gives wisdom, and
-
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
-
He holds victory in store for the upright.
-
He is a shield to those who want whose walk is blameless, for He
-
guards the course of the just and protects the way of his
-
faithful ones. Then you will understand what is
-
right and just and fair. Every good path.
-
How will you know this? Go back to the first part.
-
The Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and
-
understanding. How do we have knowledge and
-
understanding to walk the path of obedience?
-
It is His Word. It is a lamp unto our feet, and
-
it is a light unto our path. That's why the psalmist said,
-
I've hidden Your word in my heart so that I might not sin
-
against God. He had a desire for obedience,
-
and where did that desire come from?
-
Please don't take credit for it. He didn't come from you.
-
God put that desire for you to obey in you when He saved you,
-
because it should be the desire of His children to obey Christ
-
to obey. The Word of God, Jesus, Matthew
Matthew 17 chapter mention
-
chapter 17 Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord shall enter
-
the Kingdom of heaven, but only he who does what the will of my
-
Father. Why do you have a desire to do
-
the will of the Father? Because the word has shown you
-
that that ought to be your desire and has shown you what it
-
means to actually live out your faith obediently.
-
If you're not living out your your claim to faith obediently,
-
A, you're not truly saved or B, you're ignoring the word of God
-
because a true believer is going to see the word of God for what
-
it is, wisdom and direction and how to obey God, how to bring
-
him glory in your life. Don't forget this.
-
If you're obedient to any degree in your life, it's because of
-
His work of sanctification. It's because of His work of
-
sanctification. And what did Jesus say?
-
Go back to John 1717 again. He said sanctify them by truth.
-
Your word is truth. And if you were being
-
sanctified, that means you were being moved from sinful and
-
disobedient to holy and righteous and obedient,
-
conforming to the image of Christ, just as He preordained
-
for you to conform to. If that is going on in your
-
life, it does not happen without the blessing that comes from the
-
Word of God in regard to our obedience.
-
So if you're obedient, it's because of Him, it's not because
-
of you. Give the praise that is due.
-
Luke 11 verse 27, it says this as Jesus was saying these
-
things, a woman in the crowd called out, blessed is the
-
mother who gave you birth and nursed you.
-
She was obviously Catholic. She's obviously wrong.
-
Watch what he says, He replied. Blessed.
-
Rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.
-
What a blessing that it would have been from God.
-
Can you imagine being Mary? And we know we can read the
-
account of how she was informed that she was going to bear the
-
Messiah. What a blessing that would have
-
been that she would be a vessel chosen by God.
-
And please know that just the vessel, just the tool chosen by
-
God for His incarnation. She was even overwhelmed with
-
that blessing. Now Jesus himself said a greater
-
blessing that we can receive is this, to hear the word of God
-
and to obey it. The psalmist understood this.
-
I will always obey your law forever and ever.
-
He was devoted to obedience because God had done a work in
-
him. Through the word.
-
So when we see obedience toward God in our lives, may we realize
-
that any and all obedience comes as a blessing, as a grace from
-
God. Don't pat yourself on the back.
-
And pat yourself on the back and say how good you are, because
-
you used to not obey, and now you're obeying.
-
Now you say how good God is that He would grace you with the
-
truth of His Word, so that you would walk in obedience to His
-
Word, and you would walk in that blessing that He desires.
-
To give you of O obedience. What a gracious God that we
-
serve, that a once willful center like myself who
-
contradicted God in every area of my life, every word from my
-
mouth, every thought in my mind that He would now through His
-
Word, through the teaching of His Word, grace me with
-
sanctification and obedience and allow me to now be a vessel who
-
brings Him glory through that obedience that He has given me
-
to live out. Psalmist understood that I'll
-
always obey Your law forever and ever.
-
We go to verse 45 and we see the 5th blessing.
-
Of God's word this morning says I will walk about in freedom,
-
for I have sought out your precepts.
-
We see freedom here. What a blessing.
-
The psalmist understood freedom through the word of God, freedom
-
through sound teaching from the Word of God.
-
He knew that through His Word, God enlightens us to the fact
-
that we can be set free from the bondage of sin that once held.
-
US. The psalmist getting that I will
-
walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.
-
Isn't it interesting that the lost world thinks that the Word
-
of God will confine us? The Word of God will hold us in
-
bondage to those ancient traditions.
-
But isn't it true that the opposite really happens to the
-
child of God? It is the Word of God that sets
-
us absolutely free from bondage. What the psalmist is saying
-
here, you know what to be true if you've read the New Testament
-
and all that. We have freedom in Christ,
-
number one, we have freedom from sin.
-
According to Paul, what he wrote in Romans chapter 6, he says in
Romans 6 chapter mention
-
verse 18, you have been set free from sin and have become slaves
-
to righteousness. Why?
-
Because of God's grace, because of God's mercy, because of the
-
truth of God's Word, we have been set free from sin, from the
-
penalty, and the power of sin in our life.
-
How many people just settle for being freed from the penalty?
-
Why? It's not going to be held in my
-
charge eternally, and I'm not going to have to go to hell now,
-
so I'm going to get to go to heaven, and that's cool.
-
But Jesus died according to the Word of God, not just.
-
To free you from the penalty of sin, but to also free you from
-
the power of sin. So that you can walk in
-
obedience, so that you can be holy.
-
For the Lord your God is holy, just as Scripture has commanded
-
us to do. Jesus Christ has set us free
-
from the penalty and the power of sin.
-
And one day ultimately, according to the Word of God, He
-
will set us free from the presence of sin.
-
We will dwell with him in a sinless environment for all
-
eternity thinks be unto God through Jesus.
-
Christ our Lord, and so we have freedom.
-
Freedom from the penalty and the power of sin.
-
Now make no mistake, it's not freedom to sin because
-
unfortunately the carnal mind hears freedom from sin and you
-
think freedom to sin. That's not what he's saying.
-
In fact, we ought to never abuse our freedom from sin by
-
participating in sin. Galatians chapter 5 verse 13.
-
Paul makes this very clear. He said you, my brothers, were
-
called to be free. But do not use your freedom to
-
indulge the sinful nature. Rather serve one another in
-
love. The entire law is summed up in a
-
single command. Love your neighbor as yourself.
-
What is Paul saying? He's saying this.
-
You are freed from the penalty and the power of sin in your
-
life. There is no sin that is going to
-
be held to your charge eternally.
-
If you were in. Christ, they're all forgiven,
-
past, present and future. He said.
-
But that's no. Excuse for you to do whatever
-
you want to do, because you could call somebody else to fall
-
into sin. You could call someone else to
-
stumble. You could hurt your testimony to
-
others. Paul taking that very seriously.
-
We know that how the word of God is when we look at freedom, the
-
blessing that we have from the word of God.
-
We also need to see if freedom is not to be abused.
-
So we have freedom from sin, not freedom to sin, but we also have
-
freedom from legalistic righteousness.
-
Oh, I would to God that some of you would get freedom from
-
legalistic righteousness. You think that if I check all
-
the boxes, I'm going to be OK? Galatians 5 says this verse one.
-
It says it is for freedom that Christ has set you free.
-
Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by
-
the yoke of slavery. Mark my words.
-
I Paul tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised,
-
Christ will be of no value to you at.
-
All. Again, I declare to every man
-
who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the
-
whole law. So what's going on here?
-
These Judaizers have crept in and they're trying to promote
-
circumcision. That's always the first step
-
because we know that circumcision precedes the.
-
Law. Because circumcision came with
-
Abraham, the law came with Moses.
-
So what's happening here? These people are telling the
-
people that they must be circumcised even though they are
-
in Christ. And some of them, even Gentile
-
believers, Paul saying absolutely not.
-
Don't return to that yoke of slavery and legalistic
-
righteousness, he says. I tell you that if you let
-
yourself be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at
-
all. Again, I declare to every man
-
who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the
-
whole law. He says if you're going to go
-
through with this, you have to obey the other 613 commandments
-
of the law. If you're counting on that to
-
justify you, you have to be perfect and your righteousness.
-
He doesn't. Verse 4, you who are trying to
-
be justified by the law, that's for all the people who say what
-
he was talking about circumcision here and not
-
talking about the entirety of the law.
-
There you go. Paul has spoken.
-
You who are trying to be justified by the law have been
-
alienated from Christ. You have fallen away from grace,
-
but by faith we eagerly await is through the Spirit, the
-
righteousness from which we hope.
-
For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
-
has any value. The only thing that counts is
-
faith expressing itself through love.
-
What's Paul talking about here? He's talking about freedom from
-
legalistic righteousness. I don't have to earn salvation.
-
I don't have to do this. I don't have to do anything so
-
that I can be saved. Jesus Christ has done it all.
-
I simply by God's grace, trust in that, in that alone,
-
according to the word of God. And so people who teach you
-
things, Jesus plus anything, right?
-
Jesus plus you have to be baptized, Jesus plus you have to
-
go to church. Jesus plus you have to wear a
-
black suit and a black tie. Jesus plus anything is
-
legalistic righteousness. That's not the gospel, That's no
-
blessing at all. What that is, it's another yoke
-
of slavery. Paul said don't return to that.
-
You have freedom from legalistic righteous.
-
You have freedom from the law. Why?
-
Because Christ has fulfilled the law fully for those who are in
-
Christ. And thirdly, we see this in
-
regard to freedom. We have freedom through the the
-
truth of God's Word. How does this come about?
-
Through God's Word? John chapter 8 verse 31 says to
-
the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, if you hold to my
-
teaching, you are really my disciples.
-
Again teaching the doctrine of perseverance, that a true
-
disciple will hold to his teachings, the teachings found
-
in His Word, and then you will know the truth and the truth
-
will set you free. There's freedom again.
-
And what has set them free? It is the truth.
-
The truth of what? The truth of the Word of God.
-
So it is in the Word of God that true freedom comes to those who
-
are really in Christ because they have believed the truth of
-
the Word of God. And we know what he says in 36.
-
So if the sun sets you free, you will be free indeed.
-
This is no longer up for discussion.
-
If you are truly in Christ, set free by the truth of God's Word,
-
you have the blessing of. Freedom.
-
You are free now to rejoice and to be obedient to God, not out
-
of obligation trying to be justified.
-
You get to be obedient to God out of appreciation for what
-
Jesus Christ did for you at the cross.
-
And. Let me tell you this, I've done
-
it both ways. 1 is a yoke of slavery, legalism and the other
-
is true freedom and trusting in Christ that if I lay my head on
-
a pillow tonight and and all the boxes are not checked, Jesus
-
Christ has already checked all the boxes that need to be
-
checked for me and I have faith and I have hope in him and him
-
alone. What freedom that he blesses us
-
with through knowing his word. Sixthly, we see this as the
-
Psalmist continues verse 46. He says, I will speak of your
-
statutes before kings and will not be put to shame.
-
What are the psalmist doing here?
-
The psalmist is offering for us boldness, and the psalmist could
-
boldly proclaim truth, He says, even before kings, before rulers
-
and those in authority, because he trusted in the word of God,
-
and he trusted in the word of. God to be his powerful boldness,
-
he says. I'll speak of your statutes
-
before kings and will not be put to shame.
-
That's what Jesus told his disciples they would do as well,
-
right? You're going to go before kings
-
and magistrates, but don't worry about what you're going to say.
-
Holy Spirit's going to give you the word to say My word is in
-
you. He's going to speak through you.
-
He's going to give you the boldness that you need.
-
Isn't that what Jesus promised the followers of Christ there in
-
Acts chapter one? That they would receive boldness
-
to be witnesses when the Spirit's power came.
-
Upon them. And that's exactly what
-
happened. So we see that.
-
The psalmist understands the blessing of true boldness from
-
the Word of God. To simply proclaim God's Word as
-
truth and not compromise at all, and just to be bold in that
-
people. Ask all the time, why are How
-
are you so bold? I'm not bold.
-
Truth be told, I don't even want to be up here, but God's word is
-
bold and God has empowered me with his word and when that
-
comes out, it comes out as bold. Why?
-
Because God is bold and His Word is bold, that He has graced us
-
with boldness if we are in Christ, so that when we stand
-
before whoever, be it kings, be it magistrates, be it governors,
-
be it a group of people known as Goli Fellowship, when we stand
-
before those people and we stand in His Word, we stand in the
-
blessing of boldness. That's what the psalmist is
-
getting at here. I'm going to speak of your
-
statutes before kings and will not be put to shame.
-
I'm not going to be afraid of them, what they can do to me
-
because kings could take his life.
-
He's not worried about that. He's going to proclaim boldly
-
the truth of the word of God because of the truth of the word
-
of God is bold. So anytime you proclaim God's
-
truth, it's bold, It's bold truth.
-
People like you're, you're just black and white.
-
No, the word of God's black and white.
-
It says what it means and it means what it says.
-
And we simply get up here and we just discharge the word of God.
-
And we we broadcast it out to everyone.
-
It does what it's intended to do.
-
It boldly confronts your sin. It boldly confronts your life.
-
It boldly confronts your unbelief.
-
It boldly confronts your doubt. It boldly confronts your fears.
-
It boldly confronts everything in your.
-
Life because the word of God is bold.
-
Psalmist here understanding that I'll speak your statutes before
-
kings and will not be put to shame.
-
No, we remember the words of Paul where he told Timothy there
-
in second Timothy chapter 4. Preach the Word, be prepared in
2 Timothy 4 chapter mention
-
season and out of season, correct rebuke, encourage with
-
great patience and careful instruction, for the time will
-
come when men will not put up with sound doctrine and said to
-
suit their own desires, they will gather.
-
Around them a great number of teachers to say what their
-
itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away
-
from the truth and turn aside to myths.
-
In the midst of this, Paul saying that there is going to be
-
this downgrade and people are not going to want sound
-
doctrine. He's telling Timothy boldly
-
stand on the Word of God and let the Word of God be what it is,
-
bold, and just stand there in season and out of season.
-
You know what that means when it's popular and when it's not
-
popular, when it's accepted, when it's not accepted, when the
-
people who you're talking to are going to prove of it or the
-
people who you're talking to are going to disapprove of it.
-
He's saying stand in boldness and it is in the Word of God
-
that we have boldness. What a blessing that is.
-
Now we see the example of Paul not only speaking to Timothy
-
about boldness and preaching the word of God without compromise.
-
We see it in his life. Paul living this out.
-
Acts chapter 24 before Felix, standing in the boldness of the
Acts 24 chapter mention
-
word of God before Festus in Acts chapter 25, standing in the
Acts 25 chapter mention
-
boldness of the word of God before Herod and Griffith.
-
There again in Acts 25 standing in the boldness of the word of
-
God. We see in Acts 25.
-
Many believe that he actually stood before Nero.
-
How do you stand before Nero? In the boldness of the word of
-
God, blessed and graced with that boldness that comes from
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the Word, we think of men like Luther throughout history,
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Martin Luther, who took his stand on the Word of God.
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At the deer of worms, he refused to recant the truth of
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Scripture. He refused to back down from
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what the word of God said and what the word of God taught, and
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he stood with these famous words.
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Here I stand, I can do no other. How he was facing
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excommunication and possibly even facing death.
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And Luther stood in the boldness that comes when a man stands on
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the truth of the word of God. And he stood there, and he said,
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here I stand. I can do no other.
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I got no other choice. Preacher, why are you always
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confronting issues with the Scriptures so boldly?
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I've got no other choice. Here I stand.
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I can do no other. Let me just tell you this.
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If you claim to be a preacher and you can do something else,
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you're mistaken in your calling. The preacher is going to stand
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in the boldness of the truth of the Word of God, and he can do
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no other. I tell these young ministers all
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the time who I work with. If you can do something else, do
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it. Start today, put out your
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applications, get out of here. There's lots of good jobs.
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Go find a job. But if we're going to do what
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we're called to do, we're going to have to trust the Word of God
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that He's going to give us all the boldness that we need.
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And he's going to, you're going to need it.
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He's going to give it to you. So we see boldness as a blessing
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that comes from God through His Word.
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We read account after account in Scripture.
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The men and women of God who were equipped with the word of
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God and allowed them to be bold. Even in the face of persecution,
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even in the face of death, they were bold.
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That boldness came from the truth of Scriptures.
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And lastly, we see this verse 47, he says, For I delight in
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your commands because I love them.
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Instead, I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love.
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And I meditate on your decrees. I want you.
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To see the blessing of affection that he has been given, you say,
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well, wait a minute, he's been given.
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It sounds like he's given it back.
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He had to receive it before he could give it.
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And is the Word of God that revealed God's love to the
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psalmist, just as the word of God reveals his love to us.
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Psalmist here, obviously overwhelmed with love for God.
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And for his word. The reason that he's overwhelmed
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because he received God's unfailing love that he asked for
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in verse 41. Go back to verse 41.
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What did he say? Go back there, he says, may your
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unfailing love come to me. That's his first request and now
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we see. Here at the end of this Psalm,
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obviously his unfailing love came to him.
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And we know that his unfailing love came to him because we know
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what John teaches in his epistle.
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We love because he first loved us.
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And now, because the psalmist has received, has received the
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blessing of God's love and affection, he now walks in that
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same affection, reciprocating that love back to the Father, so
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having true love for God and for his.
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Word folks, it's a blessing. It's a blessing that is brought
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about in our lives because God has revealed His love to us
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first. And when you see the magnitude
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of God's love, Romans 5/8 God demonstrates his love for us in
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this While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
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When you see the magnitude of God's love, and your response is
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not utter love in return, something is spiritually wrong
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with you. Something is dreadfully off from
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what a believer ought to be. So the psalmist here having
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affection, look at his deep affection.
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For I delight in your commands because I love them.
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I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I
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meditate on your decrees. Oh, think of the psalmist there
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going. Through the Word of God,
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meditating on those truths over and over and over again, and,
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and in doing that, seeing the extent of God's love for him.
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Up in the attic above my garage, I keep a small blue Rubbermaid
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tote that I've had for years. In fact, had it since high
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school. Inside that tote there are love
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letters that I received from my now bride when we were just
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kids, while we were in high school, when she went off to
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college and we thought we were going to die because we were
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away from one another. Many times I have revisited that
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treasured vault, sometimes by myself.
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Sometimes we've actually read these things together.
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Please don't judge us on our grammatical errors.
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But one thing I will I'm reminded of every time and I
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still don't know why. I'm reminded of every time I
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read those letters that that woman loves me and I don't know
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why. And she's loved me since we were
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kids. It's the same.
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And even to a greater degree, when we open up the Word of God,
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we see the truth, and my God loves me.
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And I may not have any idea why. I don't have any idea why I can
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give him a million reasons why not to love me, just as I could
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my wife. But the Lord has determined to
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love me, and His word confirms that.
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Over and over and over again, I think about those letters, when
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I would receive those letters. That's how we used to do it.
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All you youngsters, the mail we didn't have, e-mail we didn't
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have. Text.
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My wife went off to college. She's quite a bit older than me
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while I was still in high school, and it was a difficult
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time because contrary to what anyone else thought, parents
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included, we loved each other. We knew that we were going to
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spend the rest of our life together and that the Lord had a
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plan for us. I'm thankful that he did.
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But I can remember when I knew that she had sent me a letter.
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It would take about 2 1/2 to three days, whatever, from
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getting from where she was to where I was.
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I would listen. I couldn't wait because I don't
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know why the US Postal Service can't fix their brakes, but they
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have the squeakiest brakes in the world.
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And my mail lady would come and I would hear her brakes and I
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would know, oh, that's probably a letter from Brandy.
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And I'd already mailed one off because she made.
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Sure, if I'm sending this, you better send me one.
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How we go out to that mailbox and get that letter as fast as I
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could. I just wanted to know, does she
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still love me like she used to? Does she still want to be mine
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forever? So many times we don't do that
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with the word of God, do we? We don't get excited on Sunday
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morning to come and to hear that He still loves us.
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He still has a plan for our life.
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We're still His children. We're still the apple of his
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eye, even though we don't know why.
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And he sent his only begotten Son to die to rescue us so that
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he could love us, so that we could then love him in return.
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And that's what the psalmist is doing here.
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He is blessed with love in return to God.
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He gets to love God back. And that means a lot from a guy
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who understands that he was once cut off from God, but now I get
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to love him back. I get to approach his throne of
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grace. I get to commune with him, He
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with me. Well, the psalmist understood
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that. And how do I understand that?
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The Word of God, the Word of God, every time I open it up, it
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is 66 volumes of letters that He has left for me so that I can
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know more about Him, so that I can fall deeper in love with
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Him, so I can fall deeper in love with who He is for what He
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has done for me. So that I can long.
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To see him again. Oh, just like those letters used
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to serve that purpose in the human sense.
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Oh, we long to see each other again.
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We couldn't wait till that day and those letters were full.
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We still read them if we open them up today.
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Oh, I can't wait until this weekend.
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I haven't seen you in four weeks and we're about to die then.
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It's sad that sometimes we spend more than four weeks without
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even opening the pages of Scripture, missing out on the
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wonderful love that God has for us so that we can reciprocate.
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That love for him, that's what John said, John says, and John,
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John's epistle, the 4th chapter, he says this is love, not that
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we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an
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atoning sacrifice for our sins. How do we know about that?
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Through the Scriptures. Through the scriptures.
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I wouldn't there at the feet of the cross when Jesus was
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crucified, but I know through the Scriptures that He has
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preserved for me through the ages, for you as well, that God
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has shown us His love through the sacrifice of His Son.
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May we love Him in return. Because we're not for the Word
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of God. We'd have no real understanding
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and real no real knowledge of God's love for His own.
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We'd have no real hope. He has given us his word and we
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have all of those things, Stephen Sharnick said.
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This he said, before the new creation, there was no affection
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toward the law. He said I had no affection
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toward God's Word. It was only a dead letter.
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But when this is written within him, he is.
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So. Pleased with the inscription
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that he would not for. All the world be without the law
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and the love of it. What is Sharnic saying?
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He's saying before you were born again, you gave no regard to
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God's word. But since you have been born
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again. It ought to be a love in your
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life, just as those letters that I received from my wife would
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would assure me of her love and our love for one another as she
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would read letters that I wrote to.
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Her. It ought to be the same for the
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born again believer. A love for God's Word Look what
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the psalmist says here. He says, I'll speak of your
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statues before kings and will not be put to shame.
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Then he says, Fry, delight in your commands because I love
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them, and I lift my hands to your commands.
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Look at the response here, which I.
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Love and I meditate on your decrees.
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What's he saying? I lift my hands.
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Well, we can lift our hands and do a lot of things right.
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Pray, praise. We can lift our hands to work
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for the Lord and to serve Him. Isn't that part of our worship
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and our love toward Him? He's saying because of your law,
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I do these things. You have overwhelmed me with
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your love to a point that I love you and I lift my hands to Your
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word and what Your word says to me and I love it.
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And I love it so much that I meditate on it.
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Just like the letters that I've spoken of.
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I meditated on those things over and over and over.
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I process those things. That we do the same with the
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Word of God, because it is love for God and His Word that moves
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us to worship, that moves us to service, that moves us to
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intense adoration. May we be moved.
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By the Scriptures in regard to all of those areas in our life,
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for not for God's Word revealing God's love for us, we would
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never love neither God nor His Word.
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But because of that blessing that we have received of His
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Word, we know of His love, and we in return love Him, and we
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love His Word and we meditate on it.
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The lover of our soul has revealed Himself to us through
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the Scriptures. May we see the blessing that it
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is, and may we love the Lord and His Word in return.
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So we conclude with this this morning to the believer, I ask
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you this question. Are you reaping the blessings
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and the benefits from God's Word that we see the psalmist reaping
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here? Those blessings and those
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benefits that He intends for you to have?
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Are you thankful for the graces that we have seen, those seven
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blessings that He has covered in God's Word?
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Are you thankful for those things in your life daily, or
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you just simply take them for granted, never giving any
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thought to His Word or to loving His Word?
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Are you thankful for the salvation that His Word has
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brought, the confidence that His Word brings, the profession that
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you have because of His Word, obedience that you have through
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His Word, freedom that you have according to His Word, boldness
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in His word, and affection, It comes from His word.
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Oh, what graces we have received, believers, I'll take
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those things for granted. Don't miss seeing them as the
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blessings that they truly are to the unbeliever.
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I turn your attention back to .1 because until God graces you
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with knowledge of true salvation, none of the other
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things will be applicable to your life.
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So for you it must begin all the way back in .1.
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Salvation and God's word has made it very clear that sinful
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man is in need of salvation. In fact, Romans chapter 3 verse
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10 says this as it is written. There's no one righteous, not
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even one. There is no one who understands,
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no one who seeks God. All have turned away.
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They have together become worthless.
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There is no one who does good, not even one.
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Their throats are open graves. Their tongues practice deceit.
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The poison of Vipers is on their lips.
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Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
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Their feet are swift to shed blood.
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Ruin and misery mark their ways and the way of peace They do not
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know. There is No Fear of God before
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their eyes. Scripture is very clear about
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this. I told you that it is the truth
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of Scripture that will show you your need for a Savior.
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Scripture is very clear that apart from Christ you are a
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Sinner, that all who are apart from Christ are sinners.
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None are righteous. No one seeks after him.
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In fact, in Romans 3, Paul continues in verse 23, for all
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have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
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Everyone and all are justified freely by His grace through the
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redemption that came through Jesus Christ.
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And God presented Christ as the sacrifice of atonement through
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the shedding of His blood to be received by faith.
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He did this to demonstrate His righteousness because in His
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forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.
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He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at the present
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time so as to be just in the One who justifies those who have
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faith in Jesus. It is also His Word, and we see
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reveals to us that the only way to experience His unfailing
-
love, His forgiveness, His true salvation is through faith in
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Jesus Christ. And that alone and His faith in
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Jesus Christ and that alone that a person will be justified
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before a holy God. He is the only hope for sinners.
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In fact, Scripture tells us that there's no other name given
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under heaven whereby men must be saved other than the name of
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Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 10 gives us the
Romans 10 chapter mention
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answer to all of this. And I am a Sinner, and I'm
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separated from God, and I'm destined for judgement in hell.
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What does the scripture say for me now?
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It says this, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is
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Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
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dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that
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you believe and are justified. And it is with your mouth that
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you confess and are saved, as the scripture says.
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Paul going back and quoting the Old Testament scripture showing
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us that people have always been saved the same way both Old
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Testament and New Testament faith, he says anyone who trusts
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in him will never. Be put to shame.
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What is the hope for sinners? Trust in Christ Trust in Christ
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as the only acceptable sacrifice for your sin.
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Romans 10/13 Paul makes it very clear for everyone who calls on
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the name of the Lord, we'll be saved.
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See your desperate condition as God opens your eyes today that
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you are a Sinner and you are separated from a holy God, and
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that you must cry out to Jesus in desperation because he's the
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only hope that you have to ever be forgiven of your sin.
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And this day, cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ calling on His
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name, and you will be saved. Save from what?
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Many people don't even know this.
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Save from what? Save from judgment.
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It is coming. Judgment is coming upon all
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unbelieving sinners. The Word of God says that I
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stand in that truth and I do not compromise.
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Save from the judgment that is to come.
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Save from the wrath of God that will come upon all unrepentant,
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unredeemed sinners. The wrath of God is coming.
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Flee the wrath of God today and be secured in the ark of Christ.
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Flee to Christ today and away from the wrath that is to come.
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Free from judgement, free from wrath, and free from hell.
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Yes, this preacher still believes in hell.
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Why? Because Scripture still
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commands. That we believe in it.
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And so I say to you today, oh, I know what some will do.
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I'm never going back to that church.
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He preaches all that Hellfire, brimstone stuff.
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I preach you nothing but the scriptures.
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I've spent this entire morning showing you the blessings that
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come from hearing the word of God and from learning the word
-
of God. And one of those blessings is
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this. And when a person hears the word
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of God and the truth about hell, God can use that to spark
-
something in them, to cause them to flee to Christ as their only
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hope. And I pray today that He sparked
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that in you, that He causes you to flee to Christ, calling upon
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His name. Let's pray together, Father, in
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the name of Jesus. We thank You for Your word, and
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it has gone forth, and we trust that it will do exactly what you
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desire for it to do. Break the hearts of sinners.
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Draw them unto yourself. Encourage the Saints.
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Teach them to count. Every blessing that they
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received from your word, as they walk in it, as they learn it, as
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they grow from it. God, we ask in this moment that
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you do what only you can do. That is to draw wicked men unto
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yourself for salvation, granting them forgiveness and eternal
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life. And we pray all these things in
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the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
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Would you stand to your feet? Heads are bowed and eyes are
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closed. You have been listening to Key
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Life Fellowships Pulpit Ministry podcast.
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Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word.
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If you would like to speak with one of our pastors, please visit
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us on the web at keylifefellow-ship.com.
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Thank you again for joining us today.