The Law of God, Part 2

Father God, we thank you for today and all the things that

you do, and we're grateful, Lord, for the word of the Lord.

We're grateful that we can study it and that we can learn about

who you are and that we can grow on our walk with you.

We're thankful, Lord, that you allow us to gather together in

the middle of the week to spend time looking deep into the Word

of God. Tonight.

Lord, we just ask you to work in all of our hearts 'cause us,

Lord, to be open and receptive to the things that we hear.

Help us to have soft hearts and not hard hearts that we might be

truly broken and understand clearly You're marching orders

for your your children. We truly want to live like

children of the King. And so as we study your sermon

about how to do that, we just pray that you would just direct

us, lead us and guide us that we might be honoring to you not

just today, but through all the days of our lives.

We pray in Jesus name, Amen. Take your Bible and turn to

Matthew chapter 5 as we continue to look at at the Sermon on the

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Mount. The last time we were together,

we were looking at Matthew 5, verses 17 to 20 by way of

Matthew 5:17–20

introduction. Let me read it for you just to

set it in your in your minds it says, do not think that I came

to abolish the law or the prophets.

I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.

For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not

the smallest letter of stroke shall pass from the law until

all is accomplished. Whoever then knows one of the

least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same,

shall be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.

But whoever keeps and teaches them, you should be called great

in the Kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless

your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and

Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven.

Now these verses point to a very pivotal aspect to Christ's

sermon. Because truly He is the

fulfillment of the law. The law is all about the Christ.

So he wants everybody on the mountainside to understand that

he is not saying anything contrary to that which has

already been said, that He is the fulfillment of the Law.

So let me illustrate that to you by taking you to the Gospel of

Luke, Luke chapter 24, the resurrection of Christ.

Luke 24 · chapter mention

Remember in verse #1 of Luke 24 it says on the first day of the

week, at early dawn they came to the tomb, bringing the spices

which they had prepared, and they found the stone rolled away

from the tomb. But when they entered, they did

not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were perplexed about this, behold, 2 men suddenly

stood near them in dazzling clothing.

As the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground,

the men said to them, Why do you seek the living One among the

dead? He is not here, but He has

risen. Remember how we spoke to you

while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must

be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified.

And the third day rise again. Don't you remember all the

things that He already said to you specifically about His

death, burial and resurrection? Move down to verse #13 and

behold, 2 of them were going that very day to a village named

Emmaus, which was about 7 miles from Jerusalem, and they were

talking with each other about all these things which had taken

place. While they were talking and

discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began travelling

with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.

He said to them, What are these words that you are exchanging

with one another as you are walking?

And they sit still looking sad. One of them named Cleopas

answered and said to him, Are you the only one visiting

Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here

in these days? And he said to them, what

things? And they said to him the things

about Jesus the Nazarene. And remember, Christ never asks

question to receive information. He knows everything.

He only asks questions for your illumination, not for his

information. It's always important to realize

that. So Jesus asked him, what are you

talking about? What things?

So they begin to tell him, they said, Jesus the Nazarene, who

was a prophet, mighty in deed and word, in the sight of God,

and all the people and of the chief priests and our rulers,

delivered him to the sentence of death and crucified him.

But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem

Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is

the third day since these things happen.

But also some women among us were among us amazed us.

When they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find

his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of

angels who said that he was alive.

Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it,

just exactly as the women also had said.

But Him they did not see. And he, Jesus said to them, O

foolish men, and slow of heart, to believe in all the prophets

have spoken. Was it not necessary for the

Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?

Christ immediately takes him back to the prophets, the Old

Testament, to show them that this was all prophesied, because

he came not to abolish the law. He came to fulfill the law, all

of the law. Then beginning with Moses and

with all the prophets, he explained to them the things

concerning himself in all the Scriptures.

So he would explain to them him. He would explain to them who He

is, what the Old Testament said. So they would be without excuse.

So they would understand that the Old Testament had one theme.

The theme was the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Deliverer of

Israel. Verse 28.

And they approached the village where they were going, and he

acted as though He was going further.

But they urged him, saying, Stay with us for his getting toward

the evening, and the day is now nearly over.

So He went to stay with them. He reclined at the table with

them. He took the bread and blessed

it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them.

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he

vanished from their sight. They said to one another, We're

not our hearts burning within us while he was speaking to us on

the road, while he was explaining the Scriptures to us,

that that verse is so important. Their hearts were not burning

because of the revelation of the Savior.

Their hearts were burning because of the revelation of the

Scriptures. Which begs the question, as you

were following along and reading with me, was your heart on fire?

Was your heart burning on the inside?

Because you see the Lord said to Jeremiah the prophet Jeremiah

2329 is not my word like a fire? It is.

We have to ask ourselves the question, why is it when we read

the word that a fire doesn't well up within our soul?

Why is it we can read it and be so cold?

Why is it we read it and we not moved or motivated?

Why is it when we read it, it's as if it's just another book?

But these people, these two men on the road to Emmaus, had Jesus

explaining to them the Scriptures, and their hearts

burned within them when they came to realize that the

Scriptures spoke only of Christ, and He was able to explain that

to them. They would go back to Jerusalem,

they would meet with the other apostles.

And Jesus said these words in verse #44 Now He said to them,

These are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with

you, that all things which are written by about me in the law

of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and

He said to them, Thus it is written that the Christ would

suffer and rise again from the dead the third day.

He would open their eyes, help them understand that.

Listen, everything in the law of God, everything written by the

prophets, everything written in the Psalms, everything in your

Scripture is all about me, the light of the world.

And therefore, whenever God's Word is explained to you, there

must be something within you that wells up on the inside.

There must be something in you that catches a blaze.

There must be some flicker of a flame in your heart that when

God's Word is read and explained, you are motivated and

you are moved to action. There's something about it that

excites you, and if there's not, you got to ask yourself the

question why? Why is it I am not motivated?

The Bible says in First Thessalonians 2 verse #13 that

God's Word works effectively in those who believe.

It could be that you don't believe.

We don't think of it that way. But if you're a believer and you

hear the Word of God, it does something on the inside of you.

There's something to motivate you.

It does something to to excite you.

It does it does something to cause you to want to obey

because it always works in those who believe in fact, listen to

this verse, the book of Colossians, the book of

Colossians, the first chapter. Listen to what Paul says.

Colossians chapter one verse #5 He says, because of the hope

laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in

the word of truth. So the word which is true has

given you a hope of heaven, just as in all the world, or excuse

me, the word truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as

in all the world also, it is constantly bearing fruit and

increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day

you heard of it and understood the grace of God In truth.

He says since the day you heard of the gospel of truth, you

began bearing fruit, and you continue to bear fruit because

of the word of truth. In other words, he is affirming

First Thessalonians 213 that God is using His word to always work

in the life of the believer. This is the uniqueness of the

power of God's word. That's why Paul would say I am

not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of

God and His salvation to the Jew 1st and also to the Greek there

is power in the gospel. So here's the point.

If when you hear the Word of God and you read the Word of God and

you understand the word of God, if you're not moved by that,

there's a good chance you are not a believer in Christ, Then

you are a believer in Christ because it's always bearing

fruit in you and continuing to do so even to this day.

Paul says to the Church of Colossae, we have to stop

thinking that people are saved when they live like the unsaved.

We have to stop thinking people and assuring people that they

are born again because of some decision that they made one day

down the road or some prayer they prayed 20 years ago.

Is there fruit bearing in their lives?

Is there evidence of the word of God bearing fruit in them,

motivating them to live for Christ?

Because it effectively works in those who believe.

That means it doesn't work in those who do not believe.

And so we need to understand that from the very beginning,

because here is Christ saying, I've come not to to abolish the

law, to get rid of the law. Instead, I've come to fulfill

it. I am the embodiment of the law.

And so the words I'm going to give to you are not going to be

contrary to the words that have already been spoken to you in

the word of the living God. It's there.

I am it, which leads us to our introduction, which leads us to

the brilliance of the law. We talked about this two weeks

ago. And from the brilliance of the

law, we're going to, we're going to move from there and we are

automatically going to talk about the importance of the law,

the endurance of the law, and the relevance of relevance of

the law. But I want to take you back and

look once again at the brilliance of the law because

it's so powerful, it's so unique.

And we need to understand how magnificent, how brilliant, how

incredible God's Word is. So let's go back to Psalm 19

because that's where we left off 2 weeks ago to help you

understand the brilliance of the word of the living God told you

last time. Then the 1st 6 verses he talks

about the beauty of the work of God.

And now he talks about the brilliance of the Word of God in

verses 9 or excuse me, verses 7, the following because it's

absolutely brilliant. And he gives 6 titles for the

word of God. We covered these last time.

The law of the Lord is perfect, complete, sufficient, restoring,

converting, redeeming the soul. There's nothing more complete

than the word of God to redeem a soul.

And then he says the testimony of the Lord, the divine witness

of the Lord Christ is his own witness, but the divine witness

of the Lord is immovable. It's sure it's unshakeable,

making wise the simple. The simple person becomes

extremely wise simply because of the testimony of the Lord.

Then it says the presets of the Lord are right.

The statutes of the Lord, the divine principles of the Lord

are right. Not not necessarily right as

opposed to wrong, but right in terms of directing in a straight

path, a direct path so you know which way to go.

Rejoicing the heart. And then he says the commandment

of the Lord, the mandates of the Lord, they're not optional.

They're mandates is pure, lucid, clear, enlightening the eyes.

In other words, there's no mystery here.

There's there's nothing confusing in the Word of God.

Yeah, there are some things that are hard to understand.

That's true. And Peter speaks about that.

But it doesn't mean that's confusing.

It's very clear. The fear of the Lord is clean.

In other words, the fear of the Lord is another title for the

word of the Lord. Isaiah 33 verse #6 says the fear

of the Lord is His treasure. In other words, the fear of the

Lord is another title for the word itself.

That's why the Proverbs says in Proverbs one verse #7 that the

fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Where does wisdom begin? It begins with the dispensing of

God's fear, which is His truth that it gives you.

Proverbs 9 verse #10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of

wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

So here he says that the fear of the Lord, which is His treasure

is clean and it endures forever. The judgements of the Lord are,

are true. In other words, when God passes

judgement, it's never an error. It's always done righteously and

true. They are righteous all together.

And that is that is the, what we call the, the preciousness of

the word of God. God, God's Word is so precious

that it's sufficient enough to make sure that our we, we have

the vision that we need, the joy that we need, the eyes that

clearly see, and that we are righteous all together and that

we are able to endure. God's Word does all that.

That's why it's so precious. And then we move from its

preciousness to its pleasurableness.

It's absolutely pleasurable. That's what he says in verse #10

They are more desirable than gold.

Yes, and much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the

drippings of the honeycomb. There is nothing more

pleasurable than the truth of God's Word, nothing more

valuable than the truth of God's Word.

And David's trying to explain to us how great, how brilliant it

really is. Nothing more desirable than the

truth of God's Word. We are to feed on that and we

are to hunger for it. That's why Christ said, blessed

are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they and

they only shall be satisfied. The other people are not

satisfied. They're always looking to

satisfy the the the inner longings of the soul.

But but the believer is satisfied by the truth that they

embrace. That's why Jeremiah said, Thy

words are found. And I did eat them, and they

were the joy and the rejoicing of my heart.

And Jeremiah could say that even though he was all alone and even

though no one would listen to the words in which he said, and

although God said you can't get married, so he was all alone,

even though he'd be thrown into a pit, Jeremiah said, I got your

word. As long as I got your word, I'm

good, I'm satisfied. But for us, it's like we need

something else. We need to live in boys.

If God's word is not sufficient for my loneliness, it's not

sufficient for my isolation, it's not sufficient for my pain,

it's not sufficient for my difficulties, it's not

sufficient for whatever it is I'm going through.

But Jeremiah says, Oh no, I found your words.

I ate them. I consumed them because they

were the joy and rejoiced in them.

They satisfied my heart because listen, no one's, no one's going

to listen to the word of God anyway.

No one's going to follow God anyway.

They're going to throw me in a pit anyway.

I can't get buried anyway. So.

So where does my joy come from? It comes from the relationship I

have with the living God and the word that He gives me to impart

to others. But for us today, that's just

not enough. We are saying to God, your

words, your word's great. It's just not sufficient enough

to meet me in my time of need. Really.

Do we really have that attitude? And David's saying, aw man,

God's word is so desirable. It's so sweet.

Even the drippings of the honeycomb can't match the

sweetness of God's holy word. Those are the two points we

covered last week under the brilliance of His, of His word.

Number one is precious #2 it's pleasurable.

Here's #3 it's protective. God's word is so brilliant, it

protects you. We all, we all want protection.

We all want to be watched over. We all want to be safe, right?

Listen, there's only one safe space.

It's right here there, there is no no room, no person, no place

that's going to cause you to be safe and protected.

But the word of God, nothing. There's something there you will

fear, but God's word is a protective agent unlike anything

else. That's the way he says, MO over

by them. Your servant is warned, and in

keeping them there is great reward.

In other words, there's something about the Word of God

that warns me of impending danger.

It warns me of sin. It warns me of temptation.

It warns me of false teaching. It warns me about wrong

relationships. It warns me about error.

God, God's Word, protects me from falling into error

falsities. It protects me from falling the

sin and temptation. Listen to what Solomon said in

Proverbs chapter 4 verse one. Hear, O sons, the instruction of

Proverbs 4 · chapter mention

a father, and give attention that you may gain understanding,

for I give you sound teaching. Do not abandon my instruction

When I was a son to my father tender, and the only son in the

side of my mother. Then he taught me and said to

me, Let your heart hold fast my words, keep my commandments and

live. Those 4 verses should

revolutionize every dad in the room.

Those 4 verses should challenge every dad in the room.

Listen to your father's instruction.

Listen to what I'm going to tell you.

Because when I was young, Stalin was saying this when I was

young, and I was very tender. I remember sitting with my

father, it was King David and he telling me the truth of the word

of God, that somehow he would teach me and say, let your heart

hold fast my words, keep my commandments and you will live.

You remember that. What are your sons and daughters

going to remember about what you taught them?

Are they going to be able to say excuse me to their children?

When I was young and I was tender and I was being raised by

my mom and by my dad, my dad taught me keep my commandments

and live. So I'm going to teach you God's

commandments so you can live. But I wonder what your children

would say today. Would they be able to reminisce

as Solomon did and remember what his father taught him when he

was young? Read on.

Acquire wisdom, acquire understanding.

Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

Do not forsake her. She will guard you.

Love her, she will watch over you.

See that God's Word is protective.

Acquire wisdom, get understanding.

Where do you get that from? The truth of the living God.

Don't forsake her. Don't turn your back on her.

Why? She's going to watch over you,

going to guard you, protect you. Verse 7.

The beginning of wisdom is acquire wisdom and with all your

acquiring, get understanding. Prize her and she would exalt

you. She will honor you if you

embrace her. She will place on your head a

Garland of grace. She will present you with a

crown of beauty. Hear my son and accept my

sayings, and the years of your life will be many.

I have directed you in the way of wisdom.

I have led you in upright paths. When you walk, your steps will

not be impeded, and if you run, you will not stumble.

See, God's word is protective. Take hold of instruction.

Do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life.

Wow, God's Word is your life. Later in Proverbs 6, he would

say this verse 20, my son, observe the commandment of your

father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

Bind them continually on your heart.

Tie them around your neck. Now these are he's teaching them

the commandments of God. He's not teaching them his

opinion. He's not giving them some kind

of secular education. He's giving them the

commandments of God, the truth of God's word.

Bind them around your heart. You see, we, we, we, we are so

we, we are so into our children doing their homework from school

but not doing any studying of the word of God.

And one gives life and the other doesn't.

But yet we are so in tune with our educational system and

making sure our children receive the right kind of education.

And I do agree you should receive an education, but not at

the expense of biblical instruction and learning what

the Bible says. He says when you walk about,

they will guide you. I'm going to give you the word

of God because you need guidance.

So whenever you walk about, you're going to be going in the

right direction because you're going to know what the word of

God says. And he says this, when you

sleep, they will watch over you. Now, how does God's word watch

over you? Because it's protective.

And so when you are being guided by the Word of God, being led by

the word of God, knowing that you are taking a step in the

power of the Spirit of God, under the guidance of the Word

of God, guess what? You sleep like a baby at night.

Why? Because you're inside the will

of God. And you, you sleep well when you

awake, they will talk to you. That's that's just so good.

The commandments of God will talk to you.

But this is the word of God, right?

This is the, the, the God breathed word.

So God is going to speak to each and everyone of you through his

word. He's already spoken everything

He needs to say. He's already said.

He said in His words. So every time you open the book

and you read the word of God, God is speaking to you because

these are His words. And so He wants to converse with

you. How does God converse with you?

He's giving you His word. Read it.

Whenever you read it, you're conversing with God.

He's talking to you. Your prayer life is responding

back to Him. Your obedience is responding

back to Him, but God is conversing with you through His

Word. And so he speaks.

So Solomon says to his son, I'm going to give you instruction.

I'm going to give you the commandments of God.

So when you, when you walk about, they're going to guide

you so much so that that you, you know, you're going the right

way so that when you go to bed at night, they'll watch over

you. And then when you get to the

next day, you're going to talk to God some more.

You're going to converse with God some more and you're going

to read his word. He's going to talk to you.

He's going to he's going to explain to you who he is and

what he wants for you. He's going to converse with you.

And then he says for the commandment is a lamp and the

teaching is light. Not only do you get direction,

protection, conversation, you get illumination because his

commandments are are light. And then he says and reproves

for discipline on the way of life.

Admonition. God's Word will admonish you.

God will speak to you through His word.

You read it, you'll be admonished when you're out of

line, when you're out of step, and God's Word will do that to

you. Verse 24 to keep you from the

evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress, God's

word's going to protect you, guide you, watch over, you see

that this is the brilliance of the word of God.

But we, we have, we have minimized the impact of God's

word. We've taken God's word, we've

set it aside. We'll, we'll, we'll pick it up

on Wednesday night when we go to church for Bible study.

We'll pick it up on Sunday morning or, or we might read a

verse here or a verse there. You know, a verse a day keeps

the devil away. And so we'll just read it a

little bit here, a little bit there, but we don't dive into

it. We don't, we don't study it.

We don't. We don't grapple with it.

We don't examine it. And yet this is how God speaks

to you through His Word. It's His conversation to you.

It's how He communicates to you. He wants you to hear Him speak,

and He speaks through the written word that He's already

given to us. This is the power of the Word of

God. And so we need to recognize how

protective God's word truly is. So the brilliance of God's word

is simply that it is precious, it is pleasurable, it is

protective, and it is powerful, powerful.

And again, I want to emphasize this because I think that we

don't understand the power of the Word of God.

And so let me just give you a a few words that will explain it

to you. OK, you have to write these

down. Just follow along with me as I

go to show you the power of the word of God.

God's word is powerful enough to crush your soul.

Is not my word like a fire? Jeremiah 2329 And then he says,

is not my word like a hammer? Listen, you know, somebody's got

a hard heart. You, you can't break their

heart. You can't crush the hardness of

their soul, but God's word can. You see, it's a spiritual

battle, right? Only be one through spiritual

means. So it's only through the word of

God that a heart is crushed, a soul is crushed.

It's not my word like a hammer. That's why.

What if you said today? If you hear his voice, do not

harden your hearts as in the day of provocation in the

wilderness. If you hear the voice of God, if

you hear the word of God, don't turn away from it.

Don't turn your back on it. You'll become hardened.

Let the word of God crush your soul.

Let it shatter your independence, because God's Word

does that. But we don't necessarily believe

that, and we kind of write people off, but we need to

recognize that through the constant reiteration of the Word

of God by giving them what God's Word says, not my opinion, not

my philosophy, not my ideas. God's Word says this.

It brings conviction on people's hearts, which is number 2.

It crushes the soul. It convicts the soul. 1st

Corinthians 1424 and 25 If you prophecy that as you speak forth

the truth of God's word, and an unbeliever or an ungifted man

enters your congregation, he is convicted by all.

He is called to account by all. The secrets of his heart are

disclosed, and so he will fall on his face and worship God,

declaring that God is certainly among you.

Paul. Paul is trying to help you

understand. Look, you're all concerned about

speaking in tongues and making sure that you had this ecstatic

utterance. But if you just understand that

the prophecy, the the teaching of the Word of God, the giving

forth of the Word of God, when someone who's an unbeliever

walks into your assembly and they hear the word of God,

that's what's going to convict them.

It's going to cause them to fall on their face and worship the

living God. Your ecstatic utterances is not

going to do that, but God's word will.

It brings conviction upon the soul because it crushes the soul

#3 it converts the soul. We read it in Psalm 19 verse #7

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

Romans 10/17 Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by a

specific utterance of the words concerning the Christ.

The only way a person's ever converted is because of the

truth of the Word of God. And so you preach the word, you

teach the word. When you go out and do you go

door to door evangelism or you go and you, you preach the

gospel or, or you go to talk to your friends, you, you give them

the Word of God because the Word of God convicts, it crushes and

it converts the soul. Nothing else does.

That's how powerful God's word is.

It cleanses the soul. That's number four, John 15,

three. You are already made clean to

the word that I've spoken unto you.

Psalm 119. How could a man keep his way

pure? By keeping it according to the

Word of God? The only way a soul is cleansed

is through the washing of regeneration and the renewing of

the Spirit of God. It comes through God's holy

Word. You are made clean through the

word that I've spoken unto you. You've heard it said many times

before. I'll say it to you again, that

sin will keep you from this book, or this book will keep you

from sin. It's true.

So you master the truth, you memorize the truth, you learn

the truth, you bathe yourself in the truth of the living God.

It corrects the soul. Second to me. 316 all scriptures

inspired by God and it's profitable for correction.

It turns you back around again. It puts you on the right path.

It number number six, I think it is.

It conquers the enemy of your soul.

How do you conquer the enemy of your soul?

The word of God? Read Matthew chapter 4.

Matthew 4 · chapter mention

Christ temptation in the wilderness.

What did he do? He quoted the book of

Deuteronomy. He quoted the word of God.

Did he have to do that? No.

It whatever he spoke would be the word of God.

But he quoted the Old Testament. Why?

Because He set a pattern for you and me on how to conquer the

enemy of your soul. Man shall not live by bread

alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

That's why He's given us the sword of the Spirit, which is

the word of God, right? And through the sword of the

Spirit, we're able to conquer the enemy of our soul, simply

because we are able to take whatever temptation comes our

way and take it specifically to a passage of Scripture and

defeat the enemy that wants to destroy our lives.

Only God's Word does that, nothing else.

It comforts the soul. It comforts the soul.

Psalm 9419 One of my anxious thoughts, overwhelming thy

consolations, comfort my soul. Psalm 11950 This is my comfort

in my affliction. Your word has revived me.

Verse 52 I've remembered your ordinance from of old, O Lord,

and comfort myself. Verse 76 O may your loving

kindness comfort me according to your word to your servant.

The only comfort a soul will ever receive that is satisfying

is the truth of the living God. That's how powerful God's Word

is. So it crushes the soul,

convicts, converts, cleanses, corrects, conquers the enemy of

your soul. It comforts the soul.

It cheers the soul. Psalm 19.

Verse #8 The presets of the Lord are right.

Rejoicing the heart. Psalm 1/19/14 I have rejoiced in

the way of Your testimonies as much as in all riches.

Verse 16. I shed the light in Your

statutes. I should not forget Your word.

Verse 35. Make me walk in the path of Your

commandments, for I delight in it.

The only soul that can be cheered is a soul that truly is

sold out for Christ in the Word of the living God.

That's it. God's Word does that.

God's Word counsels the soul. Psalm 1/19/24.

Psalm 1/19/24. Your testimonies also are my

delight. They are my counselors.

There is no better counselor than the word of God.

It says in verse 105, Your word is the lamp to my feet, a light

to my path. Verse 130.

The unfolding of your word gives light.

It gives understanding to the simple.

God's Word counsels the soul. God's Word compels the soul.

Psalm 11932 I've chosen the faithful way.

I've placed your ordinances before me.

I've chosen the faithful way. I've I'm compelled to do the

right thing. Why?

Because of your word. It compels the soul.

It critiques the soul. He was 412 For the Word of God

is living and active and sharper than any 2 edged sword, and

piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both

joints and Morrow, and able to judge the thoughts and

intentions of the heart. God's Word critiques the soul,

so when you read it, it goes to the depths of your soul and

divides it up and shows you where you're in error so you can

do the right thing. It challenges the soul.

Psalm 11937 Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity and

revive me in your ways. Verse 133 Establish my footsteps

in Your Word, and do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.

Nothing will challenge you more than the truth of the living

God. It confirms the soul.

Psalm 11928 My soul weeps because of grief.

Strengthen me, confirm me according to Your word.

Sustain me, verse 118. Excuse me 116.

Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live, and do

not let me be ashamed of my hope.

God's Word is a strengthening agent to confirm you, to

establish you, to make you as solid as granite.

It controls the soul. Colossians 316.

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you with all

wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns

and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your heart

to the Lord. In other words, let the word of

Christ be at home in your heart. Let dwell safely within you.

Why? Because it controls you.

It moves you to action. It clarifies the soul.

Psalm 1/19, 1:40 Your word is very, very clear, therefore Your

servant loves it. Psalm 19-8 Precepts of the Lord

are right. Rejoice in the heart.

The command of the Lord is pure, enlightening the soul.

So it clarifies. It clarifies which direction to

go. It clarifies what decision to

make. It clarifies what relationships

to have and not have. It clarifies everything.

It condemns the soul. Proverbs 1313 The one who

despises the word will be in debt to the Word.

So God's word condemns the soul, but God's word also completes

the soul. The law of the Lord is complete

or perfect, restoring the soul. Psalm like 19 verse #7 it

consecrates the soul. Nehemiah 1028 to 29.

The people consecrated their lives unto God based on what the

Word of God said. So you can count on the Word of

God to do exactly what it says. See, that's the power of the

Word of God. But do we trust it enough to

confirm our soul, to cheer the soul, to critique the soul, to

challenge the soul, to convert the soul, to crush the soul?

Do we trust the Word of God to do all that stuff we should?

Because the psalmist says in Psalm 19, these words verse 12,

who can discern errors, equip me of hidden faults and also keep

back your servant from presumptuous sins.

Let them not rule over me. Then I will be blameless and I

should be acquitted of great transgression.

God, you were does that it corrects me, it cleanses me.

It keeps me on the straight and narrow.

It moves me in the right direction.

It's so important for us to understand this why?

Because the brilliance of the Word of God is everything.

Which leads us to our last point, and that is this.

God's word is precious, pleasurable, protective,

powerful, and priceless. That's why it's so brilliant.

Proverbs 2323 Buy truth and never sell it.

Why buy truth? Listen, the cost of truth is

high. Truth will cost you your family.

Truth will cost you your friends.

Truth might even cost you your job.

Buy truth, Never compromise it. Do whatever you have to do to

obtain it, and never sell it out.

Why? It's priceless.

It's so valuable. The Bible says in the book of

Matthew 13 chapter, the Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure

hidden in the field which a man found and hid again, and from

joy over he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field.

Christ is talking about the inestimable, inestimable value

of the Kingdom of God. Verse 45 again, the Kingdom of

heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon

finding 1 Pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had

and he bought it. That's why Christ says in

Matthew 16 these words, What would a profit a man if he gains

the whole world and forfeits his soul?

Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

That's the question Christ asks. The word exchange is a banking

term. When you get saved, there's a

transaction that takes place. I'm not sure you understand this

or not, but there is a there is a transaction that takes place

when you are saved, and that is you are willing to give your

life away in order to obtain life's, Christ's life.

That's the exchange in salvation.

What's the profit a man if he gains the whole world, but he

loses his own soul? If he gained everything in the

world, What profit is it there if when it's all said and done,

you lose your soul? So what will you now give in

exchange for your soul? Will you give your life away in

order to obtain Christ's life? That's what salvation is to

recognize, recognizing that I have nothing to offer.

I have nothing to give, but I'm going to give away my life to

Christ so that He owns my life because He bought my life.

He died for my life. So Lord, you paid the ransom.

I'm going to give you my life. That's my exchange.

That's my transaction. That's all I have to give.

I'm just going to give my life away so I can have your life.

That's what salvation is. It's a transaction that takes

place between you and God, which says my life is nothing.

I can't earn heaven, I can't gain heaven, I can't buy heaven.

I can't do anything to get heaven.

The Kingdom of God is so valuable.

I'm willing to do all I can to obtain it, but I can't because I

have nothing to offer. So, Lord, just take my life.

Let it be wholly consecrated unto Thee.

That's it. What would a man give in

exchange for his soul? You see, God's Word is

priceless. It's so valuable that when you

understand the gospel, you're willing to sell all that you

have to obtain what Christ offers.

That's what the parable of the lost treasure and the pearls all

about. There's nothing in the world

that's more valuable than the priceless treasure of the

gospel, the truth, God's holy Word.

It's so valuable. That's why it's so brilliant,

because there's nothing that compares to it.

Nothing on earth compares to the eternal word of the living God,

which is his truth. You see, when I, when I preach

this, my heart burns on the inside.

My, my heart's a flame on the inside.

There's not, there's not a, a flicker that's there.

My, my heart on the inside's on fire because of the truth of

God's Word, because of the power of God's Word, the pleasure of

God's Word, the preciousness of God's Word, the pricelessness of

God's Word, it's everything. That's why it's brilliant.

So what are some principles? Let me give them to you real

quick, really quick. If God's word is precious, God's

word is pleasurable, God's word is protective, God's word is

powerful, and God's word is priceless.

Principle number one is as I would do all I can to protect

it, I will guard it. I will protect it, Paul tells

Timothy in First Timothy chapter 6 these words.

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

Oh Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you.

Protect it Timothy in verse 14 of chapter 6, he said keep

guard, Protect the commandment without stain or reproach until

the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In second Timothy 1 he says, verse 14, guard through the Holy

Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been

entrusted to you. Guard it, protect it.

Jude says, contend earnestly for the faith that was once

delivered to the Saints. Do all you can to watch over,

keep guard. Protect the priceless treasure,

that precious treasure of the Word of God.

So you protect it #2 you proclaim it sick.

Activity 42 Preach the Word in season, out of season.

Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and patience, But

you preach it in season, out of the season.

If it's that powerful, if it's that protective, it's that

pleasurable, it's that priceless.

What are you talking about? Talk about the Word.

Preach the Word, give the word. If it actually says it does what

it promises, then why don't I preach it?

All the more so people will respond in obedience to the Word

of God. I think that the reason we don't

preach the Word in season and out of season is because we

really don't believe it crushes the soul or converts the soul or

convicts the soul, or condemns the soul or cheers the soul or

critiques the soul. We don't really believe that

because if you did, you'd be preaching it all the time,

telling people this is the priceless treasure, the

brilliance of the Word of God. You got to obtain it.

You got to digest it, you got to examine it, you got to, you got

to buy into the truth of the Word of God and never sell it

because it's everything. So you, you protect it, you

preach it. How about this?

You pray it? Psalm 145, verse #18 The Lord is

near to all those who call upon Him, to all those who call upon

Him in truth, in truth to all those who call upon Him in

truth. So in other words, I pray truth.

Do you pray the truth? Do you pray the Word of God?

Are you praying what God has already said so that you're

lying? Your life is in line with His

line. We need to pray the truth if

it's that priceless, if it's that pleasurable, if it's that

protective, that I need to pray. Proverbs 4, Proverbs chapter 6,

Proverbs 6 · chapter mention

Psalm 19, Psalm 119. I need to pray those truths

because the Lord is near to those who call upon Him in

truth. Think about that.

So you protect it, you proclaim it, you pray it, and you

practice it. You just live it out.

You practice the truth. That's where Matthew 519 comes

in. Christ says those great in the

Kingdom of God, they teach the word of God and they keep the

word of God. They teach it so others can hear

it and keep it. We talked about it on Sunday.

Revelation 1, Revelation 22, Revelation, Revelation 1, three.

Revelation 22 seven Blessed are those who hear the word of God

and keep it. So what do we do?

We practice it. We we live it out reminded of

the the words of our Lord in John 14.

He says he who has my commandments and keeps them as

the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by

my father and I will love him and will disclose myself to him.

Verse 23 If anyone loves me, He will keep my word, and my Father

will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with

Him. He who does not love me does not

keep my words. I mean, that's just so clear.

Can you get any clearer than that?

If you love me, you just practice what I say.

But if you don't love me, guess what?

You don't keep my words. Just do what you want to do in

the life of our Lord. Luke 11 Jesus was preaching,

teaching, and somebody interrupts them.

I can't imagine interrupting Christ.

But they did. And one of the women in the

crowd raised her voice and said to him, Blessed is the womb that

bore you in the breast at which you nursed.

There's Jesus speaking and teaching, and some woman stands

up and yells that out. Jesus very calmly says these

words. On the contrary, I wish I could

have been there. On the contrary, blessed are

those who hear the word of God and observe it.

That's a blessed person, just so, so pointed, so clear, so

concise. Blessed is the womb that bore

you. Blessed are the breasts that fed

you. Christ says, Oh no, you want to

know true blessing, I'm going to give it to you, those who hear

my word and keep it. That's where the true blessing

comes. And so we, we are committed to,

to preaching the word of God and praying the word of God and, and

practicing the word of God. And we are committed to

protecting the word of God because it's priceless.

Nothing more valuable in all the world than the word of God.

Nothing buy it, never sell it. It protects, it pleasures, it's

precious, it's powerful. That's the brilliance of the

word of God. May God give us the grace to

accomplish what he has said. Let's pray to God.

Lord God, we thank you for tonight.

And we have spent a few moments in the word of the living God.

And our prayer is that we would adhere to all that you've said,

that truly we would believe what we've read.

It's true. And our prayer, Lord, is that

you would work in all of our hearts and cause us to live in

accordance with your word. That we would leave here

believing in its power, believing in its pleasure,

believing, believing in its protection, knowing that there's

nothing more valuable. Than the priceless truth of the

living God, Pray in Jesus name, Amen.