The Law of God (Part 1)

Lord God, we thank you for today, and we are grateful that

we are able to gather together to study Your word.

Thank you for the word of the Lord and thank you Father, for

the opportunity you give us to dive deep into it to understand

more of what you have for us. We truly are a blessed people.

Thank you for those who are here tonight.

Thank you for the journey that they have made.

We know, Lord, things sometimes are difficult for families to

get out during the middle of the week, but we're grateful for the

opportunity to come and for those who are here and pray that

you bless them in a special way because of the effort they have

made to to be here tonight. And pray, Lord, that as we study

your word, the truths that we learned would be indelibly fixed

in our hearts and minds that we might live in line with them.

We pray in Jesus name, Amen. Take your Bible if you would,

and turn with me to Matthew chapter 5.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 5, the Sermon on the Mount, Living like a child

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

of the King is the title that we've titled this three chapter

sermon that our Lord gave in Matthews 5-6 and seven.

And he begins by interpreting the identity of a child of the

king, by going through the Beatitudes after he interprets

the identity of those children. And then he articulates the

authority of those children. And it falls into two

categories. 1 is their peculiarity because they are

salt and light. That's peculiar because they are

the ones who are persecuted. But the ones that are persecuted

are the solution to a world that's decaying in the world

that's dark. And then he goes into their

their veracity, the the veracity of God's truth, because that's

the authority by which they live their lives.

And that's in verse 17. So follow along with me as we

read this, please, and we'll spend a a couple of weeks here.

It says verse 17. Do not think that I came to

abolish the law of the prophets. I did not come to abolish, but

to fulfil. For truly, I say to you, until

heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke

shall pass from the law until all is accomplished.

Whoever then annulls 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, he shall 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 Christ says these words

because I'm sure that as the audience sat there and listened

to the Lord speak, they had all kinds of questions about this

preacher, this prophet. They are taken back by the

things that he says, but at the same time they they wonder by

what authority does he speak? He will never quote a rabbi.

He will never quote another source because he is the source

of all truth. And so that I'm sure that there

were there questions among the people.

So in their minds, he knows that they are probably wondering, is

this guy a follower of what the Old Testament scriptures teach?

And so Christ begins to tell them that he's not come to know

the law, abolish the law, get rid of the law, but instead he

is here specifically to fulfill the law, accomplish all the laws

requirements. And the statements that the Lord

makes are quite incredible. And we're going to sum them up

in 4 categories. 1 is the brilliance of the law.

The next is what we will call the importance of the law.

Then we'll look at the endurance of the law and then the

relevance of the law. By looking at the brilliance of

the law, I'm going to take you back to the Old Testament, to a

passage of Scripture that describes for us the magnificent

brilliance of the law of God. It's a summation of Psalm 119,

which is 176 different verses. But this summation is found in

Psalm 19, both written by David himself.

So if you got your Bible, turn back with me, viewer to Psalm

19. And we want to look at what the

word of the Lord says in terms of the brilliance of the law.

David makes 6 statements about the law of God, six statements

that sum up the nature of the law and then he gives the the

consequences of that title and then the benefits of that part

of scripture. To help you understand the the

absolute brilliance of the law of God.

Psalm 19 verses 7 to 14. In the 1st 6 verses he talks

Psalms 19:7–14

about the work of God. The remainder of the chapter he

talks about the Word of God. The works of God describe His

beauty, the Word of God describe His brilliance, and so with that

He gives us general revelation that speaks to us about God.

And they talks about the special revelation which is the Word of

God to help us understand the effects of it.

So he says in verse #7 the law of the Lord is perfect,

restoring the soul, the testimony the Lord is sure,

making wise the simple, The precepts of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is

pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean,

enduring forever. The judgment of the Lord are

true, they are righteous altogether.

They are more desirable than gold.

Yes, and much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the

drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant

is warned. In keeping them there is great

reward. Who can discern errors?

Equip me of hidden faults and keep back your servant from

presumptuous sins. Let them not rule over me.

Then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great

transgression. Let the words of my mouth and

the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O

Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Now there is not one thing

imaginable, not one issue that the Word of God does not

address. God's Word is absolute truth,

and it gives us the truth concerning everything in life.

In fact, Peter says it this way. In first Peter 1 he says this

seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything

pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of

Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

In other words, God has granted to us everything that we need to

know about life and how to live godly in that life according to

the true knowledge of God himself.

And that true knowledge, of course, comes through the

written Word of God. In fact, Isaiah said it this

way. Isaiah chapter 55, verse #10 For

Isaiah 55 · chapter mention

as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not

return there without watering the earth, and making it bare

and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower, and bread to the

eater, so will my word be, which goes forth from my mouth.

It will not return to be empty without accomplishing what I

desire and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

In other words, God's Word, when it goes forth, accomplishes

everything He designs it to accomplish.

In fact, it never doesn't accomplish what He wants it to

accomplish. That's the the power of the Word

of the Lord. And so the Bible says these

words in Second Timothy chapter 3, verse 16.

2 Timothy 3:16

All Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament, is

inspired by God or literally God breathed and profitable for

teaching. It's profitable on how to know

that which is right. It's profitable for reproof, how

to be right. It's profitable for correction

how to get right. It's profitable for training in

righteousness how to stay right so that the man of God may be

adequately equipped for every good work.

In other words, every work that God has designed you to

accomplish. The Word of God equips you not

only to know that which is right, not only to be right, get

right, and stay right, but to make sure that it accomplishes

everything in your heart and life so that you can do what God

has called you to do. So if you're here tonight and

you are, you are hurting. God's Word has all the tools to

fix those who hurt. If you're hungry, God's Word has

all the food to feed you. So whatever need that you have,

God's Word meets that need. There is no need that you have

that God's Word doesn't meet. Now, it's hard to imagine that

because you can combine all the literature in the world, put it

all together under one roof, but it cannot accomplish what the

living and abiding Word can accomplish.

One book made-up of 66 different other books into one called the

Bible is the answer to all of your needs.

Every situation that you encounter is answered by the

truth of the living God. So when when Pilate asked Christ

about truth, Christ said, I have come to fulfill all truth.

I've come to speak to you about all truth.

Truth concerning life, truth concerning death, truth

concerning eternity, truth concerning heaven, truth

concerning hell, truth concerning creation, truth

concerning man's destiny, truth concerning marriage, truth

concerning morality. No matter what the truth is, God

came to fulfill that truth and to speak that truth.

And so we have the word of God, the one book that has the answer

to everything that makes foolish men wise and helps us understand

what it is God wants for us and how we might be able to

accomplish those things for His glory.

So it's important to understand the the the power and the

authority of God's word. Paul would say these words in

the book of Romans. He says in verse #9 of chapter

1. For God, whom I serve in my

spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness

as to how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my

prayers, making request, If perhaps now at last by the will

of God, I may succeed in coming to you.

For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift

to you, that you may be established.

Paul says, I want to, I want to impart to you some spiritual

gift. Now that is not spiritual gifts

like signed gifts or support gifts or speaking gifts as are

outlined in Ephesians 4 and first Peter 4, Romans 12, and

1st Corinthians 12. He's not talking about spiritual

gifts because spiritual gifts are not imparted by another man.

They're given to you by the Spirit of God at the time you're

you're born again. But he wants to impart something

spiritual to them because he wants to establish them.

It's where we get our English word steroid.

It's the, it's the word steroidzo.

And so he wants to strengthen them.

He wants to make them firm. He wants to establish them by

imparting to them something that's spiritual.

It could be through the preaching of the word, the

expectation of the word, the teaching of the word, something

along those lines, because that's how he's going to do it.

We know that because of how Paul speaks all throughout his

epistles. For example, this is what he

says over in First Thessalonians chapter 2.

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

He says these words. For this reason also, we

constantly thank God that when you receive the word of God,

which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of

men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also

performs its work in you who believe.

So Paul says you receive the word of God and the word of God

actually performs its work in you.

If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Word truly works

in your life. In fact, earlier he says this,

he says in verse number two he talks about we came to speak the

gospel of God to you in verse #4 We have been entrusted with the

gospel in verse #8 We have a fond affection for you.

We were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of

God, but also our own lives. And then he says in verse #9 For

you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night

and day, so as not to be a burden to any of you, we

proclaim to you the gospel of God.

You are witnesses and so is God. How devoutly and uprightly and

blamelessly we behave towards you believers, just as you know

how we are, or we're exhorting and encouraging and imploring

each one of you as a father would his own children, so that

you would walk in a manner worthy of God who calls you into

his own Kingdom and glory. So again, Paul is saying, look,

we wanted to make sure that we imparted the gospel to you, not

just the word of God, but our own lives as well.

But the gospel is that which we have presented to you, that you

might walk worthy of your calling, because God words,

God's Word works. In fact, over in Colossians 1,

he says this in verse #5 He says this, I'm sorry, verse #6 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 today you heard of it and

understood the grace of God in truth.

Now did you get that? He says that when you receive

the Word, it was already bringing fruit and bearing fruit

in your life and is constantly doing that.

See, we live in a world where where people are saying, well,

you know, I, you know, I love the Lord, I believe in the Lord,

I, I love his word. But there's no fruit in their

lives. That's the contradiction in

terms. If you're a Christian, there is

fruit in your life. If there's no fruit, you're not

a Christian. Why?

Because Paul testified to the fact that when you receive the

Word, you began to bear fruit. And that fruit is increasing and

unceasingly happening in your life on a regular basis.

You see, we, we, we don't want to think that someone's not

saved because they said a prayer, or we were with them or

they made a profession of faith, but their lives are a

contradiction to what the Bible says.

If your life is a contradiction to what the Bible says, then you

do not know the Lord because God's Word actively changes the

life. God's Word goes forth,

accomplishes its purpose, and always does its work and those

who believe. So Paul says because God's work

work, God's Word works. And those who believe, when you

hear it, it changes your attitude, it changes your

actions, it changes your conversation, it changes your

relationships, it changes everything about you.

You cannot say you're a Christian and live an unchanged

life. That doesn't happen.

Why? Because God uses His Word

constantly in your life to do a fruit bearing kind of work.

And when God sends forth His His Word, it always accomplishes the

objective. That's why Paul would go on in

Second Timothy 4 verse #2 and tell Timothy, Timothy, make sure

you preach the Word because God's words profitable for a man

to know right, to be right, to get right and to stay right, and

to make sure that that man is thoroughly furnished to

accomplish every work that God's given to him.

So therefore preach the Word, because you're going to live in

a day where men will turn away from the Word and they will

gather for themselves preachers who will speak to them things

that will tickle their ears. But you need to box their ears

by giving them the truth of the Word of God that they might

understand what God's Word says. And when you come to Psalm 19,

you have this commentary on the brilliance of the Word.

Because what God's Word does is producing us the kind of joy

that we so desperately need, the kind of understanding, the

clarity that we need to make it through life.

It helps us to understand how it is God works in us through the

power of the Word of the living God.

So I want you to notice several things about the brilliance of

the Word. They're in your notes, you're in

your outline. First of all, you need to know

that God's Word is precious. It's precious.

And not only is it precious, but it's pleasurable, it's

protective, it's powerful, it's priceless.

And then, well, probably not tonight, but we'll give you some

principles that come from the brilliance of the word of God.

OK, first of all, it's precious. Why?

Look what he says. He says the law of the Lord is

perfect. Notice he, he calls the

Scripture the law, the testimony, the precepts, the

commandment, the fear, and the judgments.

He he says that the law of the Lord is perfect, that the law

simply is all. Of God's manual for living his

kind of life. It's the law of God.

It's God's standard. God has a standard.

He's given us his law that we might meet that standard.

And that law is, as he says, perfect.

Perfect not meaning that there are no errors in it, although

there are no errors in it, it means that it's complete, it's

sufficient, it's all-encompassing.

So the law of the Lord is absolutely sufficient for

everything. It's it's complete for

everything. It's more than just adequate,

it's sufficient. Albert Barnes in his commentary

says this about the word perfect.

He says the meaning of perfect is is that Scripture lacks

nothing for us. It's complete nothing in order

that it might be what it should be.

It is complete as a revelation of divine truth.

It is complete as a rule of conduct.

It is absolutely true. It is adopted, or, excuse me, it

is adapted with consummate wisdom to the needs of man.

It is an unerring guide of conduct.

There is nothing there which would lead men into error or

sin. There is nothing essential for

man to know which may not be found in the Word of God.

Everything is here. Your whole life is in this book

and God has given to us by His grace and the law of the Lord is

perfect. And it says restoring the soul

or converting the soul or transforming the soul.

This is this is the testimony of the word of God.

God's law is so sufficient and so complete that it is that

which transforms, changes, revives, and restores the soul.

In other words, you can't be in the Word, you can't read the

Word, you can't sit under the Word without that transforming

nature power of God working in your life.

Unless, of course, you don't know the Lord.

Now, if you don't know the Lord, sitting and preaching of the

Word and reading the Word is going to make no difference to

you whatsoever. It's just another nice sermon.

But if you know the Lord, then it works actively in your life,

bearing fruit in your life. You, you leave with conviction,

knowing you're marching orders, knowing what you need to do

next, knowing what God's call upon your life is.

And that's why we, we could constantly preach the word to

you. We teach the Bible to you

because the law of the Lord is, is perfect, converting and

restoring the soul. Soul is the nephesh.

It's the, it's the inner part of of the man.

It's the real you. It's the real you.

That's which is in the inside. That's who you are.

And God's law works in that capacity.

And so it says that the law of the Lord is whole, complete,

sufficient, so much so that it converts, refreshes, transforms

the soul. Listen to what the psalmist said

in Psalm 119. Remember, Psalm 19 is a

summation of all of Psalm 1/19. He just sums it all up for you.

And look what he says in Psalm 119 verse #25 My soul cleaves to

the dust. Revive me according to Your

word. My soul cleaves to the dust.

I'm down, I'm out. But Lord, you can revive my

soul. You can restore my soul.

You can enliven my soul according to Your word.

Verse 28. My soul weeps because of grief.

How many people you know that are that are weeping today

because of the grief that encompasses their their lives

and family? Strengthen me according to your

word. Strengthen me.

It's the same thing that Paul was saying in Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

I want to part something spiritual to you that I might

strengthen you, establish you. That's why he said to the

Ephesian elders in Acts 20, I commend you to God and the word

of His grace, which is able to build you up, strengthen you.

I'm going to leave, but I'm not leaving without giving you the

word of grace, which strengthens you, establishes you, build you

up. So important to understand this.

And then from verse #28 look what it says over in verse #92

Excuse me. 93 I will never forget your precepts, for by

them you have revived me. Psalm 107 I am exceedingly

afflicted. Revive me, Restore me, O Lord,

according to your word. Are you afflicted?

The psalmist? New Lord, I need Your word to

revive me, to restore me and then over in 116 sustain me

according to your word that I may live.

Since psalmist knew that that God's law is complete, it is

more than sufficient to do what God has designed it to do.

And so David says the law of the Lord is perfect.

It restores the soul and then he says this, he says the testimony

of the Lord is sure making wise the simple the testimony of the

Lord. The Bible is the testimony of

the Lord Jesus. It's the written testimony of

who Jesus is and what he's done. So the law of the Lord is a

witness. It's a testimony to the

character and nature of God. He says the testimony of the

Lord is sure. Remember in John 5 verse 39 when

John 5:39

Christ said that the Pharisees you search the scriptures for in

them. You think that you have eternal

life, but they are that would speak of me see they they they

were looking for something other than the Christ but but all of

the Bible speaks about the Lord. It's his testimony.

And so the so David calls it the testimony of the Lord, and now

he's only referring to the Old Testament because that's all

there was, right? So he's only referring to the

law of the prophets. And he's talking about how this

is a testimony to the character in nature of the Lord, the God

of Israel, the Messiah who's coming.

This is his testimony and it's absolutely sure.

It's unwavering. It's it's unmistakable.

It's absolute. God's testimony about who he is

is the most sure thing ever. Let me, let me give you an

example of that. Turn back with me if you would,

to first Peter, chapter 2. I'm sorry, second Peter, second

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

Peter chapter one, sorry, second Peter, chapter 1.

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

Listen to Peter's testimony, he says in verse 16.

For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known

to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we

were eyewitnesses of His Majesty.

For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, such

an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory.

This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased.

Now Peter is giving a testimony as to what happened on the, on

the mount of Transfiguration there in the in the land of

Israel. He's going back to that time

where Peter, James and John went up with the Lord up to the

mountain. I, I believe it's mountain

Herman up in the northern part of of Israel, because that

really is a high mountain and it falls in the context of them

being an accessory of Philippi, which is at the base of Mount

Hermon. But they went up into this

mountain and, and the Lord unzipped his flesh and the glory

of the Lord, the brilliance of the Lord would shine out and a

great cloud consumed them and, and the majestic glory of God

said, this is my beloved son, and whom I am well pleased.

And they saw Moses and they saw Elijah, right?

And Peter said, let's, let's build 3 tabernacles here.

This is a great opportunity for us.

So Peter's giving testimony to what he experienced in life and

the Bible records that experience.

But then he says this, and we ourselves heard this utterance

made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.

So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do

well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place

until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your

hearts. He says we have something more

sure than my experience because this is my experience.

It's subject to the surety of God's testimony, God's law,

God's word. We have a prophetic word, the

word of God made more sure than my experience.

That's why we always tell people, well, I experienced this

or I experienced that, and we say, OK, if that's your

experience, match it with the sure word of the Lord, because

we can't match it with the sure word of the Lord.

Your experience Trump's the surety of Scripture and the

authority of Scripture, and therefore you have put yourself

above God in His word. Can't do that because you're

subject to God in His Word. So whatever your experience is,

if it doesn't match what the God's Word says, you probably

had too much chilly the night before as to why your experience

was the way it was. The bottom line is, is that

God's Word is absolute surety. He says so.

The testimony of the Lord is unwavering.

It's ironclad. It's sure you can bank on it.

It's absolute truth making wise the simple, making wise the

simple. God's Word is so sure, so

absolute, so true that the simple person can become very

wise. Now note this, the word for

simple is the word that means open door.

Open door. You've heard people say, well,

you know, I, I, I'm really open about this.

I, I have an open mind that that's not a good character

quality to have. That's a bad character quality

to have. For example, if I, if, if I say

to you, do you open your door at night when you go to bed?

No. What do you do?

You lock your door. You shut your door.

You lock your door. Why?

Because you don't want anything on the outside coming on the

inside. So what do you do?

You shut your door, you bolt your door, you lock your door,

you set your alarm because you don't want anybody coming in,

right? That's a closed door mentality.

That's the right mentality. An open door mentality says I'm

just going to leave it open. All the books can come in.

All the burglars can come in. It's OK.

I have an open door policy. I have an open mind policy.

No, it didn't work that way. Why?

Because when you're wise, your mind now is shut off from that

which is corruption, that which is evil.

That's what that which might bring harm to your life.

See. And that's what happens with the

testimony of the Lord that is so sure, it closes your mind to all

the corruption and all the evil on the outside.

So it doesn't get in because now you have wisdom, you have

discernment. The open minded person is an

undiscerning person. The closed minded person is the

discerning person. He discerns between what is

right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil.

He shuts the door to the evil. He shuts the door to the bad.

He opens the door to the good and to the right and to the

true. That's the wise person.

You receive wisdom and wisdom is is is the application of truth

to life. Wisdom is just not an

accumulation of of knowledge. In fact, the the Bible says over

in the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 24 verse #14

Proverbs 24 · chapter mention

these words about wisdom. Know that wisdom is thus for

your soul. If you find it, then there will

be a future and your hope will not be cut off.

If you find wisdom. And we know from Proverbs

chapter chapter 3 that wisdom, excuse me, Proverbs chapter 2

Proverbs 2 · chapter mention

verse #6 that wisdom comes from the mouth of the Lord.

And these words are what the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

And so wisdom comes to us through the testimony of the

Lord. It is absolute, unwaveringly

sure to make the open minded person closed minded to all that

which is on evil on the outside. So he can be very discerning by

the wisdom of God in the decisions that he makes.

This is the preciousness of the Word of God.

You know you want you want to be wise in your decision making,

don't you? You want to be wise in your

relationships. A double minded man is unstable

in all of his ways. If any of you lacks wisdom, let

him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally.

James one verse #5 but an unstable man.

First Ada chapter 1 is is, or excuse me, double minded man is

unstable in every one of his ways, not just certain ways, but

all of his ways because he has no wisdom.

But God's word gives you wisdom. And God's word is that which is

perfect, restoring the soul. And so the psalmist says that

the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.

The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple and

the precepts of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart, the

precepts, the statutes of the Lord, those principles that that

guide all of our actions, those precepts that are of the Lord

and remember each phrase says of the Lord of the Lord of the

Lord, because he wants you to know that this is the word of

the living God. And so the precepts of the Lord

are are right. Now that's not right as opposed

to wrong. That's right, in terms of the

right way to go, the true way to go, right.

So what you have is that the precepts of the Lord, the

statutes of God show you which path to take always when you,

when you, when you cry for discernment, and when you ask

the Lord for wisdom and you ask the Lord for direction, he

always gives it to you through his word.

He always shows you where to go through his word.

That's why when someone goes someplace and it goes contrary

to the word of God, they say, well, the Lord led me there and

I'm not sure he did because it's contrary to what God's Word

says. See, what does God's word say?

You know, don't make a move, don't make a decision without

knowing you have chapter and verse behind the decision making

process in your life. If you do that, it will affect

everything else you do. The decision you make today

determines your destiny tomorrow, right?

Make a bad decision today, your future's in jeopardy.

Make the right decision today. Your future's going to go the

right way. That's why he says that the

precepts of the Lord are right. They give you direction.

They show you which path to take.

And know what rejoicing the heart.

See. The decisions you make about the

path you take causes great joy in the heart.

Not turmoil, not anxiousness, not tragedy, but causes your

heart to rejoice, to sing songs of joy because you want to

follow what the word of the Lord says.

That's just so incredibly important.

The presets of the Lord are right.

They are. They are showing you which way

to go, which path to take, so that your heart will always

leave. Be rejoicing over what God is

doing. If you're making the decision

and your heart's not rejoicing, you probably made a bad choice.

You probably didn't look to the precepts of the Lord.

The statues of the Lord probably didn't look to the law of the

Lord. You probably didn't look to the

testimony of the Lord. Why?

Because God's Word speaks, speaks loud, and all you got to

do is read it. All you got to do is sit under

it. I just hear it with an open

heart that says, Lord, teach me that I might understand your

precepts, your testimony, your law.

This is the brilliance of the law.

Look at the next one. The commandment of the Lord is,

is pure or lucid or, or clear, enlightening the eyes.

In other words, the commandments of God are, are absolute, right?

They're not suggestions. God never gives suggestions.

He doesn't even give you his opinion.

He just gives commands, right? And so God's word is filled with

all kinds of of commands. And so he doesn't, he doesn't

give you options, He gives you commands.

This is what the word of the Lord sends.

So the commander of the Lord is, is pure, it's clear, it's lucid.

In other words, it's not mystifying.

It doesn't. It doesn't boggle your mind.

The commandments of the Lord are very clear.

When God gives the command, he makes it very easy to

understand. They're very clear.

And so therefore, when you obey those commands, your eyes are

completely enlightened. In his light you're able to see

light. He shows you which way to go.

He gives you clarity. He gives you direction.

He helps you understand hope versus despair.

And so God gives you commands that are very clear, not

convoluted, so that you know what to do, how to live.

The problem comes when we say, well, I don't want to do that.

I don't want to obey that. And that's where my my sinful

nature creeps in. And I want to do my own will,

not God's will, but the commandments of the Lord,

they're absolutely clear. They're pure, enlightening, the

eyes. And then he says the fear of the

Lord is clean, enduring forever. And this is really abnormal to

call the word of the Lord the fear of the Lord.

But David does. It's the fear of the Lord

because there's something about the Scriptures, the law of God,

the commandments of God, the statutes of God, the precepts of

God, the testimony of God, that causes great fear in those who

read it. That's why the Bible says

there's forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

But the commandments strike fear in our hearts, knowing that God

is serious about what he says. And so David calls it the fear

of the Lord because he wants you to understand the magnitude of

disobedience and the importance of following all that God says.

It's it's a manual for how to worship the one of the Bible

that testifies about who he is. Because the fear of the Lord

speaks of the the reverence and the all in the all-encompassing

admiration and affection we have for the God we serve.

And there's nothing better than teaching you how to worship that

God. Then the fear of the Lord and

the fear of the Lord is is clean.

It is free from any impurities. It is free from anything that's

defiling. Scripture is without evil,

without corruption, without error, without blemish.

Psalm 12/6 says that God's word is flawless.

So the fear of the Lord is flawless, clean, no impure, no,

no, no impurities in it. What does it do?

It endures forever, forever. You see, God's word is, is

something that that is never ending.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass

away. Why?

Because His words are magnified even as His very name.

Psalm 138 verse #2 right? So as His name is the highest

name, his word is the highest word because they're on the

equal, same, equal plane. And so the word of the Lord is,

is to be obeyed and to be followed, but it endures

forever. That means that God's word,

because it endures forever, is relevant to every generation,

Every generation. I can't say, well, that's Old

Testament stuff. And that's what we apply to

apply to us in today's day and age.

Or that's what Paul said. And, and the culture now has

changed. Society has changed.

Things are now different. No, God's word is that which

endures forever. It is as relevant today as it

was in Genesis chapter one verse #1 when God spoke the universe

into existence. It is so relevant that applies

to every one of us in the room, no matter where we're from, no

matter what we're going through, it comes to speak to us in our

point of need. And then he says the judgments

of the Lord are true, they are righteous all together.

The judgments of the Lord, the ordinances, the divine verdict,

it comes from the, the holy bench of God.

We, we will be judged by this standard.

This is the only standard by which man is judged, God's holy

word. So whatever God's word says, man

is measured against. And so therefore, they're called

the judgments of the Lord and they, they are true, they're

absolute. That that is just so important

because you see, you can actually go to your philosophy

class and say, I know the truth. I know the truth.

Class is over. Class is done because you know

the truth. You have the truth.

You, you, you embody the God of truth and you hold the the truth

of God in your hands. But the reason there's a

philosophy class is because it's taught by people who don't know

the God of truth, who don't understand truth, can't live

truth because they don't know that God.

But you do. So you can say I know the truth

whatever question you, you have, I know the truth to the answer

to that question because God gives me the answer in his word

that's absolute true. The judgments of the Lord are

true. They are righteous all together.

In other words, they produce nothing but righteousness,

righteous acts in the lives of those who follow them.

This is the preciousness of the Word of God, and David sums it

up in in in six simple statements that will change a

person's life forever. When one person said this about

the Bible, does it have an author?

It's anonymous, it says, though the cover is worn and the pages

are torn, and though places bare traces of tears, yet more

precious than gold is the book, worn and old that can shatter

and scatter my fears. When I prayerfully look in the

precious old book many pleasures and treasures, I see many tokens

of love from the Father above, who is nearest and dearest to

me. The old book is my guide.

Tis a friend by my side. It will lighten and brighten my

way, and each promise I find soothes and gladdens my mind as

I read it and heed it today. So true.

So many people just lay the the truth of God aside and don't

spend time in in studying it, memorizing it, learning it,

growing in it, reading it. This is your life.

Every answer you have, every question you have is answered in

this book. All you have to do is seek for

wisdom. It comes from the mouth of the

Lord. But not only is it precious,

it's pleasurable. Look what he says next.

They are more desirable than gold.

Yes. Then much fine gold.

David would know that he was a rich man.

He had lots of gold. But this testimony, this

judgement, this commandment, this law, this fear of the Lord,

it's so precious, it's more valuable than gold.

There is no earthly commodity that can measure or stand

against God's word. And then he says this, he says

sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb, that

that's just a a marvelous statement because honey is is

sweet to the taste. And David is thinking of the

sweetest thing that is most pleasurable when it goes down.

But he compares the scriptures with honey.

Why? Well #1 honey is provided

through the work of someone or something else other than you.

It's provided by the work of bees #2 it's a natural food that

means it doesn't take a lengthy time for a digestion, and it

acts immediately to give you energy #3 the taste of honey is

unique. There is no other sweetness

quite like it in the richness of all tastes.

Now compare that to the Word of God.

You have the Word of God not by your efforts, but by someone

else's efforts. The holy men of God spoke as

they were moved and borne along by the Spirit of God, right?

So you've been given this word, the Word of God's, been placed

in your presence, and now you have it by the work of the

Spirit of God in the lives of holy men.

And now you obtain it #2 when you read it, when you study it,

like honey, it goes to work immediately in your life to give

you the strength and energy that you need.

And #3 There is no other piece of literature known to man ever

written that provides the sweetness of the truth of the

living God. That's why David uses the

comparison. He wants you to understand the,

the, the pleasurableness of of the word of God, the sweetness

of the word of God, the joy of the word of God, the value of

the word of God. It is so, so pleasurable.

And so as you think about this, you and you begin to realize how

important God's word is. The Lord comes along and says,

come to abolish the law. I've come to fulfill the law, so

much so that the people of my Kingdom are committed to keeping

that law and teaching others that law.

In fact, those people are the greatest ones in the Kingdom.

The greatest ones in my Kingdom understand that the law of the

Lord is perfect and it restores the soul.

So they want to teach others about that.

They want to impart that truth to others.

If you're a mother, you impart it to your children.

You would instruct them in the ways of God.

You're looking for someone else to teach, to invest in so that

they can learn the truth that you, you learn.

And God says the people in my Kingdom, they keep this word.

They teach this word because it's a testimony about me.

And if it's a testimony about me, it's absolutely sure.

And it takes the open mind and closes it to all those things

that will corrupt it. And they want to teach others

how to do that. And the presets of the Lord are

right. They give you clear direction, a

clear path. They give you a true path.

It's that your heart's always rejoicing because you're walking

in obedience to God, in the ways of God, filled with the joy of

the Lord, commands of the Lord, a clean, pure, undefiled.

What do they do? They enlighten the eyes.

You might see the things that God wants you to see, fear the

Lord is clean and during forever.

The judgments of the Lord are are true.

They are righteous all together. So the Lord says, I've come to

fulfill all that and I've come to make sure that you understand

that this law is the most brilliant thing ever because

Christ is brilliant and these are the words of Christ and

therefore you want to adhere to all that he says, let's pray

together. Father, we thank you for today.

Yeah, opportunity to be in Your Word and pray that you direct us

and lead us in the way that we should go.

Thank you so much for how it is. You have articulated so clearly

the importance of Your Word. May we as your children long for

more of it. May we want it to be a part of

our everyday life. May we not go a day without it,

knowing that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every

word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

That's how we live our lives. You have a life giving word that

transforms us from the inside out.

May we see the value of that, act upon it.

Teach others the same thing also in Jesus name, Amen.