Psalm 119:129-136 - Part 17

Q: What does the Bible say about the power of God's word?

The Bible declares that God's word is powerful and life-giving, able to pierce the heart and discern thoughts. The scripture teaches us that the power of God's word lies both in the One who speaks it and in its content. Hebrews 4:12 describes God's word as 'quick' and 'powerful', sharper than any two-edged sword, capable of penetrating even the most hardened hearts. This divine authority means that one word from God can impart life to spiritually dead individuals, demonstrating His sovereign capacity to bring about spiritual transformation and healing. The authority of God's word assures us that it is not mere human utterance but the very voice of God, full of power to change lives.

Q: How do we know the Bible is the word of God?

The Bible's enduring authority, unity, and transformative power throughout history confirm it as the true word of God. The Bible stands out as the holy, inerrant, and spirit-inspired word of the living God, written over 1,500 years by more than 40 different authors who, despite never meeting, tell a cohesive story centered on Christ. Its unmatched endurance through centuries of persecution and attempts to be destroyed only proves its divine authenticity. No other work, however renowned, possesses such continual relevance and universal applicability to human needs. The Scriptures provide answers to life’s great questions and connect deeply with the human experience, affirming their authenticity as God's revelation to mankind.

Q: Why is understanding the Bible important for Christians?

Understanding the Bible is essential for Christians as it provides spiritual light, guidance, and transformation. For Christians, the understanding of Scripture is vital because it serves as the divine guide for life and faith. Psalm 119:130 says, 'The entrance of thy words giveth light,' emphasizing the illuminating power of God's word to reveal truth and understanding. This understanding enables believers to walk in righteousness, discern God’s will, and draw closer to Christ. Furthermore, a deep engagement with the Bible fosters spiritual maturity and resilience against temptation, as God's word fortifies believers against sin, cultivating a life that reflects Christ. Thus, the diligent study of Scripture is not only a duty but a means of grace that allows Christians to grow in faith and holiness.

Q: How does God's word bring comfort and hope?

God's word provides comfort and hope by revealing His promises and steadfast love for His people. The essence of God's word brings profound comfort and hope, particularly in seasons of trial and uncertainty. Through Scriptures, believers find the assurance of God's eternal faithfulness and love. For instance, passages that affirm God's care, such as Romans 8:38-39, remind us that nothing can separate us from His love. Additionally, God's promises serve as anchors for the soul, offering hope and encouragement amidst life's struggles. As believers meditate on these truths, they are reassured of God's sovereign control over their lives, instilling a deep-seated peace that surpasses understanding.

A quote from 1 Corinthians 2,
verse 9, that says this, As it is written,
I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him." Now, while it is true that we have not actually seen
with these eyes the things of God, heavenly things, spiritual
things. While it is true that we have
not actually heard the voice of God. The actual voice of God. Someday we will. Someday we will
hear him actually speak to us. And someday we shall actually
see him with our eyes as he is. So while we have not yet seen
or heard these things. Yet there is a real sense in
which we have seen and heard these things because we have
in our possession, we have in our possession the most miraculous
and wonderful thing that a man can possibly own or have, the
word of the living God. And in it, we can see with our
eyes or we can read it or hear someone read of the things of
God, the wonderful and marvelous and miraculous, deep mysteries
of God Almighty. We can actually read it, the
heart, the mind, the will of God Almighty, whom no man has
ever seen and lived, yet we can actually see what he has written. and hear with ears of faith. And those scientists and men
of great minds throughout the years, throughout the ages, have
by various means and methods tried to probe into the mysteries
of the stars and the mysteries of life itself. We have before
us, in your very lap tonight, we have the answers to all of
those questions. We have all of the answers to
all of those questions. And a wise man or a wise woman
would peruse this or look into it. Now, I quoted from Philip
Henry, Matthew Henry's father, when we first began this study
in Psalm 119. I quoted from Philip Henry, who
said this concerning Psalm 119. He said, It will make you to
be in love with the rest of the scriptures. I thought that was
good, and that's my desire tonight, that through the study of this
little portion tonight, that it will cause us to be more interested
in and to study more carefully and to use and study and live
by this work tonight. Now we'll probably spend more
time in a couple of verses verses that you just cannot skim over
no no versus really should be skimmed over but for the sake
of time we will some of them but we'll probably spend more
time in verse the first verse and verse one thirty three which
is one of my favorites one I have written in the inside of my Bible.
And I hope we can see Christ in the pages of this book tonight. Look at it with me again, verse
129. David writes under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. Thy testimonies are wonderful. If only we would consider really
the wonder of the word of God. If I had a title to a message
to this message, it would be that the wondrous word of God. If only we would really consider
the wonder of this word, this word of God. I want to show you
tonight, hopefully, or rather, I would hope that the Holy Spirit
would show us some of the wonders from this book, the wonders of
God's word. Three basic points, the wonders
of God's word. I want us to see something of
the. The authority and power of God Almighty's Word, the authority
and the power of God Almighty's Word. Now, you remember when
that band of soldiers or rulers from the temple went to arrest
Christ while he was speaking in the tabernacle, while he was
speaking. They went to arrest him, to bring
him bound back before the Sanhedrin. But they were too enthralled
by his speech. They were too entranced and enamored
with and impressed by his speech. When they went to hear him, they
may have barged into that place and all of a sudden they heard
his voice, unlike any other voice they'd ever heard. And they maybe
for a moment stood there to listen before taking it. And they sat
through the whole message. They couldn't take him. And they
went back spellbound. And they told the leaders who
asked them why they couldn't, they didn't bring him. They said,
what did they say? No man spake like this man. He spoke as one having authority. authority, and surely I would
have loved to have heard Christ actually speak. Someday we will.
A voice unlike any other. And surely Christ, while he was
on this earth as a man, spoke more fluidly, spoke more freely
than any other man who ever walked this planet. I've told you before. that sin is behind all of the
problems we experience in the flesh when our brains lock up
when we can't think properly as a result of seeing when our
tongues get tied when our tongues get dry. As a result of seeing
that Christ had no thing so he didn't have those afflictions
those common afflictions right so surely he must have spoke
with perfect diction. with perfect clarity. He didn't stumble or fumble or
search his mind for words to come up with, but the perfect
words, the preordained words of God Almighty always came from
his mouth. He spoke perfectly. But his power
When they said no man spake like this man I don't believe his
power necessarily. Lay in how he spoke. Many powerfully delivered sermons
have been preached only to be forgotten very quickly down the
road. I don't believe Christ's power
was necessarily in how he spoke but rather in what he said. The content. of what he spoke. And it's the same now. If I've
learned anything, I've learned this. I was speaking to you about
this the other day. And this thing of preaching,
I've learned this. The wind bloweth where it listeth. And I can stand
up and deliver what I may think or someone may think was the
most powerful message, only to have it fall on deaf ears. And
good people go away unmoved or I can stand up here and feel
like a total failure or another man. And the spirit of the living
God take that word and apply it to someone's heart. It happens
invariably. Why? No flesh is going to glory
in his presence. And it's the word of God he blesses,
not the vessel. It's not how a man says it, it's
what the man is saying. And I've said this before, quoting
Brother Todd Nider. When is a message a good message?
A message is a good message when a man exalts God, puts man in
the dust, and points him to Christ, his only hope. Whether or not
that man has what you would call freedom or power, be it volume
or whatever it may be, that doesn't matter. It's the content of what
he's saying. content, and God can take that,
and if Christ is so pleased, he can take one word and bring
it home to the mind and heart of someone and totally transform
that man or that woman through one word. Christ said it, if
you know the truth, the truth shall make you free. By the power
and authority of God's Holy Spirit, one word from the pages of this
book can impart life to a spiritually dead man, just like the story
of Spurgeon stumbling into that little Methodist chapel one day,
and a so-called layman was up preaching, and the man was preaching
from Isaiah 45, look unto me. And he pointed at that young
man, 19 years old at the time, and said, young man, have you
looked to Christ the Lord? Spurgeon said it hit him like
a ton of bricks. So Christ can take the Holy Spirit
can take one word. Just as it was in times past
with an earthly monarch or king an earthly king needed only to
say one word. One word and have a man spared
or killed. Sometimes he didn't have to say
anything just a nod of the head right. Have a man spared or have
his head chopped off, have a man made rich, or have everything
taken from him. And one word of God Almighty,
from God Almighty, can be a saver of life unto life or death unto
death. One word. One word can impart
life to a spiritually dead man or add to the condemnation of
that man. Right? One word can make a man rich
toward God who was once a beggar, or one word can make him without
hope in this world. Leave him alone. And when God
says, leave a man alone, there's no hope. But when God says to
the Holy Spirit, have at him, there's hope, a good hope, a
sure hope. I want you to turn with me to
Hebrews chapter 4. Look at this classic verse, Hebrews four,
this verse concerning God's word. Now the power lies, the power
lies both in the one who speaks and what he speaks, that is Christ. Because of who said it and what
he said, that's where the power is. And according to the good
pleasure of him who speaks from heaven, he can at any time God
Almighty can at any time speak peace to a man's heart, or he
can order his execution. He has that authority, doesn't
he? He's God. He says, cannot I do with mine
own what I will? He can say this, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee, thou art mine. No man shall pluck you out of
my hand. You're not your own. You're bought
with a price. You're mine. I knew you. I loved you. I set my affections
upon you. I'm going to have you. And it
will be according to his will. Or he can turn around and say,
depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you. Bind him hand and foot and cast
him into the lake of fire. Can it? Sure it can. It's powerful. It's full of authority. Look at Hebrews 4, verse 12. The word of God is quick. That
is, it's life-giving. It is powerful. It's powerfully
quick. It's life-changing power. It
can take a dead sinner and make him alive unto God, sharper than
any two-edged sword. It can wound. It can cut to the
heart of the problem. And with the same sword, it can
heal. Like a scalpel, like a two-edged
scalpel, can cut the body, the heart asunder, and at the same
time, cut out the disease and heal. It's piercing, pierces
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. The Word
of God can get down to the root of your very motive, your very
heart. can discern whether or not you're
sincere or hypocrite, can't it? No man can do that, but the Word
of God can. Christ the Word can. He could
look into a man's heart, couldn't he, and say, I know what you're
thinking. Dividing asunder of the soul
and the spirit and dividing asunder of the joints and the marrow,
the Word of God can separate a very father from his son, a
mother from her daughter. A husband from a wife. Only the
Word of God can do that. And a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. Jeremiah 23, 29 says this. Is not my word as a fire? Didn't they say that about Christ's
word after he spoke one day on the road to Emmaus? It burned
within us. And that's what happened at Pentecost.
These fiery tongues, that's just the Holy Spirit putting a coal
from the altar of God on the lips of the preacher, making
him a fiery tongue preacher, if you will, and having the word
of God burn in the hearts of men. Is not my word as a fire
and a hammer? Sometimes the word of God hits
you right between the eyes, doesn't it? Better still, breaks this
old hard heart to pieces, the rock to pieces. It's powerful. The word of God. And it's full
of authority because of who gave it. Secondly, the wonder of God's
word. The wonder of God's word lies
in the creation of it. The conception of it and the
actual creation of God's word, it dates back more than thirty
five hundred years. Thirty five hundred years ago,
it began to be written. written by over 40 men over a
period of 1,500 years it took to complete this book. Men who
did not know each other, men who did not, most of them, did
not collaborate together, yet 66 books over a period of 1,500
years tell the same story of the Christ who came, who is coming,
the Christ who came, and the Christ who's coming again. Same
story. with absolute perfection, written
by uneducated men, mostly fishermen, common laborers, in a dead language,
a language that is no longer used today. Powerful men and
women and nations have tried to explain it away, tried to
destroy it, tried to change it, only to have it become more far-reaching
than ever, written and read in more than a thousand languages. Like the early church, you know,
that was persecuted and they spread, it caused them to spread.
The Word of God has been, men have tried to destroy it down
through the years only to have it just explode into all the
world. Read by more people than any
other book, enduring the test of time, custom, nationality. It endures the test of time.
You can't find a book written by a man more than three or four
hundred years old. But this book dates back 3,500.
That's when it started. Read by Americans, Chinese, French,
Italians, Mexicans, Africans, and it meets all of their needs.
Doctors, dishwashers, lawyers, and laborers, it meets all of
their needs perfectly. It is the holy, inerrant, spirit-inspired
word of the living God. It is no mere invention of man. no cunningly devised fable by
mankind. It is the perfect Word of God
Almighty. And it is beyond the power of
man to destroy it. Why is that? Why can't man destroy
the Bible? If they destroyed all of the
copies, and they've tried this, all of the copies of the Bible
throughout the world, that still wouldn't put it away. The master
copies in a safe place. You can't get to the master copies
that it's in heaven forever. Oh, Lord, by word is settled
in heaven. And John, he's written it upon
the hearts of his people. You have to cut out their heart
to get rid of the way. Look over with me at Exodus,
chapter twenty five, the wonder of God's word, the wonder David
said there in Psalm 119, 129, he said, Thy testimonies are
wonderful, wonderful. It is wonderful, not only because
of its authority and its power. It's wonderful, not only because
of its creation, its conception, but it's wonderful because of
its content, its content. Do you remember our study through
the tabernacle and the ark? Do you remember what was in that
arc? You could answer it now, couldn't
you? I quizzed one of our men before the service. Do you remember what was in that
arc, the arc of the tabernacle inside the Holy of Holies? Do
you remember what three things were in that arc? It's significant
in it that three things were in there. But I'll refresh your
memory if you don't remember. First of all, there was that
pot of manna. the pot of manna. And I thought
about the wonder of that, how this bowl of bread didn't spoil
for 40 years or more. Why is that? Why didn't that
bowl of manna spoil over the years? Well, it's a picture of
Christ, the everlasting bread of life, because there's no leaven
in it, and it'll never spoil, and there's no sin in him, and
he ever lives. to make the intercession for
us a picture of Christ. The second thing that was in
that arc was Aaron's rod that budded. There was this long twig,
a branch of a tree, if you will, that had blossoms and almonds
on it. Now, why didn't that spoil overall? Why didn't those blossoms fade
and those nuts uh, shrivel up, huh? Because that's a picture
of Christ. The scepter, the rod, the scepter
of God's righteousness, his everlasting righteousness, the tree of life,
Christ, who is the tree of life, ever blooming, ever bearing fruit
unto God Almighty. And thirdly, do you remember
what else was in that ark? Look at it here in Exodus 25,
verse 21. Now remember our text. David said, Thy testimonies are
wonderful. Exodus 25, look at verse 21.
God gives this order, And thou shalt put the mercy seat above
upon the ark, and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony
that I shall give thee. The testimony of God was in that
ark, the testimony, and it was called from that day forward,
the ark of the testimony, or the ark of the covenant, another
word. So in the ark was the testimony
of God, right? In Christ dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. In Christ are hidden all the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge, the will, the mind, the purpose,
the law of God Almighty. Do we have to go back to the
Old Testament to find the law of God? No, we're not under that
law. We're under law to Christ. We look to Christ for our law
now, right? In Christ, in our ark, is the
mind, the will, and the purpose of God Almighty. The Scripture
says the tabernacle of God is with man in the form of a man. Christ tabernacled among us,
okay? The covenant mercies of God are
to be found only in Christ. There's only mercy and grace
to be found in Christ. Outside of Christ, there's wrath
and destruction. The testimonies of God, the laws,
the will of God Almighty are found in Christ. That's where you go to find it.
And when God Almighty made this earthen vessel, that body for
Christ to dwell in, that human body years ago, he made it to
contain, just like that old ark, he made it to contain all the
fullness, all the fullness. And like God told Moses and the
people, we're going to put these things in this ark so that you
can remember my mercies and my grace to you. Put the manna in
there to remember how I provided for you. Put the law in there
so you can remember my will and my mind. Put the Aaron's rod
that budded in there so you can remember where your fruit comes
from. The tree of life, the vine, if
you will. And Christ said this, or the
scriptures of God said this about Christ. The testimonies, the
ark. He said when that ark was created,
When that body was born, Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6, unto us a
child is born, a son is given. Now what are you going to call
it? His name shall be called Wonderful. Thy testimonies are
wonderful. Thy will, thy purpose, thy word
is Christ, who is wonderful. That's his very name, the Ark
of the Covenant, the Ark of the Testimonies, and he is wonderful. And in him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body. And our text says this, Thy testimonies
are wonderful, therefore doth my soul keep them. By God's grace,
I keep God's Christ. By God's grace, I keep God's
Christ. I believe the gospel concerning
God's Son. Do you? By God's grace, I cling
to Christ by faith. By God's grace, I want to be
like Jacob, my father of old. When a man wrestled with him,
he wrestled with that man and said, I will not let you go until
you finally bless me. Because I see a wonder in Christ,
a wonder to behold, a wonderful one. And by God's grace, I'm
going to keep hold of him until he finally blesses me with his
actual presence. I'll not be satisfied until then.
Why? Because I may fall. I know myself, and I may fall.
So I'm going to hang on just as hard as I can. Yeah, I am.
The only reason I'll hang is because he hanged on it. So,
thy testimonies are wonderful, therefore doth my soul keep them. Look at this, the entrance of
thy words giveth light. The entrance of thy words giveth
light. John said this, and the light
shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. He was that
true light which lighteth every man. that cometh into the world. The entrance of Christ into the
heart of a man and a woman by faith giveth light, or rather
understanding, discernment, to know the only true God, whom
to know is to have everlasting life. That's why Christ came.
He said, I came to reveal the Father, to give light, because
God is light and in him is no darkness. The entrance of Christ
into the heart gives light or understand it gives understanding
under the simple. Understanding to the simple.
Have you seen your calling that brethren. Sisters. He gives up he only gives an
understanding of the scriptures to the simple. Are you a simpleton. Are you poor. That's the only
the only person the gospel comes to. Are you unwise? Not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble. Are you weak or are you mighty?
Are you ignoble or are you noble? Huh? The foolish, God had chosen
the foolish things. Is that you? The weak can do
nothing, can find out nothing, knows nothing. The base, base,
base, sinful, iniquitous person, despised. Nothing nobody that
no way should glory in his present but. Of God are you in Christ
Jesus who of God is made under you wisdom. You may be the most
simple Simon on earth. Like that story about the. The poor little simple fellow
said I I'm just an old sinner and nothing at all. But Jesus
Christ is my all in all. He knew all he needed to know.
He had perfect understanding. The entrance of God's word gives
understanding unto the simple, light and understanding unto
the most simple. I opened my mouth. Let's read
131 and 132 together. I opened my mouth and panted,
for I longed for thy commandments. Look thou upon me. And be merciful
unto me, as thou used to do unto those that love thy name. By
God's grace, I have called, like he said to do in Romans 10, I
have called upon the name of the Lord. Why? Because he called
me. Because he called me. But by
God's grace, I have called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you? By God's grace, I have
cried out with old blind Bartimaeus, Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy upon me. Would you open my blind eyes? God's own heart has. He said,
I opened my mouth and panted as the heart panted for the waterbrook,
so panted my heart for thee, the true and living God. Do you
pant for the true and living God? Have you called upon him?
If you haven't, you don't know him. You haven't spoken to him
yet. Have you asked him to look upon
you in mercy and grace like David did here, to be merciful unto
you, just like he used to do under those in times past? Lord, you've been merciful to
many people up until now. Could you show it one more time? According to the multitude of
your tender mercies, can you show a little more of it? Hmm? Oh, Lord, order my steps, 133.
Order my steps in thy word. Lead me in paths of righteousness
for thy name's sake. Lead me by faith to Christ, who
is my righteousness, my only hope. That's the path of righteousness,
to lead a man to Christ, isn't it? Not make a man walk like
he ought to walk, although God will. But the first path that
the Lord puts a man upon is the path straight to Christ. Lead
me in paths of righteousness. Order my steps in thy word. Set
my feet toward Christ, in the path toward Christ. Let me walk
by faith in Christ and order my steps according to this book. Pre-ordain, pre-destinate, pre-order
me to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. That is my heart's
prayer for me and for you. my life. Point me to Christ and
order my steps according to this book. Conform me to the blessed
image of Christ. Let me walk like Christ and let
no iniquity have dominion over me. Lead me not into temptation,
Christ told us to pray, but deliver us from the evil one and his
evil devices. Why? Because we're so susceptible
to it. Let not sin have dominion over
me. Just, he promised, Henry, he
promised. In Romans 6, he said, sin shall
not have dominion over you. So plead his promise. It's the
only place you can go. Lord, you promised that sin would
not have dominion over me, that I'm not under the law, I'm under
grace. Lord, live up to your promise. Let not any iniquity
have dominion over me." It seems like it does, so much of the
time. Lord, let it not have dominion
over me, but rather let Christ have dominion over me. And though
they have abused this statement to no end, I still say it. Let
Christ be Lord over my life. Every aspect of my life, truly,
be Lord. Not just in word, but in deed. Let me be a doer of the word
and not just a hearer or a sayer only. Order my steps to Christ
and let not any iniquity have dominion over me. And let me
say this, if Christ is looked to for salvation, if Christ and
Christ alone is looked to for your very help in time of need,
you will not be If Christ is looked to, if Christ's strength
is drawn upon, you'll have strength to fight every tempter's every
snare. If God's word is kept hid in
your heart as a result of diligent study, as he tells us to do,
of diligent seeking, you can be Promised that no sin will
have dominion over you. That's the promise of the living
God who cannot fail, whose word is established forever. Study,
he said. Make diligent use of. Seek, you'll
find answers. Knock, it'll be open. Ask, you'll
receive. Strength, help in that very time
of need. That's his promise. And this
right here is where you find it. Deliver me from the oppression
of man. Verse 134. Deliver me from the
oppression of man, so will I keep thy precepts. If God will deliver
us from the old man within us, and if God will deliver us from
the pressure and influence of mankind around us, then maybe
we'll be obedient unto the faith unto the end. Then maybe we'll
not faint. You see, these two things have an overriding pressure,
put pressure upon us, don't you? The old man within us and the
men and women around us oppress us, put pressure upon us, they
influence us, right? And if God will deliver us from
the old man within and men, mankind without, then maybe we'll be
obedient under the faith and obedient under God's word. Paul
said it. best, who shall deliver me from
this body, this man, this old man that pressures me all the
time? Huh? Who? He didn't say what. And this is the reason I've said
concerning the Bible. I don't ever want to make any,
say any flippant remarks concerning this book. It's a precious gift.
It's a gift of all gifts right here. And I don't want to ever
make any disparaging remarks concerning this book, but it
is not, as I've said, it is not. The printed word on the page. But it's the incarnate word who
must speak to us. OK, you can read the Bible all
you will and not have it speak to you unless the spirit of the
living God speak through it. You must read the Bible in order
to be spoken to by the Spirit, but just the mere reading of
it doesn't promise you that you'll be spoken to, that it will be
effectual to you. The Spirit of God, Christ Himself,
must speak to you. So Paul said, Who shall deliver
me from the old man? Not what? It's not a rabbit's
foot. It's not a good luck charm. Who shall deliver me from this
body of death? He said, he gave the answer,
I thank God through reading the Bible. No, I thank God through
Jesus Christ, our Lord. We have a deliverer, not just
deliverance. We have a city of refuge that
we can resort to. We have a safe, a hiding place. And he said this, make your face
to shine upon my servant. Make your face to shine upon
me and teach me thy statutes. Lord God, thou who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, would you shine in my heart to give light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus? Would you shine,
make your face to shine upon thy servant and to teach me thy
statutes, would you? Teach me the gospel. Teach me
the gospel. Look at the last verse and I'll
let you go. Rivers of water run down mine
eyes because they keep not your love. Have you ever cried yourself
to sleep because of sin and iniquity? Huh? I'm not sure you know the
meaning of it, if you haven't. And I'm not talking about other
people's sin, necessarily. I'm talking about your own. Huh? Bunyan used to talk about it.
Where is Mr. Wetteye? Have you ever cried like David
in Psalm 12? Help, Lord. For the godly man
sees it. for the faithful fail from among
the children of men." Ever cried that out? Have you ever cried,
help Lord, I'm that supposedly godly man. Everybody thinks I'm
godly, thinks I'm a good Christian, but I ain't so hot. Help, Lord,
the godly man is a failure. Help, Lord, the faithful. They
think I'm faithful. They think I'm a believer. The
faithful is failing from the children of men. Lord, if you
don't hold me up, I'm leaving. I quit. Ever cried that? Huh? We better start. Help, Lord. Have you ever Known this grief
and this sorrow of your own self, of your own sin and iniquity
and faithlessness. And I've known something of this
grief that David's talking about here for others. I feel it right now, not like
I do at times, but I feel it right now. He says, rivers of water run
down mine eyes because they keep not thy law. And I've often thought
to myself, I wish other people were crying about themselves
so I wouldn't have to. I've known what it is to weep
over those who have gone out from us because they were not
of us. Because if they had been of us,
they no doubt would have remained with us. I've known what it is
And I know what it is to weep over those who keep not thy law,
or that is, those who have forsaken the gospel of Christ and are
apparently interested in other things, even now. My heart within
me weeps right now because of the size of our crowd right now.
We have 35 on Sunday morning, 40, 45. We've got 20 tonight. And I feel the same grief over
some who are obviously more interested in other things and who have
obviously left the one who was supposedly their first love in
favor of somebody or something else. Rivers of water run down
mine eyes because they keep not thy law. May God help us. And like I said, regardless of
the man or how it's delivered, these testimonies are wonderful. This gospel is a wonder and an
amazement. And oh, that God would impress
that upon our hearts. Our testimonies are wonderful,
and therefore my soul does keep And if God will keep me by his
power, I'm going to keep digging and searching and laying hold
by faith and coming like a little child. Except we be converted
and become as little children. He says you never graduate above
that. You don't graduate from the school of Christ. He said
you become men in understanding, but always children in attitude. And if this gospel ever grows
old to us, if we ever rise above hearing the same old, old story,
the simple story again, if it ever becomes redundant to us
and repetitive to us, we're in a bad shape. Because these testimonies
are wonderful, they're full of wonder and amazement. And I counsel you to buy the
truth, sell it not, call upon the living God. to make these
things fresh to you, ever fresh, and ever live as Aaron's rod
that budded, as that pot of manna to you, and as that law to guide
your feet, your steps, and let no iniquity have dominion over
you. Jeanette, would you come up here while we sing a closing
hymn, please? 175. 175. There's a verse of Scripture
that says we walk by faith. Another verse says that we stand
on the rock. Now that's present tense. Present
tense. We don't, like Psalm 1 talks
about a man, blessed is the man who doesn't stand in the way
of sinners. He's not standing over here one
day and he's standing over here the next. But he's abiding in
Christ. standing on the rock, present
tense. He's walking, that is, walk to walk means you're making
progress, doesn't it? Not walking in place, walking
toward the desired destination, pressing toward a mark. So we're
standing on the promises, we're walking by faith, present tense. Are we? I hope so. Stand with
me and let's sing this. Standing on the promises of Christ
my King Through eternal ages let his praises ring Glory in
the high and I will shout and sing Standing on the promises
of God Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, I'm standing on the
promises of God. Third is the last. Standing on
the promises Bound to Him eternally by love strong for Overcoming
daily with the Spirit's sword Standing on the promises of God
Standing, standing, standing on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, I'm standing on the
promises of God. You're dismissed.

Psalm 119:129-136 - Part 17

What does the Bible say about the power of God's word?

How do we know the Bible is the word of God?

Why is understanding the Bible important for Christians?

How does God's word bring comfort and hope?

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Psalm 119:129-136 - Part 17

What does the Bible say about the power of God's word?

How do we know the Bible is the word of God?

Why is understanding the Bible important for Christians?

How does God's word bring comfort and hope?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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