Psalm 119:121-128 - Part 16

Q: What does the Bible say about God's judgment and justice?

The Bible teaches that God has perfect judgment and Christ fulfilled justice by bearing our sins. Scripture reveals that God embodies perfect judgment and justice. Only Christ can claim to have performed justice truly, as He fulfilled God's law and took upon Himself the punishment for our sins. As emphasized in the sermon, Christ, the just one, lived a perfect life deserving of approval from the Father but chose to forfeit that reward to satisfy God's justice against our sin, thus acting judiciously and justly in our place. This illustrates the profound depth of God's justice and the grace given to those He calls.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of sovereign grace is true?

The doctrine of sovereign grace is affirmed through scripture, highlighting God's unilateral initiative in salvation. Sovereign grace doctrine asserts that salvation is rooted in God’s sovereign will and pleasure, not human merit or decision. The sermon elucidates that God acted according to his own sovereign will to redeem a people for Himself, as seen in the promise of Christ's coming to fulfill the law and save His people. It emphasizes that such grace isn’t compelled but is an expression of God's love and mercy. The evidence of this doctrine is found throughout scriptures, showing God's initiative and the fulfillment of His promises in Christ.

Q: Why is understanding Christ's role as our servant important for Christians?

Understanding Christ as our servant is crucial as it reveals the depth of His humility and the nature of His sacrifice. Christ's role as a servant is a profound concept that reflects his condescension and willingness to fulfill the law on our behalf. The sermon notes that, despite His divine authority, Christ became a servant to both God and man, demonstrating ultimate humility in obedience to the law He authored. This understanding is critical for Christians as it illustrates the nature of Christ’s love and the sacrificial model He set before us. Recognizing Him as our servant encourages believers to adopt a posture of humility and service to others, reflecting Christ's character in our lives.

Q: What does it mean to esteem God's precepts according to scripture?

To esteem God's precepts means to recognize and prioritize His commands as true and just above all else. Esteeming God's precepts involves acknowledging their righteousness and aligning one's life in accordance with them. As highlighted in the sermon, this creates an ordered perspective where God's statutes are seen as right, while also fostering a hatred for sin. True esteem reflects a believer’s heart transformation, showcasing an intrinsic motivation to live for God's glory and submit to His will. This is not a superficial compliance but an active love for God's commands, indicating a heartfelt commitment to holiness and righteousness as part of the Christian life.

Q: How does sovereign grace relate to the concept of God's love?

Sovereign grace underscores that God's love is not conditioned by human actions but is given freely according to His will. Sovereign grace emphasizes that God's love operates independently of human merit or efforts. The sermon articulated that God’s grace is a reflection of His sovereign will and pleasure, where He chooses to show mercy and love unconditionally. This view challenges the notion that God’s love must be earned, reinforcing the biblical truth that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Understanding grace as sovereign helps believers appreciate the depth of God's love and encourages them to respond with love and obedience in return.

Remember her and her family.
Father's not doing too well at this point, so continue to remember
her in prayer. Now let's turn to Psalm 119.
Psalm 119. I'm going to be studying verses
121 through 128 tonight, and what I want to do is spend about
20 minutes on the first seven verses and then spend the other
20 or less on the last verse, kind of take
the last verse as a text. I got so many good thoughts from
someone on that last verse there that it bears spending a little
more time on. I'll try to stick to that. OK, there's some classic verses
all the way through the end of this Psalm 119. I look forward to each one of
them, but look at verse 133. This is a verse that I have written
in the front of my Bible. order my steps in thy word, and
let not any iniquity have dominion over me." In verse 142, thy righteousness
is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. And
in verse 160, Verse 160, Thy word is true from
the beginning, and every one of thy righteous judgments endure
forever. I know many of you like verse
165, Great peace have they which love thy law. And nothing shall
offend them." And in the last verse, 176, I've gone astray
like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant. Some excellent
verses that I look forward to us getting into, but this 128,
the last verse in this part we're studying tonight is one that
I quote quite often. I esteem all thy precepts concerning
all things to be right, and I hate every false way." And David,
or Christ, the Son of David, continues that thought through
the remainder of this Psalm 119 too. Look at verse 136 along
those thoughts. He says, "...rivers of water
run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law." My zeal hath consumed me, because
mine enemies have forgotten thy words." Verse 150. They draw
near that follow after mischief. They're far, so on and so on.
And that seems to be the theme of what we're studying tonight,
so we'll take that verse and deal more with it tonight. Now, I want you to consider once
again all of these verses in light of Christ. I want you to
look at these verses with me as if Christ himself is the one
that's speaking. And once again, I was amazed
to find that very few of the writers apply this to Christ. And I just don't see how you
can apply it to anybody else but Christ, especially verse
121. Look at it. He says, I've done
judgment and justice. I have done judgment and justice."
Now, one who is governed by sound judgment. is a true child of
God. Someone who is governed by sound
judgment or spiritual judgment, judicious is the word, is someone
who's led by the Spirit of God, and that's Christ. Christ had
the Spirit without measure, so therefore he had perfect judgment
or discernment in all things. And he acted accordingly, according
to his perfect judgment in every situation. And only Christ can
say this, in all truth, I have done judgment. I have acted judiciously,
I have thought judiciously, I have spoken justly. Only Christ can say, I have performed
justice. I have satisfied God's justice. Only Christ can say that. Justice
means perfect reward for good or evil. Now Christ was the just
one, the scripture says, the just and holy one. And Christ
received a perfect reward from God for being a perfect man. God said, God looked at him and
said, I approve of this man. I approve this man is accepted
by virtue of his life. And Christ is the only man that
could ever say that. And so he was the just one. But
he forfeited that. Christ forfeited that reward
that the Father was to give him and gave it to us instead. And
then he took God's justice against our sin. So he forfeited the
reward that was coming to him. He gave us what was coming to
him, and he got what was coming to us. So Christ did judgment,
he lived a perfect life, and then he fulfilled justice, God's
justice, in taking our sins upon him. So that's Christ, no doubt. And he says here, leave me not
to my oppressors, leave me not to my oppressors, even though
Christ was made sin for us and suffered the equivalent of hell.
God didn't leave his soul in hell or suffer his holy or just
one to suffer corruption, but gave him a name which is above
every name. Verse 122, be surety for thy servant, for good, for
good be surety. In the same way that Christ agreed
to be our surety, Christ agreed to do everything necessary to
save us. God, in so many words, agreed
to do everything to exalt his son if his son would come do
for us what he did. That was God's part of the covenant.
You go down, live as a man, fulfill the law, bear their punishment,
their iniquity, I'll exalt you to the stars. I'll give you the
heathen as your possession. I'll make your enemies your footstool. I'll give you a name which is
above every name, and every knee will bow and every tongue will
confess that you're Lord. You do this." Christ said, I'll
do it. And he's saying here, as a man. Think of all this in
terms of Christ speaking as a man. Be sure Christ pleaded the promises
of God for himself. Be surety for thy servant. Be
surety for thy servant. Let not the proud oppress me. Let not the proud oppress me."
And they wouldn't. They would not, according to
God's will. They're not going to oppress
His glorious Son. They're not going to keep Him
down. They tried to. Rolled a stone over the grave
and said, We've got Him now. And put a watch at the door. Ah boy, but an earthquake happened.
And even though now men try to, Peter said, 2 Peter 3, scoffers
come walking up their own lusts, and they say, where is the promise
of his coming? And they scoff and mock and repudiate
the gospel, and they oppress God's people. Even then, they
scoff and laugh at this gospel of God's sovereign grace. They
won't for long. They won't for long. Their proud
will not oppress me. in Christ. Verse 123, mine eyes
fail for thy salvation. My eyes fail for thy salvation. Now even though Christ was God,
Even though he was the infinite God, he became a creature of
time, subject to time. The infinite God became an infant
of days, the old saying goes. A creature of time, a man subject
to days, weeks, and years. Now, we know what it's like to
have time drag for us, especially when we're in sorrow and pain
and toil and suffering. Time seems to drag on, especially
if you've lived a long life. It seems like it's never going
to end. And surely Christ must have felt this more than anybody
else. Surely Christ must have felt
the time and must have longed to be back with His Father more
than anybody else. Because of His great love for
His Father and remembering the time that He had with His Father
for an eternity past, thirty-three years must have seemed like an
eternity for Him on this earth. Psalm 84, I believe, speaks clearly
of Christ. Look back there real quickly,
Psalm 84. I love this psalm, and I applied
it to myself. And David said this while he
was in exile, but I believe this is Christ speaking here. It says
in Psalm 84, verse 2, Yea, even fainteth for the courts
of the Lord." Don't you know that's Christ speaking as a man
or being down here on this earth? My heart and my flesh crieth
out for my Father, who I left. Oh, when, he says, when shall
I come and appear before God? Have you ever agonized over the
loss of a loved one? Sure you have, some of you, you
widows especially. You miss those ones you dwelt
with for so long. Christ dwelt with the Father
in perfect bliss and happiness for an eternity past. And then
he had to subject himself to a time on this earth apart, away
from the Father. And surely this is talking about
Christ. Here my eyes fail for thy salvation. and for the word
of thy righteousness. Turn back there. The word of
thy righteousness. Christ. Peter talked about lot. over in 2 Peter chapter 2, how
that Lot was vexed with the filthiness of the people he was around,
vexed with their conversation, the conversation of the wicked.
That speaks more of Christ, I believe, than it does Lot, you know. It
says, that righteous soul dwelling among men in seeing and hearing
vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their filthy
and abominable works." Isn't that Christ? Don't you know his
soul was vexed day in and day out? And we cringe. You work out in the workplace,
M.W. Windows or Panel Knitting or wherever it is you work, you
cringe when you hear God's name taken in vain. And people all
day long cursing the God that you love, you cringe. What about
the sensitive, tender, holy soul of Christ himself? Vexed. Vexed. That's what he's saying
here, I believe. My eyes fail, my ears long to
hear holy and righteous words all the time, not sin. I'm vexed. I've had enough. 124. Deal with thy servant according
unto thy mercy. Deal with thy servant according
unto thy mercy. Teach me your statutes. 125.
I am your servant. Give me understanding that I
may know thy testimony." He says this twice here, I'm thy servant,
thy servant, suffering servant, suffering servant, Christ is.
He was made, Christ was made, even though he thought it not
robbery to be equal with God. Though Christ is God, was God,
is God. He took upon himself the form
of a servant, Paul said. He was made a servant to God. Secondly, he was made a servant
to men, those whom he was Lord over. He shouldn't have to wait
on us, or that is, serve us, but he did. The Lord of glory
became washed feet. What a menial task. My, my, how
he humbled himself. He became a servant to men. He
became subject to the law that he made, that he wrote. He didn't
have to. The law he wrote. A lawgiver
is not subject to his own law. I make rules in my home for my
child. I'm not subject to those rules.
I make them for her good and for the benefit of our... But
I'm not such a... I made a rule recently. She liked to watch
a little TV at breakfast time, watch a little cartoon before
she went to school, but it was preventing her from eating her
breakfast. So I made a rule. No more TV
while you're eating breakfast. I'm not subject to that. Am I? I can watch TV if I want to while
I eat whatever. You see what I'm saying? I'm
not subject to my own laws, yet Christ, in the fullness of time,
God sent forth his Son, made of woman, made under the very
law that he made. Subjected himself to this. Servant. And he had to become
obedient in all things. It says he learned obedience
by the things he suffered. You understand the paradox there? Though, the Scripture says, though
a son over his own house, he became subject to the rules of
the house. That's condescension. That's mercy. All that we do,
all that we do is required of us. Remember the scripture that
says, after we've done all that is required of us, we're still
unprofitable. All that we do is still our reasonable
service. Why? We're servants of the Most
High God. We're indebted to Him. But Christ
came down, all that He did was unreasonable. There's no reason
why he should do this. You see what I'm saying? All
that he did was unrequired. It wasn't required of him to
come. And the only explanation you
can give for Christ coming down here was, even so, Father, it
seemed good in thy sight, according to the inclinations of his own
heart. We call it sovereign grace, is what we call it, sovereign
good pleasure, sovereign will. I've heard men say that God is
love, God is mercy, and He must show that. I disagree. I disagree with that. I understand
where men are coming from when they say that. When they say
that God, in order to have a characteristic, He must reveal it. No, He can
be merciful and not show mercy. Nobody will ever see it, but
He can still be merciful. He can still love, he can love
his Son, he can love his Holy Spirit, he can love himself and
not show it to us, right? Well, sovereign pleasure is the
reason he came, not constraint. God didn't have to show mercy
or else mercy wouldn't have been mercy. He didn't have to. Sovereign grace is why he came.
Verse 126, It is time for thee, Lord, to work. They've made the
Lord thy law. I like that verse. It's time. And lately I've been thinking
about the times and how this is so applicable to now. It's time, O Lord, to rend the
heavens and come down and show your mighty self to this wicked
and perverse generation. It's time. They've made void
your law, even those who claim to preach it. Those who claim
to believe it, those who claim to teach the law, don't know
what they're teaching. Don't even refer to it. Those
who claim to be Bible-believing don't even refer to it. Do they,
Henry? We were talking about that. Those people are altogether
ignorant of God's Word. They don't refer to it. Preachers
aren't preaching out of God's Word. They're preaching out of
a dream of their own heart. It's time for the Lord to work.
And this was said, too, back when Christ came. 4,000 years,
4,000 years, it was time for the Lord to come and do that
great work of redemption, right? Because they'd made void the
law. Not only the Israelites, but everybody had made void the
law of God. It was every man that ever lived
had made void the law of God, had broken it. It was time for
the Lord to work and to fulfill that law, fulfill it. And he
came and he lived and he died. He lived to fulfill that law
and he died to satisfy justice against that law, for that law. Now there's a sense, there's
a sense in which Christ had to come. There's a sense in which
Christ had to come and die if God was going to save a people,
that is. If God's going to save man. or men, Christ had to come. That's what they said about him
when he hung on that cross. He saved others, himself he cannot
save. And that's true. If he's going
to save anybody, himself he cannot save. He can't stay in heaven.
God's got to come. God is the Savior, and only God
canâ€”he's a just God and a Savior, the Scripture said. If he's going
to be a Savior, he had to come. and be born under that law, made
a woman born under that law to redeem them that were under the
law, those who had broken it, made it void. And he did this,
he did this because of his love or his zeal for God's house,
God's people, God's glory. Look at verse 127. Well, first
of all, he said, they've made void thy law, and because Christ,
because of his zeal for God's holy laws, He said, somebody,
a man's got to fulfill it. So Christ said, I'm going to
come and I'm going to fulfill it. Lo, I come, in the volume
of the book it's written of me, to do thy will, O God. It behooves me, it becomes me,
he said, to fulfill all righteousness. Therefore, verse 127, I love
thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. Love for
God's commandments. Christ, only Christ could say
this out of the depths of his heart, that he loved God's commandments
above gold. David, a man after God's own
heart, yes, he said this in sincerity, but yet there was a time when
he got fat and lazy and sat in the house, and then that's when
he committed that sin with a woman. Solomon, wisest man, he became,
you know, like he did, all taken up with the things of this world.
But Christ never, can never be said of Christ. He could say
this at all times, I love your commandments above gold. He even
loved God's commandment, God's word above food. We can't even
say that. He went long periods of time
without eating because he said, I've got meat to eat you don't
know anything about. And that's what I'm living on. And he had no house to lay his
head in. Because he dwelt in the bosom
of the Father, really, really. And he didn't want a roof over
his head to obstruct the view of his Father. He didn't have
any gold or silver. He didn't need it. He had unsearchable
riches, unsearchable riches. Therefore, verse 128, he says,
I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right. And I hate every false way. Now
let's dwell here a little bit. Because of Christ's great love
for the Father, he says, I esteem all your precepts concerning
all things to be right. Because of Christ's zeal for
God's glory, because of Christ's zeal for the truth, because of
his love for God's holy law, he esteemed everything that God
said to be right, and he hated every false way, hated it with
a holy hatred. We talked a little bit about
that last Wednesday, God's holy hatred. Men don't say much about
that these days. But Christ revealed that when
he came here. When he came riding into Jerusalem,
When Christ was to go to the cross, when he set his face steadfastly
toward Jerusalem to do that great work of redemption for his people,
he came riding into Jerusalem, he came riding straight up, and
the first thing he did upon entering that place was go into his temple
and clean house. Why? Because it fulfilled the
scriptures. The zeal of thine house hath
eaten me up. He said, Because I esteem all
thy precepts, all preordained wills and purposes and ordinances
concerning all things to be right, I hate every false way. And the
first order of business for Christ was to clean out his own house,
to get his house in order. The first order of business in
this great transaction was to clean out his own house, set
his own house in order, his temple. He came into that place and he
said, My house shall be called a house of prayer. You made it
a den of thieves. And he cleaned it out. That's
the reason the Scripture says judgment will first begin at
the house of God. Purging. Refiner's fire and a
fuller soap. And Christ showed that utter
hatred, what they were doing by purging his temple, cleared
it out of those charlatans and all of those money changers and
those hirelings, didn't it? And he does the same thing to
us. When Christ comes in and sets up his rule and reign in
the temple, in us as his temple, his dwelling place where he abides,
he does the same thing with us. He throws out the old and creates
all things new, right? It cleans up our hearts, our
minds, our life, sets our affection right. To love right things and
to hate wrong things, that's conversion. A hundred and eighty
degree turn to change. Repentance means turn, turn from
something. And it's a hundred and eighty
degrees, it's not ninety, it's one eighty. It's an about face
from where you started, an about face. Look at this practically
with me. He says, I esteem, and we say,
I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way. This verse will accurately reveal
the state of a man or a woman's heart and soul. This verse right
here will accurately reveal the state of a man or a woman's soul
and heart before God Almighty. There's a key word here, third
word of that verse, esteem. I esteem all thy precepts concerning
all things to be right. Now, this word esteem means to
arrange or to put things in proper order, perspective, to esteem,
arrange, priority. Man by nature, that is, put things
in order, put things in order. Man by nature ought to wear a
sign around his neck that says, out of order. Right? Everything about man is out of
order. Right? Man's life, his thoughts,
are not God's thoughts. They're exactly the opposite.
They're all wrong. There's nothing right about our
thoughts by nature. Man's ways are not ways of life
that lead unto death. They're 180 degrees another way.
We've all turned to our own way, which is exactly the opposite
way of God. Sin, not God. Man's affection, his heart, is
not set on things, but set on things below. He's out of order. Scripture says, Woe unto him
that calls good evil, and evil good. And isn't that today? We come up with all sorts of
nice little names for sin, you know. Homosexual, he's gay. Covetousness, he's ambitious,
you know. Pride, he's got self-assurance. You know, come up with all nice
little names, but it's sin is what it is. Man's totally out
of order. And he thinks the way he's headed is the right way,
but it's all wrong. He pursues after and loves that
which is dead. Our affection, our hearts, our
lives are set on dead things, and we will die with them. Unless
God turns us 180 degrees. Natural man esteems himself more
highly than God. All right? That's what Paul said
to Timothy. Lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God. Lovers of self. In the last day
perilous times shall come, men shall be lovers of their selves,
not lovers of God. And God, when he does a change
in a man, he turns that completely around, doesn't he? He becomes
a lover of God and he hates himself. And that's, yeah, that's the
first reaction of the, of a true child of God. That's the first
thing that God brings a man and a woman, that the first thing,
first attitude he brings them to is they hate themselves. Everything
about themselves. And that, in turn, makes them
turn to God, to Christ. Man's out of order. And the work
of God in salvation, the work of grace in Christ, is to set
things in order in a man's heart, mind, and life, to create all
things new. Not just to re-renovate. That's what religionists do today
when they get religion. You know the parable Christ told
about the man who had a devil, and the devil left, and it says
he swept out his house, and the house was all swept and garnished
even? That's a man who cleans up his
old habits, gets rid of all of his old past, quits his drinking,
smoking, and all that, and they ought to. But then it says, garnished,
that is, he garnishes it with self-righteousness, religious. Goes to church, Sunday school,
this and that and the other. And then it says the devil comes
back and brings seven more devils with him and enters in. Now he's
so steeped in it. renovate, he tears it down. He tears the building down and
creates all things new, right? He doesn't take the old man and
work with him. No, he kills him. He kills him and creates a new
man, a new birth, right? And that sums up what modern-day
religion is doing, you know. They're renovating their lives,
rededicating, reconsecrating. I want to die. I want to die
daily, don't you? I want to mortify me, everything
about me daily. In the life that I now live,
I want to live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and
gave himself for me. So God creates all things new.
A new heart to love God, hates self. A new mind to think like
God and to disapprove of all my thoughts. A life to live for
God, not for self. That is to deny. Christ said
that. Anybody come after me, let him deny himself. Take up
his cross. To esteem. This is a summation
of what God does. He does to a man this work that
makes him esteem all of God's precepts concerning all things
to be right, and he hates everything else. Everything that's not of
God is sin. And this is what it is to be
a man after God's own heart. And I'll hurry. I've got a few
more minutes. This is the true esteem of a man after God's own
heart. The true esteem. Number one. Three main points. Number one. This true esteem of a man after
God's own heart is first and foremost for God's glory above
all else. God's glory, even when he justifies
God in condemning himself. For God's glory, he's more concerned
with God's honor, God's glory, God's character, than even his
own benefit, his own well-being, no matter what the Word says
to him, no matter if the Word calls him a worm, no matter if
the Word calls his best deeds rags. No matter what the Word
says to him, he says, that's right. You're right. And like David said, you'll be
just when you judge me. You'll be just. You'll be justified
when you speak and just when you condemn me and send my soul
to hell. Now that's the attitude of a
true child of God who esteems everything about God to be right.
and everything about himself be wrong. He never justifies
himself, but he always justifies God, because he's more concerned
with God's glory. Here is the watchword of a true
child of God, who esteems God above man. Let God be true, and
every man a liar, including me. That's the watchword. The watchword
And Paul said it. Paul had a true esteem for God's
glory above everything else. He could say with all his heart,
he could say, My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel
is that they might be saved. But if any man preach any other
gospel than I preach, let him go to hell. Didn't he say that,
Henry? If any man gets to preaching
any other Jesus which we haven't preached, you'd better listen
to me. That man's a cursed man. Let him be anathema maranatha.
Go to hell, let him go to hell, everybody with him. And I'll
say amen to it, because I'm more concerned with and taken up with
God's glory than men. Secondly, the true esteem of
a man after God's own heart is he desires God. above everything else. And we've
talked about this so many times. David said, whom have I in heaven
but thee? I don't want to, I want this
thing of salvation just so I can go to heaven. That's not a work
of, that's not the work of God to make a man desire heaven. Anybody desires utopia, right? But the work of God is to create
a love for God in his heart, a love for righteousness, a love
for holiness in his heart, a desire. Here's the work of God. This
is true esteem, proper esteem. When I say esteem, that is getting
affection, heart, everything set in right order. Not heaven
above God, not heaven above Christ. Christ is heaven. He is what
will make heaven heaven. Somebody, one of the old writers
said, if Christ wasn't in heaven, it'd be hell to me. If Christ was in hell, it'd be
heaven to me. That's foolish. That's absurd. But the point
should be taken that Christ is the believer's desire. This is
what Paul said, that I might know him. that I might win Christ
and be found in him. That I might know him and know
the love of God which is in Christ. It's above mere knowledge. And
this is what the child of God says. The one thing I desire
more than anything is to awake with his likeness. And that's
only when I'm going to be satisfied. Thirdly, his true esteem is to
love God and hate sin. That's what that verse says there.
It says, I esteem everything about God, what God says to be
right, and I hate everything else. Now, listen to this, and I'll
quit. Five more minutes. Esteem. This word, esteem. When you esteem something highly.
To esteem something. You know, you place something
in high esteem. You've heard the word used. You've used it,
perhaps. Esteeming something is a hearty love. You heartily
love it. And when you esteem something,
you consent to something at its best. Now, see if you can follow
what I'm saying here. A man may give mental assent
to something, that it is good, but not consent to it. A man may give mental assent
to something that is good, but not consent to it. Now, here's
what it is to consent to God's Word and everything about God.
Here's what it is. True quality. It's personal. I don't want to lose you here. This is important. I got this
from John Flable. This is to consent to the law
of God that is good. I esteem all your precepts concerning
all things to be right, and I hate every false way. It's to personally
apply it. Three things. Number one, it's
to personally apply it. Like I said, some people think
something is good but don't act upon it. And that's what James,
that's the sense in which James said they're hearers of the word
and not doer. True esteem for God's word is
to act upon it. If my child esteems what I say
to be right and true, and esteems me as her father, and knowing
best, she will act according to what I say. So it is with
the child of God. OK? They will apply it personally
and act upon it. and consent to what God says. It produces a principle of love
and obedience to God's Word. True obedience. It's not a wishing
and a longing. And we all do this. We say, I
wish I was that way. I wish I... We never really do
anything about it. No, this consent, rather than
just, well that's good, I ought to do something, I ought to do
that, and go on your merry way. No, that's not consenting to
the law that's good. Paul said that in so many words
in Romans 7, when I do the things contained in the law, I consent,
I say that the law is good. But to consent to the law, submit
to it, and to esteem it highly, is to act upon it. and to do
it, and it's habitual willingness and striving after it. Listen to this. This will give
you an idea of what I'm trying to say here. Though a child of
God lives with sin, he doesn't live in sin. Though a child of
God lives with sin, he doesn't live in sin. Though he commits
sin, it's not the course of his life. It was once the course
of my life, but not now. Though I do commit sin, it's
not that which motivates and dominates me now, or shouldn't
be. It's a man led by the Spirit
of God. Though he sins while he lives,
yet he doesn't live in sin. Understand what we're saying
here, what Flavel and I, Johnny and I? For the most part, now,
a child of God is influenced by this God-given esteem for
God's word and God's law. He's influenced by it for the
most part of his life. And if that's not the case, then
the Holy Spirit does not lead that man. All right? Do not fool ourselves. Thirdly, and lastly, this is
my last point, this esteem I know this is a little heady, but it's
good if you pay attention. This true esteem for God's word,
God's law, God's commandments is complete and not partial.
It's, as Flavel said, it's universal, not partial. It's complete. The true child of God wants the
word of God to have complete control of his life in every
area, not just part of it, not just what he thinks will You
know, he counts the cost. Whatever it says, he wants it
to take root in his life, right? Not just part of it. Cost what
it may. Cost what it may. The true child
of God esteems all of the precepts of God to be right, and he wants
to be right according to the precepts of God. Right? Flabel said this, the worst man
in the world hates some evil. The worst man in the world hates
something bad. He could be a murderer, but he
hates rape. Or vice versa. I hear that in the prisons, those
prisoners really give a hard time to these child molesters.
They don't like to put up with guys like that. Well, isn't that
big of them? Isn't that real righteous of
them? The worst man in the world hates some evil, but the true
child of God hates it all. See that? A true child of God
hates every fault, especially in himself. And he says with
David, cleanse thou me from secret sins. Sins of presumption. Not only what I'm doing now.
My actual sins of committal, but sins of omiss. Is that a word? Presumptions. Secret sins. Sins I don't know
I'm doing. Not only outward, open transgressions,
but this evil, self-righteous nature of man. Flavel said this, "'Til a man
hates sin, his soul will not thoroughly
be resolved against it.'" That's a good statement right there.
Let me repeat that. "'Until a man hates sin, his
soul will not thoroughly be resolved against it.'" And the only way
you're going to hate sin is to love God. To love Christ more. Because one love cancels out
another. One love cancels out another.
To love God is to hate sin. And that can get him back to
Christ. Isn't that the greatest description of Christ? Scripture
said of Christ, He loves righteousness and hates iniquity. Loves righteousness
and hates iniquity. And that's my prayer for myself,
and I hope it's your personal prayer for yourself, that I would,
that we would, in every area, every facet of our lives, every
the recesses of our minds and our hearts and our souls, that
we would esteem all of God's precepts concerning all things
to be right and want to abide by them and live by them. Antinomian? No way. I love the law of God. I love it and want to live according
to it. Yeah, I do. I know I can't, but
that doesn't keep me from trying to be obedient. It keeps me looking
to Christ is what it does, keeps me doing. But it doesn't make
me want to sin against God's law. Oh no, that's a revelation
of God's character. Because I esteem all of God's
precepts concerning all things to be right. Right. And I hate every false word.
And I want to be done with it. Now that is God-given esteem. That's the work of grace in a
man's heart. Puts things in order. Proper esteem. All right. Stand with me, and I'll dismiss
this in prayer. Great God, Holy Father. In the name of your righteous
son, we thank you for this word. Thank you that Christ became
our righteous substitute, the holy one of God, chosen servant
of God, servant of man. the head of the church, came
down, lived, died, rose again, seated at the right hand of the
Father for us, ever living to make intercession for sinners
as we are. We'll never rise above that. We'll never rise above needing
the mercy and grace of God in Christ. Lord, we long to be like
Christ even now while we're on this earth. So mold us, make
us conform us to his blessed image, and may we truly esteem
everything about God and His Word to be right, and hate and
condemn and want to be done with everything about us and everything
that's false. In Christ's name we pray, we're
met together. Amen. You're dismissed.

Psalm 119:121-128 - Part 16

What does the Bible say about God's judgment and justice?

How do we know the doctrine of sovereign grace is true?

Why is understanding Christ's role as our servant important for Christians?

What does it mean to esteem God's precepts according to scripture?

How does sovereign grace relate to the concept of God's love?

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Psalm 119:121-128 - Part 16

What does the Bible say about God's judgment and justice?

How do we know the doctrine of sovereign grace is true?

Why is understanding Christ's role as our servant important for Christians?

What does it mean to esteem God's precepts according to scripture?

How does sovereign grace relate to the concept of God's love?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

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