All right, Psalm 119. I thought about waiting until
Sunday night to bring this message for the sake of our young people.
The first verse is particularly applicable to young people. Yet I can never count on anybody
in particular being here at any one time. Invariably, when I
direct a message toward a particular people, they're not there. So
I can only hope that the Lord will apply this to whoever needs
it. And I need it. I need it. I hope
he applies it to me. As I said, the first verse, or
the ninth verse, that is, the first verse in this second part
of Psalm 119 is clearly directed at young people. Yet, who is
young? Huh? Who is a young person? I tried to come up with an age
limit. They say you're only as old as
you feel. Well, I did. I thought that,
Jeanette. Fifty and under. Because The
scriptures talk about 3 score in 10 years 70 if by reason of
strength the 4 score that's 80 So 50 year old has 20 25 30 years
naturally speaking perhaps. That's a long time not very long,
but yet it is a long time and Everybody in here is young to
you aren't they Bertie? 50 is is perhaps a cut-off age to go. Well, but nearly everybody in
here is young in the faith, so that would apply. Nearly everybody
in here is young in the faith, so it applies to all of it. Let's
jump right in here in verse 9. It says, Wherewithal shall a
young man or young woman, a young person, cleanse his way? Wherewithal or how shall a young
man cleanse his way? And how I do wish that more of
our young people were here, but that's the way it is. How shall
a young man or young lady or young person or anyone for that
matter cleanse their way? Clean up his or her life. Walk
in the way that they should go. As some people say, get right
with God. That's what when people talk
about walking, being clean and walking the good life and living
the good life, living right, you know, the world uses the
term, get right with God. It's not a scriptural term. It's
not a good term. But let's ask that question.
How can a person get right with God? Hmm? Well, let me remind
you from the scriptures. The scripture says we have turned
everyone to his own way. How shall a young man cleanse
his way? Well, the scripture says we've turned everyone to
his own way. The scripture says there is a way that seemeth right
to man. to all men and women by nature.
There's a way that seems right, but the scripture says the end
of that way is death and destruction. The scripture also says we all
go astray from the womb, speaking lies. So, by nature, we are all
out of the way. We're all not right with God.
We're all enmity against God, as Scripture says. We're out
of the way. We're dead. Every man and woman
born on the topside of God's earth is dead in trespasses and
sins by nature. That's a fact from God's Word. It's a truth, and many of you
know it in your own hearts. Now, it talks about us being
out of the way by nature. When somebody is out of the way,
out of the way, that means they are lost, right? Have you ever
been off the path or the way, been out in the woods or whatever,
and been off of the beaten path and lost your way back? When you're out of the way, that
means you're what? You're lost, right? And when
you're really lost, and I mean when you're really lost, You're
unable to find your way, right? You're unable to find THE way
back to the camp or wherever. When you're lost, it means somebody,
in the real sense of the word, to be lost, Joe, means somebody
gonna have to come get you, aren't they? To be out of the way means
somebody is going to have to come to you. You're not going
to be able to take the first step and they'll meet you halfway. You don't know where the first
step is when you're lost, do you? You're not going to be able
to call. You don't know which direction
to call in. And this is what the scripture says about man,
my nature. He's out of the way. He's lost. He's dead. He's not just lost. He's dead. He's unable to call. He's unable
to walk. He's unable to hear. Somebody's
going to have to come to him. Somebody's going to have to come
find that lost sheep, if they are indeed a sheep and not a
goat. Somebody, the good shepherd, is going to have to come find
that lost sheep and put them in the way. Yea, put them on
his back and carry them all the way home, back to the fold, right? So how shall a young man cleanse
his way? if left to him or herself, can't
do it. It's an impossibility by nature. Let me say this about young people. We have a few in here, a couple
of very young people. A young person, if left to him
or herself, will go the way of all young people, like I did,
like so many of us did. left to ourselves at an early
age, they'll be taken up with, they'll be enamored with, they'll
be captivated by, they'll be in bondage to this world. They'll be ruled by peer pressure,
their friends, they'll be ruled by that. They'll be influenced
by any and every vice of the world, every habit of the world,
every style. Every practice called peer pressure,
worldly pressure, and a young person left to themselves will
be totally ruled and go that way, the way of all flesh, the
way of the world. A young person left to themselves
will be conformed, listen to this Kevin, conformed to the
millions of self-centered, proud, rebellious, God-hating, God-ignoring
young people that will grow up eventually to be another, just
another in the many long lines of wicked and adulterous generations. We're seeing them come up, Armand.
Wicked and adulterous generations. A young person left to themselves
will grow up to be just another one of those in that generation. What does that say about our
prayers for our children, parents? What does that say about the
importance of us praying for them? If left alone, a young
man, a young woman, an old man, an old woman cannot cleanse their
way. cannot cleanse his way, his life,
his self. But you say, it says, how can
a young man cleanse his way? Well, here's the answer, by taking
heed thereto according to thy word. Now, I've got to lay the,
I've got to put the horse before the cart, Terry. We've got to
put God first, don't we? And last. We've got to put the means before the end, don't we?
Faith is not the means to an end. It's the end of the means.
You know, a man doesn't live because he believes. A man believes
because he lives. A dead man, a dead woman in trespasses
and sins can't believe. God, who is life, must give life.
God must give repentance. God must give faith. God, who
is life, must breathe. And that's where life starts.
And that's where this thing of cleansing, we're talking about
salvation, we're talking about sanctification, we're talking
about salvation being put back in the way. Wherewithal shall
a young man, will you say, but it does say, by taking heed thereto
according to thy word. Well, let me ask you this. How
can anyone, how does anybody ever take heed to the Word of
God? How does anybody ever hear the Word of God? It talks about
heeding the Word of God, it talks about hearing the Word of God,
it talks about doing the Word of God, it talks about understanding
the Word. How? How does anybody heed, hear,
do the Word of God? Well, the great physician must
open the deaf ears, right? The great physician must open
the blind eyes to see his glory, to see themselves, else they're
blind, else they're deaf to the voice of God. Unless the great
physician speaks, we're deaf, we're not hearing his voice,
right? Unless he calls. And the reason we don't appeal,
the reason we don't go through all these tricks and gimmicks
and this and that and the other to trick professions of faith
out of young people, show movies of the burning hell and this
and that and the other, and do all kinds of little things, entice
them, woo them to do this and that and the other, buy money
or games or whatever, beg and make appeals and plead with our
children. The reason we don't do that is
because we started in the wrong place. You don't start with the
kids. You start with God. Right? You start begging and pleading
with God to move. You don't ask the kids to do
anything first. You ask God to do something.
You beg and plead with God to move on them. Unless God moves,
they'll just make a false profession of faith, and they'll be two-fold
more the child of hell than they were when you began with them.
He'll make some little profession like I did when I was 12 years
old and grow up thinking I was saved. When I was lost, as my
father-in-law says, Adam's fox, whatever that means. Now, the
first step in salvation, and the last step, is all of God. Salvation is for, the scripture
says, as many as the Lord our God shall call. Who calls on
the name of the Lord? Yeah, as many as call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved. But who will? Joel 2.32 explains
it. As many as the Lord our God shall
call is the one that's gonna call. So see, that's where we
start. That's where we start. Now listen.
God calls by his word. That's how he calls. He calls
through the preaching and reading of his word. God saves by his
word. He saves by his word. God cleanses,
purifies, by his word. And those that heed his voice,
the shepherd's voice, those that hear and believe the record,
that is, the gospel, will be saved. They will be cleansed.
They will be changed. And all of that is when the Lord
calls, when he begins the work. When the Lord calls, they will
hear. They will hear. They will repent.
They will believe. That's not fatalism. That's the
truth. That's not hardshellism. That's
God glorifying what that is. We've got to give glory to God
first. And I tell you what, Joe Parks,
that's comforting to you, isn't it? That's comforting to know
it's not up to you. It's not up to your powers of
persuasion upon your children, is it? You'll never feel like
you've done enough, will you? But I tell you what, take your
burden of the Lord and leave it there. Now, there's some comfort
there, isn't there? Yes, sir. Not hardshellism, it's
Bible. It's truth. But, God, I start
with God always. God is sovereign. And God has
chosen means now. God is sovereign, yes. And God
chooses means. He sovereignly chooses means
to bring his people to hear the gospel, to believe, to repent,
so forth, and the means are right here, by taking heed thereto
according to God's word. God hath chosen, it pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching, what I'm doing tonight, what
the world calls foolishness, what everybody is, has taken
great pains to steer clear of, tonight. God is chosen by the
foolishness of preaching the word. These are the means. This
is the means of hearing the gospel. And reading is in there. That's
the means of God. And all, all who hear are responsible
to believe. God is sovereign, and we are
responsible. Okay? They're not at odds, are
they, Stan? God's sovereignty and our responsibility
aren't, don't need to be reconciled. They're friends. You don't reconcile
friends. God is sovereign, and we're responsible. We are responsible
to hear the gospel, to avail ourselves of hearing the gospel,
and in context here, you parents are responsible that your children
hear the gospel. You're responsible. Wherewithal
shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according
to thy word. Now, it's up to us parents to
make sure if they're under our roof, to make sure they're here
to hear it, right? Wherewithal? By hearing the gospel. Now, the word here says, according
to thy word, those of you who have some discernment, they know
that's talking about Christ, isn't it? We're going to apply
this to Christ. by hearing and believing Christ,
by trusting Him, by coming to Him by faith. And that person,
that one who leans upon and looks to Christ and Christ alone who
sees Christ as all, Their direction in life, young people, your direction
in life, your future, your ways will be clear when you finally
clearly view Christ. Yes, it will. All answers, listen
to me, all answers to all questions concerning your lives are found
in God's Word, found in Christ, and they're found in His spoken
Word, too. All answers. And the scripture tells us to
heed it. Heed it. And I might change a word or
a letter there. Read it. You don't heed what you don't
read, do you? Heed it. All answers. Do we have any answers?
Do we have any problems? All answers. All answers. We got problems? Perhaps we haven't
been looking for the answer. But the scripture, I want you
to turn with me to John chapter 7 real quickly. John chapter
7. The scripture says in James,
that's not just the hearers of the word, but the doers of the
word. Right? Be not a hearer only,
but a doer. And here in John chapter 7, our
Lord, do you have, every one of us would like to know the
will of God, wouldn't it, for our lives? Wouldn't we? Wouldn't we like to know some
answers, where we're to go, what we're to do, directions we're
to take, decisions we're to make, and so forth? Well, look at this,
verse 17. It says, Christ said, If any
man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine of the truth. So it sounds to me like the first
thing that's required of us is a willingness to do what we read,
right? Doers, not hearers only, right? Of course. If we're just gonna
read it and say, I believe that, and then go out and do the opposite,
we're not doers. That's not heeding the Word of God. Heeding the
Word of God is being willing to do what you read, what you
heed, and willing to be obedient. Heed, hear, do, and, back at
the text, Psalm 119, and seek. Heed, hear, do, and seek with
the whole heart. Now here we go again, folks.
Verse 10. It says, with my whole heart.
have I sought thee. With my whole heart have I sought
thee." Again, he demands heart sincerity. not just bodily presence,
not just mental ascent, not just head knowledge, but all-out heart-seeking,
that is, of the desires of the heart, all-out commitment of
the self, of the person, of the whole being. I looked up this
word heart just in Psalm 119 alone. Look with me throughout
this psalm. It says in verse 2, we looked
at that, it says, they that seek him with a whole heart. Verse
7, I will praise thee with uprightness and sincerity of heart. We just
read verse 10. Oh, my whole heart I've softened.
Verse 11. Thy word have I hid in my heart.
Verse 32. Oh, I'll run the way of your
commandments when you enlarge my heart. That's where it starts. 34. Oh, give me understanding. I'll
keep your law when I observe it with my whole heart. Verse
36. Incline my heart unto thy testimony. Verse 58. I have treated thy
favor with my whole heart. Verse 69. The proud affords to
lie against me, but I'll keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
Verse 80. Let my heart be sound in thy
statutes. Verse 111. Oh, they're the rejoicing
of my heart, verse 112. I've inclined my heart, verse
145. I cried with my whole heart, verse 161. My heart standeth
in awe of thy word. Scripture says, my son, give
me your heart, not just your body in a puke, not just your
head, your heart, your heart. The heart, as we said last Sunday,
the heart is the seat or that is the center of the source of
all of our affection. The scripture says where your
treasure is, that is, that which you most delight in, that's which
you take the most pleasure in, that's where your heart is, your
affection, your energy, your efforts, your time, your desires,
everything, wherever your treasure, what is truly the pearl to you? That valuable thing, the thing
you delight in the most is where your heart is going to be, where
your energy, your time, your effort is going to be. And the
scripture says here that what is required of us is our whole
heart to seek after God. You cannot serve two masters,
God and man. You'll either love the one or
hate the other. He demands of us a whole heart,
not half heart, a whole heart. All right, our affection sets
your whole person on things above. With my whole heart have I sought
thee, and only you can ask yourself that question. Oh, let me not
wander from thy commandments. Let me not wander. Let him prone
to wander, Lord, I feel it. I always, when I get to that
verse, I always sing that particularly loudly or with feeling because
I can enter into that, can't you? Prone to wander. Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave
the God I love. Lord, you know my, the Lord thou
knows. Can you say with Peter, Roberta? Can you say with Peter
when he asks you, do you love me? I don't want to give a half-hearted,
I don't want to give an unknowing, an unsure answer. Do you? I don't
want to be satisfied with anything less than a whole-hearted, true
and sincere-hearted answer to that. Lord, yea, Lord, I do love
you. You know. You know, though, it's
up to you. And it's up to you to keep my
heart from wandering. Oh, Lord, let me not wander from
your commandments. Let me not wander from your commandments.
Now, listen. Children, I was speaking on children.
Well, the Scriptures are talking to us. But our children are natural-born
prodigals. You know that? You know that?
They're natural-born prodigals. Why? Because that's us. That's us. They're natural-born
prodigals, and they'll leave us, and they'll stray, if God
leaves them to themselves. And I say, save us, Lord, and
we'll be saved. I say with the psalmist, turn
us, Lord, and we'll be turned. I say with Peter, keep us, Lord,
and we'll be kept only by thy power. Right? Let me not wander. I'm prone to wander like a black
sheep. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. Let me not wander from thy commandments, thy commandments. When it's all said and done,
folks, it's up to Him, isn't it? It's not up to our resolve.
It's not up to our strength to keep ourselves. It's not up to
our diligence at all. It's not up to our faithfulness.
It's up to His faithfulness in keeping us. When it's all said
and done, it's up to Him. Does this is ever our prayer?
Oh, let me not. Let me not. It's up to you. God
work. If you work, who will let it?
Let me not. I won't even let myself. Let
me not wander. from thy commandments. Let me
not be moved away from my only hope." That's easy. A lot of people do it, don't
they? The only hope of a man's salvation is the gospel, the
one we preach. There's another one being preached
out there. The only hope of a man's salvation is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. You've got to have the right
one. John, there's another one being preached out there, right? I
say with perfect confidence, with absolute assurance, the
one we preach is the right one, the one of scriptures, the only
one that can save, the sovereign one with all the power to do
the saving. You leave this gospel, you've left the gospel. You've
left the gospel. Let me not be moved away from
my only hope. This is the only hope of your
salvation. Christ is all, the gospel of
my salvation. Let me not be moved or influenced
or moved away from, moved by every wind of doctrine that comes
along. Some things sound good. Well, he said some good things.
He said some truths. I want to hear the truth, not
true things. I want to hear the truth. the
whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help me, God, so help
us to be grounded and settled in the truth, right? The truth. Standing firm upon
Christ the rock, not moved by any flood, any wave, any wind,
any rain. Standing firm. Let me not wander
into a new way, a new and exciting way, a new baptism. A new whatever. As many have
put on Christ, have been baptized into Christ. I just need Christ,
that's all I need. I don't need a new baptism. I
don't need to talk in another tongue. I babble enough in this
one as it is. How about you? Sure. Boy, when I became a man, I put
away childish babblings. Let me not wander into a new
way, but let me ask for the old paths wherein is the good way,
the good news, the truth of the gospel. wherein is the good way,
and let me walk in that. Don't let me, don't let me, let
me shut my ears to any newfangled talk, any new revelations that
come along. Any fella, any woman, whoever
it may be that says, hey, I heard from God. Don't want to hear
it. Don't want to hear it unless it's according to this Word.
Because what does Isaiah 8, 20 say, John? If they speak not
to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to
my words, because there's no light in them, no Christ in them,
who is the light? No understanding, no truth in
them, falsehoods, error. Commandments, let's talk about
commandments there. Let me not wander from thy commandments. Now listen, the gospel, we don't
make invitations here. The word's not in the scriptures.
You look it up. It's used twice in all of the
scriptures. You know what it's in reference to? Eating. The only time the real word of
invite is used in the scriptures is in reference to eating. God
doesn't invite people to believe him. God doesn't invite people
to repent, does he? Does God invite people to say,
I wish you all would kiss my son. I wish you all would bow
to him. I wish you all would hear my
son. Is that what he said? When he spoke from heaven standing,
he said, this is my beloved son. Won't you all please accept him
as your personal savior? Did he say that? What did he
say? Did he ask anything? Did he invite anybody? Did he
make a request? Did he give some counsel and
advice? Oh, he made a command, didn't he, John? He issued a
command. Kings don't invite anything. They issue commands, don't they?
Hear him. Kiss him. Lest he be angry. That's not an invite, is it?
That's a command. God commandeth every man, all
men everywhere, to repent, doesn't it? Believe his son, obey his
voice. Commandments, I like that word,
commandments. Commandments. Let me not wander
from thy commandments. Make me obedient to your commandments.
Verse 11. My soul, where did the time go? Thy word, now here
it is, we just sung it. Thy word have I hid in my heart
that I might not sin against thee. Thy word have I hid in
my heart Now, many of you do some farming in here, some gardening
at least, and you know that soil, soil which is, or fallow ground,
what it's called, soil that has never been worked, never been
prepared, never been plowed or prepared, If you don't, if you
don't bother it, now it's full of weed seeds. It may be barren,
but you just have to plow it up just a little bit and the
seeds, you just have to disturb it a little bit and the weeds
will start flying. The weeds are under the surface. Full of
weed seeds, it's full of rocks. Oh, is Rocky Mount ever full
of rocks? I tell you, it's aptly named.
There's soil around here, rocks, and it's lacking all of the vital
nutrients. Barren soil, fallow ground is
lacking all of the vital nutrients to grow crops for productivity. But if you break up the soil,
if the husbandman, if the wise farmer, the husbandman goes out
there and breaks up the soil, kills it up, If he removes the
rocks, if he feeds it with fertilizers and manures and compost and nutrients
and so forth, it'll be fruitful soil, won't it? And then he puts
in the seed and it'll bring forth fruit. And the Word of God, now
this is a perfect parallel to the Word of God. The Word of
God is the plow that breaks up this fallow ground of our heart.
The Word of God is the hammer, the scripture said, Charles,
that breaks this hard heart, this flinty heart, isn't it?
It's the hammer that breaks it. He's got to break our heart or
it won't be broken. The preacher can't do it. You can't do it yourself. God's
got to do it. The husbandman, the great landowner,
he breaks it with the hammer of his word. Breaks it up. That
soil has been hardened by years of unfruitfulness, the fruitfulness
of sin. And then the word is soul enriching.
The word is nutritional food, able to make one wise unto salvation. It's the milk of the word that
you can grow thereby in righteousness. A man or a woman, now listen
to me. Think about this statement. A man or a woman with little
or no knowledge of God's word will act strictly on animal instincts. A man or a woman with little
or no knowledge of God's Word will act like a beast on pure
animal instinct. And we talked about this one
Sunday night on ignorance being the tool of the devil. Our way is the Word of God. But
to be ignorant of the Word of God is to leave yourself open
to all manner of sin through ignorance. Unbelief. Do we worry? Do we have problems? Why? Lusts. All manner of things.
Because the Word is not hidden in our heart. But he says, Thy
word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Once again, who's the word? Christ. Christ in the heart by faith
will make a man what? Righteous, holy before God Almighty. Not your works. Not your good
deeds, not your morality. Only Christ living in you. Only
Christ as your substitute. Only Christ as your mediator.
Only Christ as your representative. Only Christ the Lord your righteousness. That's the only way you're going
to be kept from sinning in the sight of God. How can we overcome
the world? Who is he that overcometh the
world? That he that believeth Jesus is the Son of God, is the
Christ. Christ in the heart by faith
makes a man righteous, sinless, reconciled at peace with God
Almighty. The only way. Now listen, also, the greater
the knowledge, the greater the acquaintance, and the obedience
and the willingness to do God's Word, God's will, the closer
the walk. Yes, sir. The more like Christ,
the less prone to this world and its sins. Yes, sir. The word
is our keeper. If by God's grace, we can keep
the word. The word is our keeper. If God,
by his grace, will enable us, give us the strength to keep
his word, and he will, all those who ask him, they will. Now,
do you notice there he said that I might not sin against thee,
That's important, isn't it Rick? Sin against thee. Because David,
after he committed adultery, after he did that terrible sin,
and anyone, whatever sin it may be, however little a person thinks
it may be, or however great, or whatever, that sin is ultimately
against God Almighty. And the only way you're going
to know that, how's the only way you're going to know that
your sin is against God Almighty? The Word, right? Thy Word. The Word of God, except only
by a true knowledge of sin. The only way you're going to
have a true knowledge of sin, in other words, is by the Word
of God. Roberta, you may have a superficial knowledge of sins. Oh yeah, we all... You ask somebody,
are you a sinner? Just a merely religious person? You ask them, are you a sinner?
And they say, oh yeah, we all are sinners, like we said Sunday
night. I have my faults. I heard a preacher
on tape the other day say, yeah, we all made some boo-boos. Boo-boos. Yeah, I told a fib. That's a nice whitewashed word
for lie, isn't it? boo-boos, the scripture says
we've sinned against God. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Sin against God. The only way a person is going
to understand that is through the gospel. Right? Through the
gospel. A mere superficial knowledge
of rules, the Ten Commandments, or a few verses here and there,
will make a man self-righteous. In fact, the rich young ruler,
he came up and said, what must I do to inherit eternal life,
teacher? Well, you've heard the commandments,
thou shalt not kill, and so forth. He said, all these I've done.
I can't go. You're going to make yourself
righteous, won't you? A mere superficial knowledge.
But Christ magnified the law, didn't He? The Scripture says
He magnified the law. What does that mean? That means
He got a big microscope, a big magnifying glass, and put it
on us. And it says, when it says, Thou shalt not kill, He said,
You've heard, Thou shalt not kill. He said, I say unto you,
you look angry at somebody, you're guilty of murder. That's the way God looks, right? And why is it that we sin against
God? Why are our sins against God? Because it's God's law.
Every law ultimately comes from God. He's the ultimate authority,
right? We sin against Him. Only by the
knowledge of the gospel, through the preaching of God's word,
can we see the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Right? Paul said, I lived
before the law came. I was alive, but when it came,
Ooh, it slew me, it slayed me, showed me that was dead, and
sinned against God. Oh, hide my, hide thy word in
my heart, that I might not sin against thee. May the Lord enable
us to bind these words, to bind these words, to have Christ in
our heart. Bind these words, him, my faith,
about thy our neck. Write them on the tables of thine
heart, and on the frontless of thine eyes, to ever have Christ
before our eyes, Christ in our hearts, and the burden of the
cross around our necks. I assure you. Verse 12, and I'll
hurry. Blessed art thou, O Lord. It's
almost like David can't contain himself. Blessed art thou, O
Lord. Right in the middle of us, he
utters praise. And if he can't contain himself, when he thinks
about When he thinks about the word of God, and like I said,
all the way through Psalm 119, this is the heartfelt expression
of a man after God's own heart. That is, a man... I like this
paraphrase. A man after God's own heart,
Terry, is a man with a heart for God. A man after God's own heart is
a man or a woman with a heart for God. And this man, after God's own
heart, or a man with a heart for God, he up and cries out,
he said, bless the Lord. All the way through the song,
he said, bless the Lord, O my soul, all that is within me,
bless his holy name, who daily loatheth us with benefit. Bless
the Lord, bless the Lord. All the way through the song,
bless the Lord. And in thinking about this gift of all gifts,
the unspeakable gift, Christ the Word, incarnate Word. and the written word. Do you
realize what a gift? No, we don't realize what a gift.
I don't realize what a gift this is. It's an unspeakable gift. It's the blessing of all blessings.
It's a blessing of God's word. But I tell you what, greater
than that, greater than that is an understanding of God's
word. Not just to have a copy of it.
Everybody's got a copy of it. Don't it? Not everybody uses
it, but everybody's got a copy of it. I want to be like the
people over when Ezra the scribe stood up behind the pulpit and
preached the Word to the people. That Word had been hidden so
long. That Word had been kept secret. In that land where there'd
been a famine of the hearing and reading of God's Word, it'd
been put away in some cave or some monastery somewhere. And
when he broke it out and stood behind the pulpit and caused
the people, the scripture says, in Nehemiah 8, 7, and 12, he
caused the people to understand the law. And they read in the
book the law of God distinctly, distinctly, and gave the sense
and caused them to understand the reading, not just to go through
the motion, to clearly preach the gospel in no uncertain terms.
caused them un... and all the people wept the scripture
says when they heard the words of the law wept and all the people
and and he said unto him go your way eat the fat drink the sweet
don't weep don't be sorry the joy of the Lord is your strength
what's that the word now you got something to go by you got
something to stand on to lean on sure promise it and all the
people went their way to eat to drink to send portions, that
is to give, and to make great mirth, because they had understood
the words that were declared unto them. That's the greatest
gift of all. Like I said, everybody's got
a copy of the Bible. We've got a dozen around the
house, don't we? So not just a copy of it, but
understanding it. And I continually say this with
the utmost assurance and certainty that we here, we preach the gospel,
the truth. We don't mask anything. We don't
do as others, like Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2. We're not
as others, not as many, which corrupt the word of God. We're
not trying to hide anything from anybody. If our gospel be hidden,
it's not because we've hidden it, is it? It's not because we're
trying to pull the wool over somebody or sneak something in
on people. We boldly declare the truth. The whole gospel. Who God is. What man he is. You
better tell a man what he is. Hadn't you? You better tell him
he's under the wrath of God. Don't whitewash it. Don't make
him feel good about himself. Make him feel bad about himself.
Herself. Like God said, convince me I'm
a sinner. God only saves sinners. And we
preach the truth. And like Paul said, we're not
as many which corrupt the word of God, but in sincerity, as
of God, in the sight of God, we've got one message. Christ. Christ. Yeah, boy. Oh, boy. He said there, blessed
are you, O Lord. Teach me thy statutes, thy statutes. Teach me, Lord. I've got a copy. I need a teacher. Do you understand
what thou readest? Do you, Barbara? How can I? We
have to say by nature, except somebody to teach me. Lord, I've
got a copy. Send me a teacher, an instructor,
a leader, a guide. Guide me into all truth. You
know what He said the Holy Spirit was about? Guide us into all
truth, that I might know Him who is the truth. That's what
this is all about, not to make you good people, although it
will, but to lead you to Christ, right? To point you to Christ,
to know Him, in whom are hidden all the treasure of wisdom and
knowledge. Blessed are you, O Lord, teach
me. Blessed are you, Lord, for giving
me this book, and Lord, I sure wish you'd teach me. Verse 13,
With my lips have I declared all the judgments that I am made.
Now, not only does this, I've got to hurry, not only does this
speak of Christ, but these words are spoken by Christ. By Christ. You could read all the way through
Psalm 119 and apply it to Christ himself speaking it. Especially
verses like this where he says with my lips I've declared all
the judgments that I'm at. What mere mortal man could say
that? Huh? None but Christ, right John?
None but Christ can say that. Paul, by God's grace and mercy,
said I kept back nothing profitable unto you. That is all that God
gave you. But Christ had the whole will, the whole counsel
of God. Christ is the one who hath declared
the Father unto us, else we wouldn't know him. Christ is the one who
came to reveal the will and the ways and the character, the judgments
of the Father, else we wouldn't know. This word judgment here,
judgments means verdict. We got a kick out of this, didn't
we, John, thinking about the verdict. I'll tell you what will
rejoice your heart. I'll tell you what you'll bless
the Lord over is when he teaches you his judgment. Yeah, his judgment against your
sins. That there's therefore now no condemnation to them that
are in crime. That all my sins and iniquities
have been judged. I tell you, there's no other
comfort to be had. A man will never bless God until
he really blesses God in this way, until he sees that God has
judged him, that God's judged him in crime, that there's no
condemnation. Who is he that condemns? Hmm,
God justified me. By his judgment on Christ. By
pouring out his justice upon Christ. Right? Isn't that the
gospel? Isn't that the good news? Sure it is. You'll bless God
when you really ever believe that in your heart. I'll declare
the decree. Judgment here means decrees too.
Psalm 2, one of my favorites, verse 7 says, I'll declare the
decree Father has said unto me, the Lord said unto me, you're
my son. What's the decree, what's the judgment, what's the declaration
of God Almighty? It's the declaration of all the
declaration. It's my son. I mean my son. The sun reigns and rules and
shines over all, doesn't it? God says that little globe, that
little ball of fire is gonna be, it'll lap. But I've got a son who will never
quit shining, never rain, never quit raining. He rains. This
is my son. That's the declaration. That's
the decree. That's God's judgment. Verse
14, I've rejoiced in the way of thy testimony. As much as
in all riches, I've rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies. The way. The way. Every word is significant. I've
rejoiced in the way. There's only one way in the Torah.
Christ said, I am the way. And he says, I've rejoiced in
the way of thy testimony. And we're talking about the word
of God, the testimonies of God. Now, from Genesis 1, 1, all the
way through the end of Revelation 22, what's it talking about? Rather, who is it talking about?
Christ the way, the only way to God Almighty. Christ the way. And I've rejoiced, and a man
or a woman who truly trusts in, believes, looks to Christ, rejoices
in Christ. Rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice,
I say, not in what you are, not in your strength, not the mighty
man, glory in his strength, the wise man in his wisdom. Rejoice
in the Lord. Rejoice and be glad in knowing
that you understand who He is. You know Him. I've rejoiced in
the way, Christ the way, who is the way of the object, the
subject of your testimonies, of your word, as much as in all
riches. I have found the pearl. I found
it. I used to think it was pearls.
Pearls here, pearls there. I found out it's one big pearl.
If you have one pearl, you've got everything. Christ is all. All riches, all fullness, all
treasures. Life, real life, and life more
abundantly. And he says in verse 15, I'll
meditate. Now listen, this is important. He says, I'll meditate
in thy precept. I'll meditate in thy precepts. Meditation, in this 20th century hurry-up
society we live in, this fast-paced society we live
in, meditation is a hard thing. It's a hard thing for a man in
a hurry or a woman in a hurry, meditation. I tell you, we have
trouble sitting here for one hour. It's as hard a struggle we go
through. Just sit and quietly listen to the Word of God and
consider and ponder it for one hour. It's not unique. The disciples had the same problem.
For your comfort. Not for your excuse, but for
your comfort. For my comfort. To stop and quietly
think to be alone with our thoughts,
to ponder, to consider, to reflect. It's the hardest thing in the
world for a human being to do. It's the reason for all the diversions
in our life. When you all go into a, maybe
you don't do it, but I have done it. When you go into a motel
room, many people, when they go into a motel room, the first
thing they do is what? As soon as they walk in there, Click, turn on the TV. I tell you, we can't be alone
with our thoughts for a minute. Not hardly for a minute. Hardest
thing in the world for most people to do. The reason for all these
diversions and so forth is to keep from being alone with our
thoughts. Why? Our consciousness will start
protecting us. Start protecting us. conscience start bothering
us. Yet we're told, we're told that
the man after God's own heart meditates in God's precepts. I told you this will shame you
or warn you. A man after God's own, a woman
after God's own heart or a heart forgotten meditates, ponders,
quietly thinks upon God's precepts, that is his word, his Christ,
his gospel, his providence, stops and quietly thinks and considers
and tries to learn something from God's providence, it'd be
a good thing to reflect back on just today's happenings, to
see what we can glean, what we can garner from that, what has
happened. Something has happened. God in
His providence has done something in the course of your day to
make you think about Him. Have we stopped and thought about
it? Yes, sir. We don't, things don't happen idly to us. They
happen providentially, eternally decreed. Oh boy. He says, now look now,
I have respect unto thy ways. I have respect, the utmost respect. The highest esteem. I like verse
128 of this song. He said, I esteem all thy precepts
concerning all things be right. That is, God's true and every
man's a liar. Right? I esteem all thy precepts
concerning all things to be right. Therefore, I hate every false
way. Anything and everything is not true to the word. I hate
it. The man, the woman, whoever spouses
brings another doctrine which you've not received. I hate him.
They were the perfect hatred, like David said in Psalm 139.
It's the reason we're so dogmatic concerning the truth. It's the
reason we're so biased and so bigoted. It's the reason people
think we're hard concerning the truth. They thought David was
hard, too. It's not being hard. It's being zealous for the glory
of God. That's what it is. That's what
it is, John. Being zealous for the glory of God. Rick and I
were talking about this the other night. It's not that, you know,
people say, well, you think you're right and everybody else is wrong.
No, that's not it at all. We think God's right and everybody
else is wrong. We're wrong by nature, aren't
we? Everybody in here is wrong, including
the preacher. But God's right. It's not that we think we're
better than everybody else. It's just that we think our Christ
is better than anybody else. Not that we think our gospel
is, or everybody else's gospel is whatever. It's just that we
think this is the only gospel. Yeah, we believe, we know it's
the only gospel. Like old Ralph Dale said one
time, he said, there may be better preachers around, but there's
nobody preaching a better gospel. Right? Yeah, there may be men
with more talents and all, but talent doesn't have a thing to
do with it. It's the gospel. Well, we esteem Him, God's ways,
God's character, God's salvation, above everything else. Hey, I
have respect unto His way. I don't have any respect at all
unto man's way. Zero, zilch, nada, de nada, no escafe. I don't have any respect to man. Anything about him, Joe, do you?
Nothing. He's a worm, not a man. You know
the only man ever lived that could rightfully take the name?
Pilate said it, behold the man, when Christ stood before him.
The only man who ever lived for the glory of God and truly in
love with his neighbor. We're not men, we're worms. I
don't have any respect for a man's ways. I have all respect for
God's ways. All respect for his. I will delight
myself in thy statutes. I will not forget thy words. Here's another one of those bold
claims. I will delight myself in thy statutes. I will not forget
thy word. Now this is worth writing down,
whoever's taking note. Whatever you delight in, I mean
whatever you really delight in, is what you're gonna remember. Whatever you delight in, it will
stick in your memory forever. Some of you have fond memories
of loved ones, don't you? Passed away. You think you'll
ever forget him? You think there's any possible
way you'll ever forget your husband? You delighted in him, right? What are we talking about here
now? Christ said to the disciples,
will you go away? Will you forget me? Will you
leave me? Where are we going to go? We delight in you, oh
Lord. We rejoice. Lord, I love you.
Because you first loved me. But I do love you. We delight
in thy word. Are we going to leave it? Are
we going to put it aside? Are we going to forget it forever? Where are we going
to go? What are we going to delight
in? The world? I will delight myself in thy
statutes. I will delight...anything displeasing,
anything displeasing or laborious is gladly forgotten. But the
lights are pleasant constant memories back when you went to
school when you go to school when you had a test coming up
and said you didn't care for the crime. He did all you need
to do just to learn what was on the test. And then you if
you passed it, you forgot it, didn't you? Plum forgot it all. Now, if there was a subject you
really delighted in, you took great interest in, you studied
it carefully and you haven't forgotten much of it. It was
your delight. He says, I delight in thy statutes.
I will delight by your grace, by your grace in your statute.
And I'll never, I'll not forget thy word. I will not forget thy
word. May the Lord make his son, his
gospel, his word the absolute and only delight of my heart. May he set my affection on things
above. where Christ is. All right, stand
with me. Dear Lord, would you apply this
word? Would you apply it to our hearts,
Lord? Don't let it just be a giving
of a sermon. Don't let this just be the reciting
of words. Don't let it fall on deaf ears
and cold hearts. Lord, apply it to our hearts.
Break up this fallow ground and apply it to the seed, the incorruptible
seed that brings forth fruit and faith. Plant Christ in our hearts by
faith for your honor, your glory, and our good. Amen. You're dismissed.