April 3, 2016 God's Call By The Psalms Part 2 by Steve Mixsell

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April 3, 2016 God’s Call By The Psalms Part 2 Psalm 19 Steve Mixsell

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July 24, 2016 Afternoon Service Beatitudes Part 3 by Pastor Josh Sheldon

July 24, 2016 Afternoon Service Beatitudes Part 3 by Pastor Josh Sheldon

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Before I begin, good morning, before I begin, I feel compelled to go to the Lord myself in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name,
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I just want to confess my many failings, Father, and confess my utter dependence on your
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Spirit for anything good to be accomplished here. Father, I thank you that you've always been faithful to make the words that have gone forth from my mouth when
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I've come to this pulpit be much better than the preparation ought to have expected.
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You've been faithful to not let my failings restrain your blessing for your people, and I humbly ask that you'll do it again,
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Father, that you'll not let my many flaws and infirmities stand in the way of you blessing your people and your name being glorified.
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And I just thank you and praise you and ask that you'll pour out your Spirit on both my speaking and the ears of the hearer, that they may have ears to hear and they may see you anew, may see your face more clearly, may behold your glory and be transformed more into the image of your
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Son thereby, and I ask it in his name, for your mercy's sake and your glory's sake, amen. Psalm 19 is our text, and I want to confess that I had a much greater scope originally planned for this message, but I was forced to pare it back due to my own inability, so I expect that there will be a part three of Psalm 19.
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Psalm 19, beginning at verse 1. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork.
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Day unto day utters speech, night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
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Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of its chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
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Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
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By way of review, last time we took a look at Psalm 19 verses 1 through 9, observing that the heavens above every man's head declares the glory of God, displaying his power, wisdom, and faithfulness, and have done so every day and every night since the creation of the world.
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We noted that the declaration of the glory of God that he has made to all men and women is sufficiently clear to make those who deny its existence, or fail to seek him, blameworthy, because they fail to receive it as a result of not wanting to acknowledge the existence of a creator to whom they are responsible, to whom they must give an account.
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So instead of believing, they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. We noted how the heavens, as well as all that is beneath them by application, continue to declare the glory of God in manifold new ways as our ability to observe his creation has grown, and how many of the greatest minds in history, including many of the great minds in the realm of science, have received this testimony and expressed their view that the universe clearly declares the existence of a divine architect and creator.
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We noted that Psalm 19 goes on to reveal that although this testimony of the glory of God has gone out through all the earth, that an acknowledgment of, and a belief in the existence of God as revealed by his general revelation in creation,
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God's glory seen throughout creation, is not sufficient to place one in a right relationship with God.
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It is not sufficient to enable one to give a good account of himself or herself before the throne of God on that great day.
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More is needed. A more clear revelation is needed. A more clear word from God is needed.
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But praise be to our creator, a more clear word has been given. Verse 7, the law of the
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Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
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The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the
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Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.
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The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. We have five words for the word of God here.
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The law of the Lord, Torah, which can be better, perhaps, translated, direction, teaching or instruction.
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The testimony of the Lord, eduth, referring to the Ten Commandments, sometimes specifically or to the entire law of God generally.
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The statutes of the Lord, pichud, a mandate, a statute, a written law passed by a legislative body or king.
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The commandment of the Lord, mitzvah, a command, whether human or divine, i .e.,
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the orders or commands of a superior authority. And the judgments of the Lord, mishpat, a verdict, favorable or unfavorable, pronounced judicially, especially a sentence or a formal degree including the act, the place, the suit, the crime, the penalty.
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And in an abstract sense, it could also mean justice. Five separate descriptions of the word of God.
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The law of the Lord, Torah, teaching, instruction is perfect, converting the soul. It's appropriate that this text on the special, turning to the special revelation of God, begins here.
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The instruction of the Lord's first business is the converting, shub, to return, to go back, to bring back.
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The basic meaning of the verb is a movement back to a point of departure, a fundamental change in direction of the soul, nefesh, the soul self, the life, the person, the creature, the mind, the breathing substance of the inner, of the being, the inner man, the man himself, etc.,
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etc., our deepest seat. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.
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Our souls are not right with God, they must be turned back. The first thing that the perfect word of God, the law of God must do, is convert our soul.
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We have all been brought forth in iniquity. In sin our mothers conceived us,
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Psalm 51 verse 5, so that we are all born spiritually dead. And having been born spiritually dead, we have gone further and committed sins, departures from the right path, our creator would have us tread, so that each of these sins alone makes us worthy of condemnation.
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As the Holy Spirit tells us in Isaiah 53 verse 6, all we like sheep have gone astray.
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We have turned everyone to his own way. And as the Holy Spirit through the pen of the Apostle Paul tells us in Romans 3 verse 10 and following, as it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.
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There is none who understands, there is none who seek after God. They have all turned aside, they have together become unprofitable.
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There is none who does good, no, not one. Brothers and sisters, everyone born here must allow the word of God to convert our soul.
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Here we see from the pen of David, and forgive me for a lot of you who were here, or some of you at least last time, this is still by way of review.
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We see from the pen of David a thousand years before Christ and the Apostle Paul, information telling us and the whole world that God's inspired, revealed word is necessary for salvation and that a true conversion of the soul is necessary for all men and women in order to escape condemnation and wrath and be moved into the blessedness of a right relationship with our faithful God.
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We must be born again from above. As the Holy Spirit tells us in 1 Peter 1 chapter 23, we must be born not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible through the word of God which lives and abides forever.
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It is when this happens that the law of God is transformed from a vehicle of cursing and becomes to the redeemed soul a vehicle of blessing.
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The soul who has made the about turn away from its own rebellious path back to God, as described in the verse
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I just read, the soul that has been converted into a right relationship with God, to that soul the testimony of the
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Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The law of God, the word of God, will take this simplicity, pethy, a naivete, or foolish open -mindedness which is easily seducible,
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God will take this foolishness and turn it into wisdom, kokam, the ability to act and live wisely.
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Also, the statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart, verse 8.
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The new man born again with the law written on his heart, as Romans 7 .22
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tells us, now delights in the law of God according to the inward man or woman. The commandment of the
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Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. As Psalm 119, verse 98 and following tells us, through your commandments, you through your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.
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I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep your precepts.
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I have restrained my feet from evil, that I may keep your word. I have not departed from your judgments, for you yourself have taught me.
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How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through your precepts
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I gain understanding, therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
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It will enlighten the believer's eyes, so that he or she may discern good and evil and discern what is the perfect and acceptable will of God.
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And he will have his heart rejoiced by the truth, that not only has he been set free from condemnation and wrath, but also the word will continue to set him free from the bondage and slavery which attends to all sin.
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As the Holy Spirit tells us in John chapter 8, verse 30 and 32, as he spoke these words many believed him, then
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Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, If you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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Verse 9, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. Again by way of review,
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I think this is, I personally thought this was the best portion of part one.
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The fear of the Lord, tahor, no the fear of the Lord is clean, excuse me, pure, physical, in a physical, chemical, ceremonial, or moral sense, clean, enduring forever.
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All those who have been converted in the soul by the law of God, as it says in verse 7, now possess a salvation, a right relationship with God, described in verse 9, as the fear of the
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Lord, which is a clean, pure, divine work of God, which endures forever, which cannot fail.
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Because it is the divine work of one who is faithful even when we are faithless. It's perfect, it's pure, it's clean, it's spotless, it's without blemish, and it will endure forever.
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If Christ has credited his righteousness to your account in response to your faith, given you a new heart by his spirit, nothing can undo this work of God.
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By his grace you will persevere in the faith. Brothers and sisters, this is the basis of our assurance, that new birth, the right relationship with him, the fear of the
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Lord which he has placed in our hearts, being a divine work, is indestructible. Our assurance rests on his power and faithfulness, not upon any prescribed level of obedience to his word.
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Lord willing, we will speak more about this next time, this application about our assurance.
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But I want you to see that in verse 9, the fear of the Lord, which endures forever, contains the essence of the
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Reformed faith. And one of the reasons it's important is, is many would have you believe that the
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Reformed faith, Calvinism, assurance of salvation, perseverance of the saints, these truths are one offshoot of Christianity, an ism,
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Calvinism. The reality is it's clearly contained in Psalm 19 verse 9.
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A thousand years before Christ came and the Apostle Paul wrote, several hundred years before Isaiah wrote of the suffering servant, we see that the fear of the
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Lord, which throughout scripture in its most common meaning refers to a right relationship with God, endures forever.
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It cannot pass away. It is a work of pure grace. It is a grace through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of work, lest anyone should boast.
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Being a divine work of God, it cannot fail. No, the
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Reformed faith was not devised by the Apostle Paul, it was not devised by Luther or Calvin or Augustine.
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It's clear, salvation is a sovereign miracle done by God, mysteriously given to some and not others, by his grace, pure grace.
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You began in grace, you will persevere because of his grace. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion in the day of Christ Jesus.
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This precious, true gospel is clearly revealed throughout scripture, including a thousand years before Christ came by the pen of David.
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I have a whole bunch of texts to try and prove to you that the fear of the Lord, and I read them last time, so I will not.
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If you're interested in them, talk to me afterwards and I'll share them with you. But I feel confident that the scriptures bear out that the fear of the
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Lord is a colorful description for a right relationship with God. Now we move on, finally dispensing with review.
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The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
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The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
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The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
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More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
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Moreover, by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors?
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Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me.
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Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
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O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. I want to spend the time allotted to me today looking at a few things from Psalm 19 and the rest of his word, which explain to us how the
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Word of God has gone from being a curse to a blessing, and some of the reasons revealed in this psalm and accentuated by other texts as to exactly why the
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Word of God is precious and sweet to the believer. And in doing so, Lord willing, we'll set ourselves up next time to gain some important insights and application into how these affect the life of the believer, the nature of our daily walk, and the nature of the assurance of our salvation.
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It was my hope to do that all today, but I dispense with that. I satisfy myself, and I admit that I felt a little bit of embarrassment as I see some people who are preachers here.
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I really think that this is low -hanging fruit from the text that I'm going to try and give to you.
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And so there was a little bit of embarrassment for a moment, I confess. But do I not speak as a fool?
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Because the lowest -hanging fruit of the Word of God is truly more precious and more valuable than gold, yea, than much fine gold.
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The first thing I want to note is how the Word of God has gone from being a curse to becoming precious to us.
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When our soul is converted, when we have been given by His grace the fear of the Lord, which endures forever, how is it that the perfect law of the
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Lord has gone from, as it says in Deuteronomy 28, verses 15 through 19,
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But it shall come to pass that if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God to observe carefully all
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His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.
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Cursed you shall be in the city, cursed you shall be in the country, cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl, cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks, cursed shall be when you come in and cursed shall be you when you go out.
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And there's more. Those of you that are familiar with that portion of Scripture, there is at least a chapter of curse after curse.
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And that is a curse for those who do not obey all His commandments and His statutes, just as James tells us, lest we think this is an
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Old Testament phenomenon, that if we've broken one commandment we're guilty of all. But now the law of God, the word of God, has gone from being a curse to us to become something that is both precious and sweet.
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Why is this so? Because of what our great Redeemer did. Christ has redeemed,
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Galatians 3 .13 tells us that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for as it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on the tree.
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Jesus Christ was made to become sin on our behalf so that if we will but believe, if we will but acknowledge the truth of His testimony against us, we can have
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His perfect righteousness credited to our account. In Him we become the righteousness of God.
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That's what makes the word of God to the believer more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold.
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That's how it was able to happen, because Jesus Christ took the penalty for our sin and the sins of all who believe on Himself at the cross.
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It's never wrong to pause at this moment and ponder this truth.
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We can all see, we can all imagine some scenarios, perhaps we've seen them in movies, where someone laid down his life for a friend or was willing to risk his life for a friend.
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That is beautiful, as the word of God tells us. But the thing that never ceases to amaze me is that we are not
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His peer. This is not as if I laid down my life for my wife.
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We are so far beneath Him. This would be, in fact, I don't even think this would be like a king laying down his life for the least of his servants.
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This is more like a king being willing to risk or lay down his life for the pet of one of the least of his servants.
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And to be honest, I'll tell you, I hope you're not offended by that comparison, to compare us to a pet, because it falls short of the degree of condescension of God to us.
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We would be lower than the pet, I would argue. So imagine this mighty king being willing to go on a suicide mission, so to speak, to save the pet of the least of his servants.
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You would say, what love he had for that servant. And another thing that's worth meditating on is all of the advantages of God, all of His divine attributes which we struggle to grasp even the lowest,
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His omnipotence, His omniscience, His aseity, His simplicity, all these things which we struggle, and it's worth struggling to get our minds around, theology proper, so to speak.
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These are not an advantage to him in this case. In fact, there is some degree of disadvantage, because the degree of suffering he's able to experience is something we can't even imagine.
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I think it is not error to say that he suffered more in his time on the cross and the time that he, as an eternal being and as fully
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God, he suffered more on the cross than you or I would have been able to suffer in an eternity in hell. This is a mind -bending act of heroism and love.
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You know, I'll share with you one of my favorite scenes from Lord of the Rings, is when Boromir is defending the hobbits and he keeps fighting after huge arrows that are probably that thick around go into him, and you can see he's having trouble breathing, but he continues to fight.
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You know, I just love that because it's an example of soldierly faithfulness. There is no analogy we can make.
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The degree of suffering he was able to undergo for our salvation is, there just is no example.
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It's worth meditating on. That's how the
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Word of God was made, changed from a curse to a blessing to us. Amen.
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The next thing I'd like to do is to examine some of the reasons why the Word of God is precious to us.
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First, and you might be gathering where I'm going to go, and I'm ashamed to say
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I almost left this out. This was a last -minute addition. Stick this in first and bump everything back from three to four reasons.
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First, because it was the Word of God that brought us from death to life, that transformed us from a position where we were estranged from God into the kingdom of the
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Son of His love. As I read to you before, 1 Peter 1 .23 tells us that we were all born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible through the
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Word of God which lives and abides forever. We owe the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.
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We all owe our deliverance to the Word of God. Now, by this
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I'm not saying that there aren't some out there in the world who may have been saved by a sovereign work of God, by a miraculous visitation of the
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Spirit of God, or an angel, but make no mistake.
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No one is saved without understanding the Gospel, and the Gospel comes from His Word. And whether you were saved by a preacher and never picked up the book until after you were saved, you were saved by that preacher delivering you the
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Word of God. And no one comes to the Father except through the
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Son by believing the Gospel of God. Everyone is dependent, they owe their salvation on the
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Word of God. I still have special love for this psalm because the first observable working of God's Spirit on my heart through His Word was through part of this psalm.
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And I won't tell you the verse because I'll get choked up, but there's a part, one half of one verse of this psalm was quoted by Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address during the
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Civil War. And while watching a Civil War documentary and having my mind firmly set on running away from God, from my
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Catholic upbringing understanding of God, was not satisfying to me and I was hell bent on rejecting it and fighting hard, hearing that one half verse amongst this eloquent speech, the whole thing is eloquent, but there's one verse in there and it was that half verse that made me weep.
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It brought me to tears because the Holy Spirit testified that this is truth.
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And that is the first hook that I can identify that I can see God drawing me to Himself resulting in salvation a few years later.
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So there I have a certain preciousness to this psalm, but we all, do we not all have a certain precious devotion to His Word because His Word brought us the
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Word of Life, the news of the great sacrifice and salvation available through the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
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We would not know that salvation. We would not know who Christ is apart from this Word. So that's reason number one why
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His Word is sweeter than honey in the honeycomb and more valuable than gold, much fine gold.
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Second, and this is right from the text, because in keeping His Word there is great reward.
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We see this truth in several texts. If you'll remember from our study in James chapter 1 verse 25, there the
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Holy Spirit tells us that he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
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And similarly in Psalm 1 at the beginning of the psalm, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the
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Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.
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In keeping them, the Word of God is great reward.
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Third, because the Word of God serves to warn us, to keep us back from sin, to prevent us from stumbling in the dark.
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As the Psalm 119 passage concluded that Josh read, and I quoted a little bit of you a little while ago, his word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
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And in our modern world, I think we fail sometimes to appreciate the picture, the image of the lamp because we, most of us,
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I've only a few times in my life been outside of city lights and when you are outside of city lights, especially on a moonless night, you can't see the hand in front of your face.
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So if you don't have a lamp for your feet and a light for your path, you're going to get bloody. There's a really good chance you're going to get bloody.
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You're going to run into things. You're going to trip over things. You might even fall into a ditch or walk over a cliff if you're not careful.
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I also note, moreover, by them your servant is warned, is the text
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I'm referring to, that the word of God is the only tool we have for this purpose. It is so because of the waywardness of our hearts, including our consciences, which are affected by the fall and therefore broken instruments.
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Only the word of God wielded on our hearts by its author, the Holy Spirit of God, can guard us against sin and prevent us from being ensnared by it.
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As Psalm 119 verse 11 says, your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you.
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It is also of particular help in revealing and rooting out secret sins within our own heart as the psalmist prays a few verses below.
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Keep back your servant, I'm sorry, cleanse me from secret sins. As Hebrews 4 .12
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tells us, the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two -edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
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We are laid bare before the word of God. Only it can reveal the otherwise hidden thoughts and intents of our heart.
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The word of God is able to answer the cry of the psalmist, his rhetorical question, who can understand his errors.
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In verses 12 and 13, the word of God is able to help us to understand our errors and cleanse us from secret faults and prevent us from being ensnared by presumptuous sins.
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And several commentators, as an aside, I really agree with this, have observed that secret sins have a pernicious tendency to become presumptuous sins.
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Whether they be secret because they are unknown to us, because we are ignorant of his word in an area and blithely go along sinning day after day after day and not knowing it, or whether they're secret, especially those that are the sins that we might be holding onto and keeping a secret.
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We're aware of them and keeping a secret from others. They have a pernicious ability to blossom into presumptuous sins.
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As the Holy Spirit tells us in Hebrews 12, 1 -2, the faithfulness of God in the lives of many biblical men and women are of particular help and encouragement in avoiding becoming ensnared by sin, as well as keeping an eye on our majestic Redeemer King who is currently seated at the right hand of the
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Father. Hebrews 12, verses 1 -2 tells us, therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, which we learn of through his word, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto
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Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, lightly regarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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We have a great cloud of witnesses testifying to the faithfulness of God, enabling us to fight the good fight and lay aside every weight and hate and loathe and therefore avoid the sin which so easily ensnares us.
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Remember it was that sin that, in one sense, placed Jesus on the cross. And we have the vision of him seated at the right hand of God reigning, making all obedience to his word profitable.
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Maybe not immediately, maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not this side of glory, but it will be profitable nonetheless.
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And in this operation of helping us to understand our errors and cleansing us from secret sins and preventing us from being ensnared or enslaved by presumptuous sins, we know from the word of God that our brothers and sisters in Christ are invaluable aides and allies.
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As the Holy Spirit tells us in Hebrews 3 .13, Exhort one another daily while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sins.
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One of the antidotes towards falling into the deceitfulness of sin and the hardness of heart that makes one anesthetized, ignorant of the existence of sin, is fellowship with believers who exhort one another daily while it is called today and provide a proof, a defense against hardening through the deceitfulness of sin.
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And fourth, finally, most importantly, ultimately, the word of God is not simply the believer's only faithful mirror by which we may see ourselves.
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The only trustworthy map to guide us step by step in our daily lives and prevent us from stumbling.
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But it is both a love letter from our precious Lord, and by the work of the
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Holy Spirit working with the word, it's the only place where we can reliably learn of him.
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Where we can reliably see his beautiful face ever more clearly as we look deeply into his word and as I'll go on to show, produce the ultimate, the ultimate result of this love for the
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Lord is a desire that our words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart might be acceptable in his sight.
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As the Apostle Paul told us in the passage read by Josh this morning in explaining the glories of the word of God to the new covenant believer as superior to the understanding of the word of God to those unbelieving
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Jews who dwell in the Jerusalem which now is. Galatians 4 24 through 26 and speaking of the two covenants tells us there are two covenants, one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is
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Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the Jerusalem which now is.
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So apart from the spirit of God, no matter how much of the word of God you have, just as the Jews of old were given the testimonies of God but did not profit from them, they are of the letter which kills rather than the new birth and the spirit which gives life.
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The Jerusalem which now is is in bondage with her children but the Jerusalem above is free which is the mother of us all.
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And that's all by way of some justification for making this text from 2
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Corinthians chapter 3 understood as the glories of the new covenant relationship of the word to the believer.
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Ultimately culminating in its highest blessing and benefit is that we behold the face of our
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Lord Jesus Christ through it. By way of review, 2 Corinthians 3 beginning at verse 7, but if the ministry of death written and engraved on stones, that's the law apart from the new birth, was glorious, and it was glorious, our failing does not rob the law of God of its glory.
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But if the ministry of death written and engraved on stones was glorious so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the spirit, the new birth, not be more glorious?
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For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.
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Skipping down to verse 14, Paul speaks of the unbelieving Jews who have only the dead letter of the law because they have not been converted in their souls, they have not been given the fear of the
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Lord which is clean and endures forever, verse 14, but their minds were blinded for in this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the
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Old Testament because the veil is taken away in Christ. When we are in Christ, a veil is taken away.
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But even to this day when Moses is read, a veil lies on their hearts. Nevertheless, when one turns to the
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Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the spirit, and where the spirit of the
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Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, and here's where I've taken this tour to get to, but we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
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Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as by the spirit of the
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Lord. And skipping down to chapter 4 verses 6 and 7, Paul again alludes to the fact that when the new birth comes, the law is transformed from dead letter into a
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Holy Spirit attended window through which we may behold the glory of our
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Redeemer and Savior's face. 4 .6 For it is God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
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5 .7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
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I hope you know, dear brethren, that beholding the face of your beloved Savior ever more clearly is the key to being conformed more and more into his image, to doing his word.
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For just as one day we will be like him because we will see him as he is, and that perfect beatific vision will transform us into his likeness as the
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Holy Spirit tells us in John 3 .2. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be.
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But we know that when he is revealed, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. So likewise, during our walk below, seeing
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Jesus' beauty more clearly by the working of the Holy Spirit through the word of God is the most powerful vehicle for transforming us into his image while we walk here below.
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As the verse I just read for you and I will read again says, but we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
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Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the
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Spirit of the Lord. And having our love for him deepen as we see his beauty ever more clearly, it becomes more and more the desire of our hearts to please him, the desire of our hearts that the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts might be acceptable to him.
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And finally, as an addendum, I note that the word of God is the only tool at our disposal that can help us make the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts acceptable in his sight.
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In the sight of our great Redeemer King, who is also our great benefactor and supplier of all our strength.
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May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my strength and my
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Redeemer. He is our strength. He is the supplier of all we have that is good, of any strength we have.
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And he is the Redeemer to whom we owe all, because of the unimaginably great sacrifice he has made for us.
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Romans 12 .2 lets us know that we should not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind, so that we may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
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I think most of you would agree that being transformed by the renewing of your mind occurs through the ministry of the
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Holy Spirit and the word of God. Also, John 15, beginning at verse 5, provides again insight into the necessity of his word in keeping us, enabling us to have the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart be acceptable in his sight.
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Jesus said in John 15, beginning at verse 5, I am the vine, you are the branches.
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He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing.
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If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
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If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
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By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be my disciples.
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As the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in my love.
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Lord willing, next time I would like to make a few key observations and applications from the fact that the word of God is now sweeter than honey and the honeycomb to us, and more precious than gold, yea, than much fine gold.
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The simple truth is that this simple observation, repeated many times in scripture, and probably a hundred times almost in Psalm 119 alone, that the law of God, the word of God is now sweet, both sweet and precious to the believer, rightly explodes some powerfully prevalent false teachings and some strong tendencies in our heart towards error.
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So that's what I'd like to do next time. But for now
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I just commend to you the word of God, and I am guilty of this.
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There have been times in my life where every waking hour was spent searching to see the beauty of his face more clearly with the word of God open between my knees, and as the busy ness of life has increased and habit takes over, there is just not enough time spent.
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And seeing his beauty, seeing how far you fall short, and how much of a debtor to grace you are every day is the only way
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I know of to have a sincere and sweet love for the brethren. He who is forgiven little loves little, and I don't know how much
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I'm forgiven without having the word of God shine its light into my heart all the time.
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There just is. That's an axiom. He who, Jesus said, he who is forgiven little loves little.
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An axiom from the mouth of the creator of all things and the sustainer of all things. So, I commend to us the wisdom of treating this word as sweeter than honey and the honeycomb and more precious than gold, yea, than much fine gold, most of all because in it you see the beauty of the face of your incomparable
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Lord who bought you with his own blood. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, in Jesus' name we just want to thank you for your word, which is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.
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We want to thank you for the son of your love, whom it declares to us and makes clearer and clearer to us, and we want to thank you for the glorious gospel of pure grace and a salvation which cannot pass away because it's a work of pure grace, a divine work, which is undefeatable, cannot be thwarted, and cannot pass away, and therefore it is a great salvation,
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Father, and so I just humbly ask that you'll take these truths which have washed over us today and bury them deep into our hearts that we might strive to seek, to see the beauty of your son through your word every day, see him more and more clearly, be transformed into his image every day, and I ask that you'll do this for your mercy's sake and your glory's sake in Jesus' name, amen.