The word of God

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The word of God

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We read Psalm 19 and look at that this morning. I'd like to quote the psalmist from another place where he said,
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I was glad when they said to me, let's go to the house of the Lord. It's been good to be here this morning already.
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So, by way of worshiping God today from the word,
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I'd like for us to begin in our prayer this morning and I'm gonna say this. Some people, there are jokes made throughout the years that somebody wrote out their prayers and you could tell it was a wrote out prayer when they prayed it.
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I want us to enter into our time of worship through the preaching of the word this morning in our prayer and I'm gonna read you a pre -written prayer.
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It's what I'm gonna read for our prayer. But it is the prayer of the psalmist, David, that he wrote in Psalm 51.
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And so, I guess let's go to the Lord in prayer, but let's, as you do, listen to the words of this prayer, this
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Psalm. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to your loving kindness, according to the multitude of your tender mercies.
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Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
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I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is always before me.
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Against you and you only have I sinned and done this evil in your sight.
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You may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge.
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Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me.
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Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part you will make me to know wisdom.
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Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
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Make me hear joy and gladness that the bones you have broken may rejoice.
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Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart,
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O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your
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Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me by your generous spirit.
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Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners shall be converted to you.
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Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, to God of my salvation and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
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O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise. For you do not desire sacrifice or else
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I would give it. You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart.
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These, O God, you will not despise. Amen and amen to all of that.
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And I think to myself, my goodness, what if we were to, this prayer, if we were to put this prayer to memory and to recite this as our plea and our cry to God not only on Sunday mornings, but on a daily basis, how this would do us good if you would have it to have a pre -programmed prayer, as it were, so that we could seek the face of God and we might be in a right mindset and have a right attitude as we approach unto the throne of God.
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For the truth be told in that, that is truly the prayer of my heart today that as I come before God, that God would have mercy upon us.
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How much more mercy can God show unto his people than to send his only begotten son to die for our sins.
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And so how can we know what God has done then as we're gonna see in the text here as we turn over now to Psalm 19.
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As we read this text, I have an intended aim and an intended goal this morning.
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And the theme is simply this, the word of God is perfect and the word of God is pure and the word of God is right.
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The word of God, as we're gonna see, is perfect. The law of the
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Lord converts the soul. And part of our aim and part of our goal this morning in looking through this passage in Psalms, in considering how the word of God is perfect, how the word of God is pure,
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I want to be instructive in a way as well. Well, you may have heard this throughout the years, but I think it's very, very important that as Christians we are able to kind of compartmentalize some of the information that we get in understanding what the word of God is.
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Now, God has revealed himself in two ways throughout all of history.
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Number one, God reveals himself through what is referred to as general revelation.
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General revelation, if you're taking notes, this would be good information because this is information that we can use in our lives as Christians to bring honor and glory to God when we're speaking to those outside of Christ so that we might be able to give a reasonable defense of the faith that we have.
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So God reveals himself through general revelation. And number two,
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God has revealed himself through special revelation. General revelation and special revelation.
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And we're gonna see this all in the 19th Psalm here. First of all, as we look and begin to read here, let's just read through the text.
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The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork day unto day utters speech and night unto night reveals knowledge.
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There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.
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Their line has gone throughout all the earth and their words to the end of the world.
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In them he has set a tabernacle for the sun which is like a bridegroom coming out of his 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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The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. The testimony of the
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Lord is sure making wise the simple. The statutes of the
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Lord are right rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the
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Lord is pure enlightening the eyes. The fear of the
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Lord is clean enduring forever. The judgments of the
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Lord are true and righteous all together. 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.
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Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults.
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Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins.
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Let them not have dominion over me then I shall be blameless and I shall be innocent of great transgression.
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Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.
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Oh Lord my strength and my redeemer. Oh Lord my strength and my redeemer.
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The songs that we sang, the psalmist throughout the book of Psalm says this, uses that term, bless the
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Lord oh my soul, bless his holy name.
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Bless the Lord oh my soul. And today our focus being on the word of God, I want to make statements that are likely going to be things you've heard us say before, but it is so very important that as the church of Jesus Christ that we understand and that we know this, that the word of God is truth in every possible way.
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The word of God is truth. The apostles in the New Testament said this, let
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God be true what God has said be true and let every man be a liar.
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One of the great things that came out of the reformation, one of the great truths on which men have stood on throughout the years is the reformation principle of sola scriptura.
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Now sola scriptura simply means this, the word of God alone.
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That statement was brought to be, was set out in the forefront of the reformation for this very purpose because the
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Catholic church had deemed that the word of God and the traditions of the church itself were on equal ground and were on equal footing.
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Now I want to share some things as to why this is important and why it's good for you to understand and it's good for you to know some of these things and for you to have maybe by the time you leave here today, a greater passion, a greater love and a greater desire for the word of God because the word of God is true in every way.
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You hear us talk about Martin Luther, make reference to Martin Luther and in the reformation and in the period in time of the reformation, again, this is all goes to the importance of the word of God being perfect and the word of God being our only standard of faith and practice in all matters and in all areas of our lives.
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Historically, it's good to understand and to know this because men have given their lives and have shed their blood throughout the years so that we might be where we are today and that we might have the very word of God today.
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So that men may be able to stand on a regular basis, on a weekly basis and proclaim the truth of what thus says the word of God to those who gather in the
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Lord's name. Again, Martin Luther in his 95 thesis, really is a protest to reform the
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Catholic church's teachings and by the way, a few weeks ago when we celebrated our 10th anniversary, we spoke just very vaguely about this but we as a church are
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Protestant, meaning this, that we are still protesting the practices that the
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Catholic church proclaims and propagates and it's not just the Catholic church that proclaims and propagates the lies and the false teaching but it's throughout
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Christendom in large where many folks are adopting even unknowingly these practices and principles of the
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Catholic church. Now, does this mean we hate Catholic people? No, it does not. Let me be very clear in this, we are proclaiming and we are protesting the practices because we want them to be saved and to know the
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Lord Jesus Christ as we know him according to his holy word and that alone.
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So it is not unloving and it is not unkind. Martin Luther in his act, it was not unloving and it was not unkind of him to do what he has done and again, we're gonna see the text, the general and specific revelation but I wanna kind of lay a little bit of groundwork here and share with you just a few of the statements that he nailed to the church door at Wittenberg.
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Number one thing that he posted was this, when our Lord and master Jesus Christ said, repent according to Matthew 4 in verse 17, he willed that the entire life of the believer to be one of repentance.
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We protest against any teaching that says, God does not intend for all men to repent for the truth of the matter is this, that God calls according to Acts 17,
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God calls all men everywhere to repent. All are under the authority and the sovereignty of a holy
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God. The problem comes in when we fail to understand and we fail to recognize that we as men, as believers even in Jesus Christ are called to live a daily life of repentance.
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That's what that prayer in Psalms was. It was a Psalm of repentance. Another statement that Luther posted on the door was this, thus those indulgence preachers, the indulgence preachers was
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I guess the team from the Catholic church that went out and taught that by purchasing indulgences that you might be made right in the sight of God and that you could purchase indulgences so that you could maybe buy your loved ones out of purgatory or even out of hell.
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But Martin Luther said those indulgence preachers are in error who say that a man is absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences.
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The Pope has no power to save anyone. The Pope has no power to confer forgiveness upon anyone.
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Only Jesus Christ does that for he is the author of eternal life.
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In one place in the gospels when the folks were crowded into a house so much so that nobody could get into the house, a man who was paralyzed, unable to move, his friends wanted to get him to Jesus and there was no other way for them to get him to Jesus other than for them to tear the roof off the house and lower him down through the roof.
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Now the Pharisees, when Jesus said, your sins be forgiven you, the
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Pharisees bowed up and they were challenged at that notion that someone would actually think that they had power on earth to forgive sins.
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They questioned Jesus that he should be doing what he was doing and when he was doing what he had done.
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So he basically told them this, look, I have power on earth to forgive sins. I'm gonna say to this man, your sins be forgiven you and I'm also gonna say to this man, arise, take up your bed and walk, go on about your business.
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So Jesus Christ and him alone has power to give forgiveness of sins.
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Another statement that he had posted in those 95 theses was this. He said, those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned together with their teachers.
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This was a very strong statement. If you base your faith, your salvation, your hope of eternal life on anything other than Jesus Christ, you are damned, you are lost.
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He went on to say, men must especially be on guard against those who say that by the
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Pope's pardons that they are the inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to him.
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He went on to say this, they who teach that contrition is not necessary on the part of those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessional privileges preach un -Christian doctrine.
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He was stating here that those who sell indulgences, those who proclaim another gospel, that they need to be contrite, they need to be broken because that is a sinful act against the
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Holy God. He went on to say, then we'll be, we're just gonna go through a couple of more of these and we'll get into the text, but this is so very important concerning our stance upon the
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Word of God. He said, any true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the church.
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And this is granted him by God even without indulgence letters.
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Very, very important. Christians are taught that unless they have, because there was this practice of giving money and this is so relatable, even on today, folks still do this.
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I said, it's not just the Catholic church, but there are folks who call themselves Christian churches who are selling goodies in the name of God.
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Luther said this, Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they must reserve enough for their family's needs and by no means squander it on indulgences.
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Meaning this, that a man, woman needs to be faithful to their family. If you do have extra, hallelujah, but you do not need to squander it on things that are not gonna have any eternal value.
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He went on to say this, injury is done to the Word of God when in the same sermon, an equal or larger amount of time is devoted to indulgences rather than true to the
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Word. For the true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and the grace of God.
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These principles, this is part of what drove the reformation and that principle of sola scriptura, that we must get back to the
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Word of God, that we must not only get back to the Word of God, but we must cling to the
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Word of God with every ounce and every fiber of our beings.
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The church stands on the Word of God. So to the text here in Psalm 19, general revelation,
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I told you God spoke in two ways, general revelation and God speaks in special revelation.
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General revelation is defined this way, God revealing himself through nature.
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General revelation is God revealing himself through nature. Notice what the
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Word says, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork.
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And I get, it tears me up reading it again. Day unto day utter speech and night unto night reveals knowledge.
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How do we communicate with each other? We speak, my friend, every single day that goes by when the sun goes up and the sun sets.
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Oh, my friend, when we see blue skies or when we see black skies, when we see the sun and we see the moon and we see the stars, how can anybody deny there is a
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God? You know what, atheists deny, absolutely deny the existence of God.
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Agnostics are somewhat in question as to maybe there is a
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God and maybe there is not a God. But friends, I want you to know, you cannot look anywhere and know that there is not a
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God. And to know this, that you are not him. A hymn writer put it this way, each day the sun comes out to shine, the stars and moon they leave on time, the winds they blow, we listeth where, we breathe the living air, the flowers grow and do not toil, they do not spin or work at all, the birds they live and get their care, there must be a
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God somewhere. The only thing that I can see that worries
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God is you and me. And by the way, I don't think that's a true statement. He's not worried, he's in control.
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When we are burdened down with care, he never leaves us there. If we call upon his name, wrong or right, he's just the same, ready to help our burdens bear.
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So there must be a God somewhere. My friends, there is a
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God and he has revealed himself in nature. In the beginning,
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God created the heavens and the earth. If we go over to the book of Romans, Romans chapter 1, beginning in verse 18, we see the
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New Testament explaining the same truth to us concerning the general revelation of God.
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Romans chapter 1 in verse 18 says this, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
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Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.
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Now we're going to do one of two things. We're going to believe the word of God or we're going to deny the word of God.
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The word of God says clearly here that God has shown it unto all men. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, those things that aren't tangible, his sovereignty, his power, his purpose, his purity, his holiness, that they are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made.
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Even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse because although they knew
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God, they did not glorify him as God nor were thankful but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened.
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Here's a question that is asked by some and it's sometimes hard to answer, but here's the answer.
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Why are we as we are? Because as it was stated in Sunday school, because we are sinners and liars and we are sinners and liars by nature that does not condone our sin.
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It does not give us license to sin, but it is the reality and the fact of the matter at hand.
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And the Bible says this, he goes on, why are they as they are? Because they denied
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God, because they chose to go forward in their sins. Therefore, their foolish hearts were darkened.
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How many of you, I don't know if Cracker Barrel still has the actual lighter or the actual fire type little lanterns on the table.
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I ain't been in a while or if they changed the LED like everybody else is doing. By the way, the LED candles are pretty nice.
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But if you have got one of those old oil lamps and you've got that glass globe on the lamp and you burn that lamp all the time, what happens to that globe?
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It turns black, it turns dark because the chemicals emitted from that flame and from the oil cause it to be blackened.
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And the longer that flame burns, the blacker that globe gets.
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And my friend, it is the same for mankind. As the fire of sin burns within us, our hearts get darker and darker and darker.
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And the only remedy for the darkness of the heart and the sin of man is the blood of Jesus Christ.
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And we know about the power of the blood because of the word of God. So the heavens declare the glory of God day unto day utter speech, night unto night reveals knowledge.
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There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard, there is no remote tribe in Africa or anywhere else in the world who does not understand that there is a right and there is a wrong and that there is a
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God. They may deny, but the reality is there.
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You're not able to overcome that. Men may deny and they may reject it, but there is no denying it.
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Verse five, he speaks of the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
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It's rising from one end of the heaven and it's circuit to the other end and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
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So we have the general revelation of God, God revealing himself in nature. And then in verse seven, we see this special revelation of God.
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Now this is a theological term, but it's good for us to know these terms, general and special revelation.
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General is where God revealed himself through nature. Special revelation is where God reveals himself in his word.
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And here comes the challenging part. A man cannot be saved outside of the special revelation of God.
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You cannot be saved unless you know specifically what God is doing and has done on behalf of you.
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Because of our sinful nature, we are unable to redeem ourselves. We are incapable of it.
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Absolutely, totally and radically depraved in our sin.
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And yet God in his great love and in his great mercy, through 40 different authors, naturally speaking, over the course of 1500 some odd years, no telling how much space divided them.
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Remember, they did not have the internet. They did not have instant messaging. They were not able to take a picture and text it to one another.
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What they had was divine inspiration of God. God breathing into them the very word that he wanted for the whole world to hear and to know so that all men would be inexcusable as we stand before God.
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Back in Romans, I want to continue there just so that you understand and you know, they professed themselves to be wise.
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They became fools and they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man and birds and four footed animals and creeping things.
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Therefore, listen closely. God gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their heart to dishonor their bodies among themselves who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worship and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever and ever.
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Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions for even their women exchanged the natural use of what it is against nature.
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Likewise, also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
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And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting.
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Well, the way of it, the scripture says in another place, the way of a transgressor is hard.
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That is special revelation. That statement there is special revelation. It's God's divine statement about sin and sinners.
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He said this, being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil mindedness.
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They are whisperers, back biters, haters of God, violent, proud, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful, who these in reference to those who denied him, who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death.
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Not only do they do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
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Why are men as they are? Because of sin. And we know sin because God gave us the truth about what sin is.
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And the truth about what sin does, the wages of sin, the payment of sin is death.
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That's what the word of God says. But we have in special revelation,
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God's divine word to his people is this, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
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Lord. We could not know that were it not for the word of God. This is why we must hold so strongly to the word of God.
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Special revelation. Back in Psalm 19, we see this concerning special revelation.
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The law of the Lord is perfect. There is no fault in it.
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There is no error in it. Some may bring up questions that really are ultimately foolish questions.
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Like, could God have done things any differently? Could God have made salvation possible any other way than by sending his son,
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Jesus Christ? I want to tell you unequivocally, no, he could not have made it possible any other way because he never determined it to be any other way.
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The scriptures teach us that Jesus Christ was as a lamb slain from before the foundation of the world.
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Before the world was ever created. The law of the Lord, the word of God is perfect.
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Converting the soul. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
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Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. How else can a man be made a new creature no other way than by and through the word of God.
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For we are saved by the word of God. The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.
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The testimony of the Lord is sure. The word of God is so steadfast and the word of God is so sure that when this world crumbles, when this world collapses, matter of fact, the gospel writers quoted the book of Isaiah when it said heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall endure forever.
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It's indestructible. The statutes of the Lord are right. They rejoice the heart for the
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Christian. Listen today, if you are a Christian, the word of God, even when it rubs, it's like even there are times when it's like rubbing the cat the wrong way.
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When you read it, it's still right. When everything else is wrong, the word of God is right.
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The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. It will cause the word of God will open your eyes to the truth of who
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God is. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for how long?
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Forever. That's forever. So we have the law of the
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Lord, the testimony of the Lord, the statutes of the Lord, the commandment of the Lord, the fear of the
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Lord, the judgment of the Lord. These are all revealed in his special revelation.
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In his special revelation, by the way, going back to that principle of sola scriptura, his special revelation is given to us in the 66 books of the
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Old and the New Testament as they are laid out right here with no additions and no subtractions.
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You say, you seem like you're, you seem like you're blowing up about that. Well, maybe
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I am just a little bit because there are so many who want to deny, who want to add, and who want to take away from the word of God like it needs to be edited.
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It is perfect. As it is, it is a law.
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It is a testimony. It is a statute. It is a commandment. It causes the fear of the, brings the fear of the
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Lord, which is clean, meaning this, that it is right for you to fear the Lord.
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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The judgments of the
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Lord are true and righteous altogether. And here's the thing I said, I hope that some of you would be persuaded.
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I can't persuade you. Listen, preachers, sometimes we preach like, I don't know, like how we preach is going to be the tipping point for you.
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But I'm not so foolish as to think no matter how hard I preach, no matter how loud I yell, no matter how many tears
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I shed, no matter how much snot I sling, I'm not so foolish enough as to think that that is what is going to persuade you.
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For if the spirit of God does not persuade you to love and to hold to his word more tightly than ever you have, then you will not ever be persuaded.
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Our prayer for you is that God would break your heart, that God would grip you, that God would grab you, and that God would do whatever he deems necessary to you so that you understand and know that he is
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God. Amen. He said, it's more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
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That's a statement right there which brings a question to mind for you.
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How much do you love the Lord? How much do you love his word? Do you want his word more than you want gold?
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Do you want his word more than you like sweet things? Do you want his word?
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This is a natural reference here. He said, sweeter than also than the honeycomb.
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Listen, Swiss cake rolls and zebra cakes are delicious. But I want the word of God more than I want a
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Swiss cake roll, more than I want a zebra cake. Friend, that's really a poor illustration and a poor example for us to use anything natural like that.
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That's what the psalmist did here. He used the natural. It's sweeter than the honeycomb. And then he said in verse 11, moreover by them your servant is warned.
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Oh, some would say I don't want to go to church to get warned. I don't want to go to church and hear the word of God where I'm warned.
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I just want to hear about all the good things that God has for me. Listen, God has done and provided all that is necessary for the hope of eternal life.
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That is the best news anybody could hear. But his word also teaches us that we are to live disciplined lives, that we are to be sober as we walk throughout this world and that we are to walk in the trunk according to the truth of the word of God.
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Moreover by them your servant is warned. Hallelujah. It's a blessing in the word for us to be warned.
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And he said in keeping them there is great reward. Some would say you got to go outside the word to get reward.
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Don't put God in a box, friend. There is reward in loving
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God. There is a reward in living for the Lord. There is a reward in being in the word of God.
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For the psalmist said who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from my secret faults.
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And this statement here is so important. Keep your servant also from presumptuous sins.
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Don't let them have dominion over me. For us to presume means to assume, means to assume that we know better than God or to assume that what
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I'm up to, God is not that upset with or it is not the reason for which
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Christ died but friend, sin is sin. Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost.
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The sinner, the perpetrator of sin and we are sinners.
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He said let not them have dominion over me. How can we keep ourselves from presumptuous sins?
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How can we keep ourselves from secret faults? How can we understand the error of our ways?
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We go to the word of God. For in the New Testament, Paul in writing to Timothy, he said the word of God is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.
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Old and New Testament alike, agree alike, there will never be a contradiction.
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And is profitable for the man of God. Study to show yourself approved that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good work.
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The word of God is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for what you're hearing now.
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For doctrine, for teaching, for instruction, for righteousness in godly living, for it rebukes us, it exhorts us, it instructs us in the way in which we should walk.
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It is perfect and it is pure. And so the psalmist closes in that 14th verse there and he says let the words of my mouth, that what comes out of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight.
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Friends, when we get into the word and you test your words by the word, that's when you'll know if you're right or wrong.
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When you test the thoughts of your heart according to the thoughts of God in his special revelation unto us, then you'll know if you're right or wrong based solely upon the word of God.
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And last of all, I want to just give a kind of a disclaimer statement.
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There have been many, Joseph Smith, others throughout history, Joseph Smith in the
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Mormon church, others throughout history who have claimed that they have received special revelation from God.
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But again, if our standard of truth is the 66 books of the
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Old and the New Testament, we know that there can be no other special revelation of God.
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That God has given us his word fully and finally.
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And it is our standard. So let's close with this.
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One last thing. Why? So what, preacher?
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So what do you expect me to do with the message today? I expect, and I hope,
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I guess might be a better phrase. I hope that you will have a greater love for the word of God.
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As a Christian, for truly, I want to say this. You and I both all have room to love
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God and his word more in our lives. And it is so very important that we love his word because what you love, you know.
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Some of you are fishermen. Some of you are hunters. Some of you are car enthusiasts. So on and so forth.
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What you love, you know. And I'm not expecting if you're a goat for you to act like a sheep and pretend like you love
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God and his word. But what I am telling you is this. If you are a goat and you're pretending to love
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God and his word, it will do you no good. You must be born again.
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And your only recourse, your only hope is to believe in what
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Jesus Christ has done. That you may have the forgiveness of sins and God will give his children the desire for his truth and that above all else.
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So it's important that we know God, that we know his word because in life, how do we bring this?
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Let's bring this now and finally closing to the application here. Why is it so important that we know about general revelation, that we know about special revelation, that we love
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God and that we love his truth above all because there is a world that is dying lost and they need those of us who proclaim and profess to be saved by the grace of God to know the one in whom we say we love and to know what he has said in matters and issues of life.
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Last of all, I'll share a little bit of statistics with you. So if, for example, there was a, years ago, there was the
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Ligonier, Ligonier did a survey of folks and in a few of the statements and questions that were asked of folks who profess to be saved, referred to as evangelicals, some of them was asked this question, does
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God accept the worship of all religions, Christianity, Judaism and Islam?
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46 % of the people that were asked this question said that yes,
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God accepts all religions. Good answer,
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Debbie, because you are exactly right. God does not accept all religions.
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He accepts what his son and his son alone has done. And if any deny in the smallest degree the person and the work and the character and the nature of what he accomplished on the cross, then my friend, they are not saved.
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Salvation is exclusive, not inclusive. The next statement that was asked or the next statement that was made, they were asked to agree or disagree.
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And the statement was this, by the good deeds I do, I partly contribute to earning my place in heaven.
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Jessica, you are exactly right. No, there is nothing good that we do that contributes to salvation.
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Quoted this the other night in Thursday night Bible study, and I may have had the person wrong, but I think it was John Owen. John Owen, one of the great
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Puritan preachers said the only thing we contribute to salvation is the sin which made it necessary.
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That's it. There is nothing, no good deed. Baptism, church membership, praying a prayer is not salvation.
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Salvation is when God moves in, regenerates the heart of the sinner, gives him life from the dead so that he knows
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God. Next, it's important that we know these things. Simple statement, agree or disagree, abortion is sin.
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Yes, it is sin. Abortion is sin, but only 48 % of self -identified
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Christians who attended church once or twice a month agree with this statement. Maybe that's the problem, they're not in church.
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Christian? That's exactly right.
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But here's the thing, Christian, let me make a statement to you. Love me or hate me for this. If you are saved, you belong to a local body of believers.
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You have no right or authority to separate yourselves. This is what was taught by the old timers.
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It's what I'm teaching today. You have no right or authority to separate yourself from the church of the living
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God for which he died, which he arose again. When we come to church, these children every week,
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Jackson, Natalie, Johnny's not here, Kira, all of you all, you go away because your teachers teach you something in Sunday school.
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Is that right, Kira? And because the preachers who stand before you each week study to show ourselves approved unto
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God, workmen that don't need to be ashamed so that you go away hearing the truth of the word of God so that you can know and so that you don't have to be blown about by every wind or doctrine that comes about.
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When somebody says abortion is sin, we can say, yes, it is sin. According to the commandment, thou shalt not kill.
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Another statement that was made was this, do agree or disagree. Even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation.
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Well, I don't know. It was just a little white lie. Maybe it don't deserve damnation. A lie is a lie is a lie is a lie.
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We are called to speak truth to one another. 61 % of professing
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Christians strongly disagree with that statement. If you ask me, it just tells me that church people have too high an opinion of ourselves.
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And we need more men who will stand in the pulpit and will proclaim boldly and tell the people that we stand before each and every week, no matter how good you think you are, you still fall short of the glory of God.
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And you need a savior. His name is Jesus Christ. It is sad.
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It's so very important that we know these things just for these simple little statements, these simple things that seem so unimportant.
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But friends, if the church does not stand, who will?
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The world does not dictate truth unto us. The word of God dictates truth unto us.
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And the only way that we know the word of God is to study, study, study, to listen, listen, listen, and to know, know, know that there is no other source of inspiration outside of the word of God.
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Stand with us if you would this morning, please. The word of God is perfect.
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The word of God is pure. The word of God is truth.
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God has revealed himself through general revelation, through nature.
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God has revealed himself through special revelation. He is holy word. Heavenly fathers, we come this morning in closing as we pray through the psalmist prayer of confession, the beginning of the sermon this morning.
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Lord, once again, your word has reminded us of just who we are, that we are.
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Our sins, even as Christians, get in the way.
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And we must be willing and honest with you first and foremost, and with ourselves to confess our sins unto you.
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For I'm reminded of what you said in your word, that if we confess our sins, that you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all sin.
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And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I am thankful, dear
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God, that you, through your spirit and by your word, that you, your truth, causes our hearts to rejoice in you.
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For though there's been, though your word reveals much about our nature and our character as men, that we are sinful and that we are separated from you, your word also reveals, in Romans 5, that you have shown your love unto us, even though that while we are yet sinners, that you have died for us.
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And it is because of that that my heart rejoices in the salvation that you have provided.
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So God, give me a greater passion. Give me a greater desire.
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Give me a greater groaning, God, for your truth in your word.
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And help me as I go along, God, to rightly divide, to rightly interpret, to rightly teach, and to rightly preach what thus says the word of God.
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And help us as a body overall to be desirous of your truth in our inward parts,
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God, from our very heart out, that the truth of your word, that we desire it more than gold, that we desire it more, that it's sweeter to us more than honeycomb and the honey that's on the comb, that your word becomes our desire and our passion.
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And God, I am thankful today for the fact that I recognize that according to your word, that this does not become, desire does not come naturally.
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It is not acquired by turning over a new leaf. It's not even acquired by us deciding we're going to do it, but it comes by a supernatural work of the
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Holy Spirit in our hearts, your new birth in us, God. And I praise you and I thank you so much for that.
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Unto God be the glory in his church today, for it's in Jesus' name