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The Pathway to Assurance
1 John 2:3-6
January 30, 2022

This morning we are going to approach what is yet again
A very POWERFUL and CLEAR and NEEDED TRUTH
From the apostle John to the church.

As you know, John began by dealing with the ISSUE OF FELLOWSHIP.
I love that title for the church.
I love that title for what believers actually are.
• Those who believe in the true Jesus who is God and who became man that He
might save sinners.
• Those who don’t deny our sin or hide our sin, but who confess it and repent of it
and find forgiveness in Jesus.
• Those who walk in light and not darkness.

That is a great way to describe what the church is.

So much is made today of liturgical categories or denominations
And too often those things are used to define if you are in the church.

BUT AT ITS CORE THE CHURCH IS merely those who have repented of their sin and have believed in Christ and thus been rescued from the darkness and transferred into the light so that they now can enjoy fellowship with God.

THAT IS THE CHURCH.
• If you don’t believe in Christ you aren’t in the church.
• If you haven’t repented of your sin you aren’t in the church.
• If you walk in darkness…
• If you say you have no sin…
• If you say you have not sinned…

You aren’t in the church.
It really is basic Christianity 101.

But there is a reason why John is drawing this line in the sand.
(In fact there are 2)

ON ONE HAND certainly there is the motive of enlightening those who are deceived.

• It is a horrible thing to allow a man who is lost go on believing he is saved.
• John’s letter here would certainly come with the purpose of showing that false believer the truth about his counterfeit Christianity.

That is needed.

BUT THE OTHER REASON is because John also wants those who are truly saved to know that they are truly saved.

We call it: ASSURANCE
When we sing about it we call it “Blessed Assurance” and it certainly is.

And this is perhaps the MAIN REASON John wrote.

1 John 5:13 “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

In addition to that real summary verse
We also see the two times John states it in our text this morning.

(3) “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

(5) “but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:”

And at other times in the book we read:
1 John 3:19 “We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him”

1 John 3:24 “The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

1 John 4:13 “By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”

In fact, the word “know” is used 40 times in this book.

IT REALLY IS ALL ABOUT ASSURANCE.

If you aren’t saved
John wants you to know that and he wants you to be saved.
But if you are saved John wants you to know that too
And to enjoy the assurance of your salvation.

ASSURANCE IS AN UNBELIEVABLE MERCY OF GOD.

It is one of the many ways in which we see illustrated that
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and God’s ways are not our ways.

It is not a human mentality to offer and promote assurance.
From a human standpoint we think that assurance leads to apathy and laziness and even corruption.

• When I was in college there was no doubt that often times the worst professors I had were those who had been tenured and could not be fired.

• When you listen to coaches, the last thing they want is for their players to have assurance of their role, but they are always trying to promote competition and to leave that lingering fear that if you don’t perform your job will be taken away and given to someone else.

• Even in man-made religion the leaders love to hold that fear of losing salvation or losing blessing over a person’s head.

The human mindset says that fear and uncertainty are great motivators
To get people to perform the way you want them to perform.

And from that perspective it seems to us that
Giving assurance is not a good tactic for producing obedience.

BUT GOD GIVES ASSURANCE.

That is actually one of the chief ROLES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT whom God gives to believers.
Romans 8:16 “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,”

• That is God Himself giving assurance of salvation.

God even commands that we pursue assurance of our salvation.
2 Peter 1:10 “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;”

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?”

• Peter and Paul both there command us to grab hold of assurance.
• Don’t just assume you are saved, you need to push forward and know that you
are saved.

NOW DON’T CONFUSE ASSURANCE WITH SECURITY.

It is of absolute doctrinal certainty
That those who are in Christ are eternally secure.

(We don’t have time to go bear all that out, but Scripture is clear.)

Go read Romans 5, Romans 8, and Hebrews 7 if you need to grasp it.

BUT WE HAVE
• A God who willed to save us when we were enemies.
• A Christ who paid our debt in full.
• A Christ who now serves as our great High Priest to intercede.
• A Spirit who seals us for the day of redemption.

How many times in Scripture do we hear Jesus promise “eternal life”?
• He didn’t promise tentative life
• He didn’t promise possible life
• He promised eternal life.

• He said, “they will never perish”
• He said, “I will raise them up on the last day”
• He said, “no one can snatch them out of My hand”

That is security of the believer or preservation of the saints.
Those whom God saves through Christ He saves forever.
They cannot lose it.

That means that every genuine believer is in fact secure for all eternity.

The tragedy is that it is possible for a believer
To be secure and not know it, or to not enjoy it.

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT ASSURANCE REALLY IS?

• Assurance is the enjoyment of your salvation.
• Assurance can look like “peace that surpasses all comprehension”
• Assurance can look like “fullness of joy”
• Assurance can look like “rest”
• Assurance can look like “worship & gratitude”

Think about some pictures of it for a moment.
Psalms 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”

• That is assurance.
• It is the absence of anxiety even when facing death.

Acts 18:9-11 “And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”

Acts 27:21-26 “When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. “Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. “For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ “Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. “But we must run aground on a certain island.”

Do you see the assurance there?
• It was a man who was in stressful circumstances but he was safe.
• But it was more than just being safe, he knew he was safe.
• That is assurance.

Now certainly THERE IS such a thing as FALSE ASSURANCE which is when people claim to enjoy a salvation they don’t actually possess.

That is a problem.
They aren’t saved but they think they are.
CERTAINLY THAT IS A DECEPTION THAT MUST BE CORRECTED.

However, it is equally regrettable
To have one who is genuinely saved
And who does not enjoy it because they have no assurance.

Well here’s a question for this morning.
HOW DO I GET ASSURANCE?

• I would like that peace…
• I would like that rest…
• I would like to know that I’m saved…

Well that is what John is about to pour out for you.

How can I know if I have fellowship with God?
How can I know if I am in the light?

There has to be some sort of criteria by which that is validated.
There has to be some litmus test that will tell you if you are saved or not.

And there most certainly is.
Are you ready for it? OBEDIENCE

Obedience is the criteria by which we measure genuine salvation
And therefore obedience is the pathway to obtaining assurance.

Now, what we’re going to do is look at these 4 verses in 1 John 2
And I’m going to prove that statement to you.

I’m going to show you why obedience is the pathway to assurance.

We’re going to kind of dance all over this text, and not always in order,
But I’m going to show you this morning why obedience is the pathway to assurance.

Why this morning you can know if you are saved
Or if you are lost simply by looking at your obedience.

So let’s start, and this is a journey, each point builds to the next.

#1 OBEDIENCE PROVES SALVATOIN
1 John 2:3-6

I really just want you to take a Bird’s Eye View of these 4 verses
And see that there is but one overarching absolute main point.

The main point is found in each of these 4 verses and that is that “Obedience Proves Salvation”

• (3) “we know we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments”
• (4) “the one who…does not keep His commandments is a liar”
• (5) “whoever keeps His word, in him, the love of God has truly been perfected”
• (6) “the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.”

While there are distinctions that can be made in each of those verses,
At their core they all stand on the same foundation.

And that foundation is that you know if a person is saved or not
By examining their obedience.

I can be direct this morning because John is direct, but listen to me.

If you are not obedient to the commandments of God you are not saved.

Listen to Jesus here.
John 8:31-32 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

That’s straightforward isn’t it?
• You can claim to believe if you want, but it will be your obedience to My word that will validate your salvation.

This is John the Baptist
John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

I show you that one because I want you to see that John uses two words there almost interchangeably.

Every evangelical gets the first part of that verse.
• “He who believes in the Son has eternal life”
• I mean we’ve said that for years.
• Believe in Jesus.

But notice what John says next.
(or perhaps what he doesn’t say)

He DOESN’T SAY, “but he who does not believe will not see life”

What does John say?
“but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

See in John’s mind belief and obedience go hand in hand.
If you don’t have one you don’t have the other.

James follows this theme.
James 2:14 “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him?”

• The answer there is – NO!
• You can say you believe all day long but if you don’t obey, you are not really saved.

James 2:17 “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”

Martin Luther reminded that, “We are saved by faith alone but not by a faith that is alone.”

In other words if your faith doesn’t produce obedience
Then it isn’t saving faith.

OBEDIENCE PROVES SALVATION.

That is the premise that John bases these 4 verses on.

But more than just a premise, John actually tells you why this is so.

So I tell you that obedience proves salvation and you ask, “Why do you say that?”

#2 OBEDIENCE DEMONSTRATES LOVE
1 John 2:5a

“but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected.”

Here again we run right up against obvious Christianity.

If I ask you what is the greatest commandment, what do you say?
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”

Jesus Himself said that is the great and foremost commandment.

If I ask you what is the goal of your Christian life, what do you say?
1 Timothy 1:5 “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

It is not a difficult point to make that
The calling of Christianity is to call men back to love God.

That is what we are seeking to produce.

The clear distinction between non-believers and true believers is that
Non-believers do not love God while true believers do.

But there is a more important question to be asked.

How do you discern the genuineness of a person’s love?

Ever think about that?
• People say, “I love you” all the time in our world.
• How do you know if that love is real?

Love is an action.
Love is when you sacrifice yourself for the good of another.

It’s easy to say, “I Love You”, but walking in love is really difficult.
It is when you put yourself and your interests and your desires
Behind those of another person.

Look at Jesus here.
John 13:1 “Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”

John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”

• We know the love of Jesus because He gave Himself.
• He didn’t just say that He loved, He demonstrated love.
• He proved His love was real.

Well you can SAY that you love God.
You can SING SONGS about loving God.
But how do we know if your love for God is real or just falsely stated?

Answer: OBEDIENCE DEMONSTRATES LOVE

John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

John 14:21 “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”

John 14:30-31 “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.”

It’s pretty clear again isn’t it.

And that’s what John says.
“whoever keeps His word, in him, the love of God has truly been perfected.”

If you don’t keep God’s commandments then you don’t really love God.

That’s why obedience proves salvation.
Because obedience proves that you love God.

But that’s not the only reason obedience proves salvation.
#3 OBEDIENCE DEMONSTRATES TRANSFORMATION
1 John 2:5b-6

“By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought Himself to walk in the same manner that He walked.”

We are also aware that salvation is about new life.
• Salvation is about leaving a life of sin and entering a life of righteousness.
• Salvation is to be rescued from the darkness and transferred to the light.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

But how do you know if a person is a “new creature”?
How do you measure whether or not redemption has occurred?

That’s really easy: OBEDIENCE.
(I continue to marvel at the simplicity and clarity with which John writes.)

Those who are saved are those who are said to be “in Him”
• We talk about that all the time.
• You must be “in Christ”
• You must be wrapped in His righteous robe

Well how do you know if you are “in Him”?

Those who are in Him walk like He walked.

Would you categorize Jesus life as an obedient life or a disobedient life?
Obedient (obviously)

We’ve done extensive studies about the obedience of Jesus.
• We’ve talked about ACTIVE OBEDIENCE where He perfectly fulfilled the Law.
• We’ve talked about PASSIVE OBEDIENCE where He submitted to cross.

Jesus Himself said:
John 8:29 “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”

Jesus certainly doesn’t lead men into a life of disobedience.

So if you are following Jesus what will your life look like?
OBEDIENT

Steve Lawson said that “Assurance comes from seeing your changed life.”

Isn’t that really how you know you’ve been saved?
You are not the same person you used to be.

Well what’s different about you?
It’s that you didn’t used to obey God and now you do.

Obedience proves salvation because
Obedience demonstrates transformation.

It’s so abundantly clear.
Galatians 5:19-24 “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

You know a Christian because they have crucified the flesh
And they no longer walk in all those disobedient sins.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

A Christian is recognized because they have been washed and cleansed from the sins they used to commit and now they are obedient.

Tutus 2:11-14 “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.”

Salvation is marked by the redemption from lawless deeds.

SO YOU UNDERSTAND THE VERY PREMISE OF THIS THING.

When I ask you are you saved and you say, “Yes, I am saved.”
And then I ask you, “How do you know?”

The answer is NOT:
• Because back at such an such a time I prayed this prayer…
• Because I walked an aisle…
• Because I got baptized…

None of those things prove anything.
Except maybe that you were emotionally coerced one time in your life.

It is obedience which proves that you’ve been saved.
• Because only obedience demonstrates love for God.
• And only obedience demonstrates the transformed life of a saved man.

And I might add, when we talk about obedience:

IMMEDIATE OBEDIENCE – it starts precisely at the moment of salvation, it doesn’t wait 10 years to activate.

WILLING OBEDIENCE – it occurs because the heart has been changed by God’s Spirit and now you long to obey God.

LASTING OBEDIENCE – it doesn’t fade out or fan out in your life. It marks your life from conversion and for the rest of eternity.

A true believer loves God
A true believer has been transformed
And so a true believer obeys God and walks like Christ in the world.

And that should not be new.
Don’t go out living in and loving your sin and then claim to be saved.

For notice what John shows us next.
#4 DISOBEDIENCE PROVES HYPOCRISY
1 John 2:4

Did you catch that?
“The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him;”

I know that is direct but if there was ever a day when direct was needed
It is today.

• If you do not love to obey God…
• If obeying God is not your driving focus…
• If obeying God is not the practice of your life…

Then don’t kid yourself – you are not saved.

I don’t know who told you that you were, but it wasn’t the Bible.

Remember this sermon?
Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

• It’s NOT those who say the right thing but those who “does the will of My Father”

Titus 1:16 “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.”

• There again it’s NOT their words that prove their salvation it’s their works.

NOW YOU KNOW, BUT WE MUST ALWAYS SAY IT.

You know that you cannot be saved through your obedience.
You cannot do enough to earn salvation.

Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone.

But once you’ve been saved obedience will definitely, absolutely,
Without exception, but the chief demonstration of your life.

NOW, I’M NOT SAYING that means you will never sin again or never disobey.
• Clearly you will for John already taught us that another mark of a believer is that when they sin they confess it so they might be forgiven and cleansed.
• I’m not saying you’ll never fail.

But what I am saying is that IT IS NEVER OK with you when you do.

Obedience proves salvation and disobedience proves hypocrisy.
That’s just abundantly clear.

THEREFORE
And now we finally get to the point we have been driving at.
#5 OBEDIENCE PRODUCES ASSURANCE
1 John 2:3,5b

• (3) “By this we know…”
• (5b) “By this we know…”

Assurance is not measured MYSTICALLY
• That is to say, you don’t know you are saved because you’ve had some vision or dream or esoteric experience.
• There were plenty of people who saw Jesus in the flesh who were not saved.

Assurance is not measured EMOTIONALLY
• It’s not because you cried that one time in that emotional service.
• It’s not because you really “felt” something the night you were saved.

I remember going through evangelism training one time and the course taught that after you led someone to pray a prayer of salvation you were supposed to ask them, “Do you feel any different?”

As though genuine conversion was measured by feelings.
IT IS NOT.

There are plenty of lost people who feel saved
And there are saved people who feel lost.

Assurance IS measured PRACTICALLY

You know you are saved when you live an obedient life.

Take the apostle John for a minute, I love this.

• We’ve all read Luke 15 and those wonderful parables about the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the lost son.
• And we’ve all read how “there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.”

And many times I have been at rally’s or camps or events where large groups of people walked the aisle and then a few minutes later someone would come up and quote that verse and talk about how we all ought to be rejoicing.

I’m going to be honest, I don’t, I never do.

I never rejoice at watching a multitude of people walk an aisle.
• (And I used to think there was something wrong with me)
• (Actually most of the time I’m skeptical)

And you’d say, “What you don’t rejoice in salvation?”

No, I absolutely rejoice at salvation.

It’s just that there’s no way I can know if salvation is really occurring
Just by watching a group of people walk an aisle.
(Heaven can rejoice because heaven sees the heart, but I can’t)

But I love what John says.
3 John 4 “I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.”

Why?
Because that’s when John knew they were saved.

• I DON’T immediately rejoice when people walk an aisle here.
• I DON’T immediately rejoice when people pray a prayer in my office.

• I rejoice when I watch them resist temptation…
• I rejoice when I watch them choose Christ over their culture…
• I rejoice when I watch them die to self and obey when it’s hard…

It is obedience that proves salvation occurred.

AND SO HERE YOU GO CHURCH.

Do you want to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are saved?
Do you want to know that you are among the redeemed?
Do you want to know that should you die today you will definitely go to heaven?

Well here it is.
DO YOU OBEY GOD?

Is it the ambition of your heart to be obedient?
Are you a doer of the word?

I’m not asking if you know God’s word.
I’m not asking if you love God’s word.
I’m not asking if you preach God’s word.
I’m asking if you obey God’s word.

And if you do then be at peace, you are saved.
• And you can know that you are saved.
• And you can enjoy that you are saved.
• And you can rejoice in your salvation.
• And you can bank on your salvation.

Because if you are obedient it is obvious
That Christ has performed a saving work in your life.

• He has pulled you out of the darkness and put you in the light.
• He has taken your heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh.
• He has poured the love of God into your heart.
• He has transformed you from an enemy to a son.

If He hadn’t done all that you wouldn’t be obedient.
So your obedience produces assurance.

This morning I simply want you to know if you are saved
And then enjoy it.

And if you have been shown that you are not obedient,
Then this morning stop deceiving yourself
And call upon Christ that you might be saved.

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Thinking About Sincerity
Psalms 119:105-112
January 16, 2022

Tonight we want to take an opportunity
To have a little discussion about what sincerity looks like.

But more specifically I want us to think about
Our sincerity in our VERBAL COMMITMENTS TO GOD.

We’re going to do that because
The stanza tonight surrounds our Psalmist doing just that.

You read in verse 108 “O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me Your ordinances.”

If you are not familiar, a “freewill” offering was an offering
That was not required by God but was given freely to God.

Now for some context,
There are still some requirements regarding such offerings.

For example:
Leviticus 22:18-19 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or of the aliens in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they present to the LORD for a burnt offering— for you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats.

So you could give an offering that was not required,
But it still had to be given as an acceptable offering.

In Leviticus the freewill offering was prescribed as a male without defect.

But we see other freewill type offerings in Scripture.
• When Moses was gathering supplies for the tent of meeting the people freely
brought supplies which were considered freewill offerings.
• David did the same while gathering supplies for the temple.

And here in this stanza of Psalms 119 the freewill offering
Of the Psalmist comes in the form of a promise.

He called it “the freewill offerings of my mouth”

Now what is he talking about?
He is talking about an oath he made to God.

(106) “I have sworn and I will confirm it, That I will keep Your righteous ordinances.”

THAT WAS THE OFFERING HE MADE.
That was the oath.
Certainly obedience is always required, but an oath is not.

But this Psalmist, by way of offering to God, HAD MADE AN OATH.
He had put Himself under extra obligation.

The reason for such an oath?
He wanted God’s direction.

He believes that God’s word is his guide (105) “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

And so he swore to God,
“If you’ll just tell me what to do, I swear that I will do it.”

That is the essence of verse 108.
“O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, And teach me Your ordinances.”

• Believe my oath…
• Trust my promise…
• And give me Your word…

“I promise I will do whatever you tell me to do
Because I believe you word is my guide.”

Perhaps you understand his motivation there.

We all understand the propensity to make promises to God
or commitments to God.

THE PROBLEM OCCURS WHENEVER WE FAIL TO FOLLOW THROUGH.

And in fact Scripture is loaded with examples
Of God being grieved at the lack of sincerity He receives
From those who make promises to Him.

And I want to spend a moment at the outset showing you some of that.

I want to really GIVE YOU A SOUR TASTE in your mouth in regard to how grievous it is when we are a people who make promises we don’t keep.

WE COULD START of course with the statement of the preacher in Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes 5:4 “When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow!”

We understand the statement.
If we learned anything from Ananias and Sapphira it is that lying to God is a massive mistake.

And yet, we see the grievous reality throughout Scripture.

The Psalmist sort of gave a blanket description of the children of Israel and it is not a flattering one.

Psalms 78:34-37 “When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God; And they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. But they deceived Him with their mouth And lied to Him with their tongue. For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.”

None of us would seek to be known as the type of people
Who make promises under pressure
That we do not keep when life is easier.

And yet we’ve seen it.

The prophet Hosea chronicled such an issue as well:
• In Hosea 5 God promised judgment to Israel for their idolatry.
• In Hosea 6 Israel promised repentance and faithfulness.

Hosea 6:1-3 “Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. “He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, That we may live before Him. “So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth.”

But it is as though God knew who they were.

For God responded:
Hosea 6:4 “What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud And like the dew which goes away early.”

God declared that His people were not people of integrity.

Isaiah saw the same:
Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”

Through Isaiah God said these people are liars.
• They know how to say the right things and they know how to go through the motions, but they are not people of integrity.

Jesus of course quoted that passage
In reference to the Pharisees in His day.

In addition to that passage Jesus also spoke about the Pharisees in Matthew 23.
Matthew 23:3 “therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.”

And of Israel in general we found that Jesus did not trust them:
John 2:23-25 “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing. But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”

Even later when many claimed to believe He was skeptical to receive their statement of faith at face value saying:
John 8:31 “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;”

You can see that Israel rarely proved
To be a people who honored their word to God.

Ezekiel saw them as terrible phonies as well.
Ezekiel 33:30-31 “But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, ‘Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD.’ “They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.”

God reminding Ezekiel there that you can’t believe a thing these people tell you.
• They rave about your sermons.
• They talk about how much they love God’s word.
• But God sees the heart and He knew better.

Israel had never kept her word.
Not from the day they entered into the covenant at Sinai
Promising to obey all the commands of God,
Even until the days of Jesus when they were still liars.

They were just an insincere people.
They were a people that God could not trust to do what they said.

And there’s ONE MORE STORY I want to show you here
That I think really solidifies this common behavior from Israel.

TURN TO: JEREMIAH 42

It will help you here to have a little backstory.
• Jerusalem was captured by Babylon back in chapter 39.
• The temple was destroyed and burned
• Most of the people were either killed or exiled to Babylon

However some of the poor were left in the land,
Primarily to work the fields and keep the land from being overgrown.

And Nebuchadnezzar had left a governor in charge of those who were left. His name was Gedaliah.

The problem was that a conspiracy arose in Israel
And GEDALIAH WAS ASSASSINATED.

And all of a sudden all the people who remained in Israel were terrified
As they wondered what Nebuchadnezzar would do to them once he learned that they had killed the man he had placed in charge of them.

And there arose a plan among the people that
The best course of action would be to FLEE TO EGYPT.

But before these afflicted people departed they first decided to seek the word of the LORD.
(READ 42:1-7)

I bring that up because there is quite a lot of similarity
To what they said to what we are reading here in Psalms 119.

• Here in our stanza we also have a Psalmist who is afflicted.
• He says in verse 107 that he is “exceedingly afflicted”
• And he, like those refugees, wants God’s word to light his path.
• And, like those refugees, he is also promising that no matter what God says, he
will do it.

So, God gives this group of refugees an answer.
(READ 42:8-22)

And God’s answer is clear.
DON’T GO TO EGYPT.

God is requiring faith.
• In their heart, they are convinced that Egypt is their only option.
• God is purposely asking them to do something that contradicts their own logic and wisdom.
• He is asking them to obey Him even if it feels wrong.

Now remember, this is what they agreed to.
They said earlier, “Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the LORD our God…”

Well it’s not that God’s directive was unpleasant,
But it was contrary to what they thought should be done.

Now look at how they answered…typical Israel.
(READ 43:1-7)

We once again see their lack of integrity.
They promised God they would obey Him no matter what, but it was a lie.
When God didn’t tell them to do what they wanted they rebelled.

And if you keep reading you find that
God promised that everyone who went to Egypt would die there by the sword.

Now that’s a long list of examples of insincere people.

WHY DO I BRING IT UP?
Because I want you to understand the basic human condition.

Paul summarized it well
Romans 3:13 “THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING,” “THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS”;

MEN ARE LIARS.

There is no reason why God should ever believe
Anything that any human ever says.

Where has there ever been one who hasn’t lied to God?
Where has there ever been one who fully kept his word?
• History is filled with broken covenants…
• History is filled with unkept promises…
• History is filled with faithless people…

AND YET here we have a Psalmist
Who is begging God to believe his promise.

“accept the freewill offerings of my mouth”

God, believe me when I tell you that “I will keep Your righteous ordinances.”
• He said, “I have sworn and I will confirm it”
• God, believe me.

Now first I have to ask you, if that was you, should God believe you?
If that was me, should God believe me?

• When you promise God that you will obey His word, is that a sincere promise?

Well the Psalmist is arguing that his is.
He is claiming to be 100% sincere.

SO LET’S LOOK AT WHAT SINCERITY LOOKS LIKE.

Let’s look at WHY he says that.
AND IT ALL STARTS WITH HIS PERSONAL CONVICTION.

(105) “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

That is the Psalmist’s personal conviction.
That is what he genuinely believes.

Peter encouraged that last week:
2 Peter 1:19 “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”

Peter said you ought to treat God’s word like a flood light at midnight.
God’s word ought to be as valuable as your headlights during deer season.

And the Psalmist said that’s exactly how he viewed it.
• God’s word was his guide.
• God’s word exposed dangers.
• God’s word gave direction.
• God’s word told him where to walk and how to walk.

AND SO LET’S START WITH THAT.
If you don’t have that conviction
Then I can promise you won’t be sincere in your promise to obey.

No man is going to obey God’s word,
Especially when God’s word disagrees with him,
Unless he is totally convinced that God’s word is truth.

We saw that all throughout the history of Israel.

SO THAT’S YOUR FIRST QUESTION.
• Do you really believe God’s word is truth?
• Do you really believe that God alone can navigate your course through
dark places?

Now DON’T just answer FRIVOLOUSLY here.

When YOUR MARRIAGE is unpleasant and your spouse is frustrating and you go to God to ask Him what to do.

And you get answers like:
“wives submit to your husbands…even to those who are disobedient”
“husbands love your wives…live with her in an understanding way”
“do not divorce her…”

The rubber kind of meets the road there doesn’t it?

It’s easy to obey God when he agrees with your will, but when he asks you to go against your own logic your conviction is tested.
• What about when God asks you to forgive your enemy?
• What about when God asks you to turn the other cheek?
• What about when God asks you to face persecution?

God’s word continually challenges our personal thinking.

If you don’t start with the conviction
That God’s word is your only light to navigate the darkness
Then you won’t be sincere.

BUT THE PSALMIST HAS THIS CONVICTION.

He says that all he wants is God’s word.
And He has “sworn” that He will “keep” it no matter what God says.

Now certainly he is aware of Israel’s track record of broken promises
And that is why we get the requests of 107 & 108.

He promises God that he will do it.
He begs God to accept his vow.

But then comes more evidence where he seeks to prove that he is sincere.
LET’S LOOK NEXT AT HIS HISTORY

He is about to offer up to God the track record of his life.

If you are trying to convince a man that you are honest,
It is quite helpful if you can give evidence of honesty in your past.

That is what the Psalmist does.
(109-110) “My life is continually in my hand, Yet I do not forget Your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts.”

The Psalmist points out that in his life there have been two common realities.

1) He is frequently in danger
“my life is continually in my hand”

2) He is constantly persecuted
“The wicked have laid a snare for me”

But despite those common dangers, what has his track record been?
• “I do not forget Your law”
• “I have not gone astray from Your precepts.”

God, look at my life.
• You know me.
• You’ve seen me.
• You know that if You give me Your word, I obey it, no matter what.

So not only does our Psalmist have a conviction regarding God’s word,
But he also has a history of obedience.

So, now we bring it back home to ourselves.

Do I have a history of obedience?
Do I have a history of obeying God even when it is hard?
Do I have a history of obeying God even when I am persecuted?

That’s a serious question to be asked by each of us.

Could it be that we at times live in a state of self-deception
• Where we are convinced that we are obedient people,
• And yet if the evidence was brought forth
• We might see that perhaps we haven’t been as obedient as we thought.

See, sincerity is not just saying you’ll obey, sincerity is obeying.

LAST STANZA we read a beautiful stanza from this Psalmist all about how he loves God’s Law.

Let me read it again:
Psalms 119:97-104 “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word. I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.”

That is a beautiful declaration of love for God’s word.

But let’s be honest.
ANYONE CAN SING THAT SONG.
Anyone can SAY those things.

BUT HOW MANY can join the second verse of that Psalm here in verse 110 “The wicked have laid a snare for me, Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts.”

There is a difference between declaration and demonstration.

This is exactly the point James was harping on.
James 1:21-25 “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

James is clear.
If you’re gonna talk the talk, you’d better walk the walk.

THE PSALMIST SAYS THAT HE HAS.
Hopefully we have.

If not, PERHAPS IT IS TIME TO CONFESS our lack of sincerity to God and ask for His forgiveness and cleansing.

But sincerity starts with a conviction about God’s word
And it is demonstrated first with a history of obedience.

If you don’t think that matters remember this explanation from Jesus.
He gave the parable of the soils.

Remember the following conversation?
Matthew 13:10-17 “And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’ “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

There were people who were not given more of God’s word
Because of a failure to deal faithfully with what they already had.

THEY WERE INSINCERE IN THEIR REQUESTS FOR TRUTH
And thus truth was hidden from them.

It matters.

Sincerity isn’t just promised, it is proven.

And the final thing I want you to see is this.
SINCERITY IS NOT ACCIDENTAL OR AUTOMATIC

Men are not born sincere.
• Men are liars.
• Men are deceivers.
• Men are of their father the devil.

If they are going to be obedient it did not happen naturally.

(111-112) “I have inherited Your testimonies forever, For they are the joy of my heart. I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, even to the end.”

You see again there the value he places on God’s word.
• He says, “I have inherited Your testimonies forever”

He sees God’s word as a great treasure which he has gained.
He doesn’t dislike God’s word, he loves it.
We knew that.

But look at what he says in verse 112.
“I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes Forever, even to the end.”

“inclined” there is NATA
It means “to stretch or bend or turn aside”

HE FORCED IT.

MY DAD AND I USED TO BUILD CEDAR BEDS.
We’d put tongues on two cross beams and holes in the posts.
We’d then put upright spindles in between.

And typically when you tried to assemble all of that, you’d have that bottom rail in place and all of the upright spindles but that last tongue wouldn’t fit into that last hole.

Usually we were an inch or two high.

So we would get one of those big trucker straps and put it around that bed and we’d start cranking. And you’d see that top log bend and it would creek and crack.

And then when it finally got lined up we’d take this log we had, which we had put on the wood lathe and turned a baseball handle into one end.

We called it “The Persuader” and we’d beat that outside pole until that bed finally went together.

That is what the Psalmist is talking about here.

Last stanza we read:
Psalms 119:101 “I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word.”

• Last stanza he said he hobbled his feet from straying.
• Now we read that he forces his heart into obedience.

And certainly we are aware that now under the New Covenant
God’s Law has been written on our hearts and we, through Jesus, are given the ability to obey.

But I do not want you to assume that
This does not require any effort on our part.

1 Corinthians 9:26-27 “Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”

Do you hear Paul there?
• He wasn’t leaving obedience up to change.
• He understood that there was a need for him to force obedience in his life.
• He might have to hobble his feet.
• He might have to beat his heart.

Whatever it took to be obedient.

That is our Psalmist.

It is a mistake that people, even Christians, make
When they assume that obedience to God comes naturally to them.

You must determine to force your heart into obedience
“Forever, even to the end”

And when you put that together you see why this Psalmist was sincere.
• He had a conviction regarding God’s word, he really believed it.
• He had a track record of obedience even when it was hard.
• He was willing to force his heart to obey.

THOSE ARE MARKS OF SINCERITY.
And based upon that, he took his promise to God.

So tonight I just want us to think on that a little.
Ponder that.

Sincerity is not something that has been the norm throughout Scripture.
Mankind has routinely lied about their commitment to God.

DON’T BE LIKE THEM.

• You must believe that God’s word is right.
• Demonstrate that belief through obedience.
• Be willing to force your heart into obedience.

And then when you tell God that you will obey Him no matter what,
Perhaps your sincerity will resonate.

Be doers of the word, not just hearers.

In response to Canada’s recent law (1-8-2022) making Conversion Therapy illegal.  This sermon seeks to examine the church’s response to such laws and to take a look at Biblical sexual morality as well as where the church must stand in such times.

Download Here:

Conversion Is The Mission
1 Timothy 1:8-15
January 16, 2021

If you were here with us last week,
We announced why this morning we are taking a break
From our study of 1 John for this week.
We received a request from our brothers in Canada

On Jan. 8, Bill C-4 in Canada was signed into law which will criminalize
“causing another person to undergo conversion therapy; promoting or advertising conversion therapy.”

• If a person in Canada is convicted of practicing conversion therapy they can be sentenced with up to 5 years in prison.
• And anyone who knowingly promotes or advertises conversion therapy can be sentenced up to 2 years.

First I should start with I suppose: “What is Conversion Therapy?”

Wikipedia defines it like this:
“Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual’s sexual orientation from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual or their gender identity from transgender to cisgender using psychological, physical, or spiritual interventions.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conversion_therapy

WebMD defines it as:
“Conversion therapy is any emotional or physical therapy used to “cure” or “repair” a person’s attraction to the same sex, or their gender identity and expression.”
https://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/what-is-conversion-therapy

It is a broad and wide open term that refers to any way in which
Someone tries to influence a gay person to stop being gay.

AND NOTABLE ON THE LIST
Is using “spiritual interventions” to seek to influence a person.

What does it look like if a church uses conversion therapy you ask?

Here is WebMD’s explanation of conversion therapy in a faith-based setting.
“In some religious practices, homosexuality and other forms of gender expression and identity are sometimes viewed as “evil.” Conversion therapy is sometimes performed by clergy or other spiritual advisers. It may include using anti-gay slurs and prayers. In severe cases, it could also include beating, shackling, food deprivation, and even exorcism.”
(ibid)

The main argument against conversion therapy is that it is said to
Produce lower self-esteem and even suicidal tendencies on those who have been subjected to it.

And based upon such findings the Canadian government put into effect
Last Saturday a Law against conversion therapy.

The signing of this bill into Law has caused a group of Canadian pastors
To unite today to preach on Biblical Sexual Morality
And they have asked their brothers in the United States to do the same.

SO HERE WE ARE.

I obviously have many thoughts on the issue,
But that is a dangerous way for anyone to approach any issue.

SO THIS MORNING WE ARE GOING TO APPEAL TO SCRIPTURE
And see if we can wrap our minds around this issue
And what is true and where the church should stand on such things.

We are looking at 1 Timothy 1:8-15

For a brief background you must understand the flow of the conversation.
• The apostle Paul had founded the church at Ephesus,
• But his missionary zeal to take the gospel to places that had not heard it now caused Paul to move on.
• In his stead he left Timothy at the church with this instruction.

1 Timothy 1:3-7 “As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith. But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.”

So there was an issue at Ephesus.
• There were men there who wanted to be teachers of God’s Law
• But they had no clue what the purpose of God’s Law actually was.

Paul says they were obsessed with non-essential things like “myths and endless genealogies”

And they did not understand “the goal of our instruction” which is “love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

They were bad teachers who missed the point of the Law.

Paul said “they do not understand wither what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.”

They preach it, but they don’t understand it.
THAT IS THE BACKDROP.

Starting in verse 8 is Paul’s correction.

Verse 8 gives us the direction we need.
(8) “But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully.”

THAT IS TO SAY God’s Law is a good thing,
But it has to be used the right way and for the correct purpose.

What do you mean Paul?

Well, he gives you an example of HOW TO USE IT WRONG.
(9) “realizing the fact that the law is not made for a righteous person,”

I hope you understand that.
The Law is NOT for righteous people.

If people are good and righteous and holy and obedient then they don’t need the law.
• They don’t post speed limit signs for safe drivers.
• They don’t hire police officers for lawful people.

God did not send His Law for righteous people.
Righteous people need no law.

Do you understand that?

(Incidentally, this is one of the reasons our culture has started to push for the abolishment of police officers in some places. It correlates to this naïve belief that people are basically good and don’t need it)

But God’s Law isn’t there for righteous people.

SO WHY DID GOD SEND HIS LAW?

And Paul tells you: (9b-11) “but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.”

So the Law isn’t for righteous men, but who is it for?
The Law is for sinners.

What do you mean sinners?
“lawless, rebellious, ungodly, unholy, profane”

Like what?
• “those who kill their fathers or mothers”
• “murderers and immoral men”
• “homosexuals”
• “kidnappers”
• “liars and perjurers”

And honestly “whatever else is contrary to sound teaching”

So God’s Law is here for the purpose of
Exposing and condemning unrighteous men.

And therefore to use the Law “lawfully” would be to apply it to sinners.

This is how God’s Law is intended to be used.

God gave His Law that it might be used to confront sinners who are “lawless, rebellious, unholy and profane.”

This is the purpose of God’s Law.
Romans 7:9-11 “I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.”

• Paul said I used to think I was doing good until I read the Law and it exposed my sin and condemned me.

That is what the Law does.

NOW, FOR OUR PURPOSES OF THIS MORNING
You cannot help but notice on the list
Paul includes the specific sin of HOMOSEXUALITY.

You could say:
• “Well he lists a lot of other sins on that list too.”

• “Why aren’t we having a Sunday regarding Biblical Morality against murder or lying or perjury or kidnapping or one of those other sins?”

• “Why have we felt the need to single out homosexuality?”

And that’s a fair question.
IT IS A MISTAKE
To assume that homosexuality is the only sin the world should be warned about or that the church should be concerned with.

AND IT IS A FAIR ASSESSMENT
To see that part of the problem with the culture today is that perhaps the church has been unequally concerned about some sins over others.

IT IS NOT OK
For the church to be concerned only about homosexuality and not about lying or greed or any other sin.

So why would we participate in such a Sunday to focus primarily on Biblical Sexual Morality?

I want to read you a quote from Martin Luther
which I think gives clarity here.

“If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is more flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”

-Martin Luther
(sited in: MacArthur, John; The Truth War, Fighting for Certainty in an Age of Deception; [Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN; 2007] pg. 26)

The reason we are standing today to give clarity
Regarding Biblical Sexual Morality is because at this moment this is
“that little point which the world and the devil are at [the] moment attacking”

We didn’t pick the battlefield, it has been picked for us.
When a government makes a law that tells the church
There are some sins which cannot be addressed
The church must stand at this point.

While sins like lying or perjury or drunkenness or murder or kidnapping or gossip are certainly sins that invoke the wrath of God,
Those are not currently the sins which the culture is fighting to condone.

Today the battle ground is the issue of conversion therapy
And whether or not the church can or should
Call a person in homosexual sin to repentance and salvation.

That is THE ISSUE OF THE DAY and that is where we stand.

Paul wrote:
Ephesians 6:10-12 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

You must understand that.
• This is a spiritual battle.
• It is being waged against the devil.
• It is a war for truth and ultimately for the souls of men.

Satan today (who is the god of this world)
Has used secular and sinful governments which he influences
To seek to trap men in their sin and ultimate condemnation.

THE CHURCH IS CALLED TO OPPOSE SUCH EFFORTS
And to STAND against the devil and his schemes.

So this morning we address the issue of Biblical Sexual Morality.
Homosexuality is not the only sin, but make not mistake, it is a sin.

Genesis 1:27 “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Genesis 2:21-25 “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”

In the New Testament it is addressed again:
Romans 1:26-27 “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”

Now some have argued that Jesus never addressed homosexuality,
BUT THAT IS NOT NECESSARILY TRUE.

In Matthew 5 and in Matthew 19 Jesus addressed marriage.

Matthew 19:4-6 “And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’? “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

Jesus clearly appealed to Scripture to indicate that
• Humanity is created “male and female”
• That “a man shall…be joined to his wife”
• And that “what God has joined together, let no man separate”

Which indicates that marriage is created by God according to His design
And humanity doesn’t get the privilege of redefining it.

We also read in the New Testament
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

AND THAT IS WHAT WE WANT TO DISCUSS THIS MORNING.
Homosexuality is clearly a sin.
Homosexuality clearly misses the mark of God’s design and intent.

I know the argument which is to say, “But I was born this way”

And look, I get that explanation and don’t totally disagree with it.
• I was born with a temper
• I was born with a propensity for lust
• I was born with a tongue that likes to gossip

POINT? I was born fallen, in sin, thanks to my father Adam.

It’s not that God created me to be sinful,
It’s that in Adam I am fallen.

But God sent His Son Jesus into the world
So that I might be saved from my sin
And restored to the image for which I was created.

AND THIS IS TRUE FOR THOSE IN HOMOSEXUALITY TOO.

AND IT IS IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND THIS.

Some of you may have a more personal dealing with this issue than others.

And people have been confused with
What to do when they have a son or daughter or grandchild
Who begins to express these types of feelings.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

YOU DO THE SAME THING THAT YOU DO
WITH ALL SINFUL BEHAVIOR THAT YOUR CHILD WAS BORN WITH.

You confront it with the truth of God’s word
So that they are aware of their sin
And then you lead them to Jesus who alone can save them from it.

You convert them.
• Not just from gay to straight, but from sin to righteousness.
• From the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.
• From death to life.
• From being an enemy of God to being a child of God.

That is what you do for all sin,
But today it is important to note that
HOMOSEXUALITY IS ON THAT LIST.

IT IS A SIN.
• And it is a sin in which Satan is heavily fighting today.
• It is a sin which Satan is trying to get the world to quit calling a sin.
• It is a sin which Satan would have you believe you don’t need to be saved from.

BUT IT IS A SIN
• It incurs the wrath of God.
• It incurs the judgment of God.
• It will send men and women to hell.

BUT…
IT IS A SIN FROM WHICH JESUS SAVES.

We read it in 1 Corinthians 6 where Paul listed homosexuality as a sin.

But notice what Paul said at the end of that passage.
1 Corinthians 6:11 “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

IT IS A SIN FROM WHICH JESUS CAN SAVE.

So let’s go back to 1 Timothy 1 for a moment.

After Paul outlined the true purpose or use of the Law Paul continues now with his ministry.
(12-14) “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.”

This is fascinating.
Because Paul just outlined that God sent His Law for the purpose of confronting sinners.

And then Paul says something pretty peculiar.
He says that GOD USED HIM to proclaim that truth to the world.

Why is that strange?
Because Paul was a sinner.
“a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor”

And God used that sinful man to proclaim the truth?
Yes

HOW?
Paul says, “I was shown mercy”

SO NOW WE GET ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT ASPECT.

God is certainly holy and righteous
And He has sent His Law to expose and condemn men in their sin.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME GOD IS MERCIFUL TO SINNERS.

In fact, Paul sums up his message like this.
(15) “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”

As I prayed and pondered how to address this issue this morning,
This was the phrase that resonated in my mind.

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”

Certainly those in homosexuality must be taught that they are sinners.
The church cannot dodge this.

But what a blessing to know that
Jesus is the in the business of saving sinners!

LET ME FURTHER CLARIFY THEN OUR MANDATE HERE.

It has been title “Conversion Therapy”
And it is being called something terrible.

And granted we are not for beatings or hypnosis or shackling or food depravation as WebMD implied.

But can I remind you that conversion is absolutely the name of the game.

Acts 15:3 “Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren.”

Twice in Scripture we actually have a Christian referred to as “a convert”
Romans 16:5 “also greet the church that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first convert to Christ from Asia.”

1 Timothy 3:6 “and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil.”

Other times Jesus Himself calls for people to be “converted”
Matthew 18:3 “and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

John 12:40 “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.”

I just point that out to you as a reminder that
We are in the conversion business.

JUST BECAUSE THE WORLD HAS DECIDED
That those in sin do not need to be converted
DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE IN THE CHURCH GO ALONG.

JESUS CAME TO SAVE SINNERS
And He came to save them out of their sin.

Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Luke 9:56 “for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.”

Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

In 1 John we read:
1 John 4:14 “We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.”

Acts 3:26 “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

Jesus came to save sinners from their sin.
He came to convert them.
He came to transfer them
From the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.

And His mission has become our mission.
John 20:21 “So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

So just to make sure we are clear on that,
This is very much A HILL ON WHICH TO DIE for the church.

Our world may move in and out of fascination with various sins.
• They may practice some…
• They may love some…
• They may approve some…
• They may enforce some…
• They may make it illegal to confront some…

But none of that is our concern.

Our concern is to be the church
Which Jesus sent out into the world
To confront sin with God’s Law
And to call men to salvation through Jesus Christ.

That is our mission and our calling.

And today there is not hotter battlefield than the issue of homosexuality.

SO AGAIN WE STATE IT PLAINLY.

Homosexuality is a sin.
• It is contrary to the Devine design.
• God created men and women; male and female.
• He ordained marriage to be between 1 man and 1 woman.

Through this union God ordained a plan to PROPAGATE the world.
For he told them to “be fruitful and multiply”

Homosexuality obviously corrupts and distorts that plan.

Marriage between 1 man and 1 woman is also meant by God to be an ILLUSTRATION through which He demonstrates Christ’s relationship with the church.

It is a testimony of salvation and submission.

Homosexuality also corrupts and distorts that testimony.

Homosexuality is also specifically addressed and forbidden in Scripture as a sin before God.
• It falls into the category of those things which miss the mark.

THEREFORE
Those who are involved in homosexuality
And those who approve it

Are required to repent of their sin and to place their faith in Jesus that they might be forgiven, cleansed, and saved for all eternity.

That is our message and that has not changed.

Today, we stand with and commend the pastors in Canada who,
Despite threat of civil punishment,
Have chosen to stand for the mission of the church.

And though our immediate consequence is not as severe as theirs, we gladly stand with them knowing that Jesus Christ is the only Savior this world will ever know.

We cannot retreat here.

And to that I would like to make ONE FINAL POINT.

We have talked a lot recently about submission to the governing authorities.
• We studied Ecclesiastes and we saw several examples of what is clearly required of us.
• We are not out to lead a revolt against the government.
• We are not out to start some civil war.

But this represents an area where we cannot comply.
• As those Hebrew boys, we refuse to bow before Nebuchadnezzar’s statue.
• As Daniel, we continue in prayer though the king forbids it.

As the apostles:
Acts 4:19-20 “But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

And here again we appeal to THE EXAMPLE of our Lord.

Luke 13:31-32 “Just at that time some Pharisees approached, saying to Him, “Go away, leave here, for Herod wants to kill You.” And He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I reach My goal.’”

And there we are reminded that
Our Lord had a mission
Over which the governing authorities had no say.

No man could derail His ministry.

NO, He did not start a revolt.
NO, He did not call for a war.
1 Peter 2:23 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”

Jesus DIDN’T try to overthrow anyone.

And yet, He recognized a fox when He saw one.
He knew the will of Herod to be contrary to the will of God.

And so Jesus ignored the fury of Herod
That He might fulfill His ministry and His mission.

And there we find the example for the church.

This morning I simply want to encourage you to
UNDERSTAND YOUR CALLING AND BE FAITHFUL TO IT.
• We do not hate homosexuals.
• We do not long for the condemnation of homosexuals.
• We long for homosexuals to be saved just as we do for all sinners.

Our message to them is the same as it is to all those in sin.
2 Corinthians 5:20-21 “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

• We would echo to them the words of our Lord when He told the woman caught in adultery, “I do not condemn you either, go and sin no more.”

And we will commit to preach the message of the gospel
With the hope that it will convert all sinners from darkness to light.
THIS IS OUR MISSION.

And this morning that extends to any here today who are still in sin.
You may or may not struggle with homosexuality.
It is a sin, but it is not the only sin that will send a man to hell.

If you are to be granted fellowship with the Father
You must be cleansed of all sin, and that only happens through Jesus.

This morning I appeal to you also to repent of your sin and trust in Christ.

Download Here:

Thinking About Relevance
Psalms 119:97-104
January 9, 2022

Tonight I want us to think about the issue of RELEVANCE.

• Maybe more specifically, what makes you relevant?
• Or perhaps we should say, what makes the church relevant?

It is a huge issue especially among church growth strategists
And those who are particularly interested in posting growing ministries.

For years now we have heard words like:
• Relevant
• Cutting Edge
• Trending
• We could perhaps even add the word “woke” to the list now.

It all carries the same idea
And it is the idea of maintaining relevance in the culture.

What is it that makes me someone that people should listen to?
Where do I get my voice?

It used to be that relevance wasn’t as big of an issue
Because OPPORTUNITY to be heard was so LIMITED.

There were very few who had the resources
To actually make their voice heard.

• Most didn’t have a TV station where they could broadcast into people’s homes.
• Most didn’t have a radio frequency to put their message on the airways.
• Most weren’t published journalists or authors that would be read by people in
their homes.

And so relevance was limited really to those
Who even had the opportunity to get their message out.

But then the internet came along and now everyone has a voice.
In the last 25 years we have been flooded with new voices broadcast on the scene.

• Everyone can get on Youtube and publish video content of their message.
• Everyone can get on Facebook or Twitter and publish their thoughts.

• Everyone is a journalist
• Everyone is an author
• Everyone has a message

So now with anyone and everyone having the ability
To broadcast their message the question has become even greater.
What makes me someone that people should listen to?

WHAT IS MY CREDENTIAL that sets me apart
As one who has valuable input to society?

YEARS AGO IT WAS YOUR AGE.
Those who had lived a long time and had experienced life’s many issues were considered to have obtained wisdom and their input was seen as valuable and so when the aged spoke you listened.

But as our culture adopted more electronics and cyber communication
The elderly began to be seen as ignorant because they couldn’t program a VCR or because they didn’t use YouTube or don’t know what “The Cloud” is.

And their voice lost it’s clout and relevance in our culture.

FOR A WHILE YOUR LEVEL OF EDUCATION WAS SEEN AS VITALLY IMPORTANT.
If you could put letters behind your name such as PHD you were seen as an expert who should be listened to. If you could boast multiple degrees you were seen as someone worth listening to.

But in our culture of relativism has been adopted where truth is relative and your message only has value if it agrees with me.

So even in very recent years we have seen men of education stripped of their clout if they dared to disagree with the social message.

IN OUR DAY THE CURRENT TREND IS VICTIM STATUS.
It is experience in suffering that seems to be the current message that makes one relevant. If you’re not a minority or have not been poor or have not suffered some sort of social injustice then you are not qualified to speak to today’s culture.

And so people try to elevate their voice by checking off boxes of victimization.

But that won’t last either.

But it has left even the church in some sort of a confusion
Regarding what makes her relevant.

If it’s not the elderly then maybe we need a trendy youth movement…
If it’s not education then maybe we need to be gritty and crude…
If it’s victimization then maybe we need to be woke and up on social injustice…

Far too many times we’ve seen the church shift her entire identify
In order to try and find a relevant voice.

SO WHAT MAKES YOU RELEVANT?
• What if you have no experience?
• What if you have no education?
• What if you have no resume of persecution or injustice?
• What if you aren’t famous?
• What if you have no achievements?
• What if you are a nobody in this world?

WHAT IS YOUR CREDENTIAL that makes you someone
Who has a voice in our culture?

Welcome to Psalms 119:97-104
This is my favorite stanza of all of Psalms 119
Because it hits so close to home for me.

I AM NO BRAINIAC.
It is true that I am somewhat quick witted
But that really only tends to get me in trouble more than anything.

When it comes to what is generally considered to be high intellect, I am on the short end of that stick.

I graduated middle of my high school class.
• I think my GPA was somewhere around a 90, but honestly I didn’t care enough to know for sure.

I graduated college with a 2.6 GPA to be an Ag Teacher.

To this day I don’t know how I passed Chemistry or College Algebra.

I did enroll in seminary and took about 18 hours but I never finished or earned a degree there.

I grew up in church but none of my family members were ministers,
• Though my dad was a Sunday school teacher.

And yet here I am called by God
To stand before you multiple times a week and deliver a sermon.

I joke with people that I always hated having to write papers in college
And now God has seen fit for me to write two a week.

In addition to sort of the job requirements there is the Biblical mandate.

When Paul gave the qualifications of elders to Titus he wrote:
Titus 1:9-11 “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain.”

The calling of an elder is to be able
To exhort in truth and refute that which is error.

Paul said that in the world there are many empty talkers and deceivers
And it is the job of the pastor to be able to see through their deceptions,
Expose them, and then rightly instruct his flock in truth.

Paul told Timothy
2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

Timothy was called to “reprove, rebuke, exhort”.

SO
• Despite my limited intellect…
• Despite my less than impressive transcript…
• Despite my average GPA…
• Despite my limited experience…
• Despite my humble education…

I am called to stand week in and week out
And not only expose the lies of the culture
But rightly exhort men and women to walk in the truth.

If you come in my office with a family burden,
I am called to give truth to the situation.

• I have no degree in Psychology…
• I have no experience with grown children…
• I don’t know what it’s like to be in an abusive relationship…
• I don’t live in poverty…
• I’m not a minority…

But I am called to give wise counsel into such situations.

THE QUESTION I FACE IS,
• What am I going to give you?
• Why should you listen to me?

Ever feel that way as you are called to share the truth?

HERE IS MY POINT.
All I have going for me is ONE THING.

I’ve only got one thing.
I’VE GOT A BIBLE

That’s really it.
I don’t have anything else.

• There’s no great accomplishment in my life.
• There’s no great achievement or degree.
• There’s no great experience.

I don’t have anything to offer you in this game of life except one thing.
I’VE GOT A BIBLE.

And that is why I love Psalms 119:97-104
Because that’s exactly what the Psalmist says.

• I face enemies I can’t outwit.
• I face scholars I can’t outsmart.
• I face experienced men I can’t relate to.

AS A MAN I DON’T BELONG IN THE CONVERSATION.

BUT…
(98-100) “Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts.”

• “wiser than my enemies”
• “more insight than all my teachers”
• “understand more than the aged”

And it’s not because I’m smarter or more experienced than them.

The Psalmist says I surpass them only because I have the Bible.
• Your commandments “are ever mine” – that is to say always with me.
• Your testimonies “are my meditation”
• Your precepts have been “observed” by me – that is to say I watch them.

ALL I HAVE IS YOUR WORD.
The only thing that makes me relevant in this world is Your word.

What I want to encourage you with tonight is THAT IT IS ENOUGH.

You do not have to be intimidated by this world.
• You don’t have to be educated to be relevant.
• You don’t have to have experience to be relevant.
• You don’t have to be a victim to be relevant.

If you have God’s word you have everything you need.

And I just want to show you that a little tonight.
Let’s start here:

TURN TO ACTS 4
(keep your finger in Psalms 119)

• You know that back in Acts 3 Peter and John were entering the temple.
• They saw a crippled man and healed him.
• A crowd gathered and Peter again preached the gospel
• He called men to repent of their sin and of rejecting Christ
• He called them to trust in Jesus

And in Acts 4 the really important people get involved.
(READ 1-12)

This is an intimidating scene.
• It is one thing to stand among the rabble and speak definitively but now you are standing before the scholars.
• Not only that, but these men are dangerous and have authority.

But of course you notice that it didn’t stop Peter,
He preached boldly to them.

And the interesting statement comes in verse 13.
“Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.”

What were Peter and John’s credentials?
• No education
• No training

They only had one thing, they had been with Jesus.
These men had walked with the Incarnate Word.

• It all started for them first when John the Baptist told them Jesus was the Messiah.
• But then there was the day when Jesus called them leave their fishing business and follow Him.
• From that day they spent time hearing the very words of God.
• GOD HIMSELF TAUGHT THEM.

Do you understand that?
They didn’t have a worldly education they learned from God.

TURN TO GALATIANS 1
The youth are studying this on Wednesday nights.

Paul is defending his ministry and explaining his credentials.
• Now we know that Paul was educated under Gamaliel
• We know that Paul had training
• But you’ll notice that is not what he puts on his resume

READ 1:11-24

What do you hear Paul saying?
• I don’t have a human education, I have a divine education.
• I didn’t learn this from the world, I learned it from God.

Paul says I didn’t even try to confirm it with the world.
My only credential is that God taught me.

TURN TO: MATTHEW 16
Early on in the ministry of the disciples.

(READ 13-17)

Did you catch that regarding Peter?
“flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”

Peter, you learned this from God.

These men had what the Psalmist spoke of.
They had an EDUCATION THAT CAME DIRECTLY FROM GOD.

NOW LOOK BACK AT Psalms 119:102
(102) “I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me.”

Do you understand what is happening when you read the Bible?
• You are sitting in a front row seat.
• It is a one on one tutorial lesson where you are hearing directly from the Creator of the universe.
• God who is the very epitome of wisdom is teaching you directly.

That is what the disciples had.
THAT IS WHAT YOU HAVE.
It is enough.

I WANT YOU TO THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT.

THIS NEW TESTAMENT THAT YOU HAVE
IS NOTHING SHORT OF THE VERY WORDS OF GOD.

What the apostles recorded for us is not the words of men,
It is the word of God.

When you read your Bible, you are learning directly from God.

TURN TO: 1 THESSALONIANS 2
Paul will reminisce about when he approached them and gave them the truth.

(READ 9-13)

Did you catch how Paul categorized his message to the Thessalonians?

Paul said when we preached to you, you didn’t get the word of men,
You got “the word of God”

I mean, we’ve read this verse over and over in 1 John lately.

1 John 1:3 “what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.”

John said, we gave you what we got.

When you got the word of the apostles you were getting the word of God.

TURN TO: 2 PETER 3
• This is a fascinating statement.
• This is Peter talking about the writing of Paul.

(READ 14-16)

Did you catch what Peter had to say about Paul’s letters?

Peter said some of what Paul said is hard to understand (that should comfort you that even Peter thought some of what Paul had to say was pretty deep)

Peter also said that people distort Paul’s letters.
• And then Peter said, “as they do also the rest of the Scriptures”

Do you see that Peter considered Paul’s letters to be Scripture?

WHAT IS MY POINT?

Just like the Psalmist, when we read the Bible
It is God Himself who is teaching us.

And that is the only credential we need.
• It is God’s word which makes us “wiser than [our] enemies”
• It is God’s word that gives us “more insight than all [our] teachers”
• It is God’s word that allows us to “understand more than the aged”

BECAUSE IT IS GOD HIMSELF WHO IS TEACHING US.

YOU DON’T NEED ANY OTHER CREDENTIAL.
• You don’t have to have old age
• You don’t have to have a worldly degree
• You don’t have to have life experience
• You don’t have to have had worldly success and fame
• You don’t have to have victim status
• You don’t even have to have had some great vision

TURN TO: 2 PETER 1

(READ 16-21)

Now you see again there that Peter explains what the Scriptures are.
He says that “men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God”
It wasn’t Paul speaking
It wasn’t Peter speaking
It wasn’t John speaking

It was God speaking.
These men were moved by the Holy Spirit to produce God’s word.

But in reference to the sufficiency of it look back up at verse 16.

Peter talks there about how he saw Jesus transfigured.
• That’s a pretty remarkable experience.
• One might think that such an experience would give a person all the credentials they need.
• I mean Peter could write books and get speaking engagements and they might make a movie about his experience.
• Peter said he was an eye-witness.

But notice what he says in verse 19.
(but it is a misleading translation)

“So we have the prophetic word made more sure”

That is accurate, but it is misleading.
What Peter is saying is “We have the even more sure prophetic word”

Peter ISN’T SAYING that we trust the Bible
Because I saw the vision on the mountain.

No Peter is saying do you know what gives us more confidence Even than that experience? God’s word.

It is “the even more sure prophetic word”

And that is why Peter tells you to pay attention to it
Like you pay attention to a light in a dark place.

DO YOU SEE THE POINT AGAIN?

In this world men are constantly chasing something
To make them relevant.

EVEN THE CHURCH has far too often bought this notion
That we need a gimmick or something to make us relevant.

And maybe you’ve been negligent to share in the world
Because you don’t think that you are smart or educated or experienced.

I just want to remind you that you don’t need those things.

The apostles didn’t have those things.
All they had was time spent with Jesus.
JESUS HIMSELF TAUGHT THEM AND THAT WAS ENOUGH.

(102) “I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me.”

What else do you need?
What other message where you going to take to the world?

I base my whole ministry on this fact.
This is the only confidence I ever have when I walk behind this pulpit.

I don’t suppose that I have a single thing of any value to offer you at all
Except what is contained in the Bible.

It is enough.

Let me give you another great passage to this regard.
TURN TO: JEREMIAH 23
Jeremiah is struggling with all the false prophets.

And I love the passage because he is actually
Placing their credentials side by side with his credentials.

The church needs this reminder.
(READ 25-32)

What a great reminder!
• So what if you don’t have a degree in molecular biology
• So what if you’ve never managed a fortune 500 company
• So what if you’ve never had some radical life experience

What does any of that have in common with the words of God?
“what does straw have in common with grain?”

AND THIS IS MY POINT.

As the church…
As believers…
We only have ONE THING that makes us relevant.
We only have ONE THING that gives us clout.

We are entrusted with the very words of God.

1 Timothy 3:14-15 “I am writing these things to you, hoping to come to you before long; but in case I am delayed, I write so that you will know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.”

Isaiah 55:11 “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

2 Timothy 3:14-17 “You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Psalms 19:7-11 “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.”

You can’t say that about any other degree.
You can’t say that about any other experience.

God’s word is all you need.
• You see that.
• The Psalmist understood it.

HE HAD NO OTHER CREDENTIAL.

But he knew what he had and
THAT EXPLAINS HIS GREAT LOVE FOR GOD’S WORD.

(97) “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.”

When you know that God’s word is all you have
And it alone makes you wiser than your enemies

THEN CERTAINLY YOU SPEND YOUR TIME FOCUSING ON IT.

And his commitment to God’s word was sincere.
(101) “I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word.”

Raise your hand if you know what “hobbles” are.

For those that don’t, a set of hobbles is basically a rope or chain that you use to tie an animals front feet together so it can’t run off.

• The Psalmist says that he has hobbled his own feet.
• He has taken steps to make sure that he never strays from God’s word.

See, if he loses God’s word then he’s got nothing in this world
And nothing to offer this world.

So he takes precautions
To make sure he maintains a commitment to God’s word.

BUT THAT IS NOT A BURDEN
(103-104) “How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.”

• It’s not a burden, it’s a blessing.
• It is truth and it is sweet.
• And it is right.

And compared to it everything else is false.

I know that this has been sort of a random and wild ride tonight,
BUT IT IS ALL JUST TO MAKE A SIMPLE POINT
And one that is very important to me.

There is only one thing that makes us relevant in this world
And it definitely makes us relevant.

• God Himself has taught us.
• God Himself has spoken to us.
• We have been with Jesus.
• We have the truth.

• It is enough to counsel the weary
• It is enough to correct the foolish
• It is enough to instruct the naïve
• It is enough to exhort the sluggish
• It is enough to face the enemy
• It is enough to debate the scholar
• It is enough to speak to kings and rulers

It is all we have, but it is all we need.
We are relevant as long as we are proclaiming the words of God.