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The New Old Commandment
1 John 2:7-11
February 6, 2022

As you know we are working our way through the book of 1 John and we are falling in love with the clarity that John brings to the table.

• In a world that constantly seeks to blur the lines…
• In a world that hates absolutes…
• In a world where Christianity gets redefined by the latest fads…

It is so refreshing to read an epistle like 1 John
And be brought back to the roots of what is obvious Christianity.

It is so clarifying
It is so reassuring
It is so comforting

We love it when Scripture is able to solidify for us
Exactly what is true and what is not.
The book of 1 John does that as well as any book in the Bible.

As you know by now John has been drawing lines in the sand.
• John has been dividing truth from error.
• And John has been dividing the true church from the false.

As we talked about from the beginning of our study,
John battled a culture that was turning gnostic.
And the scary part was that this deception had even crept into the church.

And it had become very difficult to know
Who in the church was real and who was not.
John’s letter sought to settle the issue.

Steve Lawson spoke of it like this:
“There is always in the church, there is the visible church and there is the invisible church. The visible church is everyone who is in the building. The invisible church is everyone who is in Christ. And there needs to always be this differentiation between the visible church and the invisible church. That’s the value of 1 John. 1 John gives us the distinguishing marks of the true church. And when we say, the true church, we’re talking about the invisible church; we’re talking about those who are true believers in Jesus Christ. Whenever you walk into a church building there is always both tares and wheat and so John helps us discern, beginning with ourselves, who is truly born again; who truly knows the Lord, because Jesus Himself said, ‘Not everyone who says to Me Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven.’ It’s not the one who professes Christ that is in the kingdom, it’s the one who possesses Christ who is in the kingdom. It’s very possible, if not easy, to profess Christ but not possess Christ.”
https://onepassionministries.org/the-bible-study-podcast-steven-lawson/ (sermon: “The Test of Love” 1 John 2:7-11; beginning at 3:24)

I think that is a great way of describing the purpose and point of 1 John.

Last week I told you there were 2 reasons for John’s writing.

1) To EXPOSE those with FALSE ASSURANCE.
• It is a truly awful reality that there are people in our world who are lost but think they are saved.
• It is nothing short of love and the grace of God for such people to be exposed in their lostness
• That they might repent, believe, and find forgiveness and salvation in Christ.

I was one of those, and I’m so thankful Christ exposed and called me.

2) To GRANT TRUE ASSURANCE to those who are saved.
• It is also and awful thing to be truly saved and truly secure and yet not be able to enjoy your salvation because of a lack of assurance.

Deceivers can come in with their false doctrines.
• In particular people like the Gnostics who boast of their deeper and extra knowledge
• And it can happen that a genuinely saved person can say, “We’ll I don’t have that extra knowledge, what if I’m not really saved?”

John wants to squash such foolishness by letting you know
How to know if you are saved.

Last week we saw that the test of obedience fulfills both of those desires.
Obedience is the proof that you are saved or not
So it is a great credential for exposing the lost and granting assurance to the saved.

NOW THIS MORNING,
I’d like to give you a 3rd reason for why John is writing this letter
To help you see the difference between a false brother and a true one.

I realize that just making such a statement feels a little judgmental and something a believer shouldn’t do, but it is very essential that this occur in the church.

WHY?

Well, let me read you some of the warnings of Jesus.

Listen to Jesus’ explanation of the wheat and the tares.
Matthew 13:41 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,”

Or later when Jesus addressed the issue of church discipline:
Matthew 18:7 “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!”

When Paul wrote to the church in Rome, he wrote:
Romans 16:17 “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.”

Or even Jesus’ warning to the church at Pergamum
Revelation 2:14 “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.”

In each of those passages the same Greek word emerges.
SKANDALON

It actually refers to a “trap stick” or “a snare”
It is the lever or mechanism in a trap to catch animals.
It is rendered “stumbling block” or “hindrance”

AND THE FACT IS THAT Satan has always sought to infiltrate the church with those who will be a stumbling block or a hindrance.

Jesus warned about them extensively.

And that is the SAME WORD JOHN USES here in verse 10.
“The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.”

“cause for stumbling” translates SKANDALON

What John is doing for us is helping us identify
Those in the church who may cause us to stumble.

Remember when Jesus spotted a potential stumbling block in His own life?
Matthew 16:23 “But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

That was the day when Peter was seeking to
Get Jesus to abandon the mission of the cross.

And this is what we are talking about.

Sometimes there can be those, even in the church,
Who can influence us contrary to the will of God.

And it is imperative for the health of the church,
And for your own personal spiritual walk,
That these people can be identified.

Again that may sound harsh,
But when you are in a spiritual war with a spiritual enemy,
It is foolish to assume that he will not try to infiltrate the camp.

Peter wrote:
2 Peter 2:1-2 “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;”

Jude wrote:
Jude 4 “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”

Jude 12-13 “These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.”

And one of the reasons John is writing is to help the church spot them.
It is an invaluable resource.

SO THIS MORNING we move forward in our study of 1 John.

LAST TIME we saw that the key criteria by which we evaluate both ourselves and others is OBEDIENCE.

1 John 2:4-5 “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; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:”

Obedience to Christ is the key evidence that a person truly loves God
And that a person has been transformed by the Holy Spirit.

But even that is still a little generic.

THIS MORNING John sharpens his focus to a specific command.
AND THAT COMMAND IS LOVE.

We say that obedience proves salvation,
And if you want to start with a specific command to examine
Then start with the command to love.

This is the command by which we EVALUATE OURSELVES
And this is the command by which we EVALUATE OTHERS.

• No other command better indicates whether you are in Christ’s kingdom of light or if you are still in Satan’s kingdom of darkness.

• No other command better indicates if you are in the family of God or if you remain in Satan’s family.

There are so many religious commands and practices
That can be externally counterfeited but LOVE CANNOT BE FAKED.

LOVE IS FROM GOD and it is the chief command which distinguishes
Those who are in fellowship with Him versus those who are not.

And so John this morning would have us examine our love.
And to do that we will be studying verses 7-11.

There’s two main points to make this morning.
#1 LOVE IS THE POINT
1 John 2:7-8

It is an interesting play on words that John uses here
And one that can seem a little confusing.

• For in verse 7 John says, “I am not writing a new commandment to you”
• And then in verse 8 he says, “On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you,”

And we sort of want to say, “Which is it John?”
Is it an old command or a new command?
And John says, “Yes”

So let’s examine what he means.

“Beloved” – and that is a great title for those John is writing to.

Never forget, that despite the direct nature of this letter,
Every single word is written out of love for the church.

His objective is not to harm the church, but to help the church.

John loves the church.
History even actually calls him “The apostle of love”

“Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.”

Now because we can read ahead we know that the specific command John is referring to is the command to love your brother.

And John starts out by saying this is NOT a new commandment.

In fact “you have heard” this commandment “from the beginning;”

And the point John is making is that
The command to love your brother is not some new development.

• From the first day you heard the gospel.
• From the first day you heard the word of God.
• This command has been at the center.

Who can forget Jesus instruction?
Matthew 22:34-40 “But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

The command to love your brother is NOT a new thought.

It is actually rooted in the Mosaic Law.

Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

Leviticus 19:18 “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.”

Jesus then took those commandments
And they became the chief commandments of His teaching.
He said they were the greatest two.

Jesus said “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Paul would certainly reiterate that:
Romans 13:8-10 “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

You see how love is the fulfillment of the Law.
All of the things God commands you not to do to your brother are things you wouldn’t do to him if you loved him.
• You don’t have an affair with a man’s wife if you love him.
• You don’t murder a man you love.
• You don’t steal from a man you love.
• You don’t covet the stuff of a man you love.

It’s pretty clear.
It is a command you have HEARD FROM THE BEGINNING.

However, John goes on.
(8) “On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you,”

And of course this follows exactly the teaching of Jesus as well.

John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Jesus gave that same old commandment,
But actually called it “A new commandment”

HOW?

It’s NOT that the command to “love one another” is a new command that you have never heard.

However, when Jesus showed up
That command was understood in such a new way
That it’s like something you’ve never heard before.

In other words, you knew about the command to love your brother,
But until Jesus you never really knew
What that love was supposed to look like.

JESUS CLARIFIED that command to such an extent
That it began to feel like something totally new.

Remember Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan?
• That parable took “love your neighbor as yourself” to a level that no Jew had ever even considered.
• That parable is actually the most condemning parable in Scripture because no one can read it and say, “I do that”.

The love with which Christ loved
Is bigger than anything the world ever comprehended.

Remember the passage Stephen Butts preached a couple of weeks ago.
John 15:12-17 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. “You are My friends if you do what I command you. “No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. “This I command you, that you love one another.

That is really where the commandment took on a whole new life.

• The old commandment was “love your neighbor as yourself.”
• But the new commandment is “love one another, just as I have loved you.”

That’s a whole new understanding of love.

In the Old Testament that passage came with basic stipulations.
Leviticus 19:9-18 “Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ‘Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God. ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. ‘You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the LORD. ‘You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. ‘You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the LORD. ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. ‘You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD. ‘You shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you may surely reprove your neighbor, but shall not incur sin because of him. ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD.”

• Leave some of the grain in your fields and vineyards for the poor.
• Don’t deal falsely or lie to each other.
• Don’t exploit each other in transactions.
• Don’t cause people to stumble.
• Walk in justice, don’t slander.

That’s all really good and basic advice for what it means to
“love your neighbor as yourself”.

But Jesus took that to a whole new level when He said that
The greatest love is to “lay down your life” for your friends.

AND HERE IS THE POINT TO THAT.
SUCH LOVE CANNOT BE DONE IN HUMAN STRENGTH.

Love is definitely an action and love is definitely a choice,
But it is a choice that an unregenerate man cannot make.

You can’t love like Christ
Apart from the transforming work of Christ in your life.

It is at salvation when that supernatural love is given to you.
Romans 5:5 “and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

• It is the Holy Spirit who enables that kind of love as love is actually listed as the
first “fruit of the Spirit”.
• When a person is saved they are then given the capacity to love like Christ
loved.

That’s why John says: “I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you”
It’s true in you if you’ve been redeemed.

And then John goes on to say this:
“because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.”

• “the darkness” is a reference to Satan’s kingdom.
• “the true Light” is a reference to Christ’s kingdom.

And though there is still plenty of darkness in this world
We know that Satan’s kingdom is operating on borrowed time.

Christ’s kingdom is currently A SPIRITUAL REALITY,
Evidenced by love, and it dispels the darkness.

And one day Christ’s kingdom will become a physical reality,
Categorized by love, and the darkness will be gone completely.

SO WHAT IS JOHN’S POINT?

THE CHIEF AND OBVIOUS DISTINCTION
Between the kingdom of light and the dominion of darkness is LOVE.

• Those who are in Christ’s kingdom and in Christ’s family love as Christ loved.
• Those who remain in the kingdom of darkness do not.

Love is the most obvious characteristic of genuine Christianity.
• Love has always been COMMANDED BY GOD.
• Love was certainly CLARIFIED BY CHRIST.
• Love most definitely CHARACTERIZES CHRIST’S KINGDOM.

LOVE IS THE POINT.

And again, that is OBVIOUS CHRISTIANITY.
That is Christianity 101

God intends for those who are His
To love one another as Christ loved them.

Philippians 2:1-5 “Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,”

1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more,”

Ephesians 5:1-2 “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

Ephesians 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,”

You get the idea: LOVE IS THE POINT

And that point allows John to make the second point.
#2 LOVE IS THE PROOF
1 John 2:9-11

Because love is the undeniable chief fruit of Christianity
John can then make this obvious statement.

(9) “The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now.”

We’ve met that guy before haven’t we?
He’s the imposter.

• In (1:6) he said he had fellowship but walks in darkness.
• In (1:8) he said he had no sin
• In (1:10) he said he had not sinned
• In (2:4) he said he knew Jesus but didn’t obey

And here he shows up again.
• He “says he is in the Light” (that is in Christ’s kingdom/family)
• But he obviously doesn’t because he “hates his brother”

Hatred for a brother is not something those in Christ’s family do.
That is something that those in Satan’s family do.

Which is why John says that guy “is in the darkness until now.”

He’s not saved, or in fellowship with God, or in Christ’s kingdom.
THIS IS OBVIOUS

Not everyone seems to be clear on this.
I read one commentary this week that said that it is a mistake to think John is making a distinction between those who are lost and those who are saved.

The held merely that, “a Christian who can hate his fellow Christian has not genuinely escaped from the darkness of this present passing Age. To put it another way, he has much to learn about God and cannot legitimately claim an intimate knowledge of Christ.”
(Walvoord, John F. & Zuck, Roy B. [The Bible Knowledge Commentary; New Testament; Chariot Victor Publishing; Colorado Springs, CO; 1983] pg. 889)

But listen John ISN’T making a distinction
Between those who love well and those who love a little.

John is talking about polar opposites.
He is talking about love and hate.

And while it is true that every believer could love better and love more
(none of us perfectly love like Christ)

The simple fact is that if someone claims to be a Christian
But they can hate another Christian, they are not a real Christian.

And John will circle back to this later:
1 John 3:14-15 “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”

1 John 4:7-8 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

1 John 4:20 “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

IT IS CLEAR.
• If there is no love for the brethren then there is no salvation.
• If there is hatred for a brother then there is no salvation.

But THERE IS A REASON why John is telling you this.
• Certainly we can examine ourselves here…
• Certainly we can use this to find assurance…

But the reason John tells you here is because
You need to know that some people, even in the church,
Should not be allowed to influence you.

(10-11) “The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

The contrasts are obvious.

You have a man who loves his brother and he is in the light
• “there is no cause for stumbling in him.”

You have a man who hates his brother and he is in the darkness and he is totally misguided and lost.
• “in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”

And the warning from John is simply this.
BE CAREFUL WHO YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND LET INFLUENCE YOU
• Satan has seen fit to sew tares among the wheat.
• Satan has seen fit to infiltrate the church with false brethren.
• Satan has seen fit to put stumbling blocks in your midst.

Jesus talked about them:
Matthew 15:12-14 “Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

If you follow those guys, whom My Father did not plant,
Then they will lead you right into a pit.

They don’t know God.
They are not in God’s kingdom.
They will lead you straight to destruction.

Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.”

And that coupled with all those warnings
We read at the beginning of the sermon about stumbling blocks.

You’ve got to realize, as difficult as it sounds,
That not everyone who claims Christianity
Can be trusted or should be followed.

WELL HOW DO I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE?

You look for the one who loves.
“The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.”

The one who loves like Christ loved will not cause you to stumble.

And let me clarify that even a little further.

Today LOVE HAS BEEN REDEFINED and used as a deceptive tool.
• Today, love has become synonymous with tolerance.
• Today, if you confront someone in sin you’ll be accused of not being loving.
• Today, if you don’t follow the cultural whims you’ll be called a person of hate.

It is important that the definition for love remain accurate.
We are looking for the person who loves like Christ loved.

There is actually a definition.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

That is a definition of Christ-like love.
• The brother who loves will be long-suffering or patient.
• The brother who loves will be kind.
• The brother who loves is not jealous of what another brother has.
• The brother who loves is humble, not bragging or arrogant.
• The brother who loves doesn’t act unbecomingly
• The brother who loves is not selfish
• The brother who loves doesn’t fly off the handle
• The brother who loves doesn’t hold a grudge
• The brother who loves does not lead you into sin or let you remain in sin
• The brother who loves rejoices when you walk in truth

That is Christ-like love.

Did Christ confront sinners? Of course
Did Christ call for repentance? Absolutely
Did Christ ever lead anyone into sin or condone their sin? Never

So don’t let the world redefine love, look at Christ’s love.

And remember that Christ then gave Himself up
For the salvation even of His enemies.

And people who do that are clearly those who are in His kingdom.

Now, certainly we offer grace here as well,
For none of us can say that we always love like Christ.
That is a criteria none of us lives up to.

We certainly strive for it, but we also fall short of it.
So we’re NOT SAYING if you don’t love like Jesus all the time
Then you aren’t saved.

John doesn’t say that.
John says you aren’t saved if you hate, which is the extreme other end.

No, we’re a work in progress
And clearly some people are doing better than others.
There must be some love even if it is not yet perfect love,

John will be clear later that if you don’t love at all, you aren’t saved.

But what is clear is that though none of us loves as much as we should,
Hatred has certainly been removed through Christ.

And if there is a so-called brother in the assembly who hates another brother,
• That is a man you should avoid, not follow.
• That man is in the darkness and he’ll lead you where you do not want to God.

Romans 16:17-18 “Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.”

• The goal for us is to love like Christ loved.
• The goal for us is to encourage one another to love like Christ loved.
• The goal is to follow those who love like Christ loved.

This is the distinguishing mark
Of those who have been rescued from the domain of darkness
And transferred into Christ’s kingdom of Light.

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Thinking About Unyielding Conviction
Psalms 119:113-120
January 30, 2022

One of the reasons I am committed to preaching systematically through books of the Bible is because this way the topic is selected for me.

• I can be a passionate guy about some things and I know that if I just preached where I wanted every week before long we’d likely notice a cycle where I remained on a few topics over and over and over.

• Preaching through books of the Bible keeps you balanced. It forces you to deal with subjects you might not otherwise deal with and keeps you from “pulling out your soapbox” every week.

However, every now and a then the two directly align
Where the topic of your heart matches the schedule of your sermon.

Tonight that is what I get.
(113) “I hate those who are double-minded, But I love Your law.”

We study it tonight primarily because verse 113 comes after verse 112
And we studied 112 last time.

But at the same time, just to read that verse again out loud
Is like someone blowing into the coals of a fireplace.
It ignites a passion in me.

And so you notice tonight we’re going to
Think a little about “Unyielding Conviction”

(I realize that term is a little redundant but that’s the best I could do.)

I actually wanted us to think about “resolute · inflexible · uncompromising · unbending · unshakeable · unwavering · unpersuadable · uncooperative · immovable · intractable · rigid · hard-line · determined · iron-willed · obstinate · stubborn · diehard · adamant · relentless · single-minded · stiff-necked · conviction”

But I settled for “Unyielding Conviction”

It was June, 1989
I was 12 years old and knew nothing of politics.
But I will remember the image I saw that day forever.

• On June 4, 1989 the Chinese Communist part had opened fire on Tiananmen Square and killed those who protested the government.
• The next day a line of tanks came down the road in a massive display of force.
• And all of a sudden 1 lone Chinese man walked out into the road and stood directly in front of the line of tanks.
• HE REFUSED TO MOVE.
• The tank tried to maneuver around him, he just kept running back in front of that tank.

I had no idea what was going on that day
But I remember being blown away by this man who stood alone
To stare down the barrel of a tank and defend what he believed to be true.

To this day no one knows the name of that man
Or what eventually happened to him,
But tonight as we talk about unyielding conviction
THAT IS THE IMAGE I WOULD PUT IN YOUR MIND.

In short I’m talking about Christian people:
• Who drive their stake in the ground and refuse to give an inch.
• Who don’t just identify something as a hill on which to die, but who actually die on that hill.
• Who throw their reputations and comforts and cautions to the wind
• Who dare to be the monkey wrench that kills the agenda of the evil satanic world system.

I want to know where that person went.
I want to call that person out.
And if you are not that type of person I want to show you why.

Tonight, as has been the case during this second time through the 119th Psalm, we’re going to be all over the place on this stanza.

If you want the exposition go to the website
And look up the last time we preached through it.

Tonight I’m getting my soap box out and we’re going to think on this.

But let’s start with verse 113.
“I hate those who are double-minded, But I love Your law.”

That language is likely stronger than most are accustomed to.

We walk away and sort of tell the Psalmist, “Don’t sugar-coat it, tell us straight.”

The Psalmist takes his cross-hairs and centers them
Directly over those who are “double-minded”

SAY-AFE in the Hebrew.
It means “a person of divided mind, who, being destitute of firm faith and persuasion as to divine things is driven hither and thither. A doubter; a skeptic.”

They are a person who has no conviction.
Any wind can blow them.

In Luke’s gospel
We see a day in which Jesus was approached by would-be followers.

• You remember one wouldn’t follow because following Jesus led to poverty since “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
• One wouldn’t follow because he wanted to collect his inheritance first.

And then we read:
Luke 9:61-62 “Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

• In order to plow a man hooked his plow behind the oxen and followed them, looking straight ahead, in order to play a straight row.
• But Jesus compared this man and his desire to say good-bye to a man who was looking backward and thus could not play straight.

This man’s desire was divided.
• Part of him certainly wanted to please Jesus, for he was contemplating following Him.
• But another part was worried about what those at home might think and so he wanted to go and check with them first.

Jesus refused to let this man follow saying that
He had no place for a man
Who was always concerned about the approval of others.

That man was “double-minded”

We could reference that man again in Jesus’ parable of the sower when He said:
Matthew 13:22 “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

• This soil obviously represents a man who refuses to yield his entire heart to Christ.
• He wants the gospel to be planted within but he wants his idols to remain as well.

That is what it means to be “double-minded”
And thus this man could produce no fruit for the kingdom.

In Matthew 10 Jesus addresses it again.
Matthew 10:37-39 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. “He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

• There is no room for a man to love this life and Christ.
• A man must choose.
• He cannot have both.

On the day when Jesus rebuked Peter:
Matthew 16:21-23 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Peter was “double-minded”
As he was no concerned with God’s interests, but man’s.

James spoke of this man.
James 1:5-8 “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

• James said that the double-minded man is unstable and should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

And again:
James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

There James reminded that the “double-minded”
Man must purify his heart of his idols
So that he might be able to draw near to God.

We are simply talking about a man who is not “all in”

We are talking about a man
• Who can’t seem to decide if he wants to serve God or men.
• He can’t decide if he loves the approval of God or the approval of men.

Joshua told them to “Choose you this day whom you will serve” and he still can’t make up his mind.

Elijah rebuked the Israelites at Mt. Carmel because they were hesitating between two opinions. They couldn’t decide of Baal was God or if God was God and Elijah confronted them for it.

This is the type of man we are dealing with here.
And the Psalmist says, “I hate” them.

AND ALL THAT NEEDS TO BE SAID at this point is to remind you that
This passage, as is true with all Scripture,
Was authored by the Holy Spirit.

Now, in this stanza there are other names for this man besides that of “double-minded.”

In verse 115 this man is called an “evildoer”
“Depart from me, evildoers, That I may observe the commandments of my God.”

In verse 118 he’s seen as a deserter.
“You have rejected all those who wander from Your statutes.”

There they are wanderers.
The unfaithful.
The undependable.

In verse 119 they are called “the wicked”
“You have removed all the wicked of the earth like dross;”

And so perhaps you understand a little better who we are talking about.

We are talking about the man who has no conviction.
He has no staying power.
You cannot depend upon him.

He may very well declare allegiance to God
And brag about God’s word,
But when the battle rages and conviction is needed, he is gone.

HE WILL NOT STAND.

And of course the Psalmist has
A FEW OTHER HARSH DESCRIPTIONS of this man.

(118-119) “You have rejected all those who wander from Your statutes, For their deceitfulness is useless. You have removed all the wicked of the earth like dross; Therefore I love Your testimonies.”

Two descriptions of this man jump off the page at us there.

• The Psalmist says “their deceitfulness is useless”
• And he compares them to “dross”

“dross” of course refers to all the impurities that are discarded after precious metals are thrown through the fire.

“dross” is the worthless trash that is not kept.

Which also explains why he calls them “useless”

Neither God, nor the church,
Has any use at all for those who have no conviction.

What good is a man or a woman who will not stand upon the truth they claim to believe?

• They do not benefit the mission of the church at all.
• They are spiritual invertebrates who have the ability to cower and conform to any outside pressure and never buck the tide.

THEY ARE USELESS DROSS.

Remember Jesus addressing those 7 churches in Revelation?
• Go read them all and see if a common theme doesn’t emerge to why Christ rewards or rebukes those churches.
• It all revolves around their tolerance.
• He commends them for their refusal to tolerate error and rebukes them for tolerating it.

He is not looking for a wishy-washy bride.

Revelation 3:14-16 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”

Remember Paul about to leave on his second missionary journey?
He and Barnabas had a fight.

Do you remember why?
Acts 15:36-40 “After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord.”

So many over the years have confidently asserted that Paul was wrong there and even like to say, “Be a Barnabas”

• But it wasn’t Barnabas who was commended by the church it was Paul
• And it wasn’t Barnabas whom the Holy Spirit followed to write of his journey it was Paul.

There would come a day when Mark would repent and Paul would call for him
But on this day, because of his unwillingness to stand
He was useless on the mission trip.

Those who are double-minded are useless to the service of the church.

But that’s not the only problem they cause.
They also are A Tremendous Discouragement to those who are faithful.

(115-117) “Depart from me, evildoers, That I may observe the commandments of my God. Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope. Uphold me that I may be safe, That I may have regard for Your statutes continually.”

Not only are these people no help in the mission
But they actually are a threat to those who would stand.

HOW?

Notice the requests of the Psalmist.
• Certainly he wants them to depart, but notice what he is asking God while they are still present.

He asks:
• “Sustain me…”
• “Do not let me be ashamed…”
• “Uphold me…”

Quite often these faithless and double-minded men
Are not only those who offer no help in the battle
But can also often be found criticizing
Or even rebuking those who would fight.

In their cowardice and refusal to stand
All they know to do is take the side of the enemy
And publicly rebuke or chastise those who would stand.

• They claim to take some moral high ground.
• They act like these great compromisers and peace keepers.
• They seem to take this grand position of unity.

They rebuke and humiliate those who would stand
By painting them as too rigid or too harsh or unloving or too critical.

They actually work to get those who would stand to stop standing.

It’s no wonder then that the Psalmist says “I hate those who are double-minded”

• They won’t stand for the truth.
• They don’t help in the battle.
• They actually discourage those who would stand.

And I want to take a moment now and look at some examples in Scripture.

First let me take you to a couple of NEGATIVE ONES.

TURN TO: 1 SAMUEL 2:12

(Read 12-17)
• So you see the sin of Samuel’s boys.
• Here they are found taking for themselves the portion of the offering which was to be solely for the LORD.

(Read 22-25)
• There you also see that these two boys used the woman who served at the tent of meeting as their own personal prostitutes.

Now at this point let me also point out to you that
Eli DID in fact confront his sons.
He questioned their actions.
He called it sin.
He warned them of impending judgment.

And here’s my question: DID HE STAND?
(Read 27-31)

• From God’s perspective Eli did not take a stand.
• He rebuked his boys he did not remove his boys.
• By letting them stay in office Eli honored those who dishonored the LORD.
• That is being a double-minded man.

• Soon after the Philistines attacked and God arranged for the death of Eli’s sons in that battle.
• When Eli heard of it and that the Ark of the Covenant was stolen, Eli fell over and broke his neck and died.

TURN TO: EZEKIEL 22:23

(Read 23-29)

• There we read of the total defilement of the entire Israeli culture.
• We see the fall of prophet, priest, prince, and people.
• They are all corrupt and love corruption.

(Read 30-31)
“I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me before the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one.”

What a tragic reality.
• No one was courageous
• No one had conviction
• No one would stand up and the result was judgment.

Do you see the dangerous realities?
Do you see the lack of benefit to a convictionless people?

1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

There’s a calling for you.
Be “immovable”

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”

What a statement: “act like men”

I’m going to be honest with you, but I grieve over this.
And just to make sure we’re being honest.
I grieve over weak men.

When I see a culture of disrespectful children.
When I see a culture of blatant sexual immorality.
When I see a culture that prioritizes everything over church attendance.

I PUT THAT RIGHT AT THE FEET OF WEAK MEN.
Men who will not stand in the gap for their family.
Men who will not stand in the gap for their children.
Men who will not stand in the gap for their neighbor.

• It is not your wife’s job to make sure your family goes to Sunday school.
• It is not your wife’s job to make sure your family attends weekly worship.
• It is not your wife’s job to make sure your family returns on Sunday night.
• It is not your wife’s job to make sure your children know how to behave.
• It is not your wife’s job to make sure your family follows the Lord.

Oh, to be sure, she can be an invaluable help-mate in such endeavors
And I certainly benefit from such a help-mate.

BUT MEN, THAT’S ON YOU.

Where are you?
• Who is standing in the gap for your family?
• Who is putting an end to the sin and faithlessness and rebellion?
• Who is going to stop it?
• Where is the guy who’s going to stand in front of that tank?

Let me at this point introduce you to my wife’s favorite O.T. Bible hero.

TURN TO: NUMBERS 25

(Read 1-9)

That’s the story of Phineas who rose up and single handedly
Stopped the plague of God by snuffing out the immorality.

Psalms 106:28-31 “They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds, And the plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and interposed, And so the plague was stayed. And it was reckoned to him for righteousness, To all generations forever.”

Boy where is that guy today?
That’s what you call standing in the gap.
• It’s called conviction.
• It’s called having an unmoveable and resolute commitment to truth.
• It’s doing the hard things.

And this is the calling of the men of God.

Daniel 3:17-18 “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. “But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

You remember that story of 3 Hebrew boys who refused to yield.

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.”

There was Peter and John bullied and threatened
To stop preaching about Jesus and the resurrection.

Acts 21:10-14 “As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”

Paul was repeatedly warned of persecution that awaited
If he continued going forward and still he went.

Even when men were compromising
• About the truth of the gospel
• And so many would to go ahead and add circumcision to the list of requirements for salvation,

Paul stood strong.
Galatians 2:4-5 “But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.”

How about our Lord?
Isaiah 50:5-7 “The Lord GOD has opened My ear; And I was not disobedient Nor did I turn back. I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting. For the Lord GOD helps Me, Therefore, I am not disgraced; Therefore, I have set My face like flint, And I know that I will not be ashamed.”

Do you see the conviction?
Do you see the steadfastness?

You know of the Sunday we had two weeks ago to speak about “Biblical Sexual Morality”
• I told you how a Canadian pastor reached out to John MacArthur and asked for his help sort of rallying the troops.

Here’s what you may not know.
• The first thing Pastor John did was send an email out to his extensive contact list of pastors asking for us to sign a petition that we would stand with those Canadian pastors.
• About 2 weeks later we were informed that Pastor John wanted to do a zoom conference call with us to talk more about it. (I watched it a few hours later)
• In that call Pastor John revealed that he would be sending out his request again because his first request had seen mixed results. He had indeed had around 3,000 people sign that petition and send it back. However, he said, most of those who signed were women.

He sent out a petition to pastors
And got back a document signed in majority by women.

That doesn’t mean that these were women pastors signing, it means that pastors were neglecting the letter and women in their church were signing it instead.

He was noticeably grieved as he said, “I understand the feminization of the church. I understand there are women who would like their pastors to be men.”

And with that they sent out the request again.

IT IS A SHAME AND A DISGRACE.

There is a need for men of God who will not be double-minded,
But who will stand up and be men
And drive their stake in the ground and stand.

Oh, we get some in our culture who have this kind of courage.
Yet most of the time they are some political pundit who doesn’t even know God.
They just dominate the airways with their political stands.

And that’s all well, but it is the church who is the pillar and support of the truth, and it is the men of the church who are called to stand in the culture.

Now, I told you I want you to SEE THE ROOT of this.
I want you to see where double-mindedness comes from.

Look at the last verse of our text tonight.
(120) “My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments.”

What is that?
Our Psalmist just described why he is not double-minded.
It is because he fears God.

Do you know why men don’t stand?
Do you know there is no one to stand in the gap?
Because men fear men more than they fear God.

• Men fear the repercussions of society more than they fear God.
• Men fear the backlash of their spouse in some cases more than they fear God.
• Men fear the anger of their children more than they fear God.

They don’t want to upset the apple cart,
They don’t want to put their neck on the line.
They fear what that might do.

And yet, the problem at its core is that they don’t fear God.

So one last text to look at tonight.

TURN TO: MATTHEW 10:21

(Read 21-25)

So clearly here the situation is dangerous.
• Jesus speaks of hatred and betrayal and persecution and being pursued and being blasphemed.
• There are dangerous times.

And yet the calling is clear:
(Read 26-27)

• You are still called to stand in the gap.

How do you do that?
(Read 28-31)

Do you see the answer?
You fear God more.

That is really the issue of this Psalm.
Here we have a Psalmist who fears God
And he hates those who don’t.

He is totally frustrated with
• Those who claim some sort of faith in God
• And yet it is clear that they have no fear of God.

They are useless to the mission of the church
And they are a threat to those who would be faithful.

And what they need to learn in order to be useful once again
IS THE NEED TO LEARN TO FEAR GOD.
That is the missing motivation in their lives.

Download Here:

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.