God’s Custom of Mercy: A Call to Joyful Fidelity

• Bible Reading and Knowledge [00:03:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues against 'lazy Christians' and emphasizes the necessity of being knowledgeable of the Bible, citing that a vast majority of professed Christians have never read the entire Bible.
• The Nature of Jesus' Humanity [00:06:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that Jesus, in his human nature, had to learn and grow in wisdom and knowledge of the Word, setting an example for believers to love Scripture.
• Hating Sin vs. Hating Sinners [00:08:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor distinguishes between hating sinners (which he claims many do) and hating sin itself, urging believers to grieve over their own sin and confess it.
• Dead Christianity [00:12:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines 'dead Christianity' as merely attending church services without meditating on the Word, where the mind is distracted by books or magazines.
• The Role of Theology in Education [00:17:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the Roman/Greek borrowing of knowledge with the Protestant emphasis on bringing knowledge to the common person, noting that theology was historically the 'queen of the sciences' in universities.
• The Necessity of Scripture and Divine Illumination [00:15:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that while God's truth gives light, humans need the Holy Spirit's enlightenment and good teaching to understand the Bible, contrasting historical Christian universities with modern education that has 'banished' theology.
• Spiritual Thirst and the Word of God [00:18:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > Using the analogy of a hiker in a desert needing water, the pastor describes the godly desire for Scripture as a physical thirst, especially for those persecuted or exiled who lack access to the Word.
• The Famine of Hearing God's Word [00:20:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor cites Amos 8 to define the greatest national judgment not as war or plague, but as a 'famine... of hearing the words of the Lord,' noting the paradox of many churches in America that do not preach the Word.
• God's Custom of Mercy and Repentance [00:22:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > Analyzing Psalm 119:132, the pastor defines God's 'custom' as showing mercy to those who love His name, but clarifies that this mercy requires confession and repentance, rejecting the idea that God loves sinners without changing them.
• The Terror of the Lord and Final Judgment [00:30:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > Referencing 2 Corinthians 5, the pastor explains that all must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, where sins are displayed, but believers are vindicated by Christ's payment, distinguishing the 'sheep' from the 'goats'.
• Resurrection and Final Judgment [00:32:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains the vindication of Christians, the raising of bodies from graves, and the separation of sheep from goats.
• Authority and Sufficiency of Scripture [00:34:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > He argues for the normative principle of worship and doctrine, contrasting it with the idea that anything not prohibited is permitted, emphasizing scripture's role in revival and church government.
• Spiritual Warfare and Dominion [00:36:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > He discusses the conflict between flesh and spirit, using the Israelites' desire to return to Egypt as an analogy for believers wanting to return to sin.
• Oppression and Persecution [00:40:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > He distinguishes between civil persecution (which can hinder but not prevent faith) and cultural oppression that invades the church, citing examples from England and historical contexts.
• God's Grace and Favor [00:45:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > He concludes with a benediction based on Numbers 6, emphasizing that God's face shining upon His people is an expression of grace and peace, even amidst darkness.
• Church Identity and Naming [00:47:39 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor expresses confusion and disapproval when churches remove their denominational names (like Baptist or Presbyterian), arguing that believers should not be ashamed of anything associated with God's Word.
• Grief Over Sin [00:48:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses the biblical mandate for the righteous to weep over sin, citing Psalm 119:136, and contrasts grieving external sins (especially in the church) with the failure to grieve personal sin.
• Desensitization and Hypocrisy [00:49:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor critiques the congregation's inconsistency in mourning, noting that people are often more fascinated by external tragedies (like car accidents) than by their own spiritual condition, leading to a lack of holy condemnation and self-examination.
• Christ as the Righteous One [00:51:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor identifies Jesus Christ as the only fully righteous man who weeps the most over sin, contrasting Him with mankind's history of rebellion and justification of ungodliness.
• Return to Scripture and Prayer [00:51:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor concludes by urging the congregation to delight in God's commandments, confess sin to relieve their conscience, and pray for others to know the Lord, followed by a closing prayer.

• Sermon Illustration [00:03:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about driving back from Durham Tech and seeing a sign at an elementary school near a rescue mission that urged students to 'Read at least 15 minutes a day,' using it to illustrate the desperation of a culture where no one is reading.
• Sermon Illustration [00:04:41 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of telling someone to drink 'at least an ounce of water a day' to survive, comparing it to the insufficient exhortation of reading only 15 minutes a day.
• Sermon Illustration [00:06:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor observes that some people display Scripture on their walls in plaques or posters, using this as an example of those who are not ashamed to advertise their love for the Word.
• Sermon Illustration [00:12:36 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes people in church who are 'dead' in their faith, sitting between 10 and 11 AM with their minds elsewhere, reading books or looking at magazines to distract themselves from meditating on the Word.
• Sermon Illustration [00:17:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the historical context of the Roman Empire borrowing from the Greeks and the subsequent rise of universities in Europe where theology was the 'queen of the sciences,' contrasting this with the modern banishment of theology.
• Sermon Illustration [00:18:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a long, hard hike in a desert with no trees or water to illustrate the physical and spiritual thirst for God's Word, comparing it to the desperation of someone needing water to survive.
• Sermon Illustration [00:24:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts modern 'short contrite gospel presentations' that avoid dwelling on sin with the reality of sin as breaking God's law, using the analogy of a math class where mistakes are made and corrected, to argue for a proper understanding of sin and repentance.
• Sermon Illustration [00:31:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the final judgment as a scenario where everyone has a 'seat' and sees a 'movie of your life' displaying all sins and thoughts, illustrating the dread of judgment but also the vindication of Christians whose sins have been paid for by Christ.
• Sermon Illustration [00:37:03 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the Israelites crossing the Red Sea and their subsequent murmuring and desire to return to Egypt, illustrating how believers sometimes want to return to the 'dominion' of sin despite being freed.
• Sermon Illustration [00:42:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > He references the murder of Abel by Cain to illustrate how the righteous are often persecuted by those enraged by their righteousness and corrupt worship.
• Sermon Illustration [00:42:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > He provides a modern anecdote about Christians in England being arrested for praying near abortion clinics or engaging in open-air preaching, illustrating current forms of oppression against the faith.
• Sermon Illustration [00:46:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > He uses the image of a rainbow after a rainstorm as a reminder of God's grace upon the world, which coexists with the knowledge of coming judgment.
• Sermon Illustration [00:50:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses an analogy of drivers slowing down to look at a car accident on the highway, even if it is not blocking their lane, to illustrate human fascination with external tragedy and desensitization to spiritual matters.

• Pastoral Charge [00:11:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray for a transformed heart that loves God's word and hates sin/laziness.
• Pastoral Charge [00:16:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray for the Holy Spirit's enlightenment before engaging in any Bible reading, family devotion, or preaching.
• Pastoral Charge [00:22:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > Acquire multiple Bibles, use them extensively, read them aloud to others, and share them.
• Pastoral Charge [00:22:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray specifically for God to direct steps and prevent iniquity from having dominion.
• Pastoral Charge [00:27:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > Confess sins rather than assuming forgiveness without confession.
• Pastoral Charge [00:43:34 ▶️ 📄]
  > To actively seek lawful ways to witness and pray in public, while maintaining personal faithfulness in private life.
• Pastoral Charge [00:39:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > To desire and work toward a societal shift where the nation worships and honors God.
• Pastoral Charge [00:52:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > Memorize the psalm, examine oneself, meditate on mercy, keep the third commandment, grow in service and burden for intercession, and advocate for Christ.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:00:00] Turn to Psalm 119, verse 129 of the sermon today, God's custom of mercy. God's custom of mercy. Let us hear the reading of God's word, Psalm 119, verses 129 through 136.
[00:00:24] Your testimonies are wonderful, therefore my soul keeps them.
[00:00:31] The entrance of your words gives light, it gives understanding to the simple.
[00:00:38] I open my mouth and panted, for I long for your commandments.
[00:00:45] Look upon me and be merciful to me as your custom is toward those who love your name.
[00:00:56] Direct my steps by your word and let no iniquity have dominion over me.
[00:01:04] Redeem me from the oppression of man that I may keep your precepts.
[00:01:11] Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes.
[00:01:19] Rivers of water run down my eyes Because men do not keep your law May the Lord add his blessing of our hearing and believing his word Let's pray for God's favor Heavenly Father, we pray that you would bless us
[00:01:38] As we're going through this extensive prayer in Psalm 119 That you would bless us to understand The heart and the soul that is to be reflected in the believer indeed how Jesus Christ fulfills these things as well
[00:01:57] and we pray that our affections will grow stronger for you and that we would be on guard against the temptation that is in the world the inclination that still abides in our heart at times
[00:02:11] to sin but that we do have a Savior that hears us and a God that does help us to live to their glory so bless us give us attention we pray in jesus name amen so the first point
[00:02:33] of consideration today rejoicing in the blessing of scripture and look at verses 129 to 131 again i'll read it to your testimonies are wonderful therefore my soul keeps them the entrance of your words gives light it gives understanding to the simple i open my mouth and panting for i long
[00:03:01] for your commandments so we have the true affections of the righteous indeed we are to always examine ourselves in light of what we read in the bible we need to be bible readers We need to be knowledgeable of the Bible.
[00:03:30] We cannot afford any longer lazy Christians, ignorant Christians.
[00:03:40] When you're in school, I'm not even talking about college, but when you're in school, you're assigned a book to read.
[00:03:48] In old days, you're expected to read the whole book.
[00:03:52] I say that because with my son, we were coming back from Durham Tech, and I went to go by the rescue mission.
[00:04:02] or something was going on, and there was an elementary school that was nearby it and had a sign, and it was an exhortation.
[00:04:11] You know, kind of directed at parents, but students as well.
[00:04:14] Read at least 15 minutes a day.
[00:04:20] Now, how far would you get into something in 15 minutes?
[00:04:24] But obviously it's a sign out of desperation because no one is reading.
[00:04:32] So they're not going to say read an hour a day.
[00:04:35] I read it in a half hour a day, just 15 minutes, just a little something.
[00:04:41] It's almost like telling somebody, you know, have at least an ounce of water a day, you know, of water to survive.
[00:04:50] And so when we see this exhortations of the blessings of God's word, we need to overcome the Christian culture in our land.
[00:05:01] Because you all know that.
[00:05:02] The vast majority of Christians, I don't know what the percentage would be, but I would imagine it's over 90 percentile of Christians, Bible-believing Christians.
[00:05:15] I would throw in born-again Christians.
[00:05:19] Probably 9 percent have never read every book of the Bible.
[00:05:24] And that's scandal because Satan is not to blame for that.
[00:05:30] The government is not to blame for that.
[00:05:33] Your mama and your daddy are not to blame for that.
[00:05:35] And that is all on you.
[00:05:41] And so here in this psalm, the Lord shows us that he delights in his own word and the law.
[00:05:50] We know Jesus loved the word.
[00:05:52] He quoted the word.
[00:05:53] He meditated upon the word.
[00:05:55] He fulfilled the word of God, the commandments, the statutes.
[00:05:59] He observed mercy.
[00:06:01] He lived out the gospel again and again.
[00:06:04] He healed the broken, the dead.
[00:06:09] He fed the hungry.
[00:06:10] He lived the righteous life that is revealed in Scripture, and we are to do the same.
[00:06:16] But Jesus knew the Word.
[00:06:18] And as a man, he had to learn the Word.
[00:06:23] A strange thing to ponder.
[00:06:24] We have two natures, but there's one person.
[00:06:30] The nature of God, but the nature of man.
[00:06:32] The nature of man had to learn and grow.
[00:06:34] He grew in wisdom.
[00:06:36] That wasn't his divine nature, but that was his human nature.
[00:06:40] So how important it is for unbelievers to see in you saints that you love God's Word.
[00:06:52] You know, it's interesting to go to people's houses, and I'm not saying anyone has to do this.
[00:06:58] We don't do this extensively in our house, but they can see Scripture on the walls, whether, you know, like in plaques or maybe posters.
[00:07:07] These people are meditating upon the word.
[00:07:10] They love the word.
[00:07:11] They delight in the word.
[00:07:12] They're not ashamed to advertise that.
[00:07:19] And so it is for us to sincerely think and express that the testimonies of God are wonderful.
[00:07:29] Now, you can do a study on the word wonderful on your own.
[00:07:34] In Isaiah, that's one of the titles of God.
[00:07:38] Wonderful.
[00:07:41] Splendid.
[00:07:41] Glorious.
[00:07:42] You know, the fullness of that word, wonderful, that sums up God.
[00:07:47] Wonderful.
[00:07:48] That's one of his names, wonderful.
[00:07:50] And therefore, his word is wonderful.
[00:07:57] This sums up the excellence of his greatness.
[00:08:01] Now, the also needs to be seen.
[00:08:03] The world needs to see that you hate sin, all sin, as opposed to hating sinners.
[00:08:12] Because a lot of sinners hate sinners.
[00:08:15] We do hate it when sin is done, but chiefly it should be our sin.
[00:08:21] We should grieve over our own sin because we can repent of our sin.
[00:08:28] Sin is our enemy, our chief enemy is death, and death is just a result of sin.
[00:08:35] You don't have death unless you have sin first.
[00:08:38] And so we should be the ones that are troubled in our conscience, That we acknowledge our conscience is troubled because I have sinned against God, my God.
[00:08:50] And that should cause us to move forward and confess our sin and believe and exercise faith that the Lord Jesus has died for that sin already.
[00:09:00] And the Lord has given me the Spirit.
[00:09:03] Or maybe you have to ask for that Spirit because the Spirit hasn't come upon you.
[00:09:07] But you are convicted.
[00:09:09] You feel like the Spirit's not on you, but conviction is probably an indication He is.
[00:09:15] And ask for the Spirit to move your heart away from the affection to sin.
[00:09:21] So for the Christian, we hate sin because it's against God, and we fall into it, and we're not living as a Christian, and it grieves our soul.
[00:09:31] So Christians do hate sin, but in another way, our flesh loves to sin because we do the sin that we want to do.
[00:09:39] And some sin we do because we're people pleasers.
[00:09:43] We didn't meditate upon this particular sin, but we're pressured.
[00:09:46] I don't want to make someone upset, so I'm going to do what they want me to do, and therefore I sin against God.
[00:09:55] But we should come back to the Word, back to the Word, back to the Lord, again and again.
[00:09:59] And this is where our soul's true affection is, that we want to keep the testimonies, the wonderful testimonies of the Lord.
[00:10:09] Now, George Horne, in his commentary on the Psalms, And on this stanza here says, when properly open and forced, they terrify and humble.
[00:10:20] Speaking of the scriptures, they convert and transform.
[00:10:24] They console and strengthen.
[00:10:26] Who but must delight to study and to observe these testimonies of the will and the wisdom, the love and the power of God most high.
[00:10:40] So there's a lot of aspects of Scripture, what they reveal, but we love and we need all of it.
[00:10:47] And so our soul, our inward soul, the core of our beliefs and our affections, must desire with joy to keep God's Word, for your love of the Lord is greater than all other loves.
[00:11:05] Now, if you find yourself, I'm not really having joy in God's Word.
[00:11:10] at this time in my life.
[00:11:14] There's one thing for you to do, and don't forget it.
[00:11:17] It's not complicated.
[00:11:19] Pray to the Lord to change your heart.
[00:11:24] Lord, give me a love and affection for that which is of you, and have me hate my laziness.
[00:11:32] Have me hate my sin, my indulgence, my lust.
[00:11:37] And may you meditate why these sins, needless your own sins, are evil against God.
[00:11:45] And secondary, indeed secondary, how they hinder your walk with God at times, and indeed dry up your joy for the Lord and his word.
[00:12:01] And obviously the opposite, why is it a joy to meditate upon God's word?
[00:12:06] Just like Psalm 143c, we did a short introduction there.
[00:12:11] But there's many wonderful things in that psalm.
[00:12:16] Great truths of God and encouragements.
[00:12:19] And you could spend hours upon hours and days and weeks on even that just one section.
[00:12:25] We did one section of 143.
[00:12:29] And be built up in the faith.
[00:12:31] We must meditate upon the word to see the value of it.
[00:12:36] And you know dead Christianity is people who just come to church.
[00:12:41] Oh, it's Sunday.
[00:12:42] We've got to go to church between 10 and 11.
[00:12:45] And they sit there, but their mind is elsewhere.
[00:12:50] Maybe they're reading a book or looking at a magazine to distract them because they don't want to meditate upon the Word.
[00:13:00] We know that's the essence of deadness because they're not meditating upon the Word.
[00:13:10] Now, you think about the world's love, things the world loves.
[00:13:19] They have a little love.
[00:13:20] They do have love.
[00:13:22] People in the world know how to love.
[00:13:24] Scripture is very clear about that.
[00:13:26] But the world's love, which is not centered on God, not bringing God into the equation, often involves abusing somebody, using somebody, or just being outright selfish.
[00:13:42] Psalm 1 states it rightly, the proof of sincere faith.
[00:13:45] And again, Psalm 1 speaks firstly and foremostly that perfect and blessed man is the Lord Jesus Christ.
[00:13:52] And yet it's a formula for you, men and women and children, to be like fully.
[00:13:59] I'm just going to read the first two verses.
[00:14:01] Blessed, remember the word blessed, when it talks about people being blessed, it means happiness.
[00:14:07] happiness blessed is a man who walks not in the council of non-gali nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the lord
[00:14:26] and in his law he meditates day and night and so those two things go together delighting and meditating upon the law.
[00:14:40] So, brothers and sisters, you know, we live in a day where the average population does not know the meaning nor the purpose of marriage.
[00:14:51] And we know that there is a work ethic that has no work, as it were.
[00:14:59] People show up at times, they feel privileged to the benefits and the salary, but they'll try to do as little work as possible.
[00:15:09] And the same is true in higher education.
[00:15:12] People go and they expect a degree.
[00:15:15] They expect an A.
[00:15:18] If you give Bob here an A, I should get an A.
[00:15:21] Let us be fair after all.
[00:15:24] And we do have more and more people who dispute historically confirmed events as not real.
[00:15:31] And yet God's word is the entrance or the doorway to understanding.
[00:15:37] the understanding that we are to obtain and to keep we do not deny the light of nature but we confirm God's truth God's providence and God's words does give light Genesis 1.3 it is indeed
[00:15:59] we can speak of this in the figurative sense but there is a literal sense Genesis 1.3 God said let there be light and there was light. That's a wonderful truth. Now, of course, we just don't read our Bibles. We need good
[00:16:18] teaching to direct us and guide us to understanding. And we are to pray for understanding before you at home read your Bible, before you dads lead in family devotions, before the preacher preaches or leads a class at church. We need the Holy Spirit continually to enlighten our
[00:16:39] minds to correct us, and even those things that we have taught that weren't truly biblically based.
[00:16:49] Now, it's interesting, in history, the Roman Empire is known for much knowledge, and yet, if you want to say it, they borrowed or they stole a lot of that from the Greeks.
[00:17:02] But when Christianity came in force in Europe and grew and developed in their theology and teaching, we have the great universities that came up.
[00:17:20] And indeed, the burden of the Protestants, I stress the Protestants, was to have knowledge to be brought to the common person.
[00:17:32] It doesn't mean everyone was going to be a doctor, but even in the universities, it was theology that is the queen of the sciences, and that's how they would refer to theology.
[00:17:49] It was the core department in the old universities of Europe and in the founding of our country as well.
[00:18:01] But indeed, as we know, if we know anything of history, over a century prior to our time here, the queen was banished.
[00:18:12] And her books, they're dusty books in many libraries.
[00:18:18] Indeed, universities that were not ashamed and were prominent to say Christian before a university have divorced themselves from that name.
[00:18:31] Indeed, how desperate does modern education, not just university, but elementary level and everything in between, need to find the Scriptures to be good?
[00:18:42] Indeed, a source of true enlightenment.
[00:18:47] And the psalm speaks of panting.
[00:18:49] And this is a panting for the commandments.
[00:18:52] And this is like going on a hike, a long hike.
[00:18:57] Of course, I think of long, hard hikes out west where there are very few trees and desert, and you can be out of water, and your mouth is dry, and you're just thinking of, I need water, I need water, I need water.
[00:19:13] You're thirsting, and you wonder if you will go any longer.
[00:19:20] You want to be refreshed by the water, and this is the desire the godly are to possess.
[00:19:30] At times it hits them hard, especially if they are in prison for the faith.
[00:19:37] They have no Bible with them.
[00:19:39] There's definitely no invitation to a church service, and there is no fellowship with the guards about the faith.
[00:19:49] They are thirsty for the Word.
[00:19:52] Maybe those who have been exiled, and maybe they don't have a church any longer.
[00:20:02] Indeed, if you have experienced regeneration, you know there is nothing that refreshes your heart and soul like the Word of God.
[00:20:13] And with that, it would be the reading of the Word, the preaching of the Word, the fellowship around the Word of God.
[00:20:22] Indeed, this parable in the New Testament must ring true for all of us.
[00:20:28] In Matthew 5, 6, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
[00:20:40] So that's a promise of God to his people.
[00:20:46] And brothers and sisters, for a nation, the greatest judgment in a country is not a physical war, as terrible as those can be, and they can be very terrible.
[00:20:56] It's not plagues, it's not absence of rainwater or crop failures, but it's the prophecy of Amos in chapter 8 verse 11 behold the days come sayeth the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land
[00:21:14] not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water but of hearing the words of the Lord again we are in a country I don't know what the exact number last time I looked it up
[00:21:32] it was roughly 330,000 churches.
[00:21:40] I don't know if that's accurate, but at least that.
[00:21:44] And that would be a lot of churches per state.
[00:21:47] And we know some states have a lot more.
[00:21:49] North Carolina has a lot more than Vermont or Alaska.
[00:21:54] But we just can't go to any church to hear the Word of God.
[00:22:00] It should be that way where you do hear the Word of God in any church that says it is Christian.
[00:22:07] But that is not the case.
[00:22:10] So I just want to argue, take hold of the blessing to have the scriptures in your hand.
[00:22:16] Have multiple Bibles.
[00:22:18] Wear your Bibles out.
[00:22:21] I know you can rebound them, but usually you can buy a new Bible if you're going to rebound.
[00:22:26] But have many Bibles.
[00:22:29] Use them.
[00:22:30] Read them.
[00:22:31] Read them to each other.
[00:22:33] Share them with others.
[00:22:34] Second point.
[00:22:36] Desire God's love and break free from the bondage of sin.
[00:22:40] Verse 132 and 133.
[00:22:42] Look upon me and be merciful to me as your custom is toward those who love your name.
[00:22:50] Direct my steps by your word and let no iniquity have dominion over me.
[00:22:54] So you see in verse 132 where I get the title of the sermon from.
[00:23:01] So understand the custom of the Lord is the practice of the Lord.
[00:23:06] The custom of the Lord is the practice of the Lord, and that is toward mercy to those, indeed, who love your name.
[00:23:19] To know God means you know of his ways, his mercy and inclination as well, because you have experienced that.
[00:23:29] You are a believer.
[00:23:30] but for someone who's not a believer and they're coming to a Bible study or they're coming to church and they're exploring, they're searching that's a good place to be understand what the scripture says about God
[00:23:46] of the Bible there's a savior, a savior saves so often those little short contrite gospel presentations Jesus has a wonderful plan for you They don't dwell upon sin.
[00:24:09] They don't dwell that, you know, all times of the sinner's prayer of sin, or I offended you, God, or, you know, I made mistakes.
[00:24:18] That's what you say in school, like math class.
[00:24:23] You make a lot of mistakes, and then you correct the mistakes.
[00:24:28] We sin.
[00:24:29] We break the law.
[00:24:31] We transgress against the person of God.
[00:24:34] We disregard his testimonies.
[00:24:36] we deserve the judgment of God the wrath of God put that in a sinner's prayer I know I'm going to be facing eternity of hell and facing your wrath and drinking with a cup of wrath and I'm going to be
[00:24:52] weeping and gnashing gnashing my teeth and weeping endlessly and I'm going to hear the cries of those suffering and I'm going to be continuing blaspheming you God unless you do something unless you change my heart
[00:25:04] unless you forgive me and put your spirit in me We must understand, yes, there is mercy, but what is the mercy in light of?
[00:25:18] God doesn't love for no reason.
[00:25:22] There's a mystery of why he would love sinners.
[00:25:25] But we know that his love has an effect to change us, to move us closer to him.
[00:25:35] It's not a vague general love.
[00:25:37] It's a purposeful love.
[00:25:40] And so born-again believers experience this love.
[00:25:45] You know, forgiveness is in spite of the judgment they deserve.
[00:25:51] And so if we are saved, we say these words of the psalmist.
[00:25:56] Great is God's mercy.
[00:25:59] And when we feel like we need God's mercy, we have sinned against him, we have neglected our duty, in some way we have failed the Lord, we pray for mercy.
[00:26:12] And with that, it's implied I'm going to confess and repent.
[00:26:15] I need God's help.
[00:26:18] We know the Lord Jesus Christ, the Christian faith, receives sinners.
[00:26:26] For the Christian faith to grow, we need sinners.
[00:26:29] We need to recruit sinners.
[00:26:32] Now, there's blasphemous so-called Christian songs that say the Father would not change a thing in me.
[00:26:42] That's a lie.
[00:26:43] Say he won't change a thing in you.
[00:26:47] He can have sinners of different degrees.
[00:26:50] You don't have to be a greater sinner to serve Satan.
[00:26:52] But God does do a change to his glory and for our blessing.
[00:26:56] But it's the Savior's custom, practice to save and save again.
[00:27:02] And indeed, if you possess guilt for your transgressions of breaking the law, the testimonies, the Ten Commandments, understand the custom of Christ is to forgive, but he calls you to confess.
[00:27:18] Don't skip confession and assume forgiveness.
[00:27:22] It won't work that way.
[00:27:26] But he's a merciful God.
[00:27:29] Indeed, it is our responsibility and a personal burden to make the world know that the Lord Jesus is a merciful God.
[00:27:37] And he's a God who comes again in judgment.
[00:27:40] We have the complete God.
[00:27:45] He's a savior.
[00:27:47] After all, praise the Lord.
[00:27:49] He delivers his people from judgment and condemnation and destruction from their sins and every evil intent.
[00:27:58] And so the mercy of the Lord is beautiful.
[00:28:01] It is every attribute of the Lord is glorious.
[00:28:06] It moves the righteous to rejoice.
[00:28:11] It is the mercy alone that causes us to produce tears of joy.
[00:28:20] Mercy is a welcome mat to enter the house of God.
[00:28:26] We need the written invitation of the scriptures.
[00:28:30] Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
[00:28:33] Yet mercy allows you to step in to the kingdom, for it has overcome judgment.
[00:28:43] Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ accomplishes all these things for us.
[00:28:50] He is the perfect man that not only shows us how to live in a manner that is perfectly faithful and honoring to the Lord and obedient to the testimonies of the Lord, but he also pays us the penalty for the crimes we committed, commit,
[00:29:08] will commit against the person of God.
[00:29:14] We need forgiveness, and Christ accomplishes it by making payment for our sins.
[00:29:27] And so understand before you come to God, you don't only have a debt with God because of your sin, which is sin is death, that's eternal death, but we have an animosity in our heart, even a half-heartedness.
[00:29:44] It's like, well, I like a lot of things about church, but I'm just not really going to live as a Christian.
[00:29:49] That's the evil heart.
[00:29:51] You can say, well, that's not half-hearted.
[00:29:53] Half-hearted in that way is plotting the overthrow of Christ, or you're going to say with your lips, you love Christ.
[00:30:03] It's not honoring.
[00:30:05] And only the Lord can make that change in us, and it's a gradual, step-by-step change.
[00:30:12] Now, the Lord does examine.
[00:30:16] The Lord does judge, hence condemn.
[00:30:18] He separates the righteous from the wicked, and we've seen that even in this lengthy psalm.
[00:30:24] 2 Corinthians 5, verses 9-11 is very specific about this.
[00:30:30] Therefore, we make it our aim, we are the Christians, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, that means whether alive on this earth or there in heaven, to be well-pleasing to Him, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
[00:30:49] that each one may receive the things done in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
[00:30:57] Christian, you will be at the day of judgment.
[00:31:02] It's not an invitation only.
[00:31:04] It is a required summons, and the Lord brings us there.
[00:31:10] Everyone will be there to receive what we've done and bought according to whether good or bad.
[00:31:20] Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord.
[00:31:23] Who knows the terror of the Lord?
[00:31:24] Believers know the terror of the Lord, the threatens of the Lord.
[00:31:31] We persuade men that we are well-known to God and also trust we're well-known in your consciences.
[00:31:39] So let me just clarify that we have visitors here.
[00:31:44] There might be members who might want to challenge me.
[00:31:48] As Christians, we are not condemned.
[00:31:52] If you're at the judgment of God, understand your sins will be displayed.
[00:31:59] I'm not sure if it's going to be a movie of your life.
[00:32:01] everyone has a seat we're going to see everyone's sins we'll know all the sins of each other's heart and their thoughts and it is dreadful to think about but the Christian will be vindicated by
[00:32:17] Christ I've paid for that I've paid for that I have suffered for that sin and I've given them my righteousness so there's like the full vindication for the Christian but God raises the righteous and the unrighteous bodies
[00:32:37] from the graves who have died.
[00:32:41] And those in heaven already, they don't have those bodies before this day.
[00:32:47] And those in hell don't have their bodies to that day.
[00:32:51] And there is a gathering.
[00:32:52] And that's why there is a separation of the sheep from the goats.
[00:32:58] So if Christians didn't appear, where would the sheep be?
[00:33:02] But there is a separation.
[00:33:04] And God will manifest, these I have loved and redeemed through my blood, these I have not, and they are still in their sins.
[00:33:16] So 133 of our text, direct my steps by your word, and let no iniquity have dominion over me.
[00:33:24] And this must be your words.
[00:33:27] This must be your prayer to God.
[00:33:32] Again, a dead Christian does not pray this.
[00:33:39] You can have people raised in a church, and they might be troubled about one particular sin, or one neglect in their life, which might have been ongoing for most of their adult life.
[00:33:54] But we're judged for by all our sins.
[00:33:56] Let no iniquity have dominion over me.
[00:34:00] Now, there indeed, I think, exists too much talk in Christian circles on podcasts and blogs.
[00:34:07] I don't know if we talk about blogs anymore, but podcasts, and certainly in Christian books where scriptures are not mentioned or expanded upon.
[00:34:18] There's a lot of Christian books like that.
[00:34:23] Revival requires prayer, but it is assumed there is a direction from scripture.
[00:34:29] People are troubled by what they read in scripture.
[00:34:32] They are burdened by what they read in scripture.
[00:34:34] They have hope by what they read in scripture.
[00:34:38] We need Scripture to get back to faithful teaching of the knowledge of God, the spreading of the knowledge of God, how to glorify God.
[00:34:47] How do we worship?
[00:34:48] We need greater unity in that.
[00:34:51] And it's not to say even though in our denomination we're very particular about worship because we feel Scripture teaches that very diligently.
[00:35:00] But even our directory of worship is not a stagnant form of you must do these precise things.
[00:35:10] So even in the Westminster directory of public worship, very few churches follow that precisely.
[00:35:22] You can look at the model there.
[00:35:26] There'd be less psalms sung.
[00:35:27] So maybe I was following that earlier today.
[00:35:29] I don't know.
[00:35:32] But we need the scriptures.
[00:35:34] We need the sufficiency and the authority of scripture to establish the doctrine, government, and the worship of the church, hence the regular principle of doctrine, government, and worship.
[00:35:46] And as summed up in Deuteronomy 12.32, whatever I command you, be careful to observe it.
[00:35:51] You shall not add to it nor take away from it, as opposed to the normative principle of worship or doctrine or government.
[00:36:01] If it's not expressly prohibited, you can do it.
[00:36:05] There's a lot of things that are not prohibited.
[00:36:07] word by word in Scripture.
[00:36:12] Now, the question is, whose dominion are you under?
[00:36:17] Now, one aspect of observing the Lord's teaching is to experience a greater manifestation of living in a godly manner.
[00:36:26] The great theologians of the past, if you read anything of their biographies or even glimpses of it, they were godly people, reverent people.
[00:36:37] They saw their place as low as low can be before the Lord, although they were made celebrated in their own day.
[00:36:47] But we pray we have the burden, may sin have less and less power, influence, and presence in us.
[00:36:56] May we walk truly in the power of the Spirit of God.
[00:37:03] Brothers and sisters, you remember how the Israelites coming out of Egypt, They crossed the Red Sea, and they got 40 years because of not trusting the Lord to give them the land at first.
[00:37:18] And they're murmuring, and they're complaining, and they again and again seek to rebel against Moses' leadership, which is really rebelling against God's leadership.
[00:37:28] They wanted to go back to Egypt, go back.
[00:37:32] And they enlisted a good list of things that they enjoyed there.
[00:37:37] but it was a life of a slave.
[00:37:44] But they didn't put it in those terms.
[00:37:48] Egypt was the land of their oppressors, their idolatrous oppressors.
[00:37:53] They weren't followers of God.
[00:37:54] They were cruel to the Hebrews.
[00:37:57] But they want to go back to that dominion because they don't trust the leadership of God in the wilderness.
[00:38:05] Likewise, a born-again believer often wants to go back to their sin at times.
[00:38:12] At times, we do that.
[00:38:14] But the reality is that our soul desires to be faithful to the Lord.
[00:38:22] And by God's providence, the soul will prevail over the flesh.
[00:38:25] Galatians 5.17, for the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.
[00:38:30] And these are contrary, now spirit is capital S there.
[00:38:33] These are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish.
[00:38:39] to have more and more freedom from the dominion of darkness and to dwell in the peace and dominion of Christ is what believers want most.
[00:38:54] Now, do we want a Christian nation? Amen.
[00:38:57] What does that look like?
[00:39:00] How do we put it together if we had the liberty?
[00:39:04] Well, we would debate that a long time.
[00:39:08] But we want that.
[00:39:10] We don't want a nation any longer of sin and debauchery of whatever kind.
[00:39:17] We want it to worship the Lord.
[00:39:18] We want it to celebrate his works.
[00:39:20] We want to honor the Lord at every turn with admiration, joy, praise, and thanksgiving.
[00:39:29] But this requires a nature like God that seeks after his righteousness.
[00:39:35] And we carry that burden.
[00:39:37] So don't be discouraged by your burden.
[00:39:41] See it as evidence that you are adopted.
[00:39:44] You are one of the children of God who dwells on this fallen world.
[00:39:50] We want the kingdom of God to expand.
[00:39:52] We want Christ to reign supreme.
[00:39:54] And we rejoice when that day comes.
[00:39:57] And we labor and hopefully pray to that end.
[00:40:02] And so we would join the sentiment of Jude, verse 25, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory, majesty, dominion, and power both now and forever.
[00:40:14] Amen.
[00:40:16] It brings us to our third point.
[00:40:18] The soul grieves from oppression but still delights to see God face to face.
[00:40:24] The last three verses of our stanza.
[00:40:26] Redeem me from the oppression of man that I may keep your precepts.
[00:40:33] Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me your statutes.
[00:40:40] Rivers of water run down from my eyes because men do not keep your law.
[00:40:49] Now, persecution often expresses oppression in the Old Testament seeks to hinder obedience to God.
[00:40:56] It is a historical fact that the freedom granted by a civil government to its citizens to worship freely makes the church flourish.
[00:41:10] Now, yes, the church can grow under persecution, and that usually means conversions, but the organized church flourishes best under a system of freedoms protected by the civil leaders.
[00:41:23] But the greater aspect of oppression or persecution is where the society, the culture, and it invades the church, promotes idolatry, promotes immorality, and does not want the knowledge of God to be dispersed to people.
[00:41:45] take out the gospel take out the instruction of the law take out the deeper teaching of the old and the new testament so in our land we have churches let's talk about the love of Christ without talking
[00:42:06] about sin without talking about judgment let us focus on doing good to our fellow man and that's the essence of our Christian faith let's welcome other people let's worship with other people of other faiths
[00:42:18] and show unity, basically a Christianity that has the name Christian but nothing of Christ.
[00:42:29] And so when Abel is murdered by his brother, we know it's because Abel is righteous, and his brother was just rebuked by the Lord for bringing corrupt worship to the Lord.
[00:42:42] There's sin in Cain's heart, and Cain is enraged, and he lashes out against his righteous brother.
[00:42:51] And today, brothers and sisters, in England, there is oppression against Christians when they pray in public near an abortion clinic.
[00:42:57] They will be arrested.
[00:43:00] And as you know, even as police will say, what are you doing?
[00:43:04] The person's just standing there.
[00:43:06] I'm praying.
[00:43:07] They ask, are you praying?
[00:43:08] Yes, I'm praying in my heart.
[00:43:10] You're under arrest.
[00:43:11] And even open-air preaching in some cities is outlawed, just like in Bunyan's time.
[00:43:22] It may be worse. It doesn't matter what denomination you are.
[00:43:27] And all this is to oppress Christians, to suppress the knowledge, to stop it from going forward.
[00:43:34] We need to promote legitimate avenues to be faithful to the Lord, even in the public space.
[00:43:39] But may we continue to be faithful, even in private.
[00:43:46] Understand, all that the unbelievers can do to you in their oppression, in their persecution, saints, is to increase the cost of following Christ.
[00:44:01] That's all they can do.
[00:44:03] You might think, okay, this is the cost for following Christ.
[00:44:08] Unbelievers can make that even more costly.
[00:44:12] They might be the inflation factor.
[00:44:16] Yeah, there's more of a cost to follow Christ today than 50 years ago.
[00:44:19] We would all agree with that, even if he didn't live 50 years ago.
[00:44:23] So they can increase the cost, But they cannot ultimately prevent you from following Christ or obeying the Lord.
[00:44:35] They make it uncomfortable, but never impossible.
[00:44:41] So never say, I can't do this.
[00:44:43] Now you can say, if I do this, I might lose my job.
[00:44:46] Well, I counted well, and you make that determination.
[00:44:52] But we prefer the blessing of the Lord.
[00:44:56] We want to bring joy and favor.
[00:44:59] The Lord wants to increase our joy in him.
[00:45:02] And he expresses his favor again and again.
[00:45:04] Isaiah 60, verses 1 through 3.
[00:45:07] Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
[00:45:13] So he's speaking to the covenant people.
[00:45:16] For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people.
[00:45:21] We feel like we're there.
[00:45:23] But the Lord will arise over you, and his glory will be seen upon you.
[00:45:27] The Gentiles shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.
[00:45:35] And what a wonderful truth that is.
[00:45:39] And so here we do have in our stanza we're looking at today, a benediction reserved for God's people to go forth after hearing the message of God.
[00:45:51] It's meant to communicate God's favor.
[00:45:53] because often God says hard things, challenging things to us, but he always has promises of blessings.
[00:46:00] That's why you read, you know, throughout a book of Bible, read your whole Bible.
[00:46:06] That will always be there, always be encouragement.
[00:46:09] But number six, 24 through 27, the Lord bless you and keep you.
[00:46:14] Just dwell on those words.
[00:46:16] The Lord will bless you and he will always keep you.
[00:46:21] The Lord make his face shine upon you.
[00:46:24] And here we have that in the psalm.
[00:46:27] And be gracious to you.
[00:46:30] The shining of the face is always gracious.
[00:46:33] The rainbow you see after a rainstorm is always a reminder of God's grace upon the world that should lead us to think about Christ.
[00:46:45] It doesn't take away the knowledge of the coming judgment, but there is grace to be found.
[00:46:51] We have a gracious God.
[00:46:52] Verse 26, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
[00:46:59] And the covenant God looks upon as a word, smiling with a face of affection and joy and love upon his people.
[00:47:10] He blesses his people.
[00:47:12] He grants his peace to his people.
[00:47:14] He reminds us he is a God of peace.
[00:47:17] Today you have peace.
[00:47:18] Tomorrow you will have peace.
[00:47:19] Tomorrow you have great persecution, but you still have God's peace.
[00:47:23] And then verse 27, so they shall put my name on the children of Israel and I will bless them.
[00:47:34] I don't know why there are churches that take out the word church in their name.
[00:47:39] I don't understand.
[00:47:41] I have a lot of respect to a lot of Baptist churches.
[00:47:44] I'm not Baptist by conviction.
[00:47:46] But when Baptists start taking the word Baptist out, or more grave is when Presbyterians take the word Presbyterian out of their name.
[00:47:56] What are they thinking?
[00:47:59] Let us not be ashamed of anything associated with God and God's Word.
[00:48:02] That is our conviction.
[00:48:05] Now, the stanza ends with grief and deep sadness, where the righteous one weeps for the sin that he sees.
[00:48:11] And remember the words of Christ's verse, 136, Rivers of water run down from my eyes because men do not keep your law.
[00:48:21] Now, for you and I, we have heard of things, of grievous sin.
[00:48:26] that seem to have come out of nowhere.
[00:48:30] And the most grievous ones are in the church, where Christian people, Christian leaders make it even worse, where there's some terrible ongoing sin for years, and perhaps when, indeed, it is a sin against children,
[00:48:45] it is most grievous.
[00:48:47] Of course, we can think of a hundred different sins that grieve our soul.
[00:48:51] we consider the magnitude of the harm and of the evil that is done and cause us to weep bitterly especially if it's against me and against my family a bitter, bitter crime because of sin, because of the evil
[00:49:11] that we see, that we experience against us, against the Lord chiefly causes our heart to be heavy Maybe we would be tempted to abandon the faith.
[00:49:25] And perhaps there is an abandonment of a righteous zeal upon the leaders in the church to deal with this sin.
[00:49:33] So there's a sin upon a sin upon a sin.
[00:49:37] There wasn't a holy condemnation.
[00:49:39] It makes things worse.
[00:49:43] But you know, and I know, if we are honest, we are not consistent in this weeping.
[00:49:50] We are not always mourning because of the sin that we see.
[00:49:56] And others, that our greatest grieving should be our own sin.
[00:50:02] And we are really not consistent in grieving over our own sin, even when we come to the Lord's table.
[00:50:13] We need a greater sensitivity.
[00:50:16] We are in a world of being desensitized.
[00:50:24] Ho-hum.
[00:50:26] I don't know.
[00:50:27] Maybe there's a study on psychology.
[00:50:28] Why do people slow down when there is a traffic accident on the highway, when it's not blocking their lane clearly?
[00:50:37] He knows that.
[00:50:38] Back up, back up.
[00:50:39] What's happening?
[00:50:40] What's going on?
[00:50:40] Is there construction?
[00:50:42] There's a terrible accident.
[00:50:45] And maybe the car is like 30 feet off the road.
[00:50:50] People slow down to look.
[00:50:53] And I try to pray.
[00:50:55] And I look.
[00:50:57] I admit that.
[00:50:58] I just don't look for the sake of looking.
[00:51:01] fascination. But we need to be grieved. We need to be grieved for our own sin.
[00:51:08] A fully righteous man with no indication of sin in his life, no inclination towards sin, is found in Jesus Christ.
[00:51:22] And he's the one who weeps the most.
[00:51:26] Indeed, mankind was made upright to rebel in order to be like God.
[00:51:33] He went deeper and deeper and deeper into sin and justified ungodliness in every turn.
[00:51:39] We see it in the world, we see it in the church, but we need to turn to the Lord.
[00:51:46] We need to go back to the Scriptures.
[00:51:49] Again, just to sum up, we delight in the commandments of the Lord.
[00:51:53] We seek the Lord's face while it can be found.
[00:51:59] We seek the relieving of the burden of our conscience by confessing our sin, and we pray for others to hear the word.
[00:52:08] to know of the Lord, to have that degree of understanding and conviction, and that we want all peoples of the earth, indeed, to exalt the Lord and to celebrate the Lord and to realize salvation is realized
[00:52:23] in the person and work of the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
[00:52:28] Let us pray.
[00:52:29] Father, I pray that we would indeed make this psalm our memory passage to reflect upon, to examine ourselves, and to be directed by Scripture to meditate upon your mercy.
[00:52:46] Indeed, what a wonderful truth, many truths that you have in here, that it is your custom to show mercy towards those who love your name.
[00:52:59] So increase our love for your name and all that's associated with your name.
[00:53:03] Indeed, keeping that third commandment.
[00:53:06] And may we grow in service.
[00:53:07] May we grow in burden.
[00:53:09] as well to intercede and pray for others and to advocate for Christ and faith in him, who is the only Savior for the world.
[00:53:19] In his name we do pray. Amen.