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Brethren, please turn in your Bibles

2
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to Psalm 1.

3
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Our brother Craig said he felt inclined

4
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to preach from this psalm last week,

5
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but he didn't, because 
the week before that

6
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Brother Nathan Rages

7
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brought us a message on stability

8
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or stay-bility.

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And Craig felt that he didn't just use

10
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this psalm as a launching point,

11
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but kind of stayed here for quite awhile,

12
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so Craig thought to move on,

13
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but I think it's interesting

14
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that three preachers in a row

15
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have been impressed as I have as well,

16
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even before Nathan brought that.

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I've been thinking much about

18
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the first psalm.

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And I am inclined to take us there again,

20
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even after Craig was 
done preaching last week,

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I told Craig, I believe I am

22
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going to deal with Psalm 1,

23
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and, God helping us,

24
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let's look at it.

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Let's read it

26
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in its entirety.

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"Blessed is the man..."

28
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And I'll tell you, if we know Scripture,

29
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there are one in a thousand such men.

30
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"Blessed is the man

31
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who walks not in the 
counsel of the wicked,

32
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nor stands in the way of sinners,

33
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nor sits in the seat of scoffers.

34
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But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

35
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and on His law, he 
meditates day and night.

36
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He is like a tree planted

37
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by streams of water,

38
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that yields its fruit in its season,

39
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and its leaf does not wither.

40
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In all that he does, he prospers.

41
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The wicked are not so..."

42
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In fact, in the Septuagint, this reads

43
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as a double negative:

44
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"Not so the ungodly." Not so.

45
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"...but are like chaff,

46
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that the wind drives away.

47
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Therefore the wicked will not stand

48
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in the judgment,

49
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nor sinners in the congregation

50
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of the righteous."

51
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Churches here are mixed,

52
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but as we heard in the first hour,

53
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every church has at least one devil in it.

54
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They're mixed here.

55
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They won't be then.

56
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"For the Lord knows

57
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the way of the righteous,

58
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but the way of the wicked will perish."

59
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This is a psalm.

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It's the first one.

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In it, you saw it,

62
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there's two men.

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There's one called (v. 1) blessed...

64
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is the man.

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And then when you look down in v. 6,

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"The Lord knows the way of the righteous."

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There's one man - the blessed man,

68
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the righteous man.

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And then there's another man.

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And you see him here.

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V. 4 - "The wicked are not so."

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V. 5 "The wicked will not stand..."

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V. 6 "The wicked will perish."

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We're all here.

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All mankind encapsulated 
in this one psalm.

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But see, I see a problem right off.

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I mean, as I read this,

78
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and I think about preaching it.

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I recognize, you as you process this,

80
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that man has a built-in disposition

81
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to deny and reject that he is wicked.

82
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Nobody takes that term upon themselves.

83
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I know you've got certain crazy people

84
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out there that delight in such things.

85
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But I'll tell you, when 
really pushed to it,

86
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as far as their eternal welfare,

87
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as far as their standing before God,

88
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men sarcastically will talk about

89
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being wicked,

90
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or in their pride,

91
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they will try to outdo one another

92
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in evil deeds,

93
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but when they're pressed to it,

94
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men say, well, in the depths of my heart,

95
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really at the deepest level,

96
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I'm a good person.

97
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You see, I recognize 
there's a disposition.

98
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Why?

99
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Because the word just sounds too horrible.

100
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Wicked.

101
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It's too heinous.

102
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It's just too bad to describe me.

103
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And here's what happens:

104
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So, men think to themselves,

105
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Ok, I'm about to hear the righteous

106
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compared with the wicked.

107
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Well, I know I'm not wicked.

108
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So somehow or another,

109
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what's said of the righteous -

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it has to describe me.

111
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Maybe not perfectly,

112
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but I'm in there somewhere.

113
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Because I'm not wicked.

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I know I'm not that.

115
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So, somehow I've got to fit in over here.

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What's said of the wicked man

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can't possibly be true of me.

118
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You see, men, men... presuppositions.

119
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They're ideas about themselves.

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In fact, what's interesting is how often

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the Bible has to tell us who we are.

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It's amazing.

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It has to tell wicked people who they are,

124
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and it has to tell the 
righteous who they are.

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Why?

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Because we have a real hard time

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getting that straight ourselves,

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even as Christians.

129
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Think about how often

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the New Testament is simply

131
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telling Christians who they are.

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We don't get it right.

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As Christians, we tend to think less

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of ourselves than we ought to.

135
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And as lost people,

136
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we tend to think far more of ourselves

137
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than we ought to.

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We have a real hard time

139
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getting this straight.

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And so God comes along

141
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and over and over and over again,

142
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He is telling us who we are.

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What we are.

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This is why the Bible goes

145
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to all these lengths

146
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to define us over and over.

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And you know what?

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There's nothing that tells us who we are

149
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like this book tells us who we are.

150
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Nothing describes us like this book.

151
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So, here's the thing,

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v. 4, the wicked are not so.

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You know what?

154
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If we could just tear that out -

155
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we don't want to do that,

156
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but if we did, if we just replaced it

157
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with "the man of the world..."

158
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intelligent, intellectual, wise,

159
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independent, fun-loving,

160
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free-spirited, free thinking, witty...

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you know what,

162
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we might get more people to be honest.

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Because the problem is,

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as soon as the word wicked comes up,

165
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oh, that's not me!

166
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But you know, if we 
redefined it a little bit,

167
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and put it in more acceptable terms,

168
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people would let their guard down.

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But that word wicked...

170
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what about that?

171
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It makes us think of wicked witches.

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The wicked - like the devil.

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But notice the simplicity of it all.

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Look at v. 4.

175
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"The wicked are not so."

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Just think about that.

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Think about the simplicity of that.

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The wicked are not so.

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There's no horns.

180
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There's no pointed hat

181
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and black cats here.

182
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They don't torture people 
in their basement.

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What is it?

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What's true of the righteous...

185
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not so.

186
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That's the wicked.

187
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They're not pedophiles.

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Pedophiles are wicked,

189
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but you get my drift here?

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This is just: show me

191
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what the righteous man is;

192
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the wicked man is just not like that.

193
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He doesn't have to run around

194
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being an axe murderer.

195
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He's just not like the righteous.

196
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You see, there's only 
two categories here, folks.

197
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And if you're not in the righteous,

198
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the blessed man category,

199
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you're in the other.

200
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You're just not like the righteous.

201
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That's it.

202
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That's the wicked.

203
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We need to see this for what it is.

204
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The wicked are not so.

205
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Brethren, this is God's teaching.

206
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That's what Psalm 1 is.

207
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What we come to right here -

208
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it was spoken by David in the beginning,

209
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but this is no invention of man.

210
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This is inspired language.

211
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This is God defining humanity.

212
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There are only two alternatives here.

213
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You see it.

214
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Men are so disposed

215
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to think in degrees.

216
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Right?

217
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not just black or white.

218
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We like to think in degrees.

219
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We like to think

220
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somewhere in the middle.

221
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That there's other alternatives.

222
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But we're not given that.

223
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There's no middle ground somewhere here.

224
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See, we tend to think,

225
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
well, come on, are you 
righteous all the time?

226
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Well, you know, I'm a sinner,

227
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but I'm not that bad.

228
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I'm not wicked.

229
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So, I'm somewhere in the middle.

230
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Scripture doesn't allow that.

231
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We tend to think that way,

232
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but Scripture doesn't allow this

233
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thinking in degrees.

234
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It's pretty radical.

235
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Boy, how often does Scripture do this?

236
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It's everywhere - in the Old Testament

237
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and in the New. Everywhere!

238
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That Scripture comes along and says

239
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Bang! Bang!

240
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Two camps.

241
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You're in one or the other.

242
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Radical. No in-between's.

243
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That is such the language of Scripture

244
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
over and over and over.

245
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Only two men in this psalm.

246
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No middle ground.

247
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Either you're one or the other.

248
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We're looking at two men.

249
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Just two.

250
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You're like one.

251
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Or you're not so.

252
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, let's consider this.

253
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Let's consider the first four words.

254
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Blessed is the man..."

255
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I've got five "P's"

256
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that I want to use to describe just this.

257
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Blessed is the man.

258
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The first is this.

259
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The first "P": Plurality.

260
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's a plurality of blessednesses.

261
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Martin Luther points out,

262
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and I needed somebody else to tell me this

263
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because I can make my way through Greek,

264
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but Hebrew is out there.

265
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Luther says in the Hebrew,

266
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the word "blessed" is plural.

267
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's literally blessednesses.

268
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
All blessednesses are the portion

269
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of this blessed man.

270
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
All things are well

271
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with a man like this.

272
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Spurgeon calls it

273
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the multiplicity of blessings.

274
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You want to be this guy.

275
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This means everything is good.

276
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Everything is blessed.

277
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Blessednesses.

278
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The second "P" is

279
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the propensity towards blessedness.

280
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What do I mean by that?

281
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Propensity.

282
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The desire.

283
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We desire this.

284
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
All men desire this.

285
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, as was mentioned by Craig

286
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
last week, happy, blessed,

287
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
blessed is the man.

288
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There are places such as Deuteronomy 33:29:

289
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Happy are you, O Israel!

290
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Who is like you?

291
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
A people saved by the Lord."

292
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yes, this word can be translated

293
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
directly: "happy."

294
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The happinesses - it's plural.

295
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
All the happinesses of the man

296
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that's described here.

297
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And here's the thing.

298
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You think with me here.

299
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Of all that God could have done

300
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in starting out the book of Psalms,

301
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the very first one,

302
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the very first line,

303
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He hits us with the thing

304
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that all men have a propensity for;

305
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that all men long after:

306
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
happiness.

307
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We are all anxious to be blessed.

308
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When we hear Esau,

309
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
remember how he was?

310
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
With his father Isaac?

311
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Bless me, even me also, O my father!"

312
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Bless me!

313
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's how we all are.

314
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We want it!
We want it!

315
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
See, he was faced with the fact

316
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that he was losing it.

317
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And he was desparate.

318
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Bless me!

319
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We all want that blessing.

320
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you know what gives man

321
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
even the ability to make it

322
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
from one day to the next

323
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is hope that ultimately,

324
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he will receive that.

325
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Hell is such hopelessness

326
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because it's all gone.

327
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The blessedness is all gone.

328
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But this is the longing 
of the soul of man.

329
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Right here at the beginning

330
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the very first psalm.

331
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The third "P":

332
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The positivity of blessedness.

333
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Blessed is the man."

334
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Is. I put stress on "is."

335
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not just that he will be.

336
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He is.

337
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The first psalm is God telling us

338
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that blessedness is not 
just for the future.

339
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You can be sitting here right in this room

340
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in this world at this time

341
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and be a man or woman

342
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of all blessednesses.

343
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I mean, you can sit here

344
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and be the absolute envy -

345
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if the truth were to be known -

346
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the absolute envy of all mankind.

347
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You have that which all men want.

348
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's a positivity here.

349
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's attainable.

350
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In this world, it's attainable.

351
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
No matter if it's 106 degrees out.

352
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's attainable.

353
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
No matter if you're going through trials.

354
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's attainable.

355
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's the thing.

356
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Go with David some time

357
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and visit the nursing home.

358
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Or, come with John Sytsma

359
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when he goes over to Nepal,

360
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and you look at one of these Hindi people

361
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in their seventies or eighties.

362
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You look at the old people

363
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there in the nursing home.

364
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Their faces - empty, hollow,

365
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they're just sad.

366
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Why?

367
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They've lived their lives.

368
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So many promises of happiness.

369
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When we talk about

370
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"blessed is the man,"

371
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they're one in a thousand.

372
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know what the other 999

373
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are doing all the time?

374
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The pleasures of sin for a season.

375
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And those little pleasures in sin,

376
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they're saying, "Try me! You'll be happy!"

377
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Try me! You'll be happy!"

378
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you're grasping at the wind.

379
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You're grasping at mist.

380
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because there's pleasure for a season

381
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and then it's gone.

382
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you spend a whole life doing that

383
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and all these promises of happiness.

384
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you get to the end

385
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and their religions haven't done it.

386
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Their false gods have not done it.

387
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And in all their old age, 
you look at them,

388
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they're miserable.

389
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They're out of their minds.

390
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They just cuss and they swear

391
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they're mean.

392
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You go there.

393
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Isn't that how they are?

394
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Just nasty old people.

395
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Why?

396
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Just hopeless.

397
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They're getting to the end

398
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and everything has proven empty.

399
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's just emptiness.

400
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Only fear looms before them.

401
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Happiness is one of 
the most elusive things

402
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in this world.

403
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You have a world out there chasing it,

404
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and few there be that find it.

405
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Few actually lay hold on it.

406
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But, the promise here is

407
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that there is a blessed man.

408
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's attainable.

409
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's the thing.

410
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And oh, brethren,

411
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
don't we hear it in the 
very blood of Christ.

412
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If anything whispers "blessedness,"

413
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's that blood.

414
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The next "P" - the fourth:

415
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The place of blessedness.

416
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
By "place," I mean,

417
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
where is it to be found?

418
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Notice this:

419
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Look at v. 2.

420
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"His delight is in the law of the Lord

421
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and on His law he 
meditates day and night."

422
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Now, brethren, hear me carefully.

423
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There is not a text,

424
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and you won't find it.

425
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Never found it in my Bible -

426
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not any of the Bibles I've ever owned.

427
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You will never find a beatitude that says,

428
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
blessed is the man who hungers and thirsts

429
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for blessedness.

430
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You won't find it.

431
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not there.

432
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Where is blessedness to be found?

433
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Happiness is not to be found

434
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in just seeking to be happy.

435
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Think with me here.

436
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What does this man desire?

437
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The law of the Lord.

438
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He meditates on it day and night.

439
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Why? Because it's in 
that he finds his God.

440
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In that he finds life;

441
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he finds his Christ, his Messiah.

442
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst

443
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for righteousness.

444
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They will be satisfied.

445
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, think of this.

446
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Think of this truth.

447
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If you grab for happiness,

448
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you miss it.

449
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It just turns to mist.

450
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It slips away.

451
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's only the man or the woman

452
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who actually seek for something else

453
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that find happiness.

454
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Do you notice that?

455
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Or listen to Psalm 119:2.
Don't turn there, but listen.

456
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Blessed are those who 
keep His testimonies,

457
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who seek Him with their whole heart."

458
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see?

459
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We seek Him. We find blessing.

460
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We seek His Word. We find blessing.

461
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We seek His righteousness.

462
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We find blessing.

463
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We seek first the Kingdom.

464
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We find all things.

465
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Is that not how Scripture is?

466
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Oh, brethren, that's a principle 
you don't want to lose.

467
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because men desire blessing.

468
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They desire happiness.

469
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And most miss it,

470
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because they look for 
it in the wrong place.

471
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Fifthly, the person of this blessedness.

472
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Blessings and happiness

473
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are not tied to the man's circumstances.

474
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You need to see that.

475
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
See, the world tends to think,

476
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
blessed is the man that 
gets a beautiful wife.

477
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Blessed is the man that comes into money.

478
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Blessed is the man that 
can afford to get that car,

479
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
buy that house.

480
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Blessed is the man that 
(fill in the blank).

481
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
...gets the promotion at work.

482
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But do you notice nothing in this psalm

483
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
has to do with circumstances?

484
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's the person.

485
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's who he is, not the 
circumstances in his life.

486
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's critical.
That's crucial.

487
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Blessings and happiness

488
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are tied to who you are,

489
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
not what's happening in your life.

490
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
To who you are.

491
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
To what your relationship is with God.

492
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What your relationship is with the Word.

493
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's the issue.

494
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Now, there's those five "P's"

495
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that have to do with "blessed."

496
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Now, let's just broaden out

497
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and think about the whole psalm.

498
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, hear me carefully.

499
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This psalm is an entire indicative.

500
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's no command here.

501
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Now, I recognize Hebrew doesn't

502
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
necessarily have indicative verbs,

503
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but in the Greek, in the Septuagint,

504
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that's exactly what it is.

505
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What am I getting at?

506
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You don't want to know 
all about Greek and Hebrew.

507
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But what am I getting at?

508
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
My point is this:

509
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This psalm doesn't command 
you to do anything.

510
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Look. Should you go to this psalm and say,

511
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
hey, I ought to be more 
disciplined in the Word.

512
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know, when you get indicatives,

513
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they do imply, they suggest imperatives.

514
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When you're told a fact,

515
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they do sometimes imply

516
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a responsibility on our part.

517
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's true.

518
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't deny that.

519
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And there's many other places where

520
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you find this to be a reality.

521
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But hear me carefully.

522
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I am not going to preach 
commandments to you here,

523
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because this psalm does not do that.

524
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This psalm basically lays down facts.

525
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Notice, nothing in this 
psalm is telling you

526
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or seeking to encourage you directly

527
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to not walk in the counsel of the wicked

528
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or to stand in a certain place

529
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or to sit in a certain place.

530
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not commanding you.

531
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not encouraging you 
to be in the Word.

532
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not encouraging you to be a tree.

533
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not encouraging you to be fruitful.

534
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Not directly.

535
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You hear what I'm saying.

536
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It basically is a statement of fact.

537
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You say where are you going?

538
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'll tell you where I'm going.

539
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know the problem too often

540
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when you preach a text like this,

541
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is people go away -

542
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
especially the wicked -

543
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they go away thinking,

544
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
oh, I need to do better at that.

545
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's not what this is.

546
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is a statement of fact.

547
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's a description.

548
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It is God coming along and He's saying

549
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you want to know what 
a righteous man looks like?

550
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Here's what he looks like.

551
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You want to know what a wicked man is?

552
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's not that.

553
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's basically what's happening.

554
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Make sure you see that.

555
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You say why?

556
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because this isn't a 
pep rally to do better.

557
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is a searching.

558
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is a spotlight shining on all of us.

559
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not an encouragement 
to go out and strive,

560
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or to go out and run better.

561
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is a spotlight shining on you

562
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that proves who you are.

563
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Make sure you see that.

564
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The issue is not so much

565
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that you need to strive harder,

566
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
as much as it is the living God telling us

567
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what is true of all of us.

568
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, notice this.

569
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
V. 1 is, "Blessed is the man who

570
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
walks not..."

571
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The negative.

572
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Before you get the positive in v. 2.

573
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"His delight is in the law of the Lord."

574
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You get the negative.

575
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The negative is first.

576
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Isn't that similar to - 
I think of Isaiah 55 oftentimes.

577
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Let the wicked forsake his way,

578
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the unrighteous man his thoughts,

579
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and let him return unto the Lord.

580
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So you get the negative first:

581
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
forsake your way.

582
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The positive: return to the Lord.

583
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Or when Jesus came in the New Testament.

584
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What did He say?

585
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Repent!

586
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Repentance is a change of mind.

587
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It is that change of mind about sin,

588
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
about Christ.

589
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's this turning from sin.

590
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's a reversal in life.

591
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's a forsaking and then believing.

592
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Calling upon the Lord in faith.

593
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We often get this negative

594
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
before the positive.

595
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Why?

596
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know what the danger is?

597
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You come along with just the positive

598
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and people think I need 
to tack that on my life.

599
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Nope, that's not it.

600
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's never how it is.

601
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's first turning.

602
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's a forsaking.

603
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's things we step back from.

604
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's things that the blessed man

605
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
no longer involves himself in

606
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
before we get to the positive.

607
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's the way God often 
does it in Scripture.

608
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Man in this world - evil,

609
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he's wrong; he's vile -

610
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and God's way is essentially different.

611
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And it's not just you 
staying on your own way,

612
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and your old way,

613
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and then tacking on God's way.

614
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There is a forsaking of your way.

615
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And a coming to God's way.

616
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's the issue.

617
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Blessed is the man who walks not

618
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the counsel of the wicked,

619
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
nor stands in the way of sinners."

620
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Not.

621
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, this is desire 
being described here.

622
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
God's not giving a commandment.

623
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's a desire.

624
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I know, someone says, exactly!

625
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Negative.

626
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Of course, that's how it starts out.

627
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's what Christianity is in 
a lot of people's minds.

628
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Of course, that's exactly 
how Christianity is.

629
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You can't do this.
You can't do that.

630
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But, brethren, listen to me.

631
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is not a psalm of "thou shalt not's."

632
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is a man who desires the Word of God,

633
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the law of the Lord.

634
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is a man who has a heart

635
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that hungers after this.

636
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He delights in it.

637
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And because he delights in that,

638
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he disdains what's against it:

639
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the ways of the world,

640
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the ways of the devil,

641
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the ways that are wrong,

642
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the ways of the scornful,

643
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the ways of the sinner.

644
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They're repulsive to him

645
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because he delights in the law of God.

646
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's the idea.

647
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, we have to 
get this in our heads.

648
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Christianity is not just this set

649
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of external laws that tells us

650
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
don't do this, don't do this...

651
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Christianity is a transformation of heart

652
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
where our delights are now toward the Word

653
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and we don't want that.

654
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's a distaste.

655
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We don't love what we used to love.

656
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Christianity is God changing us

657
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so that we don't desire

658
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the counsel of the ungodly.

659
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We delight in the Word of Christ.

660
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And brethren, we find His yoke easy.

661
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's the reality.

662
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Notice the progressiveness

663
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of this first verse.

664
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He doesn't walk in the 
counsel of the wicked.

665
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then it's "stand."

666
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You've got a man walking,

667
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and then it's like the man stops walking

668
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and he stands.

669
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then the man sits.

670
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's progressive what?

671
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Incomplete thought)

672
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It is a digression.

673
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's like there's motion and then he stops

674
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and then he sits.

675
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's like this increasing grip of sin.

676
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This increasing - Lloyd-Jones 
called it paralysis of sin.

677
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The blessed man avoids it.

678
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And what is this?

679
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What does he avoid?

680
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You say, the wicked, the sinner,

681
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the scoffer... brethren, where are they?

682
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Think about your life.

683
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's voices,

684
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We have these voices.

685
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Things are coming in the eyes

686
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and coming in the ears all the time.

687
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We see things.

688
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We hear things.

689
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Where are these voices in this world?

690
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We have means of commication today

691
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
like they never had in any other time.

692
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Think of the channels through which

693
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
these things come.

694
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, you know what they are.

695
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Friends.

696
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
How often does Scripture 
speak about companionship?

697
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You want to be a fool?

698
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Hang out with the fools.

699
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Plain and simple.

700
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Social media.

701
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You can hang out with people.

702
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You spend your time there.

703
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, what kind of voices are these?

704
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The wicked, the sinner, the scoffer...

705
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they're voices that take you

706
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
off of running this race like you should.

707
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They're voices that turn us away from God

708
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and godliness.

709
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They scoff. They mock

710
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at the ways of the righteous.

711
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They scoff and they mock

712
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at the ways of Scripture.

713
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's all that's advserse to

714
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and against and radically,

715
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
essentially the opposite

716
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of what's in v. 2:

717
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Loving the law of the Lord.

718
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's everything that's opposed to that.

719
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's everything that shuns that.

720
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's everything that smirks at that.

721
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's everything that 
slights the ways of God.

722
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's what we're talking about.

723
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What we're talking about here

724
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is the blessed man;

725
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is the man who looks at the friends

726
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in his life and says,

727
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you know what?

728
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I am not going to spend time

729
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with those people anymore.

730
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because you know what?

731
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I want to spend time in the Word.

732
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And there's something in their lives,

733
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there's something in their words

734
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that opposes this.

735
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I'm not walking there.

736
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I'm not standing there.

737
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm not going to stop

738
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and I'm not going to sit.

739
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see, it's almost more

740
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of a progressive stagnation in sin.

741
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm not going to do it.

742
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm not going to go there.

743
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm going to evaluate social media.

744
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If that movie is going to take me somehow

745
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
away from what pleases God,

746
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
why am I going to go do that?

747
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Why?

748
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Entertainment?

749
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Oh you're going to entertain yourself

750
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by going and standing

751
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the way of the sinner.

752
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Is that it?

753
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see, the righteous 
man doesn't do that.

754
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Now, brethren, hear me again.

755
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm not saying, ok, you better size up

756
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what you're doing on Facebook

757
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and you better size up what you're doing

758
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with the TV and with movies

759
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and with all the technology.

760
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
No commandments here.

761
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Listen, brethren, what 
you need to recognize

762
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is God is telling you what we are.

763
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
See, if you're the guy that perpetually

764
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
has to look at your life and say,

765
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
well, I'm massively failing there.

766
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, it's not God telling you

767
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you need to get your act straight.

768
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's God telling you who you are.

769
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Do you recognize that's what's happening

770
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in this psalm?

771
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's saying look at your life.

772
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If you walk in the way of the ungodly;

773
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if you stand in this place of sinners;

774
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you sit there among those who

775
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
slight the things that are godly -

776
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's telling you what you are.

777
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because if you say,

778
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
no my delight is in the Word.

779
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Hey, this is all opposed to that.

780
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And see, if you say,

781
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
no, I'm a blessed man

782
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because I delight in the Word.

783
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Ok, there's going to be proof.

784
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the proof on the negative side

785
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is what you no longer do.

786
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see, there's evidence.

787
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's the point.

788
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is indicative.

789
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is indicating what is true.

790
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm not here today to tell you

791
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to clean up your act.

792
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There are definitely texts

793
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that talk about purging 
that out of your life

794
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
which ought not to be there,

795
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and cutting off and gouging out.

796
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
No question about that.

797
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But brethren, what this is saying to us

798
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is not so much that that's 
what you need to do,

799
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's saying to us,

800
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if you're the blessed man,

801
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that's what you already do.

802
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's already true in your life.

803
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's already a reality.

804
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, this is not commandment.

805
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is fact.

806
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
God is not admonishing us specifically

807
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to be holier.

808
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's telling us the truth about

809
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what holiness looks like.

810
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that holy man is that blessed man.

811
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's telling us that if 
you're that blessed man,

812
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you're not going to run with 
that same crowd you ran with.

813
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you're not going to do the same things

814
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on the Internet you used to do.

815
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you're not going to do the same things

816
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at the movie theatre you used to do.

817
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you're not going to do the same things

818
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in front of the television.

819
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because these are all the avenues

820
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by which those voices come.

821
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You're not going to do the same thing

822
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with family.

823
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You're not going to do the 
same thing with friends.

824
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You're not going to do 
the same things with radio.

825
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You're not going to do the 
same thing with songs and music.

826
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Why?

827
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because look, you've 
got to bring this home.

828
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The counsel of the wicked,

829
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the way of the sinner,

830
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the seat of the scoffer.

831
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is real.

832
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You have to put familiar faces on this.

833
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is not just this 
ambiguous thing out there.

834
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is your life.
This is my life.

835
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I'll tell you this,

836
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what He's saying is the blessed man

837
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is a man who suddenly is not

838
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
doing all sorts of things 
that he used to do.

839
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And one of the primary rationales,

840
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
one of the primary motivations,

841
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
one of the primary movers in all of this

842
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is not external laws.

843
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's what he delights in.

844
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He now delights in the Word of God.

845
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so, naturally, if 
you delight in something,

846
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you don't delight in that which is opposed

847
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to the something that you delight in.

848
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's the reality here, brethren.

849
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And notice this last one.

850
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because, I think this is key.

851
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Nor sits in the seat of scoffers."

852
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know what a scoffer is?

853
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Or a scorner?

854
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They're somebody who mocks.

855
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And even in the church,

856
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we get those who scorn

857
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they scoff and they mock

858
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they make light of

859
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
anyone they see who seems more radical.

860
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know what you get in the church?

861
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You get these people

862
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who they want to keep a clear conscience.

863
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And they come to Scripture,

864
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they see something there,

865
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
like they look at modesty

866
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they think what that means

867
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is I need to wear a dress that's down

868
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to the floor.

869
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you know what?

870
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They're not being legalistic.

871
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They're not coming along

872
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they're not pressing 
that on you and me.

873
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They look at Scripture and they say

874
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
don't set anything that's vain or useless

875
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
before my eyes.

876
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And they say, you know what?

877
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I think TV altogether is vain and useless.

878
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so they're seeking to do it.

879
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And if you're the guy 
that's always out there

880
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
saying legalism, legalism, legalism!

881
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You're likely in the seat of that scoffer.

882
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When you look at people

883
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who are trying to keep a clear conscience

884
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they're eradicating things,

885
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they say my eye offends,

886
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and so I'm getting rid of that.

887
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm tearing it out and 
I'm casting it from me.

888
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And they're people of conscience.

889
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And they're walking through their life

890
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they're going to the Word

891
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they delight in the Word

892
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they're looking in the Word

893
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they're saying my conscience says

894
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
oh, look what I find here.

895
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Now look, you may look at them and say,

896
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you know what?

897
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Their conscience has not been

898
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
most accurately informed,

899
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because if you think about other places

900
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in Scripture...

901
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you know what, that may be true,

902
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but don't mock and don't 
slight at such people

903
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who are trying to keep clear consciences

904
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
before God.

905
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And they're meticulous

906
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they're diligent.

907
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I remember one time when I was down

908
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at Stockdale,

909
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and a woman came and she had been

910
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
wearing a head convering before that,

911
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and then she wasn't 
wearing the head covering.

912
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I said where's your head covering?

913
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Did you study Scripture and

914
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you came to another conclusion?

915
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
She said, no, just because the people here

916
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
don't wear them.

917
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I said you better get 
that thing on your head.

918
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Why? Because she thought

919
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that's what the Lord wants her to do.

920
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And if that's what you think the Lord

921
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
wants you to do,

922
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and whether it comes down

923
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to how you raise your children

924
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or how you love your wife

925
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or how you drive your car,

926
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or what you do at work -

927
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
brethren, Spurgeon said it one time:

928
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
better to live according to this Word -

929
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
how you interpret it

930
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and be wrong,

931
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
than to not do that.

932
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You understand what he's saying.

933
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's not saying bad doctrine's good.

934
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's saying you need to live up

935
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to the light of the lamp that is

936
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
shining at your feet from this book.

937
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And how you look at it -

938
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's not what everybody else is doing.

939
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You do what you believe that God

940
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
wants you to do from that book.

941
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you seek to live 
with a clear conscience.

942
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you know who the scoffer is?

943
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They're the people always shouting

944
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"legalism" in the church.

945
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Oh, that's legalistic.

946
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They're just legalists.

947
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You be careful.

948
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You just be careful.

949
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because I tell you what,

950
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if you're that person who's always looking

951
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and you're looking down your nose

952
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at other people who are

953
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
really trying to walk before the Lord,

954
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they're trying to walk

955
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with a clear conscience,

956
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they're trying to please Him

957
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they're trying to be meticulous

958
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to God's Word -

959
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you look at them and 
you call them legalists -

960
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you have been sitting 
in the seat of the scoffer.

961
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Let me tell you.

962
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm not telling you don't do that.

963
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Repent of that.

964
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Of course, there's a place for that.

965
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What I'm telling you is this:

966
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What God is doing is showing 
you who you are.

967
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Not what you ought to be.

968
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's showing you who you are.

969
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, notice his delight.

970
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
His delight is in the law of the Lord.

971
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And on His law, he meditates

972
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
day and night.

973
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Again, brethren, this is not a commandment

974
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for the Word of Christ 
to dwell in you richly.

975
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There is a commandment like that.

976
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's instruction like 
that in Scripture.

977
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm not saying that there isn't.

978
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm just saying that this psalm

979
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is basically - the gist of it

980
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is that God is telling us the truth

981
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
about ourselves.

982
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Oh, brethren, the blessed man

983
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is that man who has come to this

984
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
entirely new relationship

985
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with the Word of God.

986
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Look, again, I'm telling you.

987
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, I am not here to tell you

988
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that if you've not been in the Word,

989
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you need to get in the Word.

990
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What I'm telling you is 
if you're not in the Word,

991
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's because you don't delight in the Word

992
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and Scripture is telling you

993
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who and what you are.

994
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's the issue.

995
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's what's happening here.

996
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The blessed man -

997
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he's the man that it's just not theory

998
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for him to say

999
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that man shall not live by bread alone,

1000
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but by every word that proceedeth

1001
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
forth from the mouth of God.

1002
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He knows that.
He believes that.

1003
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
His life reflect that.

1004
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The exact same truth you heard

1005
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
from our brother in the first hour

1006
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
from John 8.

1007
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Listen, Jesus says it.

1008
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Again, it's not a commandment.

1009
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's a fact.

1010
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He says if you abide in My Word,

1011
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you are truly My disciples.

1012
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's not saying abide in My Word.

1013
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yes, there's places where you can find

1014
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
such statements,

1015
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but there are these factual statements

1016
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
made all through Scripture,

1017
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that if you are His disciple,

1018
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
His Word abides in you.

1019
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Not just that it should.

1020
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And if it doesn't, it shows who you are.

1021
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's what He was saying to these people.

1022
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Listen, brethren, be honest.

1023
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is the truth about the blessed man.

1024
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
On the whole,

1025
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if you were to drag this man into court,

1026
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and accuse him of being a Bible lover,

1027
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
guess what?

1028
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's evidence to convict him.

1029
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Where are you?

1030
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Oh, isn't it amazing?

1031
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The first psalm - blessings 
which everybody wants.

1032
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And it's got to do with where

1033
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Word of God is in your life.

1034
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The first first is the negative of that.

1035
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's the contrary.

1036
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You avoid all those voices that

1037
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are not like this.

1038
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But you delight in the Word.

1039
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You say, I've never killed anybody.

1040
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The wicked? They're not so.

1041
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In other words, if you take them

1042
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
into the court room,

1043
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and you say prove that you're a lover

1044
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the Word,

1045
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the wicked are not so.

1046
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so if there isn't evidence,

1047
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the wicked is not so.

1048
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Well, I own a Bible.

1049
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In fact, I have three.

1050
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's not what's being said here.

1051
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Do you delight in it?

1052
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You say, yeah, I delight in it.

1053
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Are you meditating on it day and night?

1054
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Can you go three days, 
four days, five days, seven days

1055
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and you're not in it?

1056
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see, again, brethren,

1057
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this is not telling you what you ought

1058
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to be doing.

1059
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is telling you what you are.

1060
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This is the delight of the man.

1061
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Look, what you don't want to do

1062
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is walk away from this message and say,

1063
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
well, you know what?

1064
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
My delight is really in video games;

1065
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
hanging out with my friends;

1066
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
listening to the new music.

1067
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know, what I find delight in

1068
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is sex and money and fun...

1069
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I guess I better start reading my Bible,

1070
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
even though it's not what 
you really delight to do.

1071
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see, it's not doing that.

1072
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's saying no, the truth is

1073
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if you can leave that Bible on the shelf,

1074
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there's not a panting 
in your soul after it.

1075
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Look, I recognize there are dry seasons.

1076
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But do you hear what's being said?

1077
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
On the whole, I don't have to

1078
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
invent a bunch of exceptions here.

1079
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I don't have to define this

1080
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in super amounts of detail.

1081
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because God doesn't think it's

1082
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that necessary to do it.

1083
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He simply says this,

1084
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the blessed man delights

1085
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the law of the Lord

1086
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and in that law, he 
meditates day and night.

1087
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Period.

1088
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's what God says.

1089
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't need to amend that.

1090
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't need to add to that.

1091
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And brethren, what you need to ask

1092
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is be honest.

1093
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Does that reflect your life?

1094
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because if it doesn't,

1095
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the wicked are not so.

1096
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Like I said, the wicked isn't just wicked

1097
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because he's torturing 
people in his basement.

1098
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The wicked is just the guy

1099
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that doesn't delight in the Word.

1100
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's not like the righteous person.

1101
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's what we have here.

1102
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The righteous man -

1103
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he hungers.

1104
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's something desirable.

1105
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Why?

1106
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Why?

1107
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because the Spirit has opened his eyes

1108
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and this Word is now living.

1109
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And when he looks into it,

1110
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's like... Wow!

1111
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's wisdom.

1112
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It opens the window to the glory of God.

1113
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And in these pages,

1114
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he sees Christ.

1115
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's never seen anything like it before.

1116
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He might have looked 
at it when he was lost,

1117
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but now it's just altogether new.

1118
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Don't fool yourself.

1119
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
If you're able to be away from this Word;

1120
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's just a dry, dead letter,

1121
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and basically being in it is a chore.

1122
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's like you know when you assess

1123
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
your Christian life,

1124
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's like, well yes, I read.

1125
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yeah, I've kind of got that in place

1126
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
these last few days.

1127
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I've really forced myself.

1128
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I disciplined myself.

1129
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Although typically, I can go long seasons

1130
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with watching a whole lot more TV

1131
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
than I ever get in the Word;

1132
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and be on the Internet a whole lot more

1133
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
than I'd ever be in the Word.

1134
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Exposing myself to all sorts of voices.

1135
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, let's just be honest.

1136
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
His delight is in the law of the Lord,

1137
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and on His law, he 
meditates day and night.

1138
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the wicked are not so.

1139
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So we have a picture here in v. 3.

1140
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The righteous man - the blessed man,

1141
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he is like a tree

1142
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
planted by the streams (plural)

1143
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of water that yields its fruit

1144
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in its season.

1145
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And it's leaf does not wither.

1146
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
In all that he does, he prospers.

1147
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The wicked are not so,

1148
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but are like chaff

1149
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that the wind drives away.

1150
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We're given this picture.

1151
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And again, brethren, I'm going to

1152
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
keep emphasizing this.

1153
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This tells us the truth about ourselves.

1154
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Nothing tells the truth about us

1155
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
like the Bible does.

1156
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Spiritually speaking,

1157
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
all men are either (incomplete thought).

1158
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Have you ever been -

1159
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't know up and down

1160
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the San Antonio River -

1161
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't think I've seen much of the river

1162
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
other than right here in San Antonio.

1163
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But I've been to different places

1164
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on the Guadalupe River.

1165
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Have you ever seen those cypresses?

1166
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Oh, there are some downtown

1167
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
along the Riverwalk.

1168
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know those cypresses?

1169
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Great big, massive trees.

1170
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you know where they grow?

1171
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They only grow right alongside the river.

1172
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You can try to plant them other places,

1173
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but if you don't give them steady water,

1174
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they just don't make it.

1175
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Great big trees,

1176
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
like a great big cypress tree

1177
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
planted along the Guadalupe River

1178
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
with roots that go down into soil

1179
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that's moist and life-giving

1180
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
all the time.

1181
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's what the righteous is like.

1182
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The unrighteous - a pile of chaff.

1183
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You know what?

1184
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When we look at each other

1185
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
like we can look at each other right here.

1186
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I can't see that difference,

1187
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but it's true.

1188
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Spiritually speaking,

1189
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if we could pull back the veil,

1190
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
some are these massive cypress trees,

1191
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
planted along the rivers (plural).

1192
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Rivers.

1193
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Abundance.

1194
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And some are just a pile of chaff.

1195
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's the comparison here.

1196
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tree. Chaff.

1197
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see the difference?

1198
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Your life. My life.

1199
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tree or chaff.

1200
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What's your life like?

1201
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's just radical difference.

1202
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see, there's no shades here.

1203
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's no degrees here.

1204
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's not like, well, you've got

1205
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a chaff-y looking tree over there.

1206
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
No, none of that.

1207
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You're one or the other.

1208
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
People don't tend to realize

1209
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the radical difference between

1210
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Christian and the non-Christian.

1211
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The roots of this tree go deep down.

1212
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This man whose heart and mind

1213
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and soul - the roots go down deep

1214
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
into the words of Christ.

1215
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The law of the Lord.

1216
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They go down into His commandments,

1217
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
His Word, and they're 
pulling the nutrients up.

1218
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see, didn't Christ say,

1219
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"Sanctify them by Thy truth.

1220
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Thy Word is truth."

1221
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The sanctifying power of the Spirit of God

1222
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
comes through - his 
delight is in this law.

1223
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And in this law, he looks in.

1224
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He sees the character of God.

1225
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He sees the beauties of Christ.

1226
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And it's transformative.

1227
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Those roots go down.

1228
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The chaff? The chaff has no roots.

1229
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You look at your life.

1230
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
No real roots in here.

1231
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You don't memorize this.

1232
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You don't meditate on this.

1233
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The Word is not controlling.

1234
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Instead, you've subjected yourself

1235
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to worldly opinions.

1236
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Wordly counsels.

1237
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Worldly mindsets.

1238
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
All the time, you're being bombarded.

1239
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So it's very easy to put 
a little Christian title

1240
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
on music that's just otherwise ungodly.

1241
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We can Christianize just about everything.

1242
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But the truth is,

1243
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the man who spends a lot of time

1244
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in this Word -

1245
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he can smell out the difference.

1246
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He's not just looking at the name

1247
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because you can be like Sardis.

1248
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You can have a name, but you're dead.

1249
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the person whose heart

1250
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and mind and soul

1251
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are down in the depths of this

1252
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
moisture-rich soil of the Word of Christ,

1253
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they can tell those things.

1254
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because it gives them discernment.

1255
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They see.

1256
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Which are you?

1257
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
A tree versus chaff.

1258
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They have nothing in common.

1259
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The tree is fruitful.

1260
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The fruits of the Spirit.

1261
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see, there's a person

1262
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who spends a lot of time in this book.

1263
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Their roots are planted here.

1264
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that Word abides in them.

1265
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It stays.

1266
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They're not hearers only.

1267
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But they're doers.

1268
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And they go forth

1269
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and as they do the Word,

1270
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this fruit of the Spirit,

1271
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they go up and it's rich.

1272
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
By this, our Father is well pleased,

1273
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that we bring forth much fruit.

1274
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's an abundance of fruit.

1275
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Love - the fruit of love.

1276
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And there's joy.

1277
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And there's the fruits of the Spirit.

1278
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Chaff is not fruit.

1279
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Chaff is the stuff on the outside

1280
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the kernel or the grain.

1281
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's the stuff that gets taken off

1282
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and it's winnowed away.

1283
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The wind blows it away.

1284
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You don't want it.

1285
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's useless.

1286
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's no good use for it.

1287
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Nothing like a tree at all.

1288
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's entirely different.

1289
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's no roots.

1290
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's no fruit.

1291
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The fruit that it brings forth -

1292
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the fruit in this person's life

1293
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is really useless.

1294
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So, the question is this,

1295
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
will you be honest with yourself?

1296
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Is the Word of God your light?

1297
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Your sustenance? Your love?

1298
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Your portal into the very mind of Christ?

1299
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Is that not what we're told?

1300
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We have the very mind of Christ.

1301
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I can go into the recesses

1302
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of the mind of Christ in this book.

1303
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the Spirit reveals and teaches me.

1304
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, is that what it is?

1305
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The window into the very glories of God?

1306
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The wicked are not so.

1307
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Let's be honest.

1308
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Be honest.

1309
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You say, wow, if I'm going to be honest,

1310
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm in the category of the wicked.

1311
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It makes me very uncomfortable.

1312
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't like that title.

1313
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But I don't know much how I can

1314
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
put myself in this other camp.

1315
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
How do I get to where

1316
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you're saying the blessed man is?

1317
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Notice v. 3.

1318
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"He is like a tree planted 
by streams of water."

1319
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Isn't that interesting

1320
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that God moves David

1321
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(incomplete thought);

1322
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We know that some trees -

1323
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a seed falls.

1324
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It germinates.

1325
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you get a tree.

1326
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But you know what's interesting?

1327
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's not the picture.

1328
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The picture is of a tree 
that gets planted.

1329
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I've planted a lot of trees.

1330
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Trees just don't end up there,

1331
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
unless they get planted.

1332
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And a tree doesn't plant itself.

1333
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Someone puts it there.

1334
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And there's only one 
way that you get planted.

1335
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
See, this is what I don't 
want to have happen.

1336
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Don't say to yourself

1337
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm not like that,

1338
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so I better get my act together

1339
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and get like that.

1340
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And so you know what I'm going to do?

1341
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I am going to go home

1342
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and even though I haven't been

1343
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the Word much

1344
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and there's dust on the cover...

1345
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And Spurgeon said one place

1346
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
many of you can write damnation

1347
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the dust on your Bibles.

1348
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The way out of this is not to go home

1349
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and clean the dust off

1350
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and open it.

1351
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Reading Scripture is not 
how you get planted.

1352
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm not saying it's a bad thing.

1353
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You can find the Christ in these words.

1354
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Undoubtedly.

1355
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But brethren, the ticket here...

1356
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The path

1357
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is not to say, well,

1358
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I better start coming to church more.

1359
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Better get in the Word more.

1360
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I better start doing, doing, doing.

1361
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Don't say that to yourself.

1362
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Though I would really rather play

1363
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
video games and watch movies

1364
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and spend endless hours on Facebook.

1365
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And though I'd rather hang 
out with my friends

1366
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and do a thousand other things.

1367
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I better force myself into the Bible.

1368
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Though I find it dull and lifeless,

1369
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for me - life, vigor, living it up...

1370
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's watching the game.

1371
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's in sports.

1372
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's in freedom.

1373
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's where it is.

1374
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Even though I really don't

1375
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
have a love for the brethren.

1376
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't have a love for

1377
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the breaking of bread

1378
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and remembering Christ and what He did

1379
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and singing those songs.

1380
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't really have a love for all that.

1381
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I don't have a love for

1382
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the apostle's doctrine

1383
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and for that preaching that goes on,

1384
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and for the Word,

1385
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and no love of prayer.

1386
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But I better get my act together

1387
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because I don't want to lose my soul.

1388
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, look, you don't need religion.

1389
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's not how you get planted.

1390
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I think, "And can it be?"

1391
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You remember Charles Wesley?

1392
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
John Wesley?

1393
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
George Whitefield?

1394
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You remember where they were?

1395
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The holy club.

1396
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They gave their money.

1397
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They visited people in prison.

1398
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you know what, in the end,

1399
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Spirit of God convicted them all -

1400
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it was a hopeless path,

1401
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and they were helpless.

1402
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Religion is never the way.

1403
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We talked about Luther.

1404
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Blessednesses - Luther tried it.

1405
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Went to the monastery.

1406
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Religion never works.

1407
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's not the ticket.

1408
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's not how you get planted.

1409
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You say, how? Tell me.

1410
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Tell me.

1411
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The answer is this:

1412
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's found in John 3:3.

1413
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's, "Truly, truly, I say to you,

1414
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
unless one is born again,

1415
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

1416
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Yeah, but you didn't 
tell me anything to do.

1417
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Again, you're just stating the fact.

1418
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
What does this look like?

1419
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, here's what it looks like.

1420
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Jesus said - same discourse -

1421
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When the Spirit comes,

1422
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He is going to convict men of sin,

1423
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of righteousness,

1424
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of judgment.

1425
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you know what happens?

1426
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
God plants us.

1427
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you know what happens?

1428
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sin. Something begins to happen,

1429
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the Spirit causes it to happen.

1430
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You think about it.

1431
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Conviction.

1432
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Where does that happen?

1433
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You might say the conscience.

1434
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But it happens in the mind.

1435
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The Spirit begins to cause us

1436
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to think different.

1437
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Suddenly, sin... sin!

1438
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And maybe at first, you're even agitated.

1439
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That was what was true with me.

1440
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Not that I'm the standard,

1441
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but I remember in the very beginning,

1442
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this emptiness; this hollowness.

1443
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I just wanted Him to leave me alone.

1444
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
God, leave me alone

1445
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and let me go back and enjoy...

1446
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and much like Pilgrim 
in Pilgrim's Progress,

1447
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you get worldly wise men.

1448
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Go try religion.

1449
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that's where he went.

1450
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He went hiking up there.

1451
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sometimes we get upset.

1452
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But brethren, I remember clearly

1453
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the night the Spirit of God showed me

1454
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
my sin was wicked and I deserved hell,

1455
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and if God didn't put me there -

1456
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and you see, that's the 
conviction that comes.

1457
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We start to feel this weight of sin.

1458
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Salvation has to do with sin.

1459
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And Jesus said that He did not

1460
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
come for the well.

1461
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And it is not until we're unwell -

1462
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and it's the Spirit of God who causes

1463
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that to happen.

1464
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Not just to freak out

1465
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because we happen to hear a message

1466
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and it says I must be one of the wicked.

1467
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, it's when you want your sin

1468
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
dealt with.

1469
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's the Spirit of God causing 
something to happen;

1470
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
beginning to disturb us.

1471
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Sin becomes disturbing.

1472
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We can't just coddle with it anymore.

1473
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Something is happening.

1474
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Something begins to happen.

1475
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And maybe at first,

1476
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you don't know that 
it's God that's doing it.

1477
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But something begins to happen to you.

1478
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And something that never happened before.

1479
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Something that hasn't 
happened like this before.

1480
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then, righteousness...

1481
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there's this desparate sense -

1482
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this in itself isn't salvation,

1483
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because I have a feeling

1484
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the rich, young ruler felt this.

1485
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But you begin to get this sense:

1486
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
something's missing.

1487
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I need more than I have

1488
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to get right with God.

1489
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Do we know that religion isn't doing it?

1490
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see, that's what the Wesley's

1491
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and Whitefield were trying.

1492
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This holy club.

1493
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
They were trying to do all their stuff.

1494
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But John Wesley looked at those Moravians,

1495
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and he said, I'm missing something.

1496
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Something isn't there.

1497
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You see, the Spirit convicts of sin,

1498
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and righteousness - or a lack

1499
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of our righteousness.

1500
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The fact we need more than we have.

1501
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The fact we need something.

1502
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then judgment.

1503
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm not ready to stand before God.

1504
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm not ready for this.

1505
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm not ready.

1506
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then something is 
happening in the soul.

1507
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, it doesn't always look identical

1508
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in everybody,

1509
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but that's what Christ said

1510
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that the Spirit of God would do.

1511
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that's what happens.

1512
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
When people are being born again,

1513
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Spirit of God is doing something

1514
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the heart of men

1515
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
concerning sin and righteousness

1516
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and judgment.

1517
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And then you know what happens.

1518
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He came to exalt Christ.

1519
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And there, in our despair,

1520
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is all the crutches, and all the counsels,

1521
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and all the things we rested on,

1522
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and all our hopes

1523
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and all that we put our stock in.

1524
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's just crumbling away

1525
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and we can't find...

1526
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I need something else.

1527
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And sometimes the Spirit of God

1528
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
lets people get to

1529
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
an amazing place of despair.

1530
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But look, it doesn't matter how much.

1531
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's not the issue.

1532
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The issue is that then

1533
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the Spirit causes the scales to fall off.

1534
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That's what happened to Paul.

1535
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The scales fell off.

1536
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Of you've got it in 2 Corinthians,

1537
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's like the veil is pulled back.

1538
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And just like God said in the beginning,

1539
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
let there be light.

1540
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
He shows us this glorious light

1541
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in the very face of Jesus Christ.

1542
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you know what begins to happen?

1543
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We hear this message of salvation

1544
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the Spirit speaks to us.

1545
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's for you.

1546
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's for you.

1547
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's relevant to you.

1548
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
This crucified Christ.

1549
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And we see that.

1550
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We see that this message is for us.

1551
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We hear those life-giving words.

1552
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ

1553
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and you will be saved.

1554
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And like that lady,

1555
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
we become convinced,

1556
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if I can just touch the 
hem of His garment,

1557
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'll be healed.

1558
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, that's what happens.

1559
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We accept the truth.

1560
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You accept the truth

1561
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that Christ Jesus came into the world

1562
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to die for sinners.

1563
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that is music to your ears.

1564
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That there is a way;

1565
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there is a remedy;

1566
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there is a Doctor;

1567
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there is a way to be healed.

1568
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You believe that truth for you.

1569
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And you will come to look up and recognize

1570
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
God has planted me

1571
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
beside these waters

1572
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and I long after that book

1573
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and for the truths and the promises in it

1574
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the Word of Christ.

1575
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Brethren, it's not a 
psalm of commandments.

1576
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's a psalm that says it like it is.

1577
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The Word of God shows us who we are.

1578
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Father, I pray

1579
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this message would 
go deep into the hearts.

1580
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Lord, if there are imperatives

1581
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and responsibilities and instructions

1582
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
for us to take practically

1583
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to apply to our lives.

1584
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Then may it be taken

1585
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and may it be practiced

1586
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and may it be applied.

1587
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But Lord, I pray that this Word

1588
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
would be what it seems like

1589
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You intended it to be.

1590
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
A light to shine and expose and reveal

1591
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the very character of every one of us

1592
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
in this room.

1593
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And I pray that it would have that effect.

1594
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I pray it in the name of 
our Lord Jesus Christ,

1595
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Amen.