0:00:00.791,0:00:05.748
Brethren, please turn in your Bibles

0:00:05.748,0:00:12.971
to Psalm 1.

0:00:12.971,0:00:19.735
Our brother Craig said he felt inclined

0:00:19.735,0:00:27.586
to preach from this psalm last week,

0:00:27.586,0:00:33.089
but he didn't, because [br]the week before that

0:00:33.089,0:00:39.170
Brother Nathan Rages

0:00:39.170,0:00:42.540
brought us a message on stability

0:00:42.540,0:00:45.404
or stay-bility.

0:00:45.404,0:00:50.321
And Craig felt that he didn't just use

0:00:50.321,0:00:53.076
this psalm as a launching point,

0:00:53.076,0:00:56.178
but kind of stayed here for quite awhile,

0:00:56.178,0:00:57.739
so Craig thought to move on,

0:00:57.739,0:01:02.930
but I think it's interesting

0:01:02.930,0:01:05.558
that three preachers in a row

0:01:05.558,0:01:09.003
have been impressed as I have as well,

0:01:09.003,0:01:11.429
even before Nathan brought that.

0:01:11.429,0:01:13.865
I've been thinking much about

0:01:13.865,0:01:18.178
the first psalm.

0:01:18.178,0:01:28.426
And I am inclined to take us there again,

0:01:28.426,0:01:30.883
even after Craig was [br]done preaching last week,

0:01:30.883,0:01:33.445
I told Craig, I believe I am

0:01:33.445,0:01:35.842
going to deal with Psalm 1,

0:01:35.842,0:01:40.097
and, God helping us,

0:01:40.097,0:01:43.282
let's look at it.

0:01:43.282,0:01:46.745
Let's read it

0:01:46.745,0:01:48.767
in its entirety.

0:01:48.767,0:01:56.548
"Blessed is the man..."

0:01:56.548,0:02:00.769
And I'll tell you, if we know Scripture,

0:02:00.769,0:02:07.359
there are one in a thousand such men.

0:02:07.359,0:02:11.202
"Blessed is the man

0:02:11.202,0:02:15.799
who walks not in the [br]counsel of the wicked,

0:02:15.799,0:02:20.919
nor stands in the way of sinners,

0:02:20.919,0:02:28.603
nor sits in the seat of scoffers.

0:02:28.603,0:02:31.377
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

0:02:31.377,0:02:37.045
and on His law, he [br]meditates day and night.

0:02:37.045,0:02:38.527
He is like a tree planted

0:02:38.527,0:02:40.468
by streams of water,

0:02:40.468,0:02:43.591
that yields its fruit in its season,

0:02:43.591,0:02:47.427
and its leaf does not wither.

0:02:47.427,0:02:51.240
In all that he does, he prospers.

0:02:51.240,0:02:59.399
The wicked are not so..."

0:02:59.399,0:03:03.824
In fact, in the Septuagint, this reads

0:03:03.824,0:03:05.308
as a double negative:

0:03:05.308,0:03:11.393
Not so the ungodly. Not so.

0:03:11.393,0:03:12.680
"...but are like chaff,

0:03:12.680,0:03:16.036
that the wind drives away.

0:03:16.036,0:03:17.767
Therefore the wicked will not stand

0:03:17.767,0:03:19.086
in the judgment,

0:03:19.086,0:03:20.883
nor sinners in the congregation

0:03:20.883,0:03:25.866
of the righteous."

0:03:25.866,0:03:29.273
Churches here are mixed,

0:03:29.273,0:03:31.028
but as we heard in the first hour,

0:03:31.028,0:03:35.111
every church has at least one devil in it.

0:03:35.111,0:03:36.145
They're mixed here.

0:03:36.145,0:03:38.604
They won't be then.

0:03:38.604,0:03:40.600
"For the Lord knows

0:03:40.600,0:03:43.852
the way of the righteous,

0:03:43.852,0:03:50.399
but the way of the wicked will perish."

0:03:50.399,0:03:52.956
This is a psalm.

0:03:52.956,0:03:56.587
It's the first one.

0:03:56.587,0:03:59.854
In it, you saw it,

0:03:59.854,0:04:03.062
there's two men.

0:04:03.062,0:04:07.689
There's one called (v. 1) blessed...

0:04:07.689,0:04:10.218
is the man.

0:04:10.218,0:04:12.649
And then when you look down in v. 6,

0:04:12.649,0:04:16.736
"The Lord knows the way of the righteous."

0:04:16.736,0:04:19.157
There's one man - the blessed man,

0:04:19.157,0:04:20.906
the righteous man.

0:04:20.906,0:04:23.498
And then there's another man.

0:04:23.498,0:04:25.686
And you see him here.

0:04:25.686,0:04:31.353
V. 4 - "The wicked are not so."

0:04:31.353,0:04:34.932
V. 5 "The wicked will not stand..."

0:04:34.932,0:04:40.126
V. 6 "The wicked will perish."

0:04:40.126,0:04:43.054
We're all here.

0:04:43.054,0:04:49.907
All mankind encapsulated [br]in this one psalm.

0:04:49.907,0:04:52.079
But see, I see a problem right off.

0:04:52.079,0:04:53.615
I mean, as I read this,

0:04:53.615,0:04:55.835
and I think about preaching it.

0:04:55.835,0:05:03.294
I recognize, you - as you process this,

0:05:03.294,0:05:08.623
that man has a built-in disposition

0:05:08.623,0:05:13.097
to deny and reject that he is wicked.

0:05:13.097,0:05:19.597
Nobody takes that term upon themselves.

0:05:19.597,0:05:22.285
I know you've got certain crazy people

0:05:22.285,0:05:25.857
out there that delight in such things.

0:05:25.857,0:05:29.072
But I'll tell you, when [br]really pushed to it,

0:05:29.072,0:05:30.966
as far as their eternal welfare,

0:05:30.966,0:05:34.246
as far as their standing before God,

0:05:34.246,0:05:36.988
men sarcastically will talk about

0:05:36.988,0:05:38.675
being wicked,

0:05:38.675,0:05:40.774
or in their pride,

0:05:40.774,0:05:42.451
they will try to outdo one another

0:05:42.451,0:05:43.875
in evil deeds,

0:05:43.875,0:05:46.462
but when they're pressed to it,

0:05:46.462,0:05:48.726
men say, well, in the depths of my heart,

0:05:48.726,0:05:50.086
really at the deepest level,

0:05:50.086,0:05:53.066
I'm a good person.

0:05:53.066,0:05:56.249
You see, I recognize [br]there's a disposition.

0:05:56.249,0:05:57.340
Why?

0:05:57.340,0:06:00.426
Because the word just sounds too horrible.

0:06:00.426,0:06:02.112
Wicked.

0:06:02.112,0:06:03.923
It's too heinous.

0:06:03.923,0:06:08.338
It's just too bad to describe me.

0:06:08.338,0:06:10.534
And here's what happens:

0:06:10.534,0:06:14.675
So, men think to themselves,

0:06:14.675,0:06:19.484
Ok, I'm about to hear the righteous

0:06:19.484,0:06:23.137
compared with the wicked.

0:06:23.137,0:06:25.567
Well, I know I'm not wicked.

0:06:25.567,0:06:27.441
So somehow or another,

0:06:27.441,0:06:30.470
what's said of the righteous -

0:06:30.470,0:06:33.311
it has to describe me.

0:06:33.311,0:06:34.723
Maybe not perfectly,

0:06:34.723,0:06:36.921
but I'm in there somewhere.

0:06:36.921,0:06:39.190
Because I'm not wicked.

0:06:39.190,0:06:40.960
I know I'm not that.

0:06:40.960,0:06:45.627
So, somehow I've got to fit in over here.

0:06:45.627,0:06:47.008
What's said of the wicked man

0:06:47.008,0:06:48.764
can't possibly be true of me.

0:06:48.764,0:06:52.187
You see, men, men... presuppositions -

0:06:52.187,0:06:53.823
their ideas about themselves.

0:06:53.823,0:06:57.924
In fact, what's interesting is how often

0:06:57.924,0:07:01.140
the Bible has to tell us who we are.

0:07:01.140,0:07:02.130
It's amazing.

0:07:02.130,0:07:04.234
It has to tell wicked people who they are,

0:07:04.234,0:07:06.430
and it has to tell the [br]righteous who they are.

0:07:06.430,0:07:07.143
Why?

0:07:07.143,0:07:08.733
Because we have a real hard time

0:07:08.733,0:07:10.626
getting that straight ourselves,

0:07:10.626,0:07:12.069
even as Christians.

0:07:12.069,0:07:13.432
Think about how often

0:07:13.432,0:07:14.938
the New Testament is simply

0:07:14.938,0:07:18.686
telling Christians who they are.

0:07:18.686,0:07:20.938
We don't get it right.

0:07:20.938,0:07:23.729
As Christians, we tend to think less

0:07:23.729,0:07:25.307
of ourselves than we ought to.

0:07:25.307,0:07:26.614
And as lost people,

0:07:26.614,0:07:28.508
we tend to think far more of ourselves

0:07:28.508,0:07:29.403
than we ought to.

0:07:29.403,0:07:30.571
We have a real hard time

0:07:30.571,0:07:31.642
getting this straight.

0:07:31.642,0:07:32.759
And so God comes along

0:07:32.759,0:07:34.379
and over and over and over again,

0:07:34.379,0:07:37.003
He is telling us who we are.

0:07:37.003,0:07:38.040
What we are.

0:07:38.040,0:07:39.425
This is why the Bible goes

0:07:39.425,0:07:40.698
to all these lengths

0:07:40.698,0:07:42.552
to define us over and over.

0:07:42.552,0:07:43.678
And you know what?

0:07:43.678,0:07:46.629
There's nothing that tells us who we are

0:07:46.629,0:07:49.157
like this book tells us who we are.

0:07:49.157,0:07:52.339
Nothing describes us like this book.

0:07:52.339,0:07:54.396
So, here's the thing,

0:07:54.396,0:07:57.641
v. 4, the wicked are not so.

0:07:57.641,0:07:58.538
You know what?

0:07:58.538,0:08:00.598
If we could just tear that out -

0:08:00.598,0:08:01.822
we don't want to do that,

0:08:01.822,0:08:06.362
but if we did, if we just replaced it

0:08:06.362,0:08:10.273
with "the man of the world..."

0:08:10.273,0:08:15.790
intelligent, intellectual, wise,

0:08:15.790,0:08:19.462
independent, fun-loving,

0:08:19.462,0:08:24.040
free-spirited, free thinking, witty...

0:08:24.040,0:08:24.940
you know what,

0:08:24.940,0:08:26.808
we might get more [br]people to be honest.

0:08:26.808,0:08:29.391
Because the problem is, as soon[br]as the word wicked comes up,

0:08:29.391,0:08:31.503
oh, that's not me!

0:08:31.503,0:08:34.741
But you know, if we [br]redefined it a little bit,

0:08:34.741,0:08:37.804
and put it in more acceptable terms,

0:08:37.804,0:08:42.151
people would let their guard down.

0:08:42.151,0:08:45.050
But that word wicked...

0:08:45.050,0:08:47.771
what about that?

0:08:47.771,0:08:52.454
It makes us think of wicked witches.

0:08:52.454,0:08:55.222
The wicked - like the devil.

0:08:55.222,0:08:57.131
But notice the simplicity of it all.

0:08:57.131,0:08:59.555
Look at v. 4.

0:08:59.555,0:09:03.736
"The wicked are not so."

0:09:03.736,0:09:05.274
Just think about that.

0:09:05.274,0:09:07.154
Think about the simplicity of that.

0:09:07.154,0:09:11.953
The wicked are not so.

0:09:11.953,0:09:13.191
There's no horns.

0:09:13.191,0:09:14.456
There's no pointed hat

0:09:14.456,0:09:16.397
and black cats here.

0:09:16.397,0:09:20.103
They don't torture people [br]in their basement.

0:09:20.103,0:09:21.677
What is it?

0:09:21.677,0:09:24.271
What's true of the righteous...

0:09:24.271,0:09:27.813
not so.

0:09:27.813,0:09:30.140
That's the wicked.

0:09:30.140,0:09:32.542
They're not pedophiles.

0:09:32.542,0:09:33.846
Pedophiles are wicked,

0:09:33.846,0:09:37.312
but you get my drift here?

0:09:37.312,0:09:39.123
This is just: show me

0:09:39.123,0:09:42.061
what the righteous man is;

0:09:42.061,0:09:46.367
the wicked man is just not like that.

0:09:46.367,0:09:47.906
He doesn't have to run around

0:09:47.906,0:09:50.843
being an axe murderer.

0:09:50.843,0:09:53.141
He's just not like the righteous.

0:09:53.141,0:09:55.564
You see, there's only [br]two categories here, folks.

0:09:55.564,0:09:58.707
And if you're not in the righteous,

0:09:58.707,0:10:01.184
the blessed man category,

0:10:01.184,0:10:02.937
you're in the other.

0:10:02.937,0:10:08.639
You're just not like the righteous.

0:10:08.639,0:10:10.109
That's it.

0:10:10.109,0:10:13.152
That's the wicked.

0:10:13.152,0:10:17.233
We need to see this for what it is.

0:10:17.233,0:10:19.386
The wicked are not so.

0:10:19.386,0:10:21.688
Brethren, this is God's teaching.

0:10:21.688,0:10:23.491
That's what Psalm 1 is.

0:10:23.491,0:10:25.224
What we come to right here -

0:10:25.224,0:10:27.975
it was spoken by David in the beginning,

0:10:27.975,0:10:29.835
but this is no invention of man.

0:10:29.835,0:10:31.258
This is inspired language.

0:10:31.258,0:10:34.466
This is God defining humanity.

0:10:34.466,0:10:36.384
There are only two alternatives here.

0:10:36.384,0:10:37.664
You see it.

0:10:37.664,0:10:40.529
Men are so disposed

0:10:40.529,0:10:42.965
to think in degrees.

0:10:42.965,0:10:44.374
Right?

0:10:44.374,0:10:47.415
It's not just black or white.

0:10:47.415,0:10:49.399
We like to think in degrees.

0:10:49.399,0:10:50.790
We like to think

0:10:50.790,0:10:52.714
somewhere in the middle.

0:10:52.714,0:10:55.668
That there's other alternatives.

0:10:55.668,0:10:57.495
But we're not given that.

0:10:57.495,0:11:01.088
There's no middle ground somewhere here.

0:11:01.088,0:11:02.377
See, we tend to think,

0:11:02.377,0:11:06.092
well, come on, are you [br]righteous all the time?

0:11:06.092,0:11:08.543
Well, you know, I'm a sinner,

0:11:08.543,0:11:10.400
but I'm not that bad.

0:11:10.400,0:11:11.330
I'm not wicked.

0:11:11.330,0:11:14.005
So, I'm somewhere in the middle.

0:11:14.005,0:11:15.768
Scripture doesn't allow that.

0:11:15.768,0:11:17.085
We tend to think that way,

0:11:17.085,0:11:18.632
but Scripture doesn't allow this

0:11:18.632,0:11:20.171
thinking in degrees.

0:11:20.171,0:11:24.619
It's pretty radical.

0:11:24.619,0:11:27.889
Boy, how often does Scripture do this?

0:11:27.889,0:11:30.597
It's everywhere - in the Old Testament

0:11:30.597,0:11:32.828
and in the New. Everywhere!

0:11:32.828,0:11:34.778
That Scripture comes along and says

0:11:34.778,0:11:36.175
Bang! Bang!

0:11:36.175,0:11:37.176
Two camps.

0:11:37.176,0:11:38.612
You're in one or the other.

0:11:38.612,0:11:41.025
Radical. No in-between's.

0:11:41.025,0:11:43.833
That is such the language of Scripture

0:11:43.833,0:11:47.605
over and over and over.

0:11:47.605,0:11:49.478
Only two men in this psalm.

0:11:49.478,0:11:50.575
No middle ground.

0:11:50.575,0:11:52.192
Either one or the other.

0:11:52.192,0:11:53.528
We're looking at two men.

0:11:53.528,0:11:55.725
Just two.

0:11:55.725,0:11:58.898
You're like one.

0:11:58.898,0:12:03.906
Or you're not so.

0:12:03.906,0:12:06.500
So, let's consider this.

0:12:06.500,0:12:08.354
Let's consider the first four words.

0:12:08.354,0:12:11.288
"Blessed is the man..."

0:12:11.288,0:12:16.441
I've got five "P's"

0:12:16.441,0:12:19.683
that I want to use to describe just this:

0:12:19.683,0:12:22.901
Blessed is the man.

0:12:22.901,0:12:23.958
The first is this.

0:12:23.958,0:12:26.453
The first "P": Plurality.

0:12:26.453,0:12:29.061
There's a plurality of blessednesses.

0:12:29.061,0:12:31.994
Martin Luther points out,

0:12:31.994,0:12:34.446
and I needed somebody else to tell me this

0:12:34.446,0:12:36.925
because I can make my way through Greek,

0:12:36.925,0:12:42.426
but Hebrew is out there.

0:12:42.426,0:12:47.400
Luther says in the Hebrew,

0:12:47.400,0:12:50.977
the word "blessed" is plural.

0:12:50.977,0:12:55.906
It's literally blessednesses.

0:12:55.906,0:12:59.611
All blessednesses are the portion

0:12:59.611,0:13:03.349
of this blessed man.

0:13:03.349,0:13:06.969
All things are well

0:13:06.969,0:13:08.655
with a man like this.

0:13:08.655,0:13:10.014
Spurgeon calls it

0:13:10.014,0:13:13.267
the multiplicity of blessings.

0:13:13.267,0:13:17.189
You want to be this guy.

0:13:17.189,0:13:19.817
This means everything is good.

0:13:19.817,0:13:21.577
Everything is blessed.

0:13:21.577,0:13:22.781
Blessednesses.

0:13:22.781,0:13:24.500
The second "P" is

0:13:24.500,0:13:26.960
the propensity towards blessedness.

0:13:26.960,0:13:28.091
What do I mean by that?

0:13:28.091,0:13:29.127
Propensity.

0:13:29.127,0:13:31.458
The desire.

0:13:31.458,0:13:33.407
We desire this.

0:13:33.407,0:13:35.627
All men desire this.

0:13:35.627,0:13:38.421
Brethren, as was mentioned by Craig

0:13:38.421,0:13:40.945
last week, happy, blessed,

0:13:40.945,0:13:42.580
blessed is the man.

0:13:42.580,0:13:46.496
There are places such [br]as Deuteronomy 33:29 -

0:13:46.496,0:13:48.344
"Happy are you, O Israel!

0:13:48.344,0:13:49.335
Who is like you?

0:13:49.335,0:13:51.693
A people saved by the Lord."

0:13:51.693,0:13:54.625
Yes, this word can be translated

0:13:54.625,0:13:57.444
directly: "happy."

0:13:57.444,0:13:59.992
The happinesses - it's plural.

0:13:59.992,0:14:01.782
All the happinesses of the man

0:14:01.782,0:14:02.880
that's described here.

0:14:02.880,0:14:03.888
And here's the thing.

0:14:03.888,0:14:05.043
You think with me here.

0:14:05.043,0:14:07.403
Of all that God could have done

0:14:07.403,0:14:10.252
in starting out the book of Psalms,

0:14:10.252,0:14:12.187
the very first one,

0:14:12.187,0:14:16.546
the very first line,

0:14:16.546,0:14:18.161
He hits us with the thing

0:14:18.161,0:14:21.205
that all men have a propensity for;

0:14:21.205,0:14:23.404
that all men long after:

0:14:23.404,0:14:25.510
happiness.

0:14:25.510,0:14:27.740
We are all anxious to be blessed.

0:14:27.740,0:14:29.048
When we hear Esau,

0:14:29.048,0:14:30.107
remember how he was?

0:14:30.107,0:14:31.419
With his father Isaac?

0:14:31.419,0:14:34.292
"Bless me, even me also, O my father!"

0:14:34.292,0:14:36.525
Bless me!

0:14:36.525,0:14:38.334
That's how we all are.

0:14:38.334,0:14:39.789
We want it![br]We want it!

0:14:39.789,0:14:41.411
See, he was faced with the fact

0:14:41.411,0:14:42.759
that he was losing it.

0:14:42.759,0:14:44.156
And he was desparate.

0:14:44.156,0:14:45.028
Bless me!

0:14:45.028,0:14:47.194
We all want that blessing.

0:14:47.194,0:14:49.723
And you know what gives man

0:14:49.723,0:14:51.311
even the ability to make it

0:14:51.311,0:14:53.540
from one day to the next

0:14:53.540,0:14:58.485
is hope that ultimately,

0:14:58.485,0:15:00.949
he will receive that.

0:15:00.949,0:15:02.747
Hell is such hopelessness

0:15:02.747,0:15:04.704
because it's all gone.

0:15:04.704,0:15:07.314
The blessednesses - all gone.

0:15:07.314,0:15:09.540
But this is the longing [br]of the soul of man.

0:15:09.540,0:15:11.170
Right here at the beginning

0:15:11.170,0:15:12.979
of the very first psalm.

0:15:12.979,0:15:14.593
The third "P":

0:15:14.593,0:15:16.933
The positivity of blessedness.

0:15:16.933,0:15:18.182
What do I mean?

0:15:18.182,0:15:20.693
"Blessed is the man."

0:15:20.693,0:15:23.140
Is. I put stress on "is."

0:15:23.140,0:15:25.021
It's not just that he will be.

0:15:25.021,0:15:27.240
He is.

0:15:27.240,0:15:30.274
The first psalm is God telling us

0:15:30.274,0:15:34.002
that blessedness is not [br]just for the future.

0:15:34.002,0:15:36.967
You can be sitting here right in this room

0:15:36.967,0:15:39.182
in this world at this time

0:15:39.182,0:15:42.013
and be a man or woman

0:15:42.013,0:15:44.818
of all blessednesses.

0:15:44.818,0:15:47.732
I mean, you can sit here

0:15:47.732,0:15:54.972
and be the absolute envy -

0:15:54.972,0:15:57.731
if the truth were to be known -

0:15:57.731,0:16:01.055
the absolute envy of all mankind.

0:16:01.055,0:16:06.241
You have that which all men want.

0:16:06.241,0:16:07.700
There's a positivity here.

0:16:07.700,0:16:08.997
It's attainable.

0:16:08.997,0:16:10.772
In this world, it's attainable.

0:16:10.772,0:16:13.006
No matter if it's 106 degrees out.

0:16:13.006,0:16:13.805
It's attainable.

0:16:13.805,0:16:15.886
No matter if you're going through trials.

0:16:15.886,0:16:16.856
It's attainable.

0:16:16.856,0:16:21.061
That's the thing.

0:16:21.061,0:16:22.806
Go with David some time

0:16:22.806,0:16:24.819
and visit the nursing home.

0:16:24.819,0:16:26.857
Or, come with John Sytsma

0:16:26.857,0:16:28.389
when he goes over to Nepal,

0:16:28.389,0:16:33.953
and you look at one of these Hindi people

0:16:33.953,0:16:36.493
in their seventies or eighties.

0:16:36.493,0:16:38.006
You look at the old people

0:16:38.006,0:16:41.243
there in the nursing home.

0:16:41.243,0:16:46.494
Their faces - empty, hollow,

0:16:46.494,0:16:48.445
and they're just sad.

0:16:48.445,0:16:49.322
Why?

0:16:49.322,0:16:51.200
They've lived their lives.

0:16:51.200,0:16:55.693
So many promises of happiness.

0:16:55.693,0:16:58.939
When we talk about

0:16:58.939,0:17:00.771
"blessed is the man,"

0:17:00.771,0:17:03.916
they're one in a thousand.

0:17:03.916,0:17:06.752
You know what the other 999

0:17:06.752,0:17:09.250
are doing all the time?

0:17:09.250,0:17:11.434
The pleasures of sin for a season.

0:17:11.434,0:17:13.103
And those little pleasures in sin,

0:17:13.103,0:17:15.228
they're saying, "Try me! You'll be happy!"

0:17:15.228,0:17:17.868
"Try me! You'll be happy!"

0:17:17.868,0:17:20.921
And you're grasping at the wind.

0:17:20.921,0:17:22.750
You're grasping at mist.

0:17:22.750,0:17:24.691
Because there's pleasure for a season

0:17:24.691,0:17:26.625
and then it's gone.

0:17:26.625,0:17:29.270
And you spend a whole life doing that

0:17:29.270,0:17:31.083
and all these promises of happiness.

0:17:31.083,0:17:32.525
And you get to the end

0:17:32.525,0:17:34.254
and their religions haven't done it.

0:17:34.254,0:17:36.021
Their false gods have not done it.

0:17:36.021,0:17:38.144
And in all their old age, [br]you look at them,

0:17:38.144,0:17:39.045
they're miserable.

0:17:39.045,0:17:40.444
They're out of their minds.

0:17:40.444,0:17:42.209
They just cuss and they swear

0:17:42.209,0:17:43.999
and they're mean.

0:17:43.999,0:17:45.090
You go there.

0:17:45.090,0:17:46.328
Isn't that how they are?

0:17:46.328,0:17:47.621
Just nasty old people.

0:17:47.621,0:17:48.359
Why?

0:17:48.359,0:17:49.933
Just hopeless.

0:17:49.933,0:17:51.233
They're getting to the end

0:17:51.233,0:17:53.525
and everything has proven empty.

0:17:53.525,0:17:55.450
It's just emptiness.

0:17:55.450,0:17:57.862
Only fear looms before them.

0:17:57.862,0:18:00.529
Happiness is one of [br]the most elusive things

0:18:00.529,0:18:02.176
in this world.

0:18:02.176,0:18:05.081
You have a world out there chasing it,

0:18:05.081,0:18:07.745
and few there be that find it.

0:18:07.745,0:18:10.772
Few actually lay hold on it.

0:18:10.772,0:18:13.437
But, the promise here is

0:18:13.437,0:18:15.648
that there is a blessed man.

0:18:15.648,0:18:17.383
It's attainable.

0:18:17.383,0:18:18.670
That's the thing.

0:18:18.670,0:18:20.310
And oh, brethren,

0:18:20.310,0:18:23.843
don't we hear it in the [br]very blood of Christ.

0:18:23.843,0:18:28.243
If anything whispers "blessedness,"

0:18:28.243,0:18:32.370
it's that blood.

0:18:32.370,0:18:37.253
The next "P" - the fourth:

0:18:37.253,0:18:41.025
The place of blessedness.

0:18:41.025,0:18:44.561
By "place," I mean,

0:18:44.561,0:18:49.899
where is it to be found?

0:18:49.899,0:18:53.109
Notice this:

0:18:53.109,0:18:54.849
Look at v. 2.

0:18:54.849,0:18:59.452
"His delight is in the law of the Lord

0:18:59.452,0:19:04.814
and on His law he [br]meditates day and night."

0:19:04.814,0:19:09.817
Now, brethren, hear me carefully.

0:19:09.817,0:19:11.515
There is not a text,

0:19:11.515,0:19:13.120
and you won't find it.

0:19:13.120,0:19:14.524
Never found it in my Bible -

0:19:14.524,0:19:16.925
not any of the Bibles I've ever owned.

0:19:16.925,0:19:19.560
You will never find a beatitude that says,

0:19:19.560,0:19:25.151
blessed is the man who hungers and thirsts

0:19:25.151,0:19:27.420
for blessedness.

0:19:27.420,0:19:29.264
You won't find it.

0:19:29.264,0:19:32.493
It's not there.

0:19:32.493,0:19:36.283
Where is blessedness to be found?

0:19:36.283,0:19:38.784
Happiness is not to be found

0:19:38.784,0:19:41.843
in just seeking to be happy.

0:19:41.843,0:19:43.552
Think with me here.

0:19:43.552,0:19:46.572
What does this man desire?

0:19:46.572,0:19:48.621
The law of the Lord.

0:19:48.621,0:19:50.565
He meditates on it day and night.

0:19:50.565,0:19:53.013
Why? Because in [br]that he finds his God.

0:19:53.013,0:19:54.305
In that he finds life;

0:19:54.305,0:19:56.315
he finds his Christ, his Messiah.

0:19:56.315,0:19:58.684
(Incomplete thought)

0:19:58.684,0:20:01.445
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst

0:20:01.445,0:20:03.066
for righteousness.

0:20:03.066,0:20:05.077
They will be satisfied.

0:20:05.077,0:20:06.721
Brethren, think of this.

0:20:06.721,0:20:09.719
Think of this truth.

0:20:09.719,0:20:13.879
If you grab for happiness,

0:20:13.879,0:20:17.157
you miss it.

0:20:17.157,0:20:19.493
It just turns to mist.

0:20:19.493,0:20:21.493
It slips away.

0:20:21.493,0:20:23.515
It's only the man or the woman

0:20:23.515,0:20:28.283
who actually seek for something else

0:20:28.283,0:20:31.440
that find happiness.

0:20:31.440,0:20:33.599
Do you notice that?

0:20:33.599,0:20:38.051
Or listen to Psalm 119:2.[br]Don't turn there, but listen.

0:20:38.051,0:20:41.833
"Blessed are those who [br]keep His testimonies,

0:20:41.833,0:20:46.194
who seek Him with their whole heart."

0:20:46.194,0:20:47.706
You see?

0:20:47.706,0:20:50.765
We seek Him. We find blessing.

0:20:50.765,0:20:53.865
We seek His Word. We find blessing.

0:20:53.865,0:20:55.731
We seek His righteousness.

0:20:55.731,0:20:57.664
We find blessing.

0:20:57.664,0:20:59.901
We seek first the Kingdom.

0:20:59.901,0:21:02.449
We find all things.

0:21:02.449,0:21:04.902
Is that not how Scripture is?

0:21:04.902,0:21:09.373
Oh, brethren, that's a principle [br]you don't want to lose.

0:21:09.373,0:21:13.078
Because men desire blessing.

0:21:13.078,0:21:16.255
They desire happiness.

0:21:16.255,0:21:17.833
And most miss it,

0:21:17.833,0:21:22.378
because they look for [br]it in the wrong place.

0:21:22.378,0:21:26.893
Fifthly, the person of this blessedness.

0:21:26.893,0:21:28.681
Blessings and happiness

0:21:28.681,0:21:32.435
are not tied to the man's circumstances.

0:21:32.435,0:21:34.197
You need to see that.

0:21:34.197,0:21:35.806
See, the world tends to think,

0:21:35.806,0:21:38.682
blessed is the man that [br]gets a beautiful wife.

0:21:38.682,0:21:40.962
Blessed is the man that comes into money.

0:21:40.962,0:21:43.468
Blessed is the man that [br]can afford to get that car,

0:21:43.468,0:21:45.558
buy that house.

0:21:45.558,0:21:49.855
Blessed is the man that [br](fill in the blank).

0:21:49.855,0:21:52.603
...gets the promotion at work.

0:21:52.603,0:21:55.429
But do you notice nothing in this psalm

0:21:55.429,0:21:57.776
has to do with circumstances?

0:21:57.776,0:22:00.565
It's the person.

0:22:00.565,0:22:08.391
It's who he is, not the [br]circumstances in his life.

0:22:08.391,0:22:13.292
That's critical.[br]That's crucial.

0:22:13.292,0:22:15.198
Blessings and happiness

0:22:15.198,0:22:17.783
are tied to who you are,

0:22:17.783,0:22:19.474
not what's happening in your life.

0:22:19.474,0:22:21.451
To who you are.

0:22:21.451,0:22:23.450
To what your relationship is with God.

0:22:23.450,0:22:26.221
What your relationship is with the Word.

0:22:26.221,0:22:27.516
That's the issue.

0:22:27.516,0:22:30.000
Now, there's those five "P's"

0:22:30.000,0:22:31.610
that have to do with "blessed."

0:22:31.610,0:22:34.030
Now, let's just broaden out

0:22:34.030,0:22:36.774
and think about the whole psalm.

0:22:36.774,0:22:41.428
Brethren, hear me carefully.

0:22:41.428,0:22:48.148
This psalm is an entire indicative.

0:22:48.148,0:22:49.404
There's no command here.

0:22:49.404,0:22:50.926
Now, I recognize Hebrew doesn't

0:22:50.926,0:22:54.733
necessarily have indicative verbs,

0:22:54.733,0:23:00.579
but in the Greek, in the Septuagint,

0:23:00.579,0:23:02.131
that's exactly what it is.

0:23:02.131,0:23:03.155
What am I getting at?

0:23:03.155,0:23:05.663
You don't want to know [br]all about Greek and Hebrew.

0:23:05.663,0:23:08.050
But what am I getting at?

0:23:08.050,0:23:09.787
My point is this:

0:23:09.787,0:23:13.370
This psalm doesn't command [br]you to do anything.

0:23:13.370,0:23:19.123
Look. Should you go to this psalm and say,

0:23:19.123,0:23:23.578
hey, I ought to be more [br]disciplined in the Word.

0:23:23.578,0:23:26.360
You know, when you get indicatives,

0:23:26.360,0:23:30.086
they do imply, they suggest imperatives.

0:23:30.086,0:23:32.485
When you're told a fact,

0:23:32.485,0:23:36.725
they do sometimes imply

0:23:36.725,0:23:38.597
a responsibility on our part.

0:23:38.597,0:23:39.477
That's true.

0:23:39.477,0:23:40.404
I don't deny that.

0:23:40.404,0:23:43.500
And there's many other places where[br]you find this to be a reality.

0:23:43.500,0:23:46.146
But hear me carefully.

0:23:46.146,0:23:50.087
I am not going to preach [br]commandments to you here,

0:23:50.087,0:23:53.208
because this psalm does not do that.

0:23:53.208,0:23:58.103
This psalm basically lays down facts.

0:23:58.103,0:24:04.183
Notice, nothing in this [br]psalm is telling you

0:24:04.183,0:24:08.150
or seeking to encourage you directly

0:24:08.150,0:24:10.814
to not walk in the counsel of the wicked

0:24:10.814,0:24:13.588
or to stand in a certain place

0:24:13.588,0:24:15.268
or to sit in a certain place.

0:24:15.268,0:24:16.779
It's not commanding you.

0:24:16.779,0:24:19.114
It's not encouraging you [br]to be in the Word.

0:24:19.114,0:24:21.084
It's not encouraging you to be a tree.

0:24:21.084,0:24:23.794
It's not encouraging you to be fruitful.

0:24:23.794,0:24:25.475
Not directly.

0:24:25.475,0:24:27.231
You hear what I'm saying.

0:24:27.231,0:24:31.002
It basically is a statement of fact.

0:24:31.002,0:24:33.641
You say where are you going?

0:24:33.641,0:24:35.179
I'll tell you where I'm going.

0:24:35.179,0:24:36.724
You know the problem too often

0:24:36.724,0:24:38.856
when you preach a text like this,

0:24:38.856,0:24:41.603
is people go away -

0:24:41.603,0:24:43.062
especially the wicked -

0:24:43.062,0:24:44.219
they go away thinking,

0:24:44.219,0:24:45.957
oh, I need to do better at that.

0:24:45.957,0:24:47.467
That's not what this is.

0:24:47.467,0:24:49.554
This is a statement of fact.

0:24:49.554,0:24:50.621
It's a description.

0:24:50.621,0:24:53.519
It is God coming along and He's saying

0:24:53.519,0:24:55.989
you want to know what [br]a righteous man looks like?

0:24:55.989,0:24:57.432
Here's what he looks like.

0:24:57.432,0:24:59.747
You want to know what a wicked man is?

0:24:59.747,0:25:02.322
He's not that.

0:25:02.322,0:25:04.498
That's basically what's happening.

0:25:04.498,0:25:06.876
Make sure you see that.

0:25:06.876,0:25:09.233
You say why?

0:25:09.233,0:25:13.674
Because this isn't a [br]pep rally to do better.

0:25:13.674,0:25:15.312
This is a searching.

0:25:15.312,0:25:18.489
This is a spotlight shining on all of us.

0:25:18.489,0:25:21.018
It's not an encouragement [br]to go out and strive,

0:25:21.018,0:25:23.984
or to go out and run better.

0:25:23.984,0:25:26.238
This is a spotlight shining on you

0:25:26.238,0:25:30.494
that proves who you are.

0:25:30.494,0:25:33.052
Make sure you see that.

0:25:33.052,0:25:34.271
The issue is not so much

0:25:34.271,0:25:37.233
that you need to strive harder,

0:25:37.233,0:25:39.415
as much as it is the living God telling us

0:25:39.415,0:25:43.045
what is true of all of us.

0:25:43.045,0:25:45.357
So, notice this.

0:25:45.357,0:25:48.594
V. 1 is, "Blessed is the man who

0:25:48.594,0:25:51.345
walks not..."

0:25:51.345,0:25:53.100
The negative.

0:25:53.100,0:25:55.108
Before you get the positive in v. 2.

0:25:55.108,0:25:57.147
"His delight is in the law of the Lord."

0:25:57.147,0:25:58.418
You get the negative.

0:25:58.418,0:26:01.579
The negative is first.

0:26:01.579,0:26:05.994
Isn't that similar to - [br]I think of Isaiah 55 oftentimes.

0:26:05.994,0:26:09.085
Let the wicked forsake his way,

0:26:09.085,0:26:10.978
and the unrighteous man his thoughts,

0:26:10.978,0:26:12.619
and let him return unto the Lord.

0:26:12.619,0:26:14.950
So you get the negative first:[br]forsake your way.

0:26:14.950,0:26:17.143
The positive: return to the Lord.

0:26:17.143,0:26:19.122
Or when Jesus came in the New Testament.

0:26:19.122,0:26:19.936
What did He say?

0:26:19.936,0:26:21.116
Repent!

0:26:21.116,0:26:22.982
Repent is a change of mind.

0:26:22.982,0:26:25.488
It is that change of mind about sin,

0:26:25.488,0:26:26.604
about Christ.

0:26:26.604,0:26:28.199
There's this turning from sin.

0:26:28.199,0:26:31.967
There's a reversal in life.

0:26:31.967,0:26:35.191
There's a forsaking and then believing.

0:26:35.191,0:26:37.929
Calling upon the Lord in faith.

0:26:37.929,0:26:40.154
We often get this negative

0:26:40.154,0:26:44.442
before the positive.

0:26:44.442,0:26:45.192
Why?

0:26:45.192,0:26:47.698
You know what the danger is?

0:26:47.698,0:26:49.777
You come along with just the positive

0:26:49.777,0:26:52.104
and people think I need [br]to tack that on my life.

0:26:52.104,0:26:53.825
Nope, that's not it.

0:26:53.825,0:26:56.095
That's never how it is.

0:26:56.095,0:26:57.885
There's first turning.

0:26:57.885,0:26:59.332
There's a forsaking.

0:26:59.332,0:27:00.960
There's things we step back from.

0:27:00.960,0:27:03.129
There's things that the blessed man

0:27:03.129,0:27:06.009
no longer involves himself in

0:27:06.009,0:27:07.490
before we get to the positive.

0:27:07.490,0:27:09.799
That's the way God often [br]does it in Scripture.

0:27:09.799,0:27:12.503
Man in this world - evil,

0:27:12.503,0:27:14.108
he's wrong; he's vile -

0:27:14.108,0:27:16.363
and God's way is essentially different.

0:27:16.363,0:27:19.384
And it's not just you [br]staying on your own way,

0:27:19.384,0:27:21.732
and your old way,

0:27:21.732,0:27:24.365
and then tacking on God's way.

0:27:24.365,0:27:28.097
There is a forsaking of your way.

0:27:28.097,0:27:31.377
And a coming to God's way.

0:27:31.377,0:27:37.576
That's the issue.

0:27:37.576,0:27:43.264
"Blessed is the man who walks not

0:27:43.264,0:27:44.813
in the counsel of the wicked,

0:27:44.813,0:27:47.183
nor stands in the way of sinners."

0:27:47.183,0:27:49.732
Not.

0:27:49.732,0:27:53.590
Brethren, this is desire [br]being described here.

0:27:53.590,0:27:55.171
God's not giving a commandment.

0:27:55.171,0:27:56.169
There's a desire.

0:27:56.169,0:27:59.075
And I know, someone says, exactly!

0:27:59.075,0:28:00.095
Negative.

0:28:00.095,0:28:01.825
Of course, that's how it starts out.

0:28:01.825,0:28:04.623
That's what Christianity is in [br]a lot of people's minds.

0:28:04.623,0:28:07.035
Of course, that's exactly [br]how Christianity is.

0:28:07.035,0:28:09.361
You can't do this.[br]You can't do that.

0:28:09.361,0:28:12.899
But, brethren, listen to me.

0:28:12.899,0:28:16.875
This is not a psalm of "thou shalt not's."

0:28:16.875,0:28:24.087
This is a man who desires the Word of God,

0:28:24.087,0:28:25.909
the law of the Lord.

0:28:25.909,0:28:28.420
This is a man who has a heart

0:28:28.420,0:28:31.583
that hungers after this.

0:28:31.583,0:28:33.583
He delights in it.

0:28:33.583,0:28:35.803
And because he delights in that,

0:28:35.803,0:28:37.875
he disdains what's against it:

0:28:37.875,0:28:39.104
the ways of the world,

0:28:39.104,0:28:40.171
the ways of the devil,

0:28:40.171,0:28:41.324
the ways that are wrong,

0:28:41.324,0:28:42.574
the ways of the scornful,

0:28:42.574,0:28:43.922
the ways of the sinner.

0:28:43.922,0:28:45.606
They're repulsive to him

0:28:45.606,0:28:49.476
because he delights in the law of God.

0:28:49.476,0:28:50.826
That's the idea.

0:28:50.826,0:28:53.648
Brethren, we have to [br]get this in our heads.

0:28:53.648,0:28:55.542
Christianity is not just this set

0:28:55.542,0:28:57.483
of external laws that tells us

0:28:57.483,0:29:00.479
don't do this, don't do this...

0:29:00.479,0:29:03.585
Christianity is a transformation of heart

0:29:03.585,0:29:07.092
where our delights are [br]now towards the Word

0:29:07.092,0:29:09.029
and we don't want that.

0:29:09.029,0:29:10.901
There's a distaste.

0:29:10.901,0:29:12.737
We don't love what we used to love.

0:29:12.737,0:29:15.110
Christianity is God changing us

0:29:15.110,0:29:16.691
so that we don't desire

0:29:16.691,0:29:18.238
the counsel of the ungodly.

0:29:18.238,0:29:19.882
We delight in the Word of Christ.

0:29:19.882,0:29:23.570
And brethren, we find His yoke easy.

0:29:23.570,0:29:26.255
That's the reality.

0:29:26.255,0:29:30.341
Notice the progressiveness

0:29:30.341,0:29:33.040
of this first verse.

0:29:33.040,0:29:35.894
He doesn't walk in the [br]counsel of the wicked.

0:29:35.894,0:29:37.111
And then it's "stand."

0:29:37.111,0:29:38.341
You've got a man walking,

0:29:38.341,0:29:40.254
and then it's like the man stops walking

0:29:40.254,0:29:41.694
and he stands.

0:29:41.694,0:29:43.283
And then the man sits.

0:29:43.283,0:29:46.433
It's progressive what?

0:29:46.433,0:29:52.753
(Incomplete thought)

0:29:52.753,0:29:54.888
It is a digression.

0:29:54.888,0:29:58.412
It's like there's motion and then he stops

0:29:58.412,0:30:00.024
and then he sits.

0:30:00.024,0:30:06.303
It's like this increasing grip of sin.

0:30:06.303,0:30:10.893
(Incomplete thought)

0:30:10.893,0:30:16.629
Lloyd-Jones called it paralysis of sin.

0:30:16.629,0:30:19.410
The blessed man avoids it.

0:30:19.410,0:30:21.723
And what is this?

0:30:21.723,0:30:23.967
What does he avoid?

0:30:23.967,0:30:26.244
You say, the wicked, the sinner,

0:30:26.244,0:30:31.047
the scoffer... brethren, where are they?

0:30:31.047,0:30:32.994
Think about your life.

0:30:32.994,0:30:34.500
There's voices,

0:30:34.500,0:30:36.321
We have these voices.

0:30:36.321,0:30:38.384
Things are coming in the eyes

0:30:38.384,0:30:40.661
and coming in the ears all the time.

0:30:40.661,0:30:41.780
We see things.

0:30:41.780,0:30:43.821
We hear things.

0:30:43.821,0:30:47.675
Where are these voices in this world?

0:30:47.675,0:30:50.333
We have means of commication today

0:30:50.333,0:30:52.429
like they never had in any other time.

0:30:52.429,0:30:54.452
Think of the channels through which

0:30:54.452,0:30:56.785
these things come.

0:30:56.785,0:30:59.786
Brethren, you know what they are.

0:30:59.786,0:31:01.314
Friends.

0:31:01.314,0:31:03.859
How often does Scripture [br]speak about companionship?

0:31:03.859,0:31:04.950
You want to be a fool?

0:31:04.950,0:31:06.935
Hang out with the fools.

0:31:06.935,0:31:08.830
Plain and simple.

0:31:08.830,0:31:10.197
Social media.

0:31:10.197,0:31:11.671
You can hang out with people.

0:31:11.671,0:31:14.450
You spend your time there.

0:31:14.450,0:31:17.635
Brethren, what kind of voices are these?

0:31:17.635,0:31:20.430
The wicked, the sinner, the scoffer...

0:31:20.430,0:31:23.461
they're voices that take you

0:31:23.461,0:31:25.650
off of running this race like you should.

0:31:25.650,0:31:27.466
They're voices that turn us away

0:31:27.466,0:31:28.766
from God and godliness.

0:31:28.766,0:31:30.469
They scoff. They mock

0:31:30.469,0:31:31.948
at the ways of the righteous.

0:31:31.948,0:31:33.236
They scoff and they mock

0:31:33.236,0:31:34.589
at the ways of Scripture.

0:31:34.589,0:31:38.356
It's all that's adverse to

0:31:38.356,0:31:40.721
and against and radically,

0:31:40.721,0:31:42.415
essentially the opposite

0:31:42.415,0:31:44.254
of what's in v. 2:

0:31:44.254,0:31:45.710
Loving the law of the Lord.

0:31:45.710,0:31:47.671
It's everything that's opposed to that.

0:31:47.671,0:31:49.320
It's everything that shuns that.

0:31:49.320,0:31:51.927
It's everything that smirks at that.

0:31:51.927,0:31:55.061
It's everything that [br]slights the ways of God.

0:31:55.061,0:31:57.124
That's what we're talking about.

0:31:57.124,0:32:01.506
What we're talking about here

0:32:01.506,0:32:03.503
is the blessed man;

0:32:03.503,0:32:05.340
is the man who looks at the friends

0:32:05.340,0:32:06.818
in his life and says,

0:32:06.818,0:32:08.206
you know what?

0:32:08.206,0:32:10.421
I am not going to spend time

0:32:10.421,0:32:13.598
with those people anymore.

0:32:13.598,0:32:15.813
Because you know what?

0:32:15.813,0:32:18.152
I want to spend time in the Word.

0:32:18.152,0:32:20.464
And there's something in their lives,

0:32:20.464,0:32:22.116
there's something in their words

0:32:22.116,0:32:25.013
that opposes this.

0:32:25.013,0:32:27.689
And I'm not walking there.

0:32:27.689,0:32:29.505
And I'm not standing there.

0:32:29.505,0:32:30.803
I'm not going to stop

0:32:30.803,0:32:32.081
and I'm not going to sit.

0:32:32.081,0:32:34.226
You see, it's almost more

0:32:34.226,0:32:39.119
of a progressive stagnation in sin.

0:32:39.119,0:32:40.443
I'm not going to do it.

0:32:40.443,0:32:41.847
I'm not going to go there.

0:32:41.847,0:32:44.005
I'm going to evaluate social media.

0:32:44.005,0:32:47.301
If that movie is going to take me somehow

0:32:47.301,0:32:49.785
away from what pleases God,

0:32:49.785,0:32:51.451
why am I going to go do that?

0:32:51.451,0:32:52.552
Why?

0:32:52.552,0:32:56.159
Entertainment?

0:32:56.159,0:32:57.984
Oh you're going to entertain yourself

0:32:57.984,0:32:59.361
by going and standing

0:32:59.361,0:33:01.550
in the way of the sinner.

0:33:01.550,0:33:03.804
Is that it?

0:33:03.804,0:33:06.454
You see, the righteous [br]man doesn't do that.

0:33:06.454,0:33:09.062
Now, brethren, hear me again.

0:33:09.062,0:33:12.415
I'm not saying, ok, you better size up

0:33:12.415,0:33:13.808
what you're doing on Facebook

0:33:13.808,0:33:15.730
and you better size [br]up what you're doing

0:33:15.730,0:33:17.149
with the TV and with movies

0:33:17.149,0:33:20.044
and with all the technology.

0:33:20.044,0:33:23.149
No commandments here.

0:33:23.149,0:33:25.524
Listen, brethren, what [br]you need to recognize

0:33:25.524,0:33:28.758
is God is telling you what we are.

0:33:28.758,0:33:30.825
See, if you're the guy that perpetually

0:33:30.825,0:33:32.556
has to look at your life and say,

0:33:32.556,0:33:36.539
well, I'm massively failing there.

0:33:36.539,0:33:38.919
Brethren, it's not God telling you

0:33:38.919,0:33:40.598
you need to get your act straight.

0:33:40.598,0:33:43.819
It's God telling you who you are.

0:33:43.819,0:33:45.775
Do you recognize that's what's happening

0:33:45.775,0:33:47.692
in this psalm?

0:33:47.692,0:33:50.740
He's saying look at your life.

0:33:50.740,0:33:54.541
If you walk in the way of the ungodly;

0:33:54.541,0:34:00.479
if you stand in this place of sinners;

0:34:00.479,0:34:03.481
you sit there among those who

0:34:03.481,0:34:07.373
slight the things that are godly -

0:34:07.373,0:34:10.995
He's telling you what you are.

0:34:10.995,0:34:12.007
Because if you say,

0:34:12.007,0:34:13.741
no my delight is in the Word.

0:34:13.741,0:34:15.385
Hey, this is all opposed to that.

0:34:15.385,0:34:17.521
And see, if you say,

0:34:17.521,0:34:19.619
no, I'm a blessed man

0:34:19.619,0:34:21.249
because I delight in the Word.

0:34:21.249,0:34:22.823
Ok, there's going to be proof.

0:34:22.823,0:34:24.471
And the proof on the negative side

0:34:24.471,0:34:27.701
is what you no longer do.

0:34:27.701,0:34:30.647
You see, there's evidence.

0:34:30.647,0:34:32.159
That's the point.

0:34:32.159,0:34:33.143
This is indicative.

0:34:33.143,0:34:36.542
This is indicating what is true.

0:34:36.542,0:34:39.408
I'm not here today to tell you

0:34:39.408,0:34:42.646
to clean up your act.

0:34:42.646,0:34:44.447
There are definitely texts

0:34:44.447,0:34:48.264
that talk about purging [br]that out of your life

0:34:48.264,0:34:49.723
which ought not to be there,

0:34:49.723,0:34:51.320
and cutting off and gouging out.

0:34:51.320,0:34:52.961
No question about that.

0:34:52.961,0:34:56.109
But brethren, what this is saying to us

0:34:56.109,0:34:58.470
is not so much that that's [br]what you need to do,

0:34:58.470,0:34:59.429
it's saying to us,

0:34:59.429,0:35:00.754
if you're the blessed man,

0:35:00.754,0:35:03.634
that's what you already do.

0:35:03.634,0:35:05.543
That's already true in your life.

0:35:05.543,0:35:07.587
That's already a reality.

0:35:07.587,0:35:10.279
Brethren, this is not commandment.

0:35:10.279,0:35:12.034
This is fact.

0:35:12.034,0:35:14.002
God is not admonishing us specifically

0:35:14.002,0:35:15.216
to be holier.

0:35:15.216,0:35:17.133
He's telling us the truth about

0:35:17.133,0:35:19.006
what holiness looks like.

0:35:19.006,0:35:21.594
And that holy man is that blessed man.

0:35:21.594,0:35:24.020
He's telling us that if [br]you're that blessed man,

0:35:24.020,0:35:27.225
you're not going to run with [br]that same crowd you ran with.

0:35:27.225,0:35:29.300
And you're not going [br]to do the same things

0:35:29.300,0:35:30.939
on the Internet you used to do.

0:35:30.939,0:35:33.929
And you're not going to do the same things[br]at the movie theater you used to do.

0:35:33.929,0:35:36.150
And you're not going to do the [br]same things in front of the television.

0:35:36.150,0:35:37.844
Because these are all the avenues

0:35:37.844,0:35:39.325
by which those voices come.

0:35:39.325,0:35:41.337
You're not going to do the[br]same thing with family.

0:35:41.337,0:35:42.782
You're not going to do the [br]same thing with friends.

0:35:42.782,0:35:44.459
You're not going to do [br]the same things with radio.

0:35:44.459,0:35:47.743
You're not going to do the [br]same thing with songs and music.

0:35:47.743,0:35:49.493
Why?

0:35:49.493,0:35:54.433
Because look, you've [br]got to bring this home.

0:35:54.433,0:35:55.980
The counsel of the wicked,

0:35:55.980,0:35:57.463
the way of the sinner,

0:35:57.463,0:35:59.995
the seat of the scoffer.

0:35:59.995,0:36:01.922
This is real.

0:36:01.922,0:36:04.490
You have to put familiar faces on this.

0:36:04.490,0:36:07.029
This is not just this [br]ambiguous thing out there.

0:36:07.029,0:36:09.426
This is your life.[br]This is my life.

0:36:09.426,0:36:10.625
And I'll tell you this,

0:36:10.625,0:36:12.490
what He's saying is the blessed man

0:36:12.490,0:36:16.721
is a man who suddenly is not

0:36:16.721,0:36:20.615
doing all sorts of things [br]that he used to do.

0:36:20.615,0:36:23.387
And one of the primary rationales,

0:36:23.387,0:36:25.986
one of the primary motivations,

0:36:25.986,0:36:30.203
one of the primary movers in all of this

0:36:30.203,0:36:33.141
is not external laws.

0:36:33.141,0:36:35.190
It's what he delights in.

0:36:35.190,0:36:37.847
He now delights in the Word of God.

0:36:37.847,0:36:42.029
And so, naturally, if [br]you delight in something,

0:36:42.029,0:36:43.677
you don't delight in [br]that which is opposed

0:36:43.677,0:36:45.183
to the something [br]that you delight in.

0:36:45.183,0:36:48.399
That's the reality here, brethren.

0:36:48.399,0:36:50.531
And notice this last one.

0:36:50.531,0:36:55.449
Because, I think this is key.

0:36:55.449,0:36:59.231
"Nor sits in the seat of scoffers."

0:36:59.231,0:37:00.582
You know what a scoffer is?

0:37:00.582,0:37:03.236
Or a scorner?

0:37:03.236,0:37:06.763
They're somebody who mocks.

0:37:06.763,0:37:09.278
And even in the church,

0:37:09.278,0:37:11.815
we get those who scorn

0:37:11.815,0:37:15.301
and they scoff and they mock

0:37:15.301,0:37:17.599
and they make light of

0:37:17.599,0:37:22.481
anyone they see who seems more radical.

0:37:22.481,0:37:24.282
You know what you get in the church?

0:37:24.282,0:37:25.425
You get these people

0:37:25.425,0:37:28.510
who they want to keep a clear conscience.

0:37:28.510,0:37:30.095
And they come to Scripture,

0:37:30.095,0:37:31.473
and they see something there,

0:37:31.473,0:37:33.622
like they look at modesty

0:37:33.622,0:37:35.189
and they think what that means

0:37:35.189,0:37:37.049
is I need to wear a dress that's down

0:37:37.049,0:37:37.901
to the floor.

0:37:37.901,0:37:38.963
And you know what?

0:37:38.963,0:37:40.511
They're not being legalistic.

0:37:40.511,0:37:41.775
They're not coming along

0:37:41.775,0:37:43.873
and they're not pressing [br]that on you and me.

0:37:43.873,0:37:45.836
They look at Scripture and they say

0:37:45.836,0:37:48.812
don't set anything that's vain or useless

0:37:48.812,0:37:49.639
before my eyes.

0:37:49.639,0:37:50.989
And they say, you know what?

0:37:50.989,0:37:53.027
I think TV altogether is vain and useless.

0:37:53.027,0:37:54.580
And so they're seeking to do it.

0:37:54.580,0:37:56.151
And if you're the guy [br]that's always out there

0:37:56.151,0:37:58.030
saying legalism, legalism, legalism!

0:37:58.030,0:38:01.486
You're likely in the seat of that scoffer.

0:38:01.486,0:38:02.843
When you look at people

0:38:02.843,0:38:05.074
who are trying to [br]keep a clear conscience

0:38:05.074,0:38:06.795
and they're eradicating things,

0:38:06.795,0:38:08.528
and they say my eye offends,

0:38:08.528,0:38:10.135
and so I'm getting rid of that.

0:38:10.135,0:38:12.339
I'm tearing it out and [br]I'm casting it from me.

0:38:12.339,0:38:13.941
And they're people of conscience.

0:38:13.941,0:38:15.804
And they're walking through their life

0:38:15.804,0:38:17.214
and they're going to the Word

0:38:17.214,0:38:19.382
and they delight in the Word[br]and they're looking in the Word

0:38:19.382,0:38:21.339
and they're saying my conscience says

0:38:21.339,0:38:22.827
oh, look what I find here.

0:38:22.827,0:38:24.701
Now look, you may look at them and say,

0:38:24.701,0:38:25.949
you know what?

0:38:25.949,0:38:27.449
Their conscience has not been

0:38:27.449,0:38:29.817
most accurately informed,

0:38:29.817,0:38:31.851
because if you think about other places

0:38:31.851,0:38:32.600
in Scripture...

0:38:32.600,0:38:34.009
And you know what, [br]that may be true,

0:38:34.009,0:38:36.395
but don't mock and don't [br]slight at such people

0:38:36.395,0:38:38.050
who are trying to [br]keep clear consciences

0:38:38.050,0:38:38.957
before God.

0:38:38.957,0:38:40.026
And they're meticulous

0:38:40.026,0:38:41.382
and they're diligent.

0:38:41.382,0:38:43.202
I remember one time when I was down

0:38:43.202,0:38:44.249
at Stockdale,

0:38:44.249,0:38:45.869
and a woman came and she had been

0:38:45.869,0:38:47.470
wearing a head covering before that,

0:38:47.470,0:38:49.161
and then she wasn't [br]wearing the head covering.

0:38:49.161,0:38:51.200
I said where's your head covering?

0:38:51.200,0:38:52.613
Did you study Scripture and

0:38:52.613,0:38:53.973
you came to another conclusion?

0:38:53.973,0:38:55.548
She said, no, just [br]because the people here

0:38:55.548,0:38:56.451
don't wear them.

0:38:56.451,0:38:58.336
I said you better get [br]that thing on your head.

0:38:58.336,0:38:59.408
Why? Because she thought

0:38:59.408,0:39:00.970
that's what the Lord wants her to do.

0:39:00.970,0:39:02.360
And if that's what you think the Lord

0:39:02.360,0:39:03.191
wants you to do,

0:39:03.191,0:39:04.143
and whether it comes down

0:39:04.143,0:39:05.280
to how you raise your children

0:39:05.280,0:39:06.352
or how you love your wife

0:39:06.352,0:39:07.950
or how you drive your car,

0:39:07.950,0:39:10.065
or what you do at work -

0:39:10.065,0:39:12.914
brethren, Spurgeon said it one time:

0:39:12.914,0:39:15.280
better to live according to this Word -

0:39:15.280,0:39:16.326
how you interpret it

0:39:16.326,0:39:17.492
and be wrong,

0:39:17.492,0:39:19.214
than to not do that.

0:39:19.214,0:39:20.764
You understand what he's saying.

0:39:20.764,0:39:22.591
He's not saying bad doctrine's good.

0:39:22.591,0:39:24.466
He's saying you need to live up

0:39:24.466,0:39:26.433
to the light of the lamp that is

0:39:26.433,0:39:28.696
shining at your feet from this book.

0:39:28.696,0:39:29.974
And how you look at it -

0:39:29.974,0:39:31.876
it's not what everybody else is doing.

0:39:31.876,0:39:34.606
You do what you believe that God

0:39:34.606,0:39:36.394
wants you to do from that book.

0:39:36.394,0:39:38.477
And you seek to live [br]with a clear conscience.

0:39:38.477,0:39:39.922
And you know who the scoffer is?

0:39:39.922,0:39:41.236
They're the people always shouting

0:39:41.236,0:39:42.325
"legalism" in the church.

0:39:42.325,0:39:43.479
Oh, that's legalistic.

0:39:43.479,0:39:45.749
They're just legalists.

0:39:45.749,0:39:48.592
You be careful.

0:39:48.592,0:39:50.224
You just be careful.

0:39:50.224,0:39:51.522
Because I tell you what,

0:39:51.522,0:39:52.981
if you're that person [br]who's always looking

0:39:52.981,0:39:54.155
and you're looking [br]down your nose

0:39:54.155,0:39:56.582
at other people who are really[br]trying to walk before the Lord,

0:39:56.582,0:39:58.325
and they're trying to walk[br]with a clear conscience,

0:39:58.325,0:39:59.746
and they're trying to please Him

0:39:59.746,0:40:01.294
and they're trying to be meticulous

0:40:01.294,0:40:02.364
to God's Word -

0:40:02.364,0:40:04.200
you look at them and [br]you call them legalists -

0:40:04.200,0:40:06.625
you have been sitting [br]in the seat of the scoffer.

0:40:06.625,0:40:07.502
Let me tell you.

0:40:07.502,0:40:09.203
I'm not telling you don't do that.

0:40:09.203,0:40:10.219
Repent of that.

0:40:10.219,0:40:12.002
Of course, there's a place for that.

0:40:12.002,0:40:13.390
What I'm telling you is this:

0:40:13.390,0:40:15.540
What God is doing is showing [br]you who you are.

0:40:15.540,0:40:16.729
Not what you ought to be.

0:40:16.729,0:40:21.386
He's showing you who you are.

0:40:21.386,0:40:23.956
So, notice his delight.

0:40:23.956,0:40:27.529
His delight is in the law of the Lord.

0:40:27.529,0:40:28.899
And on His law, he meditates

0:40:28.899,0:40:29.995
day and night.

0:40:29.995,0:40:32.110
Again, brethren, this is not a commandment

0:40:32.110,0:40:34.337
for the Word of Christ [br]to dwell in you richly.

0:40:34.337,0:40:35.923
There is a commandment like that.

0:40:35.923,0:40:37.997
There's instruction like [br]that in Scripture.

0:40:37.997,0:40:39.629
I'm not saying that there isn't.

0:40:39.629,0:40:41.803
I'm just saying this psalm

0:40:41.803,0:40:44.978
is basically - the gist of it

0:40:44.978,0:40:47.154
is that God is telling us the truth

0:40:47.154,0:40:49.196
about ourselves.

0:40:49.196,0:40:51.104
Oh, brethren, the blessed man

0:40:51.104,0:40:53.293
is that man who has come to this

0:40:53.293,0:40:54.720
entirely new relationship

0:40:54.720,0:40:56.524
with the Word of God.

0:40:56.524,0:40:57.971
Look, again, I'm telling you.

0:40:57.971,0:40:59.573
Brethren, I am not here to tell you

0:40:59.573,0:41:00.991
if you've not been in the Word,

0:41:00.991,0:41:02.121
you need to get in the Word.

0:41:02.121,0:41:04.356
What I'm telling you is [br]if you're not in the Word,

0:41:04.356,0:41:06.163
it's because you don't [br]delight in the Word

0:41:06.163,0:41:07.878
and Scripture is telling you

0:41:07.878,0:41:09.904
who and what you are.

0:41:09.904,0:41:13.322
That's the issue.

0:41:13.322,0:41:16.016
That's what's happening here.

0:41:16.016,0:41:19.054
The blessed man -

0:41:19.054,0:41:21.956
he's the man that it's just not theory

0:41:21.956,0:41:23.624
for him to say

0:41:23.624,0:41:25.609
that man shall not live by bread alone,

0:41:25.609,0:41:27.245
but by every word that proceedeth

0:41:27.245,0:41:28.807
forth from the mouth of God.

0:41:28.807,0:41:30.411
He knows that.[br]He believes that.

0:41:30.411,0:41:32.962
His life reflects that.

0:41:32.962,0:41:35.523
The exact same truth you heard

0:41:35.523,0:41:37.328
from our brother in the first hour

0:41:37.328,0:41:38.815
from John 8.

0:41:38.815,0:41:41.129
Listen, Jesus says it.

0:41:41.129,0:41:42.591
Again, it's not a commandment.

0:41:42.591,0:41:44.327
It's a fact.

0:41:44.327,0:41:48.275
He says if you abide in My Word,

0:41:48.275,0:41:51.442
you are truly My disciples.

0:41:51.442,0:41:54.372
He's not saying abide in My Word.

0:41:54.372,0:41:56.667
Yes, there's places where you can find

0:41:56.667,0:41:58.040
such statements,

0:41:58.040,0:42:00.974
but there are these factual statements

0:42:00.974,0:42:03.066
made all through Scripture,

0:42:03.066,0:42:05.228
that if you are His disciple,

0:42:05.228,0:42:07.739
His Word abides in you.

0:42:07.739,0:42:09.463
Not just that it should.

0:42:09.463,0:42:12.163
And if it doesn't, it shows who you are.

0:42:12.163,0:42:14.448
That's what He was saying to these people.

0:42:14.448,0:42:17.269
Listen, brethren, be honest.

0:42:17.269,0:42:19.230
This is the truth about the blessed man.

0:42:19.230,0:42:21.106
On the whole,

0:42:21.106,0:42:25.134
if you were to drag this man into court,

0:42:25.134,0:42:28.164
and accuse him of being a Bible lover,

0:42:28.164,0:42:29.387
guess what?

0:42:29.387,0:42:33.796
There's evidence to convict him.

0:42:33.796,0:42:36.633
Where are you?

0:42:36.633,0:42:39.765
Oh, isn't it amazing?

0:42:39.765,0:42:44.895
The first psalm - blessings [br]which everybody wants.

0:42:44.895,0:42:47.588
And it's got to do with where

0:42:47.588,0:42:50.651
the Word of God is in your life.

0:42:50.651,0:42:52.668
The first first is the negative of that.

0:42:52.668,0:42:53.762
It's the contrary.

0:42:53.762,0:42:55.948
You avoid all those voices that

0:42:55.948,0:42:59.161
are not like this.

0:42:59.161,0:43:02.419
But you delight in the Word.

0:43:02.419,0:43:06.927
You say, I've never killed anybody.

0:43:06.927,0:43:09.618
The wicked? They're not so.

0:43:09.618,0:43:11.191
In other words, if you take them

0:43:11.191,0:43:12.968
into the court room,

0:43:12.968,0:43:17.475
and you say prove that you're a lover

0:43:17.475,0:43:19.876
of the Word,

0:43:19.876,0:43:21.501
the wicked are not so.

0:43:21.501,0:43:23.061
And so if there isn't evidence,

0:43:23.061,0:43:26.047
the wicked is not so.

0:43:26.047,0:43:27.808
Well, I own a Bible.

0:43:27.808,0:43:30.127
In fact, I have three.

0:43:30.127,0:43:32.940
That's not what's being said here.

0:43:32.940,0:43:34.042
Do you delight in it?

0:43:34.042,0:43:40.514
You say, yeah, I delight in it.

0:43:40.514,0:43:45.154
Are you meditating on it day and night?

0:43:45.154,0:43:48.276
Can you go three days, [br]four days, five days, seven days

0:43:48.276,0:43:50.671
and you're not in it?

0:43:50.671,0:43:52.135
You see, again, brethren,

0:43:52.135,0:43:54.061
this is not telling you what you ought

0:43:54.061,0:43:55.545
to be doing.

0:43:55.545,0:43:59.544
This is telling you what you are.

0:43:59.544,0:44:02.514
This is the delight of the man.

0:44:02.514,0:44:06.063
Look, what you don't want to do

0:44:06.063,0:44:07.982
is walk away from this message and say,

0:44:07.982,0:44:08.937
well, you know what?

0:44:08.937,0:44:11.867
My delight is really in video games;

0:44:11.867,0:44:15.014
hanging out with my friends;

0:44:15.014,0:44:19.084
listening to the new music.

0:44:19.084,0:44:22.204
You know, what I find delight in

0:44:22.204,0:44:28.848
is sex and money and fun...

0:44:28.848,0:44:33.645
I guess I better start reading my Bible,

0:44:33.645,0:44:37.526
even though it's not what [br]you really delight to do.

0:44:37.526,0:44:40.384
You see, it's not doing that.

0:44:40.384,0:44:43.112
It's saying no, the truth is

0:44:43.112,0:44:46.510
if you can leave that Bible on the shelf,

0:44:46.510,0:44:49.191
there's not a panting [br]in your soul after it.

0:44:49.191,0:44:52.924
Look, I recognize there are dry seasons.

0:44:52.924,0:44:55.941
But do you hear what's being said?

0:44:55.941,0:44:57.423
On the whole, I don't have to

0:44:57.423,0:44:59.808
invent a bunch of exceptions here.

0:44:59.808,0:45:01.537
And I don't have to define this

0:45:01.537,0:45:02.823
in super amounts of detail.

0:45:02.823,0:45:04.261
Because God doesn't think it's

0:45:04.261,0:45:05.431
that necessary to do it.

0:45:05.431,0:45:06.631
He simply says this,

0:45:06.631,0:45:08.328
the blessed man delights

0:45:08.328,0:45:10.141
in the law of the Lord

0:45:10.141,0:45:12.266
and in that law, he [br]meditates day and night.

0:45:12.266,0:45:13.162
Period.

0:45:13.162,0:45:14.188
That's what God says.

0:45:14.188,0:45:15.504
I don't need to amend that.

0:45:15.504,0:45:16.846
I don't need to add to that.

0:45:16.846,0:45:18.475
And brethren, what you need to ask

0:45:18.475,0:45:19.354
is be honest.

0:45:19.354,0:45:20.696
Does that reflect your life?

0:45:20.696,0:45:21.844
Because if it doesn't,

0:45:21.844,0:45:24.844
the wicked are not so.

0:45:24.844,0:45:27.053
Like I said, the wicked isn't just wicked

0:45:27.053,0:45:29.273
because he's torturing [br]people in his basement.

0:45:29.273,0:45:30.682
The wicked is just the guy

0:45:30.682,0:45:32.432
that doesn't delight in the Word.

0:45:32.432,0:45:36.825
He's not like the righteous person.

0:45:36.825,0:45:41.014
That's what we have here.

0:45:41.014,0:45:43.088
The righteous man -

0:45:43.088,0:45:44.359
he hungers.

0:45:44.359,0:45:45.890
There's something desirable.

0:45:45.890,0:45:47.080
Why?

0:45:47.080,0:45:47.827
Why?

0:45:47.827,0:45:52.342
Because the Spirit has opened his eyes

0:45:52.342,0:45:54.515
and this Word is now living.

0:45:54.515,0:45:55.850
And when he looks into it,

0:45:55.850,0:46:01.013
it's like... Wow!

0:46:01.013,0:46:03.113
There's wisdom.

0:46:03.113,0:46:06.333
It opens the window to the glory of God.

0:46:06.333,0:46:07.647
And in these pages,

0:46:07.647,0:46:11.741
he sees Christ.

0:46:11.741,0:46:14.382
He's never seen anything like it before.

0:46:14.382,0:46:16.706
He might have looked [br]at it when he was lost,

0:46:16.706,0:46:20.773
but now it's just altogether new.

0:46:20.773,0:46:23.911
Don't fool yourself.

0:46:23.911,0:46:26.390
If you're able to be away from this Word;

0:46:26.390,0:46:29.499
it's just a dry, dead letter,

0:46:29.499,0:46:32.621
and basically being in it is a chore.

0:46:32.621,0:46:34.301
It's like you know when you assess

0:46:34.301,0:46:35.344
your Christian life,

0:46:35.344,0:46:37.779
it's like, well yes, I read.

0:46:37.779,0:46:40.084
Yeah, I've kind of got that in place

0:46:40.084,0:46:41.415
these last few days.

0:46:41.415,0:46:42.799
I've really forced myself.

0:46:42.799,0:46:44.038
I disciplined myself.

0:46:44.038,0:46:47.163
Although typically, I can go long seasons

0:46:47.163,0:46:49.084
with watching a whole lot more TV

0:46:49.084,0:46:50.589
than I ever get in the Word;

0:46:50.589,0:46:52.549
and be on the Internet a whole lot more

0:46:52.549,0:46:54.282
than I'd ever be in the Word.

0:46:54.282,0:47:00.473
Exposing myself to all sorts of voices.

0:47:00.473,0:47:05.823
Brethren, let's just be honest.

0:47:05.823,0:47:07.863
His delight is in the law of the Lord,

0:47:07.863,0:47:11.098
and on His law, he [br]meditates day and night.

0:47:11.098,0:47:14.855
And the wicked are not so.

0:47:14.855,0:47:17.232
So we have a picture here in v. 3.

0:47:17.232,0:47:19.314
The righteous man - the blessed man,

0:47:19.314,0:47:20.540
he is like a tree

0:47:20.540,0:47:23.897
planted by the streams (plural)

0:47:23.897,0:47:25.820
of water that yields its fruit

0:47:25.820,0:47:27.719
in its season.

0:47:27.719,0:47:30.611
And it's leaf does not wither.

0:47:30.611,0:47:33.953
In all that he does, he prospers.

0:47:33.953,0:47:38.067
The wicked are not so,

0:47:38.067,0:47:41.144
but are like chaff

0:47:41.144,0:47:45.698
that the wind drives away.

0:47:45.698,0:47:47.658
We're given this picture.

0:47:47.658,0:47:49.749
And again, brethren, I'm going to

0:47:49.749,0:47:52.130
keep emphasizing this.

0:47:52.130,0:47:56.583
This tells us the truth about ourselves.

0:47:56.583,0:47:58.220
Nothing tells the truth about us

0:47:58.220,0:47:59.545
like the Bible does.

0:47:59.545,0:48:02.585
Spiritually speaking,

0:48:02.585,0:48:05.069
all men are either (incomplete thought).

0:48:05.069,0:48:06.430
Have you ever been -

0:48:06.430,0:48:07.850
I don't know up and down

0:48:07.850,0:48:09.413
the San Antonio River -

0:48:09.413,0:48:11.627
I don't think I've seen much of the river

0:48:11.627,0:48:14.753
other than right here in San Antonio.

0:48:14.753,0:48:16.413
But I've been to different places

0:48:16.413,0:48:18.433
on the Guadalupe River.

0:48:18.433,0:48:20.249
Have you ever seen those cypresses?

0:48:20.249,0:48:22.352
Oh, there are some downtown

0:48:22.352,0:48:23.957
along the Riverwalk.

0:48:23.957,0:48:26.268
You know those cypresses?

0:48:26.268,0:48:28.506
Great big, massive trees.

0:48:28.506,0:48:30.043
And you know where they grow?

0:48:30.043,0:48:31.568
They only grow right alongside the river.

0:48:31.568,0:48:33.026
You can try to plant them other places,

0:48:33.026,0:48:34.588
but if you don't give them steady water,

0:48:34.588,0:48:36.741
they just don't make it.

0:48:36.741,0:48:39.575
Great big trees,

0:48:39.575,0:48:41.616
like a great big cypress tree

0:48:41.616,0:48:43.836
planted along the Guadalupe River

0:48:43.836,0:48:47.888
with roots that go down into soil

0:48:47.888,0:48:51.107
that's moist and life-giving

0:48:51.107,0:48:53.729
all the time.

0:48:53.729,0:48:56.650
That's what the righteous is like.

0:48:56.650,0:49:02.327
The unrighteous - a pile of chaff.

0:49:02.327,0:49:03.415
You know what?

0:49:03.415,0:49:04.668
When we look at each other

0:49:04.668,0:49:09.905
like we can look at each other right here.

0:49:09.905,0:49:12.299
I can't see that difference,

0:49:12.299,0:49:14.217
but it's true.

0:49:14.217,0:49:15.559
Spiritually speaking,

0:49:15.559,0:49:17.238
if we could pull back the veil,

0:49:17.238,0:49:21.349
some are these massive cypress trees,

0:49:21.349,0:49:26.281
planted along the rivers (plural).

0:49:26.281,0:49:27.568
Rivers.

0:49:27.568,0:49:31.131
Abundance.

0:49:31.131,0:49:36.224
And some are just a pile of chaff.

0:49:36.224,0:49:39.089
That's the comparison here.

0:49:39.089,0:49:41.740
Tree. Chaff.

0:49:41.740,0:49:42.978
You see the difference?

0:49:42.978,0:49:45.810
Your life. My life.

0:49:45.810,0:49:48.586
Tree or chaff.

0:49:48.586,0:49:51.345
What's your life like?

0:49:51.345,0:49:53.388
It's just radical difference.

0:49:53.388,0:49:57.504
You see, there's no shades here.

0:49:57.504,0:49:59.534
There's no degrees here.

0:49:59.534,0:50:01.159
It's not like, well, you've got

0:50:01.159,0:50:03.873
a chaff-y looking tree over there.

0:50:03.873,0:50:07.591
No, none of that.

0:50:07.591,0:50:09.977
You're one or the other.

0:50:09.977,0:50:11.346
People don't tend to realize

0:50:11.346,0:50:12.887
the radical difference between

0:50:12.887,0:50:15.721
the Christian and the non-Christian.

0:50:15.721,0:50:20.492
The roots of this tree go deep down.

0:50:20.492,0:50:23.877
This man whose heart and mind

0:50:23.877,0:50:27.152
and soul - the roots go down deep

0:50:27.152,0:50:29.328
into the words of Christ.

0:50:29.328,0:50:31.238
The law of the Lord.

0:50:31.238,0:50:34.175
They go down into His commandments,

0:50:34.175,0:50:37.707
His Word, and they're [br]pulling the nutrients up.

0:50:37.707,0:50:43.579
You see, didn't Christ say,

0:50:43.579,0:50:47.284
"Sanctify them by Thy truth.

0:50:47.284,0:50:48.983
Thy Word is truth."

0:50:48.983,0:50:53.009
The sanctifying power of the Spirit of God

0:50:53.009,0:50:56.412
comes through - his [br]delight is in this law.

0:50:56.412,0:50:58.972
And in this law, he looks in.

0:50:58.972,0:51:01.719
He sees the character of God.

0:51:01.719,0:51:03.645
He sees the beauties of Christ.

0:51:03.645,0:51:06.018
And it's transformative.

0:51:06.018,0:51:07.570
Those roots go down.

0:51:07.570,0:51:11.428
The chaff? The chaff has no roots.

0:51:11.428,0:51:13.154
You look at your life.

0:51:13.154,0:51:14.568
No real roots in here.

0:51:14.568,0:51:15.750
You don't memorize this.

0:51:15.750,0:51:18.954
You don't meditate on this.

0:51:18.954,0:51:22.064
The Word is not controlling.

0:51:22.064,0:51:23.767
Instead, you've subjected yourself

0:51:23.767,0:51:25.337
to worldly opinions.

0:51:25.337,0:51:26.840
Worldly counsels.

0:51:26.840,0:51:28.510
Worldly mindsets.

0:51:28.510,0:51:30.822
All the time, you're being bombarded.

0:51:30.822,0:51:33.846
So it's very easy to put [br]a little Christian title

0:51:33.846,0:51:36.796
on music that's otherwise just ungodly.

0:51:36.796,0:51:40.353
We can Christianize just about everything.

0:51:40.353,0:51:41.455
But the truth is,

0:51:41.455,0:51:44.014
the man who spends a lot of time

0:51:44.014,0:51:45.411
in this Word -

0:51:45.411,0:51:46.977
he can smell out the difference.

0:51:46.977,0:51:48.552
He's not just looking at the name

0:51:48.552,0:51:50.131
because you can be like Sardis.

0:51:50.131,0:51:53.084
You can have a name, but you're dead.

0:51:53.084,0:51:55.776
And the person whose heart

0:51:55.776,0:51:57.157
and mind and soul

0:51:57.157,0:51:59.051
are down in the depths of this

0:51:59.051,0:52:02.818
moisture-rich soil of the Word of Christ,

0:52:02.818,0:52:05.009
they can tell those things.

0:52:05.009,0:52:07.964
Because it gives them discernment.

0:52:07.964,0:52:11.247
They see.

0:52:11.247,0:52:12.749
Which are you?

0:52:12.749,0:52:14.474
A tree versus chaff.

0:52:14.474,0:52:16.800
They have nothing in common.

0:52:16.800,0:52:19.073
The tree is fruitful.

0:52:19.073,0:52:21.793
The fruits of the Spirit.

0:52:21.793,0:52:24.254
You see, there's a person

0:52:24.254,0:52:27.262
who spends a lot of time in this book.

0:52:27.262,0:52:30.641
Their roots are planted here.

0:52:30.641,0:52:33.928
And that Word abides in them.

0:52:33.928,0:52:35.379
It stays.

0:52:35.379,0:52:36.693
They're not hearers only.

0:52:36.693,0:52:38.138
But they're doers.

0:52:38.138,0:52:39.054
And they go forth

0:52:39.054,0:52:40.577
and as they do the Word,

0:52:40.577,0:52:42.219
this fruit of the Spirit,

0:52:42.219,0:52:43.981
they go up and it's rich.

0:52:43.981,0:52:48.983
By this, our Father is well pleased,

0:52:48.983,0:52:52.411
that we bring forth much fruit.

0:52:52.411,0:52:54.308
There's an abundance of fruit.

0:52:54.308,0:52:56.434
Love - the fruit of love.

0:52:56.434,0:52:59.300
And there's joy.

0:52:59.300,0:53:02.460
And there's the fruits of the Spirit.

0:53:02.460,0:53:04.264
Chaff is not fruit.

0:53:04.264,0:53:06.288
Chaff is the stuff on the outside

0:53:06.288,0:53:08.200
of the kernel or the grain.

0:53:08.200,0:53:11.026
It's the stuff that gets taken off

0:53:11.026,0:53:12.958
and it's winnowed away.

0:53:12.958,0:53:14.177
The wind blows it away.

0:53:14.177,0:53:15.200
You don't want it.

0:53:15.200,0:53:16.172
It's useless.

0:53:16.172,0:53:17.734
There's no good use for it.

0:53:17.734,0:53:19.100
Nothing like a tree at all.

0:53:19.100,0:53:20.358
It's entirely different.

0:53:20.358,0:53:21.564
There's no roots.

0:53:21.564,0:53:24.146
There's no fruit.

0:53:24.146,0:53:29.718
The fruit that it brings forth -

0:53:29.718,0:53:32.626
the fruit in this person's life

0:53:32.626,0:53:38.662
is really useless.

0:53:38.662,0:53:45.965
So, the question is this,

0:53:45.965,0:53:48.782
will you be honest with yourself?

0:53:48.782,0:53:52.694
Is the Word of God your light?

0:53:52.694,0:53:54.737
Your sustenance? Your love?

0:53:54.737,0:53:58.736
Your portal into the very mind of Christ?

0:53:58.736,0:54:00.245
Is that not what we're told?

0:54:00.245,0:54:03.586
We have the mind of Christ.

0:54:03.586,0:54:06.674
I can go into the recesses

0:54:06.674,0:54:10.363
of the mind of Christ in this book.

0:54:10.363,0:54:14.998
And the Spirit reveals and teaches me.

0:54:14.998,0:54:16.960
Brethren, is that what it is?

0:54:16.960,0:54:20.206
The window into the very glories of God?

0:54:20.206,0:54:23.525
The wicked are not so.

0:54:23.525,0:54:25.738
Let's be honest.

0:54:25.738,0:54:29.499
Be honest.

0:54:29.499,0:54:34.361
You say, wow, if I'm going to be honest,

0:54:34.361,0:54:36.155
I'm in the category of the wicked.

0:54:36.155,0:54:37.685
It makes me very uncomfortable.

0:54:37.685,0:54:39.202
I don't like that title.

0:54:39.202,0:54:40.905
But I don't know much how I can

0:54:40.905,0:54:43.377
put myself in this other camp.

0:54:43.377,0:54:45.545
How do I get to where

0:54:45.545,0:54:48.695
you're saying the blessed man is?

0:54:48.695,0:54:52.550
Notice v. 3.

0:54:52.550,0:54:57.482
"He is like a tree planted [br]by streams of water."

0:54:57.482,0:54:59.064
Isn't that interesting

0:54:59.064,0:55:02.954
that God moves David

0:55:02.954,0:55:04.863
(incomplete thought);

0:55:04.863,0:55:08.432
We know that some trees -

0:55:08.432,0:55:11.299
a seed falls.

0:55:11.299,0:55:13.338
It germinates.

0:55:13.338,0:55:14.763
And you get a tree.

0:55:14.763,0:55:16.561
But you know what's interesting?

0:55:16.561,0:55:18.861
That's not the picture.

0:55:18.861,0:55:23.442
The picture is of a tree [br]that gets planted.

0:55:23.442,0:55:27.460
I've planted a lot of trees.

0:55:27.460,0:55:30.482
Trees just don't end up there,

0:55:30.482,0:55:34.803
unless they get planted.

0:55:34.803,0:55:37.215
And a tree doesn't plant itself.

0:55:37.215,0:55:38.970
Someone puts it there.

0:55:38.970,0:55:44.093
And there's only one [br]way that you get planted.

0:55:44.093,0:55:46.552
See, this is what I don't [br]want to have happen.

0:55:46.552,0:55:48.579
Don't say to yourself

0:55:48.579,0:55:50.306
I'm not like that,

0:55:50.306,0:55:53.211
so I better get my act together

0:55:53.211,0:55:54.402
and get like that.

0:55:54.402,0:55:56.297
And so you know what I'm going to do?

0:55:56.297,0:55:57.618
I am going to go home

0:55:57.618,0:55:59.500
and even though I haven't been

0:55:59.500,0:56:00.559
in the Word much

0:56:00.559,0:56:02.335
and there's dust on the cover...

0:56:02.335,0:56:03.662
And Spurgeon said one place

0:56:03.662,0:56:06.657
many of you can write damnation

0:56:06.657,0:56:11.523
in the dust on your Bibles.

0:56:11.523,0:56:14.073
The way out of this is not to go home

0:56:14.073,0:56:16.443
and clean the dust off

0:56:16.443,0:56:20.242
and open it.

0:56:20.242,0:56:24.178
Reading Scripture is not [br]how you get planted.

0:56:24.178,0:56:27.093
I'm not saying it's a bad thing.

0:56:27.093,0:56:31.691
You can find the Christ in these words.

0:56:31.691,0:56:35.540
Undoubtedly.

0:56:35.540,0:56:39.023
But brethren, the ticket here...

0:56:39.023,0:56:41.933
The path

0:56:41.933,0:56:42.899
is not to say, well,

0:56:42.899,0:56:44.913
I better start coming to church more.

0:56:44.913,0:56:46.711
Better get in the Word more.

0:56:46.711,0:56:49.271
I better start doing, doing, doing.

0:56:49.271,0:56:53.379
Don't say that to yourself.

0:56:53.379,0:56:55.114
Though I would really rather play

0:56:55.114,0:56:57.694
video games and watch movies

0:56:57.694,0:56:59.416
and spend endless hours on Facebook.

0:56:59.416,0:57:01.327
And though I'd rather hang [br]out with my friends

0:57:01.327,0:57:02.835
and do a thousand other things.

0:57:02.835,0:57:04.693
I better force myself into the Bible.

0:57:04.693,0:57:07.208
Though I find it dull and lifeless,

0:57:07.208,0:57:13.219
for me - life, vigor, living it up...

0:57:13.219,0:57:15.046
it's watching the game.

0:57:15.046,0:57:16.994
It's in sports.

0:57:16.994,0:57:19.648
It's in freedom.

0:57:19.648,0:57:22.050
That's where it is.

0:57:22.050,0:57:23.691
Even though I really don't

0:57:23.691,0:57:27.006
have a love for the brethren.

0:57:27.006,0:57:28.131
I don't have a love for

0:57:28.131,0:57:29.183
the breaking of bread

0:57:29.183,0:57:31.020
and remembering Christ and what He did

0:57:31.020,0:57:32.171
and singing those songs.

0:57:32.171,0:57:34.147
I don't really have a love for all that.

0:57:34.147,0:57:35.888
I don't have a love for[br]the apostle's doctrine

0:57:35.888,0:57:37.488
and for that preaching [br]that goes on,

0:57:37.488,0:57:39.256
and for the Word,

0:57:39.256,0:57:41.575
and no love of prayer.

0:57:41.575,0:57:43.799
But I better get my act together

0:57:43.799,0:57:47.114
because I don't want to lose my soul.

0:57:47.114,0:57:49.341
Brethren, look, you don't need religion.

0:57:49.341,0:57:52.098
That's not how you get planted.

0:57:52.098,0:57:58.078
I think, "And can it be?"

0:57:58.078,0:57:59.446
You remember Charles Wesley?

0:57:59.446,0:58:00.163
John Wesley?

0:58:00.163,0:58:01.758
George Whitefield?

0:58:01.758,0:58:03.753
You remember where they were?

0:58:03.753,0:58:05.603
The holy club.

0:58:05.603,0:58:07.115
They gave their money.

0:58:07.115,0:58:12.100
They visited people in prison.

0:58:12.100,0:58:13.880
And you know what, in the end,

0:58:13.880,0:58:16.271
the Spirit of God convicted them all -

0:58:16.271,0:58:18.323
it was a hopeless path,

0:58:18.323,0:58:20.229
and they were helpless.

0:58:20.229,0:58:23.345
Religion is never the way.

0:58:23.345,0:58:26.202
We talked about Luther.

0:58:26.202,0:58:28.803
Blessednesses - Luther tried it.

0:58:28.803,0:58:30.260
Went to the monastery.

0:58:30.260,0:58:32.742
Religion never works.

0:58:32.742,0:58:35.172
That's not the ticket.

0:58:35.172,0:58:38.946
That's not how you get planted.

0:58:38.946,0:58:40.088
You say, how? Tell me.

0:58:40.088,0:58:41.181
Tell me.

0:58:41.181,0:58:43.656
The answer is this:

0:58:43.656,0:58:46.213
it's found in John 3:3.

0:58:46.213,0:58:48.695
It's, "Truly, truly, I say to you,

0:58:48.695,0:58:50.351
unless one is born again,

0:58:50.351,0:58:55.239
he cannot see the Kingdom of God."

0:58:55.239,0:58:58.562
Yeah, but you didn't [br]tell me anything to do.

0:58:58.562,0:59:01.134
Again, you're just stating the fact.

0:59:01.134,0:59:02.839
What does this look like?

0:59:02.839,0:59:07.666
Brethren, here's what it looks like.

0:59:07.666,0:59:15.350
Jesus said - same discourse -

0:59:15.350,0:59:18.190
When the Spirit comes,

0:59:18.190,0:59:22.936
He is going to convict men of sin,

0:59:22.936,0:59:25.138
of righteousness,

0:59:25.138,0:59:27.556
of judgment.

0:59:27.556,0:59:30.668
And you know what happens?

0:59:30.668,0:59:33.181
God plants us.

0:59:33.181,0:59:37.078
And you know what happens?

0:59:37.078,0:59:41.079
Sin. Something begins to happen,

0:59:41.079,0:59:43.855
and the Spirit causes it to happen.

0:59:43.855,0:59:44.844
You think about it.

0:59:44.844,0:59:45.882
Conviction.

0:59:45.882,0:59:47.074
Where does that happen?

0:59:47.074,0:59:48.479
You might say the conscience.

0:59:48.479,0:59:49.797
But it happens in the mind.

0:59:49.797,0:59:51.973
The Spirit begins to cause us

0:59:51.973,0:59:53.357
to think different.

0:59:53.357,1:00:00.642
Suddenly, sin... sin!

1:00:00.642,1:00:02.878
And maybe at first, you're even agitated.

1:00:02.878,1:00:04.562
That was what was true with me.

1:00:04.562,1:00:05.932
Not that I'm the standard,

1:00:05.932,1:00:07.836
but I remember in the very beginning,

1:00:07.836,1:00:11.191
this emptiness; this hollowness.

1:00:11.191,1:00:13.222
And I just wanted Him to leave me alone.

1:00:13.222,1:00:15.165
God, leave me alone

1:00:15.165,1:00:17.385
and let me go back and enjoy...

1:00:17.385,1:00:19.967
and much like Pilgrim [br]in Pilgrim's Progress,

1:00:19.967,1:00:21.379
you get worldly wise men.

1:00:21.379,1:00:22.510
Go try religion.

1:00:22.510,1:00:23.786
And that's where he went.

1:00:23.786,1:00:25.522
He went hiking up there.

1:00:25.522,1:00:29.864
Sometimes we get upset.

1:00:29.864,1:00:32.275
But brethren, I remember clearly

1:00:32.275,1:00:35.504
the night the Spirit of God showed me

1:00:35.504,1:00:37.673
my sin was wicked and I deserved hell,

1:00:37.673,1:00:39.365
and if God didn't put me there -

1:00:39.365,1:00:41.729
and you see, that's the [br]conviction that comes.

1:00:41.729,1:00:43.756
We start to feel this weight of sin.

1:00:43.756,1:00:46.993
Salvation has to do with sin.

1:00:46.993,1:00:48.902
And Jesus said that He did not

1:00:48.902,1:00:50.257
come for the well.

1:00:50.257,1:00:52.357
And it is not until we're unwell -

1:00:52.357,1:00:54.682
and it's the Spirit of God who causes

1:00:54.682,1:00:55.783
that to happen.

1:00:55.783,1:00:57.345
Not just to freak out

1:00:57.345,1:00:59.209
because we happen to hear a message

1:00:59.209,1:01:02.553
and it says I must be one of the wicked.

1:01:02.553,1:01:05.286
Brethren, it's when you want your sin

1:01:05.286,1:01:06.434
dealt with.

1:01:06.434,1:01:10.872
It's the Spirit of God causing [br]something to happen;

1:01:10.872,1:01:14.250
beginning to disturb us.

1:01:14.250,1:01:16.719
Sin becomes disturbing.

1:01:16.719,1:01:20.057
We can't just coddle with it anymore.

1:01:20.057,1:01:21.659
Something is happening.

1:01:21.659,1:01:22.950
Something begins to happen.

1:01:22.950,1:01:23.870
And maybe at first,

1:01:23.870,1:01:26.088
you don't know that [br]it's God that's doing it.

1:01:26.088,1:01:27.959
But something begins to happen to you.

1:01:27.959,1:01:29.413
And something that [br]never happened before.

1:01:29.413,1:01:31.631
Something that hasn't [br]happened like this before.

1:01:31.631,1:01:33.394
And then, righteousness...

1:01:33.394,1:01:38.748
there's this desparate sense -

1:01:38.748,1:01:40.954
this in itself isn't salvation,

1:01:40.954,1:01:42.147
because I have a feeling

1:01:42.147,1:01:43.769
the rich, young ruler felt this.

1:01:43.769,1:01:47.139
But you begin to get this sense:

1:01:47.139,1:01:49.466
something's missing.

1:01:49.466,1:01:52.077
I need more than I have

1:01:52.077,1:01:54.096
to get right with God.

1:01:54.096,1:01:56.282
Do we know that religion isn't doing it?

1:01:56.282,1:01:58.904
You see, that's what the Wesley's[br]and Whitefield were trying.

1:01:58.904,1:01:59.872
This holy club.

1:01:59.872,1:02:02.219
They were trying to do all their stuff.

1:02:02.219,1:02:04.790
But John Wesley looked at those Moravians,

1:02:04.790,1:02:08.565
and he said, I'm missing something.

1:02:08.565,1:02:10.729
Something isn't there.

1:02:10.729,1:02:13.689
You see, the Spirit convicts of sin,

1:02:13.689,1:02:15.369
and righteousness - or a lack

1:02:15.369,1:02:16.526
of our righteousness.

1:02:16.526,1:02:18.352
The fact we need more than we have.

1:02:18.352,1:02:20.197
The fact we need something.

1:02:20.197,1:02:22.700
And then judgment.

1:02:22.700,1:02:24.629
I'm not ready to stand before God.

1:02:24.629,1:02:25.957
I'm not ready for this.

1:02:25.957,1:02:26.837
I'm not ready.

1:02:26.837,1:02:29.012
And then something is [br]happening in the soul.

1:02:29.012,1:02:31.124
Brethren, it doesn't always look identical

1:02:31.124,1:02:31.974
in everybody,

1:02:31.974,1:02:33.352
but that's what Christ said

1:02:33.352,1:02:34.983
that the Spirit of God would do.

1:02:34.983,1:02:36.275
And that's what happens.

1:02:36.275,1:02:38.649
When people are being born again,

1:02:38.649,1:02:41.144
the Spirit of God is doing something

1:02:41.144,1:02:42.274
in the heart of men

1:02:42.274,1:02:44.732
concerning sin and righteousness

1:02:44.732,1:02:45.741
and judgment.

1:02:45.741,1:02:47.278
And then you know what happens.

1:02:47.278,1:02:51.366
He came to exalt Christ.

1:02:51.366,1:02:53.654
And there, in our despair,

1:02:53.654,1:02:56.139
is all the crutches, and all the counsels,

1:02:56.139,1:02:57.942
and all the things we rested on,

1:02:57.942,1:02:59.073
and all our hopes

1:02:59.073,1:03:01.785
and all that we put our stock in.

1:03:01.785,1:03:04.408
It's just crumbling away

1:03:04.408,1:03:08.042
and we can't find...

1:03:08.042,1:03:10.203
I need something else.

1:03:10.203,1:03:11.732
And sometimes the Spirit of God

1:03:11.732,1:03:12.962
lets people get to

1:03:12.962,1:03:16.321
an amazing place of despair.

1:03:16.321,1:03:19.618
But look, it doesn't matter how much.

1:03:19.618,1:03:22.797
That's not the issue.

1:03:22.797,1:03:26.881
The issue is that then

1:03:26.881,1:03:31.522
the Spirit causes the scales to fall off.

1:03:31.522,1:03:33.127
That's what happened to Paul.

1:03:33.127,1:03:34.696
The scales fell off.

1:03:34.696,1:03:36.656
Of you've got it in 2 Corinthians,

1:03:36.656,1:03:42.764
it's like the veil is pulled back.

1:03:42.764,1:03:45.062
And just like God said in the beginning,

1:03:45.062,1:03:48.002
let there be light.

1:03:48.002,1:03:50.529
He shows us this glorious light

1:03:50.529,1:03:53.288
in the very face of Jesus Christ.

1:03:53.288,1:03:56.245
And you know what begins to happen?

1:03:56.245,1:03:59.757
We hear this message of salvation

1:03:59.757,1:04:02.721
and the Spirit speaks to us.

1:04:02.721,1:04:04.564
It's for you.

1:04:04.564,1:04:07.270
It's for you.

1:04:07.270,1:04:12.983
It's relevant to you.

1:04:12.983,1:04:16.516
This crucified Christ.

1:04:16.516,1:04:17.643
And we see that.

1:04:17.643,1:04:19.947
We see that this message is for us.

1:04:19.947,1:04:22.596
We hear those life-giving words.

1:04:22.596,1:04:26.973
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ

1:04:26.973,1:04:30.671
and you will be saved.

1:04:30.671,1:04:32.233
And like that lady,

1:04:32.233,1:04:34.300
we become convinced,

1:04:34.300,1:04:37.261
if I can just touch the [br]hem of His garment,

1:04:37.261,1:04:40.531
I'll be healed.

1:04:40.531,1:04:43.589
Brethren, that's what happens.

1:04:43.589,1:04:47.595
We accept the truth.

1:04:47.595,1:04:49.944
You accept the truth

1:04:49.944,1:04:52.363
that Christ Jesus came into the world

1:04:52.363,1:04:55.175
to die for sinners.

1:04:55.175,1:04:59.900
And that is music to your ears.

1:04:59.900,1:05:00.959
That there is a way;

1:05:00.959,1:05:01.967
there is a remedy;

1:05:01.967,1:05:03.091
there is a Doctor;

1:05:03.091,1:05:06.637
there is a way to be healed.

1:05:06.637,1:05:11.378
You believe that truth for you.

1:05:11.378,1:05:15.863
And you will come to look up and recognize

1:05:15.863,1:05:18.124
God has planted me

1:05:18.124,1:05:20.444
beside these waters

1:05:20.444,1:05:23.021
and I long after that book

1:05:23.021,1:05:25.441
and for the truths and the promises in it

1:05:25.441,1:05:31.309
and the Word of Christ.

1:05:31.309,1:05:38.481
Brethren, it's not a [br]psalm of commandments.

1:05:38.481,1:05:41.237
It's a psalm that says it like it is.

1:05:41.237,1:05:48.334
The Word of God shows us who we are.

1:05:48.334,1:05:50.414
Father, I pray

1:05:50.414,1:05:56.194
this message would [br]go deep into the hearts.

1:05:56.194,1:05:58.831
Lord, if there are imperatives

1:05:58.831,1:06:00.996
and responsibilities and instruction

1:06:00.996,1:06:02.544
for us to take practically

1:06:02.544,1:06:04.101
to apply to our lives.

1:06:04.101,1:06:05.663
Then may it be taken

1:06:05.663,1:06:06.979
and may it be practiced

1:06:06.979,1:06:09.020
and may it be applied.

1:06:09.020,1:06:11.357
But Lord, I pray that this Word

1:06:11.357,1:06:12.893
would be what it seems like

1:06:12.893,1:06:15.214
You intended it to be.

1:06:15.214,1:06:22.215
A light to shine and expose and reveal

1:06:22.215,1:06:24.628
the very character of every one of us

1:06:24.628,1:06:26.670
in this room.

1:06:26.670,1:06:28.954
And I pray that it would have that effect.

1:06:28.954,1:06:31.301
I pray it in the name of [br]our Lord Jesus Christ,

1:06:31.301,1:06:33.288
Amen.