WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.359 All right, we're good to go. All right, let me go ahead and... 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:19.920 All right, so everyone has a sheet and their Bible and we're ready to go. Well, 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:25.379 it's definitely great to be here tonight. It's installment six of the Nature, 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:32.759 Purpose, and Power of Scripture. You know, we started off part one was the origin of 00:00:32.759 --> 00:00:37.399 scriptures, learning about divine inspiration of the Word of God and how 00:00:37.399 --> 00:00:43.239 the Holy Spirit carried along the authors to write or to dictate to their 00:00:43.239 --> 00:00:48.679 scribes the word that was to be written. Then we went over the author of scriptures, 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:53.879 learning about Moses. We went over the prophets, the apostles, and Christ being 00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:59.280 the author as well. Then we went over the names and titles of scriptures. So we 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:03.640 just finished that portion where we learned about the implanted Word, the 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:09.400 spiritual milk of the Word, the Word of God, and the Word of Christ which dwells 00:01:09.400 --> 00:01:16.640 in us. We learned about the Word of Truth which is the gospel message. And this 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:23.719 last week we finished off the holy scriptures and the oracles of God. And 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:28.480 this makes mention to the Old Testament, but it can also make mention to the 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:34.480 entirety of scripture. And so tonight we're going to talk about the nature and 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:40.039 the description of the scriptures. So you find that in your note just right at 00:01:40.039 --> 00:01:44.159 the top or Roman numeral three characteristics and we're going over 00:01:44.159 --> 00:01:51.120 that first one which is pure, the purity of scripture. The main verses we'll be 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:59.439 going over is Psalms chapter 12 verse 6, Psalm 19, chapter 19 verse 9, and then 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:06.600 Psalm 51, chapter 51 verse 10. So we're gonna learn about that. We're 00:02:06.600 --> 00:02:11.520 learning about the purity of scripture. We'll go on next week about how God's 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:16.759 Word is true, how it's perfect and sure, living and active, or some 00:02:16.759 --> 00:02:22.079 translations say quick and powerful. But for tonight we're just going to go over 00:02:22.079 --> 00:02:29.159 the purity of scripture and just how it's all connected together. But before we 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:33.479 go any further, what I want us to do I'd like for us to open in prayer and we'll 00:02:33.479 --> 00:02:39.439 go ahead and get started. So we pray, Father we come before you tonight. We're 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:44.479 ready to open our Bibles to learn more about who you are and what you have done. 00:02:44.479 --> 00:02:49.759 We ask that you help us to understand the depths of your Word and to challenge 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:55.280 us to know you and to grow in faith in you. As we have learned the titles and 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:01.000 the names of your holy Word, may we learn more about the purity of your Word, 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:06.199 the truth that is found in the Word of God, in your Word, and how they are 00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:13.439 perfect, how your Word is sure, how it is living and active. And as we learn we 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:19.919 ask that our hearts will be open to live and to love like you. We wish to be more 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:26.280 like your Son Jesus the Christ and not to have hardened hearts or bitterness. We 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:30.759 ask that you're with us tonight as we learn more from your Word. It is in 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:36.280 Jesus' name that we pray and we all say together amen. Amen. So we're first 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:42.639 going to start off, it's going to be Psalms chapter 12 verse 6. It's going to be 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:49.439 found in page 534 of the ESV Pew Bible. 00:03:56.679 --> 00:04:08.119 Let's read Psalm chapter 12 verse 6. So let's read this together. The words of 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:15.039 the Lord are pure words like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, 00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:24.920 purified seven times. And that leads us to our first question for reflection. Have 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:30.160 you ever paused to consider what pure means when we're talking about the Word 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:37.959 of God? Why do you think? Why might God emphasize the purity of His Word to us? 00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:44.599 So feel free to take a moment to write down your thoughts or you can interact 00:04:44.599 --> 00:04:49.560 and whatever comes to mind, however, whatever works for you the best. So 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:57.879 let's take a moment and reflect on that. Sometimes the heat gets turned on in our 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:04.000 lives if it will, but sometimes we go through things because it's supposed to 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:09.839 kind of mold us and I know that's very heavy language, but it is true. And in 00:05:09.839 --> 00:05:16.120 the same way we're seeing here that the purity of God's Word is something that 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:22.120 it's not tarnished, it's not dirty if you will. And when we are becoming more 00:05:22.120 --> 00:05:26.279 like the Lord, we are going to have those little imperfections if you will 00:05:26.279 --> 00:05:33.600 taken out and where we become more holy, where we become more Christ-like. And so 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:39.800 that's... these are very good answers. These are definitely good answers. So to 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:46.439 start off with, this is one of the Psalms of David and this verse is saying that 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:52.879 the words, right, the speech, the commands of the Word, these words are of God and 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:58.760 they are pure. There are some translations that will say clean or will say 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:06.079 flawless. Do any of your translations say in Psalms chapter 12 verse 6 anything 00:06:06.079 --> 00:06:11.480 different? Does it say pure, clean, flawless? Does it say anything different? So 00:06:11.480 --> 00:06:16.159 depending upon the translation, I think the main idea is certainly the same 00:06:16.159 --> 00:06:21.920 that it has like this verse is saying, silver that is refined in a furnace. So 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:28.279 without error, right, without flaw, when you're thinking of, again, precious metal, 00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:32.439 I think that's a very good example that the Lord is presenting to us. If you're 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:37.039 buying fine silver or fine gold, you don't want it to have any imperfection. 00:06:37.039 --> 00:06:42.879 That's what would make a piece of... any piece of jewelry valuable is how perfect 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:49.079 it is or how pure it is or how flawless it is. So that's something to keep in 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:55.759 mind. So there's other translations that say other maybe not as common 00:06:55.759 --> 00:07:02.959 translations that would say God's Word is trusted or sure and those are... I would 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:08.599 say those are good ways of looking at it as well. To have a better understanding 00:07:08.599 --> 00:07:17.639 of the meaning of purity in the Hebrew word, it's defined as pure. It is defined 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:24.439 as clean or without... without blemish, right, without any sort of error, so to 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:29.759 speak. It's the kind of purity that's also defined, I'll get this, as the kind 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:37.839 moral or chemically pure also used in a ceremonial sense. So when we see this 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:44.079 word, it's very often used in the Old Testament Levitical Law or the Law in 00:07:44.079 --> 00:07:49.959 Deuteronomy, which is about being ritually pure. So you find that specific 00:07:49.959 --> 00:07:56.319 word used in the Old Testament Law. But here we're finding that purity is used 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:02.839 in the purity, the cleanliness, the perfection, if you will, the trust of 00:08:02.839 --> 00:08:10.199 God's Word. Now I'd like for us to turn to 1st John chapter 1 verse 5 here 00:08:10.199 --> 00:08:16.919 because what's very interesting is when we're talking about how God's Word is 00:08:16.920 --> 00:08:23.840 pure, well it's part... we know that the Word of God comes from the Lord and 00:08:23.840 --> 00:08:30.879 certainly there's a great reminder for us when we... I absolutely love this verse 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:42.440 because it helps... 1210, not 1220... it helps in our faith to understand this. So 00:08:42.440 --> 00:08:49.720 1st John chapter 1 verse 5, it says, this is the message we have heard from Him and 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:58.880 proclaim to you that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. Now what's 00:08:58.880 --> 00:09:04.440 very interesting about this is it's similar to being pure, right? When we're 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:10.440 talking about the holiness of God and how God's way is perfect, it's another 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:15.680 word to describe the attribute or the characteristic of God. So if you're 00:09:15.680 --> 00:09:20.800 looking at a light, well it has to be pure. Have you ever seen if you're using 00:09:20.800 --> 00:09:25.920 a flashlight and there's a speck of... maybe there's dirt or mud on it, right? 00:09:25.920 --> 00:09:30.840 It doesn't do what it's supposed to do. So God being light without having any 00:09:30.840 --> 00:09:37.280 darkness of Him is kind of connected to the idea of God being pure and God's 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:43.559 word being pure. And so that helps us in our faith journey. And that leads us to 00:09:43.559 --> 00:09:51.439 the next question that comes up here. If God is pure and light with no darkness, 00:09:51.439 --> 00:09:57.240 how does this challenge us? Or how does this comfort you? Or how does this comfort 00:09:57.240 --> 00:10:03.439 us in your walk with Him or in your walk with the Lord? So feel free to take a 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:12.480 moment and write that down or express your thoughts on this because it can be a 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:17.840 challenge for some but it can also be a comfort for others. It definitely helps 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:25.400 us. It helps us speak to other people about who God is. You'll have some people 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:33.679 every so often who'll say, well isn't God evil? Well no, God's not evil. Or does 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:38.639 God sin? Or does God do... it's just simple questions that we hear it and we're 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:44.480 like, well no. Well here's a verse that's like absolutely not. God will not tempt 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:50.519 you, for example. God will test you but He will not tempt you to sin. That would 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:56.079 be clearly against not only this verse but other verses in Scripture. And so when 00:10:56.079 --> 00:11:01.679 we're thinking about the goodness of God, the truth of God, we know that God is not 00:11:01.679 --> 00:11:08.120 a liar and we know from this verse that there's no darkness in Him. So to the 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:14.399 ones that are... they have in their mind thinking, oh well God must have some evil 00:11:14.399 --> 00:11:20.559 qualities or God must be like me who's imperfect. Well no, it's really simple, 00:11:20.559 --> 00:11:26.079 you know. So if you ever speak to someone who is saying, well you know, God 00:11:26.079 --> 00:11:31.159 must have sinned or God must have made a mistake. Well I don't know what God you 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:35.159 believe in but that's not the God that I believe in. Because the God that I believe 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:41.319 in is good, the God that I believe in is holy, and He is pure, He is clean. And this 00:11:41.320 --> 00:11:46.920 is one of those many verses that would show the holiness of God. And so that's... 00:11:46.920 --> 00:11:53.280 it is comforting, isn't it? You know, knowing about that. I'll also add this, 00:11:53.280 --> 00:12:04.600 which I think will help. When you look at other... the Pantheon, right? The many 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:11.240 gods, right? Think of Roman gods and goddesses, the Greek gods and goddesses. 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:17.360 They were very much like humans with superpowers, if you will, right? They had 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:23.519 the ability very strong or they could control the sea, but they weren't perfect. 00:12:23.519 --> 00:12:29.440 And I think that's so interesting when you're looking at even the antiquity, 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:34.960 right? Those old gods and goddesses that they were not perfect in any sense of the 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:41.920 word and yet they still worship them. But we worship God who is perfect, right? 00:12:41.920 --> 00:12:47.640 And so I just find that to be very interesting just how... I would say that 00:12:47.640 --> 00:12:54.240 it's very common for humans understanding, for man's understanding, to think of God 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:59.040 like that. Well, how could God be different than me? You know, aren't we all the same? 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:04.319 Well, no, we're not. And you know, that the Greek mythology or the Roman mythology 00:13:04.319 --> 00:13:10.039 is a great example of kind of making gods, if you will, that are very human-like. 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:16.860 But with our God being three in one, right? Just like the Trinity or being the 00:13:16.860 --> 00:13:21.879 creator of the universe or is giving the way for forgiveness of sins is very 00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:27.480 different than what you learn about in those kind of mythologies of old. So, 00:13:27.480 --> 00:13:36.240 right, they fought with each other. They got angry like people did. 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:41.759 So those gods were no different, right? With how we understand other humans. 00:13:41.759 --> 00:13:47.879 So you almost have to look at it like people who are in positions of power. 00:13:47.879 --> 00:13:53.279 Like, oh, they're elevated, if you will, in society, but they're still imperfect. 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:57.679 You still hear about, oh, you know, this politician embezzled money or, you know, 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:03.480 this CEO committed adultery, right? Or whatever it is. It's no different than 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:09.000 how the Greek and Roman mythologies, right, how they elevated their gods, but 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:13.319 they were still imperfect, right? And so there is darkness in them, if you will. 00:14:13.319 --> 00:14:19.000 And so that's really good. So although the first John passage does not 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:24.240 specifically use the word pure or clean, it still helps us with our understanding 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:30.799 of who God is and to understand that his word. Because God is good, therefore his 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:37.360 word is good. God is pure, God is light, God is love, he is holy, and he is sovereign. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:44.039 And since God is pure, the words that God speaks are pure. And there are two verses 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:49.240 I want to share with you that will help us with our understanding of the purity 00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:55.679 of God's word. We're gonna go ahead and turn to Psalm 19. So Psalm chapter 19 00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:03.240 verse 9. And that's gonna be in page 538 in the ESV Pew Bible. And I'll put that 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:14.480 up on the screen right now. Psalm 19.9. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:21.799 forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous all together. Now if you 00:15:21.799 --> 00:15:27.399 look previously, you'll see verse 7, the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:33.639 soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple, the 00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:37.679 precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing in the heart, enlightening of the eyes. 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:43.759 So a lot of this is talking about the law of the Lord, so also the the laws 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:48.959 that were found in the Old Testament. But the fear of the Lord being clean, 00:15:48.959 --> 00:15:56.759 this second verse is it's pure and it says it endures forever. I'm curious 00:15:56.759 --> 00:16:01.480 what your other translations say, what it says. The fear of the Lord is what? Is 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:07.120 it say clean? Does it say pure, flawless? The idea of this is just so interesting, 00:16:07.120 --> 00:16:12.439 right? The fear of the Lord being pure, being clean, and it enduring forever, 00:16:12.439 --> 00:16:17.600 right? It might say your translation might say it endures forever or enduring 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:22.639 forever, but the same idea is still there. And the rules of the Lord are true and 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:28.319 righteous all together. So okay, we're learning about the word of God being 00:16:28.319 --> 00:16:34.439 pure, but to have the fear of the Lord is also pure. So having the fear of the 00:16:34.439 --> 00:16:38.399 Lord it's clean, it's pure, and it endures forever. So that leads us to our next 00:16:38.399 --> 00:16:44.279 question. Well then wait just a minute, how do you fear the Lord in your life? 00:16:44.279 --> 00:16:52.439 In what ways does God's splendor and majesty influence you? So I want you to 00:16:52.440 --> 00:17:03.680 take a moment, reflect on that, write down or speak to it. God will be with you 00:17:03.680 --> 00:17:11.680 in every season of your life, and that I didn't write this, I didn't make this up, 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:18.960 but someone once said that when you're being Christ-like, you're a believer in 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:26.400 Christ, you're on a path to sin less, but never to be sinless. And I thought 00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:30.720 that was such a nice little play on words there, because we will continue to 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:36.759 sin, you know, but it should be less than it was before, you know, especially 00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:42.360 before you knew the Lord. But certainly there are situations where people 00:17:42.359 --> 00:17:49.359 struggle with sin, and that is a reality. But knowing that God is there for us and 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:55.479 is there to guide us through His Word and through prayer, and even with the 00:17:55.479 --> 00:17:59.119 church being the community of believers helping each other out is also 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:08.359 something that's very beautiful. This language of the fear of the Lord 00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:15.000 unfortunately has been taken in a very negative light, right, to be a frayed of 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:21.279 God. And I'll make it very clear, the only time you should fear God as in 00:18:21.279 --> 00:18:27.639 being a frayed of Him is if you don't know Him. Okay, now that's different than 00:18:27.639 --> 00:18:32.679 the fear of the Lord, which you find scattered throughout the wisdom literature. 00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:40.240 The fear of the Lord is, it's a different kind of fear, and I'll read what I wrote 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:47.320 on here to kind of help out. When we read verses that speak of the fear of the 00:18:47.320 --> 00:18:55.120 Lord, we're talking about a reverence that is defined as the awe and the wonder 00:18:55.120 --> 00:19:02.019 of the Father, right, of the Lord. So think of it like this, the fear of the 00:19:02.019 --> 00:19:09.279 Lord is not the kind of fear that pushes us away or draws us away from God, 00:19:09.279 --> 00:19:18.359 rather it's the kind of awe, wonder, it is astonishment of who God is and what 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:24.680 He has done for us, and it draws us closer and it draws us near to Him. It's 00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:30.639 very different than, like I said, it's different than being afraid of God by 00:19:30.640 --> 00:19:35.120 not knowing Him. When we're talking about specifically that phrasing the fear of 00:19:35.120 --> 00:19:44.200 the Lord, we have to look at it as reverence, respect, I use awe and wonder 00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:49.960 a lot or astonishment of the splendor and the majesty. Now there have been 00:19:49.960 --> 00:19:53.440 Christians that I have met who when they read the fear of the Lord, they 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:58.960 automatically think I must be afraid of the Lord even if I am a Christian, and 00:19:58.960 --> 00:20:04.440 that would be that would be inaccurate, that would be incorrect. It would be at 00:20:04.440 --> 00:20:09.039 that point what the fear of the Lord is to the Christian would be different than 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:15.039 being afraid of hell or afraid of what life is after death by not knowing God. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:19.000 So I hope that makes sense because I know that's a very, that can be a very touchy 00:20:19.000 --> 00:20:23.400 topic, especially for those who were taught that if you need to be afraid of 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:29.640 God even as a Christian, and unfortunately that can happen, I can't 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:32.759 think of an instance where that's happened specifically to me, but I do know 00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:41.040 people who have felt that way before. There's one, if she watches this 00:20:41.040 --> 00:20:44.080 online, she'll know exactly who I'm talking about. There's a there's a 00:20:44.080 --> 00:20:50.720 Christian that I knew who she read verses that talked about the fear of the 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:59.680 Lord, and she was, she's like, well I'm a Christian. I don't, why do I need to be 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:05.160 afraid of him if I'm on his side? And we had a lovely talk about that, 00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:09.559 about what that meant. As we go further in this, you'll see there's a nice 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:17.519 connection about knowing the Lord, and that I almost want to say that the 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:21.200 fear of the Lord is not an accurate way of describing it, but I don't want to 00:21:21.200 --> 00:21:26.720 change what scripture's saying. That's why, that's why I have to be very careful 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:31.279 with certain words like that. They have certain meanings. When we read them, they 00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:36.639 mean a certain thing. But with this woman that I knew, she's a young lady. She went 00:21:36.639 --> 00:21:44.160 to youth group, and she had to kind of, she was, she knew other people who were 00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:51.600 taught the fire and brimstone. And if I sin, I'm going to hell. If I, if I do 00:21:51.600 --> 00:21:57.600 wrong, God's gonna throw me out of, you know, into the pit, if you will. And 00:21:57.600 --> 00:22:03.920 unfortunately, that's more extreme. I think, I think that'd be an accurate way of 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:07.680 saying it. I don't want to say a specific denomination, but there are, there 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:11.680 are ones out there that talk about that if you, if you sin, you're separate from 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:15.519 God, therefore you're probably not going to go to heaven. Well, scripture actually 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:24.880 talks about how no one can, no one can pluck you out of God's hand. I'm trying 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:29.840 to remember, it's in John. I think it's John six. But the idea is when you make a 00:22:29.840 --> 00:22:34.240 decision for Christ, when you believe in him, you are secure in the arms of the 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:42.799 Father, and God will protect you. He will, he will shield you even. And I think 00:22:42.799 --> 00:22:48.079 that's, we don't want to look at, we don't want to look at those kind of 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:55.759 verses and being afraid when we don't need to be afraid. There's really, there's no 00:22:55.759 --> 00:23:01.440 need to be afraid of the Lord if you know him. It's no different than how some 00:23:01.440 --> 00:23:08.480 people, when they come to faith, they don't like calling God Father because 00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:13.519 they might have had an abusive Father, right? Or they would say, oh, I can call 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:18.320 him, or maybe I don't want to call him Lord, can't I just call him God, or can't 00:23:18.320 --> 00:23:22.880 I just call him something else other than that? Well, I mean, I would say that's 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:27.600 one reason why God has many different names, you know, that would be one great 00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:33.359 thing. But one thing I want you all to know is that there is a connection with 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:39.599 the fear of the Lord that's found in the Old Testament with having saving 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:45.839 knowledge of the Lord. For when we know who God is, we come to believe him 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:52.639 through faith. And here's where I'll show you. Let's turn to this next verse. In 00:23:52.640 --> 00:24:00.080 creating this, I was going to go over the purity of the word, the truth of 00:24:00.080 --> 00:24:03.840 the word, the living and active. I was going to go through all of them, but once 00:24:03.840 --> 00:24:12.400 again, when I go through it, it comes out longer. But this will, I hope this helps 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:16.880 in understanding the tie-in with the purity of scripture and the fear of the 00:24:16.880 --> 00:24:24.720 Lord and the knowledge of God. So Proverbs chapter 2 is, so it's Proverbs 00:24:24.720 --> 00:24:32.160 chapter 2 verses 4 through 6, but you know what, let's just go, 00:24:34.080 --> 00:24:41.920 um, yeah, I guess we can go to verse 8 because there's a period there. 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:48.480 All right, so what's happening here? Solomon is writing to his son, right? 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:53.039 My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:58.480 making your ear attentive to wisdom, right? And inclining your heart to 00:24:58.480 --> 00:25:02.560 understanding, right? Just like how we need to hear the word of God and we need 00:25:02.560 --> 00:25:08.720 to have our heart open to understand him. Verse 3, if you call out for insight and 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:14.799 raise your voice for understanding, verse 4, critical, if you seek it like 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:21.120 silver and search for it as hidden treasures, then you will understand the 00:25:21.120 --> 00:25:27.360 fear of the Lord and find knowledge of God. 00:25:27.360 --> 00:25:32.319 For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth comes, come knowledge and 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:38.160 understanding. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright and he is what? 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:42.640 He is a shield to those who walk in integrity, 00:25:42.640 --> 00:25:48.640 guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of the saints. 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:53.200 So that's powerful. Having the fear of the Lord 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:57.040 and finding the knowledge of God, right? There's a connection there. 00:25:57.040 --> 00:26:03.840 So let's bring it all together. God's word is pure, it is clean, it is 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:09.519 perfect, right? Just as God is light and God is pure. God is sovereign, God is 00:26:09.519 --> 00:26:13.839 holy. And for us to have the fear of the Lord, 00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:21.439 to seek God or to seek Christ who is, as we've studied before, the wisdom of God, 00:26:21.439 --> 00:26:26.319 it is much like how we are to seek first the kingdom of God, 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:30.559 then we will have knowledge of him and then we will come to 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:34.799 faith in him. And I know that's a lot when I'm saying that, but it's a 00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:38.879 connection bringing what we would find in the Old Testament for 00:26:38.879 --> 00:26:42.879 having the fear of the Lord and having the saving knowledge 00:26:42.879 --> 00:26:47.759 of God, right? Because having that saving knowledge, that's where we come to 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:52.000 believe in the Lord and we receive that gift of salvation. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:57.039 So what this is all saying is, okay, wait just a minute. 00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:02.559 To have the fear of the Lord is to, it's almost like you're seeking God at that 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:05.599 point, right? To have that awe and wonder for who 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:08.639 God is. When we're considering the stars in the sky, 00:27:08.639 --> 00:27:12.639 the mountains or the sunrises in the sunset, and you're looking at 00:27:12.639 --> 00:27:15.920 how the heavens declare the glory of God, right? 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:20.799 Or how we are without excuse to see through observation 00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:28.319 that which is created, it helps lead us to the Lord. And so by being an awe 00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:32.799 and in reverence of creation, that leads us to the Creator. 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:36.480 That is actually a way that you would find the Lord 00:27:36.480 --> 00:27:43.440 before opening the word of God, right? You find sometimes people who 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:46.960 they don't know the Lord yet, but they're on their way to know the Lord. 00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:53.360 And when you're looking at the animals, the plants, and they're taking it all in 00:27:53.360 --> 00:27:56.720 and they're coming to realize, man, there's no way. 00:27:56.720 --> 00:28:00.400 I'm not being distracted by my phone. I'm seeing all 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:04.880 that there is this splendor in the majesty as we've talked about. 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:08.480 And so it's kind of, it's all connected there, right? 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:12.319 Having that knowledge, well there must be something more to this, right? 00:28:12.319 --> 00:28:15.600 There must be something more to this life and it's just all 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:20.559 kind of the little seeds, if you will, that leads you to come to know who the 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:24.639 Lord is. It is through belief in Christ that we 00:28:24.639 --> 00:28:30.879 have the fear of the Lord, having that awe and that reverence in God. 00:28:30.879 --> 00:28:33.839 It is through having that saving knowledge that we 00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:39.199 endure forever. And so that brings us right back to this first 00:28:39.199 --> 00:28:43.279 this first verse that is talking about God's words 00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:50.960 being pure. The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a 00:28:50.960 --> 00:28:56.559 furnace on the ground, purified seven times. Do you see how all of this is 00:28:56.559 --> 00:29:03.039 connected? It's really remarkable. The word of God 00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:07.279 being clean and pure, it helps us to come to know 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:13.920 Him. It helps us to grow in faith in Him. This allows for us to 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:21.039 gain knowledge of the Lord through His word, much like the implanted word. 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:25.039 So this leads us to another verse I want to share with you. It's going to be 00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:34.879 Psalm 51-10, page 560. Some of you know this one. 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:40.400 Create in me a clean heart. Right now we'll read verse 10, but we'll expand in a 00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:45.280 moment. Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and 00:29:45.280 --> 00:29:52.560 renew a right spirit within me. And that comes with the question of 00:29:52.560 --> 00:29:59.040 can you recall a time when you felt the need for a clean heart, or you felt the 00:29:59.040 --> 00:30:04.400 need for a right spirit? What happened? What led you to this time? 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:09.360 Feel free to take a moment and reflect on this. Write this down in your notes, and 00:30:09.360 --> 00:30:15.440 if you feel led, go ahead and speak to it. I'll give you a moment. 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:19.120 Right. When someone does wrong to you, or when someone 00:30:19.120 --> 00:30:26.720 hurts you, it's very easy to 00:30:26.800 --> 00:30:31.680 have that sense of bitterness, sense of anger towards someone, 00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:35.759 and it just rubs you the wrong way. Right. 00:30:35.759 --> 00:30:39.039 Sometimes people lose sleep. They can't sleep at night. 00:30:39.039 --> 00:30:43.279 They can't think straight, and it's just like 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:48.400 it's a good opportunity. It's a good time to pray to the Lord and ask for that 00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:53.279 clean heart, right, and renew that spirit in you. It's like what a wonderful 00:30:53.279 --> 00:31:00.400 prayer to pray. And so that's, I appreciate you sharing that. 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:05.440 It's a harder one to answer, right, because we can think of many times, right, 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:11.759 where we are asking God to, you know, help us get right with him, for 00:31:11.759 --> 00:31:18.000 God to, for that clean heart, right, to ask God for that right spirit. 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:21.840 And so when we think about the context of this verse, 00:31:21.840 --> 00:31:25.600 it has to do with the sin that David committed, 00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:31.039 right, with Bathsheba. And how you know this is if you go, if you go back to 00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:36.240 your Bible and right at the beginning of Psalm 51, 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:41.039 it says, to the choir master, a Psalm of David, 00:31:41.039 --> 00:31:45.599 when Nathan the prophet went to him after he had gone into Bathsheba. 00:31:45.599 --> 00:31:49.519 So it's pretty, pretty forward with that. 00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:56.799 And you're saying, okay, so here is where David feels that sense of remorse. He's 00:31:56.799 --> 00:32:00.879 praying to God, right, or he's singing to God, right, because it is a 00:32:00.879 --> 00:32:05.680 Psalm, to be restored. So this verse is tying 00:32:05.680 --> 00:32:09.200 into the purity of God, the purity of Scripture, 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:12.720 where David is praying to God and asking for God to 00:32:12.720 --> 00:32:18.799 give him that clean heart. David is asking for a fresh start. 00:32:18.799 --> 00:32:23.359 And how often we need a fresh start, right, to have that pure heart. 00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:28.480 But it's not just a prayer that we read about David confessing his sins. 00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:33.919 It's a prayer that we ourselves, we can also ask the Lord whether we feel 00:32:33.919 --> 00:32:39.599 conviction for wrong that we have done or sin that we have committed against God. 00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:45.359 David goes on and saying that he is asking for his spirit to be renewed. 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:49.839 It's not just a prayer of forgiveness, it's a prayer for restoration. 00:32:49.839 --> 00:32:54.319 It is to be repaired or to be rebuilt when we're talking about this idea 00:32:54.319 --> 00:32:58.639 of a renewed spirit. God, help restore me, right. 00:32:58.639 --> 00:33:03.439 I've done wrong, help fix me here, help rebuild me. 00:33:03.439 --> 00:33:08.319 And in the same manner, isn't that a prayer that we should have when we're 00:33:08.319 --> 00:33:11.679 coming to know the Lord? Isn't that a prayer we should have when 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:16.799 we sin or when we feel disconnected? 00:33:16.799 --> 00:33:20.160 The more I was reading this, the more I was studying this, 00:33:20.160 --> 00:33:23.680 I came to realize and I want us to read this. And 00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:28.240 we're still on Psalm 51. Let's read from verse 1 to 12. 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:32.880 You could say the entire thing is... 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:38.080 We can read the whole thing, but I want us to focus on these 12 verses because 00:33:38.079 --> 00:33:43.839 you'll see why here. Have mercy on me, oh God, according to your 00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:48.399 steadfast love. According to your abundant mercy, 00:33:48.399 --> 00:33:53.919 blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and 00:33:53.919 --> 00:33:59.119 cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions and my sin 00:33:59.119 --> 00:34:05.199 is ever before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and 00:34:05.200 --> 00:34:11.119 done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words 00:34:11.119 --> 00:34:16.880 and blameless in your judgment. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity 00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:23.039 and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, you delight in truth, 00:34:23.039 --> 00:34:27.360 the inward being, in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom 00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:33.199 in the secret heart. Purge me with hissob, and I shall be clean. 00:34:33.199 --> 00:34:40.159 Wash me, and I shall be wider than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. 00:34:40.159 --> 00:34:46.639 Let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins 00:34:46.639 --> 00:34:53.519 and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a 00:34:53.519 --> 00:34:57.439 right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your 00:34:57.439 --> 00:35:01.599 presence and take not your holy spirit from me. 00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:11.039 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit. 00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:15.360 Now, I don't know about you, 00:35:15.839 --> 00:35:22.000 but this Psalm sounds an awfully lot like a sinner's prayer. 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:27.839 I want you to really think about that. So, in your notes here, 00:35:27.840 --> 00:35:33.680 I've titled this a Davidic sinner's prayer, right? 00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:38.240 It is an Old Testament sinner's prayer, 00:35:38.240 --> 00:35:44.079 but it's the one that David had prayed. And you'll see in here the 00:35:44.079 --> 00:35:48.720 connections with the themes that's found in a sinner's prayer. 00:35:48.720 --> 00:35:52.400 So, I find this very interesting for those of us who are familiar with 00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:56.800 saying a sinner's prayer. Well, where is that in Scripture? 00:35:56.800 --> 00:36:00.480 Well, here you can find very similar language here, right? 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:06.800 The acknowledgement of sin. In verse 3, I know my transgressions and my sin is 00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:10.640 ever before me. That's pretty clear right there. 00:36:10.640 --> 00:36:15.440 Asking for forgiveness. Have mercy on me, oh God, according to your 00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:18.720 steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, 00:36:18.720 --> 00:36:24.240 blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse 00:36:24.239 --> 00:36:28.399 me from my sin. That's asking for forgiveness right there. 00:36:28.399 --> 00:36:35.439 The recognition of God's righteousness against you. You only have I sin 00:36:35.439 --> 00:36:41.119 and done what is evil in your sight that you might be justified in your words 00:36:41.119 --> 00:36:48.000 and blameless in your judgment. The desire for purification, right? The 00:36:48.000 --> 00:36:54.639 desire for a fresh start. Purge me with hissob and I shall be clean. 00:36:54.639 --> 00:37:03.519 Wash me and I shall be wider than snow. Then asking for God's transformation. 00:37:03.519 --> 00:37:10.239 Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me. 00:37:10.239 --> 00:37:14.880 And then he goes on the fear of separation from God. 00:37:14.880 --> 00:37:19.119 Is that the fear of the Lord? No, it's the fear of not knowing the Lord. 00:37:19.119 --> 00:37:27.519 Right? Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 00:37:27.519 --> 00:37:33.840 He's saying I wish to be restored, right? I'm afraid of being cast out so to 00:37:33.840 --> 00:37:38.800 speak. And then finally the desire for joy and 00:37:38.800 --> 00:37:45.519 a renewed relationship restore to me the joy of your salvation 00:37:45.519 --> 00:37:52.240 and uphold me with a willing spirit. And I'm like if that's not 00:37:52.240 --> 00:37:56.320 abundantly clear in scripture, I don't know what is because that is a 00:37:56.320 --> 00:37:59.200 sinner's prayer. I mean sure there's some words that are 00:37:59.200 --> 00:38:02.400 added and some words that are a little bit different but 00:38:02.400 --> 00:38:08.480 certainly it's the same idea here. And man, I want to put this question 00:38:08.480 --> 00:38:15.360 up here. Do you see similarities between David's 00:38:15.360 --> 00:38:20.159 prayer and your own journey to Christ? Do you remember the words or the 00:38:20.159 --> 00:38:23.599 feelings you had when you first turned to God? Because we're talking about 00:38:23.599 --> 00:38:28.400 coming to the Lord through this, through the purity of the word. 00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:32.559 It's just all interesting how that's connected. 00:38:32.559 --> 00:38:36.639 So yeah, do you see a similarity between this Davidic prayer, 00:38:36.639 --> 00:38:42.319 this Davidic sinner's prayer and your own journey to Christ? 00:38:42.319 --> 00:38:45.839 It's good having that sense of discernment when you're hearing 00:38:45.839 --> 00:38:48.319 something. 00:38:49.679 --> 00:38:56.239 Christians need to be fed and sometimes what happens is either 00:38:56.239 --> 00:39:02.000 sometimes they're not fed enough or they're ready to go deeper. And when 00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:05.920 that doesn't happen that creates a very big problem. 00:39:05.920 --> 00:39:13.440 I know for a lot of younger people being as educated as they are, 00:39:13.440 --> 00:39:17.840 that's a very big struggle. A lot of the younger ones I know 00:39:17.840 --> 00:39:20.800 where they have a master's or a doctorate's or they have all these 00:39:20.800 --> 00:39:23.920 degrees and they're so used to formal education 00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:27.360 that they're like, okay well yes I know Jesus loves me but can we go a little 00:39:27.360 --> 00:39:32.880 further than that? And what happens is sometimes those 00:39:32.880 --> 00:39:36.960 churches say, well no, this is what we're all about. We're just focusing on 00:39:36.960 --> 00:39:42.079 bringing as many people as possible. And I know quite a few people who have 00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:46.000 walked away from stopped going to church 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:50.720 period or maybe they've gone to other churches and that. And so 00:39:50.720 --> 00:39:57.920 depth is very important when it comes to, 00:39:57.920 --> 00:40:02.240 you know, like I was beginning to mention it's a pastor's job to preach 00:40:02.239 --> 00:40:06.000 the word and to teach the word. And what happens very often is you might 00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:09.519 have one or the other one who's preaching the word of 00:40:09.519 --> 00:40:13.519 God and rightfully so and some that only focus on teaching and 00:40:13.519 --> 00:40:17.759 you got to have a nice blend of the two. Preaching in the sense that you're 00:40:17.759 --> 00:40:21.679 always calling people to make a decision for Christ to believe in the 00:40:21.679 --> 00:40:25.679 Lord, to get right with God, to confess their sins, to repent, 00:40:25.679 --> 00:40:29.279 right? All that there. Teaching of the word is for 00:40:29.280 --> 00:40:32.960 depth, you know, to when the congregation's hungry and they want to 00:40:32.960 --> 00:40:37.600 know they want to be fed. The, there are different approaches to 00:40:37.600 --> 00:40:40.080 this. Some would say, well you need to have 00:40:40.080 --> 00:40:43.519 something elementary on Sunday and you need to have something deep on 00:40:43.519 --> 00:40:47.360 Wednesday. That's a very common theme. There are 00:40:47.360 --> 00:40:52.640 others that argue, well, what if you make it easy on 00:40:52.640 --> 00:40:56.720 both ends? Or what if you make it deep on both ends? 00:40:56.719 --> 00:41:00.879 It depends because for Bible study, for example, 00:41:00.879 --> 00:41:07.039 some would argue do a book on Wednesday. So let's say we're going 00:41:07.039 --> 00:41:14.319 over revelation on Wednesday, right? But on Sunday we're doing the fruits of 00:41:14.319 --> 00:41:19.039 the Spirit or we're going over, you know, five ways to 00:41:19.039 --> 00:41:22.239 come to know the Lord or just things like that where it's 00:41:22.239 --> 00:41:28.799 more topically based as opposed to book based. 00:41:28.799 --> 00:41:35.199 That's fine. I mean, if that's what the Lord wants to have done through a 00:41:35.199 --> 00:41:39.519 pastor or what the pastor decides, that's fine. 00:41:39.519 --> 00:41:46.239 But I would say personally, this is just my own opinion, is you need to have depth 00:41:46.239 --> 00:41:51.039 and present it simplistically as best as possible, whether that is a Bible study 00:41:51.039 --> 00:41:54.480 or a sermon. The only difference I would say between 00:41:54.480 --> 00:41:58.239 here and a Sunday is on a Sunday I would say 00:41:58.239 --> 00:42:03.519 make a decision for Christ here. I mean, we could do that. I was like, yeah, do you 00:42:03.519 --> 00:42:07.920 know the Lord? Let's make a decision for Christ. Let's pray Psalm 51 as a 00:42:07.920 --> 00:42:13.119 sinner's prayer. Let's get going. But I do try to have 00:42:13.119 --> 00:42:18.639 sermons and Bible studies to be in depth. I try to have it where it's 00:42:18.639 --> 00:42:26.000 the same, how would you say that? The same type of depth you'll find on 00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:30.319 both Wednesday and Sunday. It's just maybe what we're going over is 00:42:30.319 --> 00:42:35.599 different. I like having these themes for this. This 00:42:35.599 --> 00:42:40.079 would be, I call them Bible studies, but some people would argue, oh, this is 00:42:40.079 --> 00:42:44.159 this doctrine, is this theology, is this a Bible study? Well, at the end of the day, 00:42:44.159 --> 00:42:47.759 your theology and your doctrine should be formed by the Bible. Thank you very much. 00:42:47.760 --> 00:42:53.680 But all that to say, it should be deep regardless. 00:42:53.680 --> 00:42:57.040 And I, some people disagree with what I'm saying and that's fine. 00:42:57.040 --> 00:43:04.160 I've, yeah, for this one it's more of, these are more themes. 00:43:04.160 --> 00:43:08.160 I mentioned that book that I got from the 00:43:08.160 --> 00:43:16.560 20s. It has like a Bible study on demons, a Bible study on angels, a 00:43:16.559 --> 00:43:22.960 Bible study on the, on Christology and the fulfillment of 00:43:22.960 --> 00:43:26.000 prophecy and all these different things. And it's definitely hard to pick from all 00:43:26.000 --> 00:43:31.119 of them because there's so many of them. But even with those, it's like, 00:43:31.119 --> 00:43:35.360 as you're going through the Word, sometimes God's going to change your 00:43:35.360 --> 00:43:38.000 little outline. I can't tell you how many times the little 00:43:38.000 --> 00:43:43.199 outline you have on the top is not, it's not what I was provided. 00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:48.879 It's changed so many times. The outline from the book from the 20s only had 00:43:48.879 --> 00:43:54.639 Psalms 12-6. But the wording for pure shows up, 00:43:54.639 --> 00:44:00.159 it shows up in the Levitical and Deuteronomy law. 00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:06.159 But that same word showed up in Psalm 19-9 and Psalm 51-10. So it was very 00:44:06.159 --> 00:44:10.319 important to have that show up in such a study. 00:44:10.320 --> 00:44:16.640 But yeah, it's, I try. Everybody has different 00:44:16.640 --> 00:44:21.200 difference of opinions. I know some, one church that I know that I can think of 00:44:21.200 --> 00:44:24.559 right off the top of my head, they do an actual like 00:44:24.559 --> 00:44:28.880 DVD series on their Wednesdays and then they'll do something 00:44:28.880 --> 00:44:33.440 specifically on Sundays. Others do 00:44:33.440 --> 00:44:39.760 doctrine versus a book of the Bible. Some do it where it's 00:44:39.760 --> 00:44:44.160 motivation. I've seen that approach in Seeker-friendly churches, 00:44:44.160 --> 00:44:48.400 motivational versus biblical. So motivational on Sunday and biblical on 00:44:48.400 --> 00:44:52.080 Wednesday. It's just different approaches to those 00:44:52.080 --> 00:44:56.320 kind of things. But anyways, to bring all of this 00:44:56.320 --> 00:44:58.720 together, 00:44:59.520 --> 00:45:04.080 God is holy and God is pure. His Word is pure. 00:45:04.079 --> 00:45:11.199 To know the Lord is, He wants us to know Him and to be in awe and wonder, to have 00:45:11.199 --> 00:45:16.319 that fear of the Lord. It is pure. It is clean to have 00:45:16.319 --> 00:45:20.960 that saving knowledge, to have that fear of the Lord, to be in awe and wonder of 00:45:20.960 --> 00:45:26.639 who He is. And because of this, we receive salvation. 00:45:26.639 --> 00:45:30.159 We will endure forever. We will live forever, 00:45:30.159 --> 00:45:34.319 forever, as the word says. For us to know the Lord, 00:45:34.319 --> 00:45:39.119 we need to believe in the Lord. And what better way for us to know the Lord 00:45:39.119 --> 00:45:43.519 than to pray such a prayer like we read in Psalm 51? 00:45:43.519 --> 00:45:48.480 A prayer of transformation, to create a clean heart within us. 00:45:48.480 --> 00:45:54.559 A prayer for a renewal of our spirit. Why not pray the prayer for us to be 00:45:54.559 --> 00:45:57.519 forgiven of our sins and to be restored with Him? 00:45:57.519 --> 00:46:01.440 No longer being separated. No longer feeling 00:46:01.440 --> 00:46:04.719 that there's that distance between you and God, but to be 00:46:04.719 --> 00:46:10.960 born again, to be saved by grace, no longer a slave or a servant to sin, 00:46:10.960 --> 00:46:16.400 but rather to be free from sin. And that's where the final question comes in 00:46:16.400 --> 00:46:22.320 for tonight is, what does believing in the Lord look like? 00:46:22.320 --> 00:46:28.000 Is it an intellectual agreement or is it something deeper than that? 00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:36.640 Jesus answers this question very well in Mark chapter 12 verse 30, 00:46:36.640 --> 00:46:40.960 that you shall love the Lord, your God, 00:46:40.960 --> 00:46:48.240 with all your heart, with all of your soul. And what's the third part? 00:46:48.239 --> 00:46:52.719 With all of your mind. So it's more than just 00:46:52.719 --> 00:46:56.559 head a head decision, right? A mind, a mental decision. 00:46:56.559 --> 00:47:00.719 It is to love with all your mind and with all your strength. 00:47:00.719 --> 00:47:04.559 I always love how that one's in there, right? For those who love going to the 00:47:04.559 --> 00:47:09.599 gym, you work out for Jesus, right? But all joking aside, it's with the 00:47:09.599 --> 00:47:14.639 essence of who you are, right? With all of your being, so to speak. 00:47:14.639 --> 00:47:22.239 And that would be a biblical way to respond. But keep in mind, there are 00:47:22.239 --> 00:47:25.759 some people that think that it is a mental decision. 00:47:25.759 --> 00:47:28.799 It has to be more than that. It has to be more than... 00:47:28.799 --> 00:47:32.960 You can even go as far as to say it has to be more than an emotional decision, 00:47:32.960 --> 00:47:37.519 right? If you think, well, that's crazy for someone to make it just a mental 00:47:37.519 --> 00:47:41.759 decision, well think, is it possible for someone to make 00:47:41.760 --> 00:47:47.840 just an emotional decision or just a strength decision, right? It has to be 00:47:47.840 --> 00:47:52.160 all of you to make that decision, right? To love your Lord, right? 00:47:52.160 --> 00:47:56.560 To believe in Him. It's something beyond just the mental. 00:47:56.560 --> 00:48:00.480 That's a powerful feeling having that, you know, when we talked about the 00:48:00.480 --> 00:48:04.560 overwhelming feeling, right? How the Holy Spirit carries 00:48:04.560 --> 00:48:10.080 along the writers of the Word of God. It's no different than feeling 00:48:10.079 --> 00:48:14.880 the overwhelming feeling. And I love how that's the word to describe the Spirit, 00:48:14.880 --> 00:48:21.440 right? We talked about how as water is carrying 00:48:21.440 --> 00:48:25.759 along the boat on the sea, that's the overwhelming feeling that you 00:48:25.759 --> 00:48:28.799 feel from the Spirit. Where it's like, oh my goodness, you know, I'm 00:48:28.799 --> 00:48:32.880 feeling this sense of love or this sense of warmth or this sense of comfort. 00:48:32.880 --> 00:48:37.440 And it's undeniable that it is, you know? 00:48:37.440 --> 00:48:40.800 I think I would say that's a very good way of looking at it, because when 00:48:40.800 --> 00:48:44.480 we're talking about the saving knowledge of the Lord, right? It's starting 00:48:44.480 --> 00:48:48.400 with the mental. And what I'm trying to say on here is 00:48:48.400 --> 00:48:52.480 it's not the only thing, right? It certainly starts from there and it 00:48:52.480 --> 00:48:56.559 will go from just like how in the Romans passage to be 00:48:56.559 --> 00:49:02.480 transformed by the renewal of your mind, right? So there is a very important sense 00:49:02.480 --> 00:49:07.440 of the mind, the mental state, and it grows from that. But it 00:49:07.440 --> 00:49:11.519 shouldn't only be that. It should grow into all of your 00:49:11.519 --> 00:49:14.960 being loving the Lord, right? So when we're talking about belief in the Lord, 00:49:14.960 --> 00:49:19.920 yes, it would be the mind, right? It would be making that decision on there. 00:49:19.920 --> 00:49:24.079 And I put on here, whether you say a sinner's prayer, 00:49:24.079 --> 00:49:27.679 or you just say, Jesus, remember me as the thief did, 00:49:27.679 --> 00:49:32.879 or you make that internal decision, just you're just praying and you believe 00:49:32.879 --> 00:49:35.839 right then and there. You don't utter any words. I know that's a 00:49:35.839 --> 00:49:39.919 difficult one. Some people would say, well, you need to say the words. Well, 00:49:39.919 --> 00:49:43.599 could you not be there praying to the Lord and just offering, you're saying, you 00:49:43.599 --> 00:49:46.480 know what, I believe in the Lord and you're just praying without speaking? 00:49:46.480 --> 00:49:51.440 Well, certainly that is possible. And all that matters is that whatever it is, 00:49:51.440 --> 00:49:56.879 whatever way it is, coming to believe in the Lord. 00:49:56.880 --> 00:50:00.800 For some people, it is a sinner's prayer. And I'm not saying that is, 00:50:00.800 --> 00:50:06.800 I'm not invalidating that. It is a great way to come to believe in the Lord. 00:50:06.800 --> 00:50:11.519 Jesus, remember me is another great way, right? 00:50:11.519 --> 00:50:16.079 Just praying and being and just believing sometimes if it's you alone 00:50:16.079 --> 00:50:20.000 and at a church one day and something happened and you just 00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:23.519 started there praying and you're believing in Jesus, that could be it. 00:50:23.519 --> 00:50:27.440 It could be one of those, I think of the what is it, the harvest crusades. It 00:50:27.440 --> 00:50:31.039 could be coming to faith in those. There's many different ways, but it 00:50:31.039 --> 00:50:34.800 should all come back to belief, right? Because it is 00:50:34.800 --> 00:50:38.639 in believing that we then receive salvation. 00:50:38.639 --> 00:50:43.840 So whosoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life. 00:50:43.840 --> 00:50:47.759 And this reminds me so much of the Luke 23 00:50:47.760 --> 00:50:53.760 verses 42 through 43. He said, Jesus, remember me when you come 00:50:53.760 --> 00:50:59.200 into your kingdom. And he said to them, truly I say to you today, 00:50:59.200 --> 00:51:05.440 you will be with me in paradise. And you see, this is the encouragement though. 00:51:05.440 --> 00:51:09.920 The encouragement is that we come to see that God is holy 00:51:09.920 --> 00:51:15.200 and that his way is perfect and that his word is pure. It is clean. 00:51:15.199 --> 00:51:19.279 And I pray that God will work in and through us. 00:51:19.279 --> 00:51:22.879 He'll continue to work on us. I pray that God will work 00:51:22.879 --> 00:51:25.839 through everyone who comes through these doors, 00:51:25.839 --> 00:51:30.000 that they'll have that saving knowledge of him and they'll make that decision 00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:35.919 and they'll be able to love the Lord with everything that they are. 00:51:35.919 --> 00:51:38.960 And I pray that they also will, that the word will 00:51:38.960 --> 00:51:44.000 refine us and work in us because we're always learning, we're always growing in 00:51:44.000 --> 00:51:47.199 the word. At least we should be. If you're stagnant, I guess that's a 00:51:47.199 --> 00:51:51.199 different proposition there. But the encouragement is that you 00:51:51.199 --> 00:51:56.079 grow in the Lord. Much like the implanted word, 00:51:56.079 --> 00:52:01.920 let the word of Christ dwell in us. And may we become that beacon of hope 00:52:01.920 --> 00:52:05.679 for others sharing in our faith with our testimony, 00:52:05.679 --> 00:52:10.880 sharing with scripture. You know, I'm waiting for the day where someone says, 00:52:10.880 --> 00:52:14.960 hey, go to Psalm 51. There's your sinner's prayer right there. 00:52:14.960 --> 00:52:18.960 You just open a Bible and say, hey, look, let's go over this. 00:52:18.960 --> 00:52:23.119 I mean, that's a great way to do it. It's just many different ways, 00:52:23.119 --> 00:52:28.000 but still leads to belief. I'm not saying there's many ways to salvation. 00:52:28.000 --> 00:52:31.360 I'm saying there's many ways to come to believe in the Lord. 00:52:31.360 --> 00:52:35.119 It could be through the observation of nature, as we were talking about earlier. 00:52:35.119 --> 00:52:38.640 It could be through simply just reading the word of God. 00:52:38.639 --> 00:52:44.000 But as long as you come to having that saving knowledge of who Jesus 00:52:44.000 --> 00:52:49.199 Christ is, that he lived, he died, he rose again, of who he is. 00:52:49.199 --> 00:52:53.599 When we talk about the thief on the cross, I'm pretty sure he recognized who Jesus 00:52:53.599 --> 00:52:59.839 was at that moment, at those last moments. And so may we share in our faith, 00:52:59.839 --> 00:53:04.239 in sharing the word, sharing our testimony, how God has worked 00:53:04.239 --> 00:53:11.359 in us, through us, around us, people we know. I mean, it's just wonderful to have 00:53:11.359 --> 00:53:17.759 that opportunity with people. Well, I want us to go ahead and 00:53:17.759 --> 00:53:23.439 let's just close in prayer. And it's been really good. 00:53:23.439 --> 00:53:27.439 Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for this time, for us coming together 00:53:27.439 --> 00:53:32.719 and going through your word. May we come to realize that there is 00:53:32.719 --> 00:53:37.839 life, there is truth, there is purity that exists in scripture. 00:53:37.839 --> 00:53:44.079 Your word is life, and you call us to believe in you and to, 00:53:44.079 --> 00:53:49.919 through belief, we receive salvation in you. And upon salvation you work in and 00:53:49.919 --> 00:53:54.799 through us, refining us and making us more like you. 00:53:54.799 --> 00:54:00.480 I pray that it is our desire for not just us here tonight, but for this church 00:54:00.480 --> 00:54:07.360 to be more like you, to read scripture, to study scripture, to 00:54:07.360 --> 00:54:12.000 hear the word of God preached and to just go deeper in the word that we can 00:54:12.000 --> 00:54:17.679 become mature in our faith, that we can defend the faith, and that 00:54:17.679 --> 00:54:24.320 we can discern what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong. 00:54:24.320 --> 00:54:28.159 You show us the truth that is found in your word. 00:54:28.159 --> 00:54:34.079 You are our shepherd, and you keep us protected by your love and by your grace. 00:54:34.079 --> 00:54:38.719 May we boldly go from this place to know you, to grow in you, 00:54:38.719 --> 00:54:43.279 and to go in your holy name. It is in Jesus' name that we pray. 00:54:43.280 --> 00:54:59.200 Amen. Amen.