Sermon Tone Analysis

How many of you have made a New Year's resolution?

What was it?

Maybe your resolution was to lose weight, maybe it was to gain weight, maybe it was to be nicer to your, (you fill in the blank.)

Every year millions of people across the world actually resolve to make themselves better or change something about themselves in the coming year.

On this list of top 10 Resolutions there is one resolution missing, it is a resolution that should be very high especially in the Church, it is the resolution to be Successful in Godliness.

Every year people resolve to make some sort of improvement in the New Year.

Hear is a list of the top ten New Year's resolutions of 2016.

1. Lose Weight

2. Getting Organized

3. Spend Less, Save More

4. Enjoy life to the Fullest

5. Staying Fit and Healthy

6. Learn Something New

7. Quit Smoking

8. Help others with Their Dreams

9. Fall in Love

10.

Spend More Time with Family

Although this list has things on here which are considered self improvements and still there is one thing missing on this list that would truly help people to be successful and maybe not even worry about the things that are on this list.

The one resolution that is missing and one that everyone in this rooms should have on the top of their list is the resolution to be more Successful in Godliness.

There is only one way to do this and we will look at how we can achieve Success in Godliness, Success in Godliness comes from seeking to be like God by knowing God to the fullest.

It involves His Word and knowing His Word and being an active participant in our relationship with Him.

This morning I want to look take a look at a portion of the longest Psalm ever penned.

It is Psalm 119.

It has 176 and of all these verses only two verses do not mention God's Word in someway.

This Psalm revolves around the psalmists desire to know, and obey God's word.

He is seeking to be blessed or happy and he knows the only way to truly be happy to truly be blessed and to truly make it through life is to know God and to follow His Word, His Law, His precepts, His judgments, His way.

The psalmist understands that living a godly life doesn't happen in a vacuum and he knows he needs to work at it, but it is a work he delights in and he and wants to work hard for.

Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem in its original Hebrew.

The first eight verses or stanzas all begin with the Hebrew letter aleph, the second set of verses with a beth and so on.

Of course in the English we lose that but we still have here a rich psalm from an author who seeks to truly know God and live for Him.

Let's go ahead and look at Psalm 119:1-8.

This psalm is so rich and so deep and yet it is so simple.

As you can see from the first two verse the psalmist is looking for one thing, he is looking to be blessed.

This is a formal introduction to this psalm.

The man is looking around at others, he is looking at how other men are living godly lives and he recognizes something very important that these men are successful in life and that their success didn't just happen in a vacuum.

Their success happened because they put in effort.

Success in Godliness takes Effort

Look with me at verses 1 and 2,

Notice here the psalmist mentions the blessed man walks and he seeks.

The blessed man walks in the Law of the Lord and he seeks Him with all their heart.

The blessed man, the happy man, the successful man doesn't become this way become this way doing his own thing.

The blessed man is blessed, happy or successful because of his own work in knowing God's law and seeking after God with all his heart.

It takes effort to be this way, it is positive effort.

The blessed man's focus is not on himself or doing his own thing the blessed man's focus is God's ways.

The blessed man doesn't just focus on himself, the blessed man doesn't seek worldly counsel.

He doesn't learn how to follow God and be godly by watching programs that are written by godless men and women who don't know God.

They don't learn how to living for God by reading books written by some shyster who wants us to Live our Best Life Now and is all about self improvement and how the world owes you.

No that will only lead you away from God not lead you to Him and not lead you in a true success in Godliness.

The only way to truly know God and to be truly successful in a life of Godliness is to know God's Word.

God has told His people when He provided His law to them in the book of Leviticus "Be Holy for I am Holy."

God has separated His people from all the other nations and He wants them to live for Him and to live differently then all other nations.

So He provides His Law, His Statutes for them.

He didn't write it down as a suggestion He wrote it down for the benefit of His people to have it, to read it, to listen to it and to follow it.

In following what He has written people can have true success in this life and true success in this life isn't becoming wealthy or have great power or be famous.

True success in this life is just what the psalmist says here it is having your way blameless.

Jesus even says the same thing in Luke 11.

Look with me at Luke 11:27-28;

See here a woman in the crowd was elevating His mother but Jesus corrects her and says the one who is blessed in life is the one "who hears the word of God and observes it."

It is two fold hears it and observes it, it is not just listening to the word but also taking action and doing what God has asked to do.

James tells the church something very similar in James 1:19-25; look at this, he spells it out for us a little more.

See what James tells the church to put aside the things of this world and to look at the Word and not only look at the Word but to allow the Word to transform you, change you.

It doesn't just happen it takes effort.

It is about looking at the Word of God reading what it says examining your own life and seeing what is in your life that needs to be changed.

Looking at what the Word says is there that doesn't belong and looking to see what does belong and changing it.

The Christian's goal is to live a life that is blameless.

It is to live a life so that others do not hold anything against you.

The psalmist sees this is what is true success and he knows this can only come from God because God is the only One who is Holy and the only One who brings about Holiness in the heart of the individual.

We see in verse 2 of this psalm also that the person is to observe His testimonies and he is to seek Him with all their heart.

This is the person who not only knows God's word but also observes it, or guards it.

This observation, this guarding is emphasized in the second half of this verse.

God's testimonies, which is a reference to His Word, is observed or guarded in the heart of the One who seeks God.

God spells this out for us in the book of Deuteronomy where God says in Deuteronomy 4:29;

Jeremiah also says this in Jeremiah 29:13

A life of Godliness can only happen when you are fully seeking after God, putting forth the effort it takes to not only know what His word says but also looking at how you life should be transformed in light of what it says and guarding what God's Word says in your hearts.

It is more than just knowing it in your head, it is knowing it in your heart which is when it takes action.

Success in Godliness takes Effort,

Success in Godliness is Provided By God

Let's continue to look at Psalm 119:3-6

As we continue to look at this passage we continue to see the man's efforts in godliness but it is God's way he is seeking to walk and it is God's precepts he wants to keep diligently.

I love how this passage is all about the one who obeys God and His Word is the one who is blessed, happy, successful in this life.

This is all Old Testament truths that can still be applied today.

What is even more is the only way to be blessed revolves around God and His Word.

It doesn't talk about psychology, sociology, marketing concepts, community organizing it all revolves around knowing God and His Word, His ways His precepts, His statutes, His commandments, His righteous judgments.

This is what God Has said and the one who follows His word is the one who is blessed.

This is not about Legalism, that is doing something which makes you look spiritual.

This is about knowing God and taking Him at His Word and following His Word.

When God says do this you do it, when God says don't do that you don't do it.

If God says follow Him even when all looks lost, follow Him.

That is what He is saying.

God is the one who provides for the one who follows Him righteousness.

Listen this doesn't mean we act in righteousness we can't God is the One who provides that for us.

We are seen as righteous because we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, once we paced our faith in Him God looks at us and sees us as righteous.

We did nothing.

It is the same for the Psalmist here.

He did nothing but believe in God and His word.

God provides for Him righteousness.

It is about being rooted in what God has provided look with me at what Paul tells the Colossian church;

See for those who have recieved Christ for those who believe in Him they are to walk in Him, they are firmly rooted, meaning nothing can take them down and it is not us it is not you who does this it is God who has done this for us.

God has provided for us the blueprint of how we are to live.

They are His precepts His rules, His Laws, His ways, and we are to follow them no matter how hard it seems.