Keeping our way Pure
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Remember this Sunday @ 2:00 we are going witnessing
If you cannot go out with us, come and pray for us
If you cannot come out please pray for us at home
Evangelism begins with prayer
We are continuing on through Psalm 119
And if you haven’t read this Psalm I encourage you to read it
There are 22 divisions according to the Hebrew alphabet
Each one containing 8 verses
The entire psalm is on the Word of God
And if you want a reason to study the Bible this is it
Christians desperately need the truths of God’s Word within us
The Word of God is transformative
It produces a blessed life
All those who heed the Word of God will rejoice
Does anyone remember what the first 8 verses in this Psalm taught us?
It is a blessing book
It is a book of encouragement
It is a book of transformation
The next 8 verses (9-16) focus on “purity” or “holiness”
Holiness is best understood as the character of God
The Hebrew word means to be “set apart”
Its the idea of being separate from sinful people
And we are told, “Be holy For I am holy” in the book of Peter
The Bible plays a major role in this pursuit of holiness
God has called us tp holiness
And that is God’s will for your life
In presence of holiness is the absence of sin
Christian would sin less if they would stay in the Word of God
Believers would experience God’s power if they would live by the Word of God
And we are going to see tonight how the Word of God can help us live a holier life
Psalm 119:9 “How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word”
God’s Word is our instruction for holiness
God’s Word is our instruction for holiness
The Psalmist is not asking how to become pure
The Psalmist is not asking how to become pure
* He is asking how to remain pure (How can a young man KEEP his way pure)
* He is asking how to remain pure (How can a young man KEEP his way pure)
The word “pure” here just means “without sin”
Our question tonight is “How can we keep OUR way pure?”
We make the biggest impact in this life by keeping sin out of it
And all believers are on a journey towards holiness
The Bible calls this sanctification
Sanctification is growing in godliness and becoming more like God
Everyone has a tendency to drift from God
“Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love”
So to keep ourselves from sin we need to keep ourselves according to Word of God (v 9b)
God’s word is our instruction for holiness
IF we want to be godly people we must read His word
If we want to look more like Jesus then we have to study His word
If we want to be witnesses of God we must know His Word
God’s word keeps us from sinning
Does sin make you feel guilty?
Does sin make you feel shameful?
Our sin makes us feel awful!
I want to show you three things we can do so that God’s Word can have a bigger impact on our lives
(V 10-11) “With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments. Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might nor sin against You”
#1) OUR HEARTS MUST BE FULLY COMMITTED!
#1) OUR HEARTS MUST BE FULLY COMMITTED!
“With my whole heart I have sought you; Oh let me not wander from your commandments”
The person who is not completely committed to God’s Word will fall into sin over an over
People love to pick and choose what they will obey in Scriptures
They say, “well God you can have this and this, but I’m keeping this one part of my life for myself”
To be willing to compromise on one part will cause a compromise in all parts
A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.
Leaven never remains isolated to a single place
It spreads and becomes part of the whole loaf!
Leaven represent sin!
And when we do not keep the whole Word of God we sin
And sin spreads into all areas of our life!
We must be fully committed to the Word of God!
Not part
Not some verses
Not what we like
ALL GOD”S WORD
(v 11) “Your word I have hidden in my heart”
#2) WE NEED TO MEMORIZE GOD’S WORD
#2) WE NEED TO MEMORIZE GOD’S WORD
When he said hide it in his heart he is referring to memorizing it!
(v 13) “With my lips I have declared all the judgements of your mouth”
How did he declare the judgements without knowing them by heart?
(v 16) “I will not forget Your word”
Again an indication that he has God’s Word memorized!
They didn’t have Bibles when this Psalm was written
The best they got was what was read to them!
We see this in the book of Ezra
So to hide the Word of God meant that he had memorized it and know it by heart
If we want to keep sin out of our lives we have got to memorize Scripture!
Yes we have Bibles,
but before you sin are you going to stop and see what the Bible has to say?
Before we get angry are we going to stop and see what the Bible says about anger?
Its not enough to have a Bible, we have got to get the Word of God down in our hearts!
The Word of God has to get down in our hearts to change us!
We need to make a point every day to fill our hearts with God’s truths!
It will change you when it lives in YOU
How do you memorize the Bible?
You read it!
Not just to read it, but read to understand it!
There is no memorization apart from understanding
When you understand a teaching you will memorize it!
The Psalmists said he meditated on it
Read it and think about what it says!
Read for quality not quantity!
Memorize verses!
Rom 3:23
Rom 6:23
Rom 10:9
When you memorize Scripture the Spirit of God will recall them in your time of need
When you memorize the proverbs God will remind you of them when facing temptation
Begin memorizing part of the Bible
I’m taking a Romans class
We had our first Quiz on the first 5 chapters
I had to memorize five chapters
And it was not that difficult
(v 11) “That I might not sin against you”
#3) WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT EVERY SIN IS A SIN AGAINST GOD
#3) WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT EVERY SIN IS A SIN AGAINST GOD
There is a lie that you will hear before you commit a sin
The devil will come and say, “It’s your life, its your sin”
So before we do something that we shouldn’t we justify it by saying, “It’s my life!”
Here’s another one, “If I sin I will deal with the consequences”
The truth is every sin is a sin against God
We love to justify our behavior by saying its my life
We love to justify our decisions by saying they are ours!
Its not as simple as I’m going to do this and I’m prepared for the consequences
We must remember, whatever we do we do against God
When we lash out at someone we need to apologize to God
When we say a filthy word we need to apologize to God
When we get angry at our wife we need to apologize to God
Every sin is a sin against God
If we keep this in our hearts it will help us say no to sin
Verses 12-16
#2) We need to see God’s Word as a Treasure
#2) We need to see God’s Word as a Treasure
“Blessed are You O Lord!”
Why is God blessed?
And how can God be blessed?
This is a praise for the purity God’s Word has brought him!
He is praising God for the change in His life!
He is praising God for the sanctifying power of His Word!
“All the ordinances of Your mouth”
This a declaration of the power of God
God’s Word is literally breathed out!
You will not get a clearer word from God than from His Word
God filled men with His Spirit and spoke through them
They wrote in their own personalities all that He wanted them to write and nothing He did not want written!
It is complete!
It is filled with power
It is filled with wisdom!
IT IS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD!!
If that don’t make you shout you need revival!
Do you want to know how to live?!
God has written a book and handed it to us
Everyday we neglect God’s Word at our own expense!
(v 14) “I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches”
This man thinks more of the Word of God than he does of silver and gold
What would you do if you won a million dollars?
If you inherited a million
What if you won a million from a sweepstakes
I saw where some lady won $15,000 at that new casino the day it opened
And that post got shared all over facebook
And people were planning trips there
But I bet that lady rejoiced and celebrated and was so happy!
God’s word is treasure that never stops giving
“I have rejoiced in the the way of Your testimonies as much as in all riches!”
Think about hitting the lottery over and over in your life!
Think about that great celebration
Those who walk in the way of God celebrate as MUSCH AS IN ALL RICHES!!
I have rejoiced in the way
How do we learn God’s way?
FROM HIS WORD
He said, “I will meditate on Your precepts”
I will regard Your ways!
I shall delight in Your statutes!
I shall not forget Your word!!
Memorize the Word of God!
Mediate on the Word of God!!
Delight in the Word of God!
And you will rejoice in the Word of God!
~PRAYER~
