What you have here, though, is a lovely artistic rendering of Martin Luther, the good old Augustinian monk, and that's what he was. And this is the nailing of the 95 Theses to the church door at the castle church in Wittenberg, Germany. Now, my daughter asked me, what are the 95 Theses? You can go back to the regular sermon screen now. It's an open invitation to debate. Luther had questions. He was not the first person to have questions about what had befallen the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages. If you ever have some fun looking at pre-reformers, the people that came across before Martin Luther, you will run across some interesting people to say the least. You will run across people in Italy like Savanarola, you will run across reformers in England like Wycliffe, you will run across Bohemians like Hus, you will see as Luther is beginning his work in Germany, that Ulrich Zwingli is beginning his work in Switzerland, and there are other reformers of the first generation like Busser and William Farrell who are beginning their work in France around the same time. What are the odds that all of these people are suddenly having the same ideas in different places at the same time? Hmm. One, the odds are actually pretty good because they are building upon something that has been handed down through history. The great call of the Protestant Reformation was advantis, to the sources. We don't want to argue about what you think, we don't want to argue about what some bishop thinks, we don't want to argue about what a pope thinks, we want to argue about what the Bible says. What does it say, what does it mean, and how do we then apply that to our daily lives? That doesn't sound like anything we would try to do on a regular basis at all, does it? Not even the least little bit, right? This is your first Happy Reformation Day, although that would technically be tomorrow. It was October 31st of 1517 when Luther did that work. Which is ironic, well not ironic, but it's funny because Luther never had any intentions on leaving the church. He never had any intentions of creating a schism or a division. He wanted reform. Most of them did until it became obvious that reform would not come along. Which if you ever want to have some real fun, I promise you there has not been a soap opera written that could match the human lunacy that was going on in Rome during the high Middle Ages from about 1,100 to 1,600 when you have famous people, names you've heard of in history like the Medici's and the Borgia's buying and selling church offices. Imagine the guy who's in charge is the guy who's in charge because he had more money than everybody else who wanted the job. and he could pay you off for your vote. That was the papacy of the High Middle Ages, and that is the world that Luther entered into. So we will mention a little bit more of that later. I don't want to spend all my time talking about these people, though. Do you know why? Because they would be mad at me if I did. They would be terribly, terribly mad at me if I did, because you know who they would want us to talk about? They would want us to talk about God. There we go, as the microphone stops cooperating with me. So, that is why for Reformation Day, we take a little break. Why go to Psalm 119? Well, one, I am not clever, you know this, so I don't like thinking up stuff when there's special occasions. Two, this gives me material for Reformation Day for like the next 25 years, so I'm good, because Psalm 119 is gonna take us the rest of my life to get through, it's awesome. Three, though, is the content of Psalm 119. And actually, that should be number one, because it's actually the most important thing. What is Psalm 119 celebrating from beginning to end? Scripture. It's celebrating the Word, the work that God has given to us. How would we know how we are to live? How would we know who God is? How would we know what is wrong with this world? How would we know what the cure for any of this is? They stuck it in a book. And that is what we will talk about and celebrate because it is a way of celebrating God and what He has accomplished. So, with that said, let's dive into Psalm 119, 9 through 16. And by the way, that's because last year we did one through eight, and I think that's still findable somewhere. So if you want to catch up to where we were and you weren't here last year for Reformation Day, you have to check like YouTube or something. I think it's up there somewhere. If it's not, I apologize. It is lost. I'm not doing it again. It's just how this works. So verse nine. How can a young man keep his way pure? Timeout, we're stopping right there already. I promise we won't do this for all the verses. This is the question for every godly person. Did you notice the caveat there in that statement? This is the worry, how can a young man keep his way pure? That's a concern for every godly person. 1 John 5. Who is the one who overcomes the world? But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ. Not with the water only, but with the water and with blood. It is the Spirit who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. So we have to stop already, right off the bat. Christian, why do you look at the sin of the world and say, I want no part of that? Is it because you are better than the world? Is it because you are smarter than the world? Is it because you have a grander idea of all of these things? No. is because you have the work of the Holy Spirit because of the completed work of Christ and the ordination of the work by the Father from all eternity. Because God has changed your heart, renewed your mind, He's transforming your life day by day. Therefore you look at the things of the world and go, I wish to avoid sin, I wish to find something else. to honor. I wish to find something else to build my life around, and that thing is God. If you do not have the Holy Spirit, you do not have that desire. You look at the world and go, I would like the world to be different because who's happy with anything, really? Even sinful people want the world to be more like whose preferences? Mine. I don't want your preferences to be served. I want my preferences to be served. I always remember I had a friend of mine in seminary who had this great description of it. He said, if we're all honest with ourselves and we get down to it, we want everyone in the world to be just like us. just a little bit dumber so I can be in charge. That way everyone would like what I would like, everyone would dislike what I would dislike, and that way I don't have to be confronted with anything I don't want to deal with because nobody else would want to be confronted with it either and it would just go away. But I'd be the smart one and so I'd be in charge of everything because that's a good life. But that's actually a good description of the sinful pride of life and how it governs. So from the beginning, Christian, always remember, when you are reading scripture, When you are trying to apply its dictates, you are following the work of the Spirit. This is encouragement to you. When you look at your life and say, I am not doing as well as I would like to do. I am not reading my Bible as much as I would like. I'm not praying as much as I would like. I am not avoiding sin as much as I would like. I'm doing this thing that I don't want to be doing. This is an encouragement because this is the Holy Spirit going, hey, pay attention. And you going, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm paying attention. This is good. This is you looking at the world and recognizing that there's something wrong with sin. That does not happen for the person who is lost and dead in their trespasses and sins. It happens to the person who is alive in the Spirit and being strengthened because of what Christ has done for them. This is good news for you. That is why, though, you have to be reminded that this is a caveat for the godly person. Matthew 12, I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. Whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or the age to come. Why? Because when the Spirit is absent, because the Spirit has abandoned, it is because your heart has been hardened, your conscience has been seared, You have turned away and you have been given over to the world. There is no hope. The only hope is found in Christ. In the recognition of his completed work and the transformation of what the Spirit has done. Reject the work of the Spirit. Turn away from the work of the Spirit. Be cast out from the work of the Spirit is to be lost, which is why I tell you to celebrate the baby steps. Again, come around so you can see this. How many steps do we celebrate? Yeah, these are good, we're moving, we're going somewhere. May not always be the exact perfect direction you want to go, but we are moving in the right direction. Rejoice and celebrate because the Spirit is keeping you on track. This is good news. This is what Psalm 119 wishes to know. And I can't hit the button. I don't wanna cough without hitting the button, that would be bad. So how can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your word. Thanks be to God, he wrote it in a book. Acts 17, you wanna see why the book is so important? God, who made the world and all things in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything. since he himself gives to all people life and breath and all things, and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and exist, as even some of our own prophets, as some of your own prophets have said, for we also are his children. And in spite of all of that goodness, in spite of all of that testimony, what does humanity do with it? Romans 1, although they know the ordinance of God that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. Always remember that's one of the reasons why a sinful world is as mad and angry as it is. It's not because you're living better, it's not because they're living worse, it's because you will not soothe their conscience. You will not tell them that the wrong that they know to be wrong is right, and thereby make it better for them. They want you to agree with them in their delusion, and when you refuse, well guess where the problem lies? Because the problem could never possibly be with me. Heaven forbid, the problem must be with you, therefore you must go. Romans 3, Paul continues on. Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin. By the way, just for context in your Bible, there's only two categories of people. You're either Jew or Gentile, Jew or Greek, because those are the two ruling cultures. So there's nothing else. So when Paul says Jews and Greeks, he means everybody. So who's under sin? Who is affected by sin? Which means they're not born basically good. Who'd have thunk that one? Sorry, sorry, I'm misbehaving today. How do they know this? Because God has given them a commandment. How should they follow it? God has instructed. Christian, when you enter into the field of battle, with what should you enter as your weaponry? Hebrews chapter 4. The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is, was, and always will be our only weapon. That's why there's an entire psalm with near 200 verses celebrating it. This is the weapon you bring into the world. The lie that we have bought into, and by we I mean the church in general, for too long has been to try and meet culture on its terms. We can't. You would never agree to go into a sword fight and take off your armor. Be like, I'll wear my armor and I'll carry my sword. You can have your sword, but I think you should take off your armor. You would say what? No, this is stupid. Well, how about this? Alright, you can keep your armor, but you can have a shorter sword. Would you take that deal? No, this is insanity. You would not do this. Okay, fine, fine. If you want to take the shorter sword, you can have a pointy stick. Is that good? Do you want to have this fight now? You get armor and a nice pointy stick. Sound good? No, you want what? I want as many weapons that will do as much damage as possible when I enter into battle. Christian, when we go into the world's arena and we try to leave our weapons at home, we walk in unarmed. We have been afraid for too long to say, thus saith the Lord. This is what God has proclaimed. This is how God has ordained that this should run. Therefore, this is where I stand and this is why I stand. And because we've been unwilling to stand there, the world has just continued to push and shove and bully its way through. And now we're looking back going, why are we here and how did we get here? We left the weapons at home and we didn't bring them to the fight. Christian, you have a book. You have a command. You have a way in which you should walk. You know what is wrong with this world and you know who the cure is and how he should be proclaimed. Therefore, go. Therefore do, therefore rest upon that, knowing that it is God who holds you, God who carries you, God who will bring you to the end, and no matter what may befall in this place, it is God's kingdom where we rest, and it is his peace that abides upon us. That's the attitude that we have to take in. That's the attitude that scripture is pointing you towards, away from you, away from your ideas, to be grounded upon scripture, because it is the objective word handed down from God. So let's continue with verse 10. Mark 9, this is one of my favorite little passages of scripture. It's Jesus coming down the Mount of Transfiguration and the father has brought his demon-possessed son to the apostles to have the demon driven out because the demon keeps throwing the kid into the fire and throwing him into the water to try to kill him and the apostles can't drive him out. And Jesus tells him what? All things are possible if you believe. And the man said, you know, the guy asks if you can. So he brings him here hoping that Jesus can. And Jesus responds, if you can, all things are possible to him who believes. And immediately the boy's father cried out and said, I believe, help my unbelief. I wonder what desperation might sound like in the face of the work of Christ. I think it would sound like, if you believe, it will be accomplished. I believe, but on the off chance that I don't. Is there any, have you got anything for that as well? I point that out because Christian, if it was up to you to cling to God in the midst of sin, do you know what you would do? Do this as an experiment. Drive down the road and don't look away from the road. Some of you have realized exactly what I just challenged you with. Isn't that what you're supposed to do? Have you ever paid attention to your driver's ed manual? See, I have a weird brain for remembering things, so this has always struck out at me. You know, it's 10 and 2 or 9 and 3, depending on how old you are. If you're older, 10 and 2 was it, but as the 70s and 80s came along, they started to allow 9 to 3. It's never like, you know, 6.30, though. That's bad, you know? And never noon. Noon is bad, remember that? You're at your 10 and 2, eyes are focused ahead of you, and about every 15 seconds, you're supposed to check your rearview mirror, and then every 15 seconds after that, you're supposed to check your side mirrors, and that's how you drive. Road, rearview, road, side, road, rearview, and this is all you do! Now, which one of you drives like this? Don't lie to me, don't lie to me, you don't, you don't, you don't, you know you don't. They're... When they're on camera. when they're on the bus camera. She's been conditioned. What do you do? You look and see what the person next to you is eating. You see what that guy on the other side of the intersection is doing. Like, why is that person wearing that hat? Why is that person parked in that parking lot? Ooh, geese. I mean, well, actually, this is Rockford. Ooh, geese. Sorry. Yeah. Sorry, I'm a bad person. I'm on the horn threatening to run them over, you know. I have debated on running them over in traffic and then just throwing them in the back of the car. It's like, ooh, dinner. Don't be like me, kids. You're looking at everything, aren't you? And then all of a sudden you look in your rearview mirror and somebody's like three inches off your back bumper and you say, what? Where'd he come from? You should have seen him coming from a mile and a half away, why didn't you? Because we're looking at everything else. This... Now, I point that out because now imagine your life depended on it. You'd be good for a while, wouldn't you? You'd be good for a little bit, you'd be alright, and then what would start to happen? Bad habits would creep back in, you'd get bored with it. This is why it is not dependent upon you. With all my heart I have sought you. Do not let me wander from your commandments. Because at the end of the day, I know what about me. Even though I disagree with his theology, I love the line in the song. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Take my heart, Lord. Take and seal it. Seal it to thy courts above. I can't. I need you to do this. Because if you left it up to me, I'm doomed. But it is not left up to me. God knows our condition and he has built. Matthew 19. I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this, they were astonished. By the way, they're astonished because what would be the best way of determining who was blessed of God? They had stuff. Like, I have nothing. I'm a poor subsistence farmer. I got the house and the wife and the two kids and like a quarter acre in the back and we're just making it. The neighbor has like acres and acres and acres and 27 children and they're fine. Which one of us was blessed by God? That was the way they looked at it. It's gotta be that guy. And Jesus is like, it's impossible for that guy to make it. He's got no shot. Why? Where's his trust? Where's his hope? Where's his provision? Where is yours? This is a flipping on its head of the way the culture understood God and how he works. This is why, again, Christian, you don't look at the outside of the cup, you look at what? As much as you can. When the disciples heard this, they were astonished and said, well, who can be saved? And looking, then Jesus said, with people, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. We do not accomplish salvation. Christ accomplishes salvation, and your hope, your perseverance in the faith is the proof of that salvation having been accomplished in you. Once again, you care about righteousness. You care about avoiding sin. You care about avoiding the trappings and the schemes of this world. Therefore, rejoice. This is why you can have joy day by day, because you look at the darkness and go, oh my goodness, that is dark. That is actually good news, because you noticed it. Let's not pick on anybody, so I'm not picking on you, Danny, just always know that, okay? I mean, because this isn't also you. Do blind people notice when the lights get turned off? No. No, if you notice when the lights are turned off, it's because you still have some functioning, you're still picking up on things. There's actually, that's why there's actually medication for people that have, for non-24, because a lot of people that have full blindness struggle with going to bed at night and waking up in the morning, because there's no difference. Welcome to the sinner in a sinful world. He doesn't notice that it's dark, because what has it always been? It's always been dark. Never been any light. It's just been them and everybody else in the darkness doing the same thing day by day over and over again. And you walk in and go, what are you people doing? What do you mean, what are we doing? We're doing what everybody's doing. Why do you think this is weird? Why can't you see? Oh, wait. Now I get the message. What changes that? You can't pry their eyes open. You can't drill into their head. They need what? They need a change of heart leading to a change of mind leading to a change of action, they need the gospel proclaimed, they need Christ in him crucified. Where would we find such information, Christian? They put it somewhere, somewhere we can find it so that it's not lost to humanity. By the way, let's piggyback for where we were last week and where we're gonna be next week. This is why the work is what it is, Colossians chapter one. We proclaim him, talking about Jesus, admonishing every man, teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ. Repeated words, I tell you this all the time, whenever you see repeated words in scripture, pay attention. Who does Paul wish to proclaim the gospel to? Some of the people. Most of the people. No, where does the gospel apply? For this purpose I labor, striving according to his power which mightily works within me. Because that is true of verse 11. Your word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against you. Christian, what should you reorient your life around in Christ? should be around the commands of God, what he requires of you, and how you should live day by day because you have a new heart, a renewed mind, and a changed direction in your life. Where now should you find that? How do you know who God is? How do you know? They put that kind of information where? They put it in a book. How do you know what this God demands of you? How do you know what happens when we fall short? How do you know what the cure for these things are? How do you know how to bring the cure to the rest of the creation? This is the work of God each and every day. This seems simple. I keep trying to point this out. We think Christian living, we think that godliness is some grand scale beyond this adventure that, you know, it's something that those really good people do. That's why I like to always point out to you, by the way, that I'm not a good person. And I always like to point out to you that I need Jesus more than you do. Because for reasons that I have never been able to figure out, there becomes an assumption that I am a really good person. and that I am just, you know, I am the godly among you and you know, you should walk in my footsteps. Now granted, should I be trying to set an example? Yes. Should you be following it when I do well? Yes. Notice the caveat there? Yeah. I'm not perfect. I know, perish the thought. Luckily my wife's not in here right now so I can say that out loud. Don't tell her I said that. And I'm, hang on. And I'm not right all the time. Definitely don't tell her I said that. I can delete that. There'll be a little glitch in the recording. It'll be like, wait, I wonder what dropped out right there. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Sorry. I say that because I'm not better than you. I have a little bit more time to study scripture than you do. I've had more time to study scripture than you for the last, at this point, going on 20 years. Therefore, I might know a little bit more. And therefore, I have time to think about it because this is what I do for a living. Therefore, I apply scripture in ways you don't think to apply them because you don't live that life. It's not something you think about on a daily basis. Trust me, it drives my children nuts. It drives my wife nuts a little bit too on occasion. And you know who else it drives crazy on occasion? Me, because you know who does something dumb and then goes, Because I didn't need somebody to tell me because guess who knew the verse? That's why I've told you this before, my great claim to fame. I was so proud of this moment. We got stuck in a traffic jam. This is probably four years ago now. And Connor goes, what are these idiots doing? And I'm like, yes! That is a win because he called them idiots. Because if he had been born 15 years earlier and riding in the car with me, he would not have called these people idiots. He would have learned a whole lot different language and vocabulary. It would have been a lot more colorful. That was a win! And Cameron's like, that is a win, because she knew me then. And she was like, yeah, you would not have, that would have been much worse. I'm like, I know, isn't this good? And every once in a while, the wrong word flies out. You know who knows it immediately? I do. There are no good people. There are people that know the truth. and are warring against their sin day by day and are carried forward by the Holy Spirit and who are longing for the day when God will cleanse them finally and his kingdom will be right. And in the meantime, we struggle. And we fight, and we rejoice that we struggle and we fight because that's the work of the Spirit day by day. Remember, our default setting as people is not good. Ephesians chapter 2. You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the Spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them, we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh, of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest." See, that's humanity's default setting. That's where we begin, and that's where we build. Thanks be to God, He has not left us on that default setting. Because Ephesians continues, but God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. So, we do what in a fallen world? I mean, if you came to my house, and I told you that my kitchen was planted with landmines, and there were black and white squares, and if you stepped in the black squares, kaboom, and you stepped in the white squares, no kaboom. Would you just stroll across my kitchen? Would you like drag a leg and see what happens? You would walk how? I mean, and you would make certain where each foot, like before this foot comes up, we're making sure that this foot is on a white square, aren't we? Are you gonna be walking in the edges of the white squares? You're gonna be, I'm in the middle, I'm good. Middle, good. I mean, you would walk carefully. Christian, you live in a dark world full of landmines. How now should you walk? Carefully. What do we mean by that? Does it mean I want to see you walking around Walmart like this? Well, I do, but just simply so that people can, you know what? Ooh, new evangelism strategy. Walk around Walmart like that. So the people walk up and you go, what are you doing? I'm walking carefully in the world as Ephesians two told me. And then watch them as they go, oh, okay. This might be good for you, right? No, no, this would be terrible. Don't do dumb things, don't do weird things. I mean, unless you're just weird, in which case, then have fun with it, I guess. I saw this, yes! Pastor gave me permission to be weird, but not too weird. Remember, there are lines, okay? When we mean by walk carefully, we mean evaluate. Why am I doing this thing? There are millions of good things you can do badly. There are millions of good things you can do sinfully. We don't think about this. I'll pick on me again, you ready? If I was doing the job that I do, and I was doing it to glorify God and strengthen your faith, picture in your mind what you expect that would look like. Don't tell me if I'm not meeting that expectation, I don't wanna know. Okay, but have you got that in your mind? Now, I want you to picture another version of me doing the job so that you would like the way that I do it, so that you would appreciate the way that I do my job, so that you would give me praise. Now, from the outside, looking in on those two people doing that job, what would the difference be? Wouldn't be one. It would look exactly the same to you. Why are you doing this? Why are you doing anything? The heart matters in this world. These are the wars you must fight. That would be a good work. Scripture's being proclaimed. You're being strengthened. God is being glorified. My heart is rotting day by day in that second scenario. That's not good. Well, I mean, be good for you, but not good for me. I know you don't care, it's okay. Why are you doing this? Why do you work the way that you work? Why do you talk to your spouse the way that you talk to your spouse? Why do you encourage your nieces and your nephews? Why do you talk to your grandkids? Why do you do these things? What's the goal? This is how you walk carefully. Because if I can get you to think about how you live in the simple things of life, then the complicated things will take care of themselves without any difficulty whatsoever. Again, we think Christianity is big picture. It's great wars and battles. It's mornings when you brush your teeth. It's evenings when the dog barks and you stubbed your toe because you had to see what was going on outside the window. It's that phone call from that cousin you don't want to talk to. It's all of the little things in life that you have to evaluate and question and wonder, and those are the little steps that add up to miles and miles and miles of travel. And that is what we mean when we say walk carefully. The days are evil, the darkness is prowling, and yet, He has given us light, and yet He has provided us the weapons, and yet He is carrying us forward, and yet we will not be lost. Therefore, I can see the enemy in the world for what it is, and I will not be shaken, and I will not tremble, and I will not fear, and I will not worry, because I have a sure salvation, because I have Christ, and I have His completed work accomplished in all of these things. So, what would it look like? Verse 12, blessed are you, O Lord. Teach me your statutes. Again, starting point is where? Where are the statutes of God, Christian? They're in a book. They're in a book. This is what the Spirit is pointing you towards. Psalm 139, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my anxious thoughts, and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. John 6, Jesus telling the crowds, It is written in the prophets, They shall be taught of God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. This is why Peter can tell you in 1 Peter 2, to cling to the Word if you've tasted the kindness of the Lord. Why do you care what's in Scripture? I mean, why would you care? Because your heart has been changed. Your mind has been renewed. Therefore, you want to actually know what God commands. I mean, have some fun. I should do this one Sunday and see if anybody notices. I should cut down Bible verses that I use by like 75% and see how long it takes somebody to catch on. You know why I say that? You'd notice. you would notice. It would immediately jump out at you like, why isn't he giving us a Bible verse for that? Why isn't he explaining where that is in scripture? Why would you notice? Because you get used to things. Your diet starts to influence you. And you would start to notice that we're not explaining this the same way we used to. And you would start to be uneasy. And you know what? I like that. That's good for you. Because now when someone else tries to sell you a bologna sandwich and tells you a prime rib, you go, no, I know how scripture is supposed to be presented. I know how this is supposed to make sense and you're not making sense of it. Therefore, I don't trust you. And if I don't trust you, what should we do? When you don't trust the person in the pulpit, what do you do, children? You throw something and run screaming from the room. Remember, I gotta get a bell so we can have drills. Put some pews under your, or put some pews, put some, um, hymnals! Those are those things, oh my goodness. It's been so long since anybody's used one, I can forget what they were. Okay. Put some hymnals under your seat, like, you know, I just. I'm being watched. It's Halloween, right? I always feel like somebody's watching me. So, blessed are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes. It's in a book, verse 13. With my lips I have told of all the ordinances of your mouth. Notice that. Christian, what do you do with this knowledge? Always remember, there is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Knowledge is good, but knowledge apart from wisdom is mostly useless. Again, if you know all the answers to Jeopardy, but you're sitting on your couch, do you win prizes? No, no, you don't. You need to take the things that you know and do what with them? Apply them to the world. What would that look like? Galatians chapter 6. Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh, try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For those who are circumcised do not keep the law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. This is for everything. Your starting point is scripture, your boast is in Christ because your goal is the kingdom of God. This is what your family is about. This is what your politics is about. This is what medicine is supposed to be about. This is what life is supposed to be about. This is what everything is supposed to serve. Nothing in your world, as a Christian, is supposed to serve you or this place. The minute that it does, we found the idol! What do we do with the idol, Christian? We kill it and we kill it with fire. Because we want it gone. Don't surrender anything. Anything. Small steps, right? All the little victories. What happens when something tries to derail you? Fight it. And by the way, I'll use a bad sports analogy. You ready for bad sports analogies? I used to have to teach this to my baseball players, of all the things. You end up with a group of kids who don't grow up playing baseball. You end up with high school kids that you have to teach things you wouldn't expect you'd have to teach. Things like stealing a base. There's actually a science to it. Because you know what most kids will do as soon as you step off first base? I'll get up a little higher so you can make sure you can see. You know what so many kids will do? You'll get to first base, and they'll look at the pitcher, and then they'll do this. That is terrible, do you know why? Because if at any point like this he throws the ball, do you know what happens to me? I'm off balance. Short, easy strides, never crossing over. When you go to run, do you know what people do when they take off to run? Humanity does this by nature, it's called a false step. You go to run, so you get down, and when you go to take off, do you know what everybody tries to do? That slows you down. You have to teach them to dig into the ground and turn. Open the hips and push. And then from there, do you want nice, long, galloping strides as you go to second base? No. You're off balance. You're gonna mistime your steps. You want short, powerful strides, as much as you can. You do this in football. You never want linemen who are blocking taking big steps. What happens if I'm trying to do this, pushing you? I'm off balance. You want what? Short, choppy, powerful. Christian, this is why I tell you to celebrate the little things. When you think your Christian walk is supposed to look like that, I can't even do that without almost falling over. What do I want to do? Simple, basic, balanced, controlled, evaluating all the little things of life so that when the world tries to sideswipe me on a random Tuesday afternoon, what happens? I can see it coming and I have an anchor. I have a grounding so that I do not fall prey to the temptations. Verse 14, I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches. That's an understanding of perspective. Where is your joy found and who defines it? Ecclesiastes chapter five. He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with all its income. This too is vanity. I love how Ecclesiastes puts it. It's vanity, vanity, striving after the wind. I like good word pictures. I fancy myself a poet every once in a while and I just, I don't write stuff that's that good. Paul puts it a different way in Philippians 2. I know how to get along with humble means. And I also know how to live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of being filled, going hungry, having abundance and suffering need. And then there's a verse everybody knows. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. It's not about you accomplishing, it's about Christ providing. It's about Christ carrying you through in spite of the things of this world. So where does all of this knowledge and application lead to? It leads to verse 15. It's amazing how that works after verse 14, isn't it? I will meditate on your precepts and regard your ways. See, this is the conclusion that you have to land on. I will meditate on your precepts and regard your ways. Told you that chasing after riches in the world is vanity, right? So what's the conclusion? Ecclesiastes draws it. The conclusion when all has been heard is this, fear God and keep his commandments because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. There's nothing that's left out. Paul puts it this way in 2 Corinthians 5. Being always of good courage, knowing that while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to him. In other words, our lives are reoriented. rebuilt not around the world, but around his kingdom. How do we learn about it? It's in a book. How do we get there? It's in a book. How is that accomplished? It's in a book. Verse 16. I shall delight in your statutes. I shall not forget your word. This is why you stand, Christian, because you know the truth, and the truth can make you free. First Corinthians chapter 10. These things, this is our example, if you remember, all the way back to Exodus. These things happened to them as an example. They were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man. And God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. Martin Luther wrote 95 theses that he wanted to debate. I like 94. This is one of my favorites. Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their head, through penalties, death, and hell. You should be encouraged to walk as Jesus walked, lest God judge you, is basically what he's saying. And I agree. Have we lost the computer back there? We're on 16. I agree, because this is the course of the world. Not because you need to fear death and hell. Christian, you're not afraid because of what Christ has done. 1 John 5, we know that we are of God and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true and we are in Him who is true. in His Son, Jesus Christ, this is the true God and eternal life. We don't fear that, but we recognize the truth about the world, knowing that judgment abides and seeking not to walk according to its course and pattern. We have been redeemed from such things. We have been purchased from the darkness and placed in the light. Therefore, we desire to stay where? I mean, if I brought you out of darkness and opened your eyes so they worked and you could see, do you want to close your eyes and walk around some more? You want to do what? I want to see where I'm going. And the rest of you fools can keep running into each other because you won't listen. But I'm not closing them again. This is the picture that salvation draws because you are now changed. You are now set forward. Matthew chapter 12. Behold my servant whom I have chosen. This is Jesus quoting from Isaiah. My beloved in whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my spirit upon him and he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel nor cry out nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. A battered reed he will not break off and a smoldering wick he will not put out until he leads justice to victory. And in his name the nations will hope. Again, Christian, what's the standard? How do you know? What's the weapon? What should you proclaim in the world? What avenue of life should be exempt from these things? You know the answers to all of these questions. Now the question is, how do you encounter the world and why do you encounter it this way? Are you still trying to feed the idol or are you seeking to kill it? The goal should be to kill it each and every day. To crush it, to kill it with fire, and burn it where it cannot harm you any longer. Why? Because that is the work that God will accomplish. And you know when I would like him to accomplish that work? When do I want God to accomplish all of his good things? Now! So you've given me a spirit that points these things out to me. You have given me a salvation that overcomes and you have shown me the way that I should walk. I'm in. And while I know there's gonna be battles and I know there's gonna be fights, I also know that there's going to be victory. Because he has accomplished and his work is finished and his kingdom is assured so I can rejoice. Therefore, I do not fear this world and I do not fear their arguments and I do not fear their anger because they don't have anything. not when it compares to what God provides and where I stand because of what he has done for me. Let's pray.