[0:00] Would you stand with me as we honor the reading of God's word together.
[0:21] ! He says, May God add a blessing to the reading of his word.
[1:13] Would you please be seated? Amen. In John's gospel, John chapter 4, he records a divine appointment that Jesus had with a woman from Samaria.
[1:30] In this time and place, Jesus' actions in that passage would have been viewed as scandalous behavior.
[1:44] Jesus broke all kinds of cultural norms when he spoke to this woman. Jews did not speak to Samaritans and men did not speak with women in public.
[1:54] The woman was surprised herself that Jesus would address her, speak to her.
[2:06] She was even more stunned that as the conversation went along, that Jesus knew things about her that she would rather keep hidden.
[2:17] In John 4, beginning in verses 16 through 26, Jesus reveals those things to her. He says to the Samaritan woman, Go call your husband and come here.
[2:29] The woman answered him, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, For you are right in saying, I have no husband. For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband.
[2:42] What you have said is true. The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.
[2:55] Jesus said to her, For woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
[3:06] But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
[3:22] The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming, He who is called Christ. When He comes, He will tell us all things. And Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He.
[3:37] Jesus knew this woman. He knew her sin. He knew her need for salvation. Her efforts to avoid talking anymore about her personal transgression steered the conversation towards worship.
[3:49] The Jews and Samaritans had different beliefs about how to worship God, where to worship God, and when to worship God. What I want you to see here in Jesus' exchange with this woman in His comments is about worshipping in spirit and in truth.
[4:10] The word spirit does not refer to the Holy Spirit, but to the human spirit. Jesus' point is that worship isn't about the externals, going to a certain place at a certain time to observe a certain set of traditions, but that true worship is internal.
[4:29] It's an attitude of gratitude for who God is, what God has done, and what God has promised that He will one day do. It's these kinds of worshippers, Jesus says, this kind of worship that God the Father desires, that God the Father seeks.
[4:47] Those who worship Him in spirit, in their hearts, treasuring who He is, thankful for what He's done, according to the truth He's revealed in His word.
[4:59] Human beings were created with a desire to worship. College football season started yesterday, and people are already, in some cases, worshipping.
[5:12] Their favorite sports team. Other people worship celebrities. Some people worship politicians. Or people worship things they desire, like money, beauty cars, or houses.
[5:25] Our sinful nature tempts us to worship all kinds of things that aren't truly capable to satisfy us, like only God can.
[5:36] And as we've read, God desires our worship. But as the Samaritan woman learned, not just any kind of worship will do. A reading through the Old Testament reveals that worship is important to God.
[5:51] For example, Exodus devotes 25 chapters to the construction of the tabernacle, the location where God's people gathered to worship Him. Leviticus contains 27 chapters, informing God's people in how they are to worship Him.
[6:08] As a result of the new covenant in Jesus Christ, we no longer observe those Old Testament sacrificial systems, because Jesus has fulfilled them. But in His fulfilling Him, it doesn't mean that our worship or how we worship no longer matters to God.
[6:26] God desires, continues to desire. He seeks those who worship Him in spirit and in truth.
[6:40] Psalms is a book of worship which contains 150 psalms. A psalm is a song or a poem used in worship.
[6:51] The English word psalm comes from a Greek word that means to pluck, in reference to a harp or another string instrument that would accompany the singing of these psalms, these songs.
[7:06] Psalms is a sacred hymn book. Songs written by real people inspired by the true God who were living in the real world facing realities that often included hardship, suffering, and driving them to the Lord in worship.
[7:26] Expressing their need. At times expressing their anger. Other times expressing their fear, their doubt. And things that were keeping them up and unable to sleep at night.
[7:38] But always they end with a word of truth. A word of hope. A word of praise to the Lord.
[7:50] The Holy Spirit inspired many different authors to record these songs of worship. Moses, David, Solomon, to name a few. Possibly Ezra and others.
[8:02] Asaph, who was the chief worship leader appointed by David. The sons of Korah, descendants of the tribe of Levi. These men were inspired by the Holy Spirit to express worship to God.
[8:19] But the psalms are more than songs. They communicate theological truths that we need to understand and that we need to trust. As we face the realities of living in a sinful world.
[8:35] The psalms don't sugarcoat the pain we often experience in this world as God's people. But in addressing those realities, they lift our eyes to the ultimate reality.
[8:47] That those who trust in the Lord have a reason to be joyful. They have a joy. They have a hope that transcends the temporal obstacles that we face in this fallen world.
[9:03] And so Psalms 1 is like a gateway to the rest of the psalms. It's a gateway that immediately presents us with a fork in the road.
[9:14] Contrasting two kinds of men or two kinds of people. There is a blessed man and there is a wicked man. Each is going in a different direction.
[9:26] In a different way. Walking a different path. Which leads to two very different destinations. And each of us right now is like one of these two men.
[9:41] Each of us is walking in the way of one of these two men. And each of us is headed towards a destination that either leads to eternal life with God.
[9:55] Or eternal death separated from God. And so the main idea for this morning's sermon is that every person is on one of two paths.
[10:09] One leading to life and the other leading to death. Every person, every single person is on one of two paths. One that leads to life and another that leads to death.
[10:23] Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees once said, If you see a fork in the road, take it. Meaning, just go someplace, right?
[10:33] Just take one of those routes. But Psalms 1 does not give that kind of advice. It encourages us to walk in the way that leads to life. And it warns us against the way, against the path, against the direction of life that leads to death.
[10:51] This psalm deals with the reality that people in our world reject. They reject the restrictiveness of the truth that's being taught here.
[11:04] That there is only one way to life. That there is only one way to God. Because they want to believe that there's multiple ways. That all ways or any way leads to God.
[11:16] They want to believe that you can worship whatever you want to worship. However you want to worship. And that God will accept it all and receive you into heaven.
[11:28] But friend, all of those other ways are really just one way. And it's the way that leads to an eternal separation from God in hell.
[11:41] And that's not my opinion. That's what the Bible teaches. That's what Jesus taught. Jesus, the word of God, in Matthew 7, 13 through 14 said, Enter by the narrow gate.
[11:56] For the gate is wide. And the way is easy that leads to destruction. And this is frightening. He says, And those who enter by it are many.
[12:09] For the gate is narrow. And the way is hard. That leads to life. And those who find it are few. Salvation is by grace alone, not works.
[12:21] But it's not easy. Because it calls for repentance of your sin. It calls for submission to Jesus Christ as the Lord of your life.
[12:33] It means bearing a cross and following him. Denying your sinful flesh of what it desires as you pursue holiness. As you pursue Christ-likeness. However, though that isn't easy, it results in an abundant life.
[12:50] It results in freedom from sin and its eternal consequences. It results in a joy and a hope that in Christ, that joy and that hope exceeds whatever suffering, whatever trials, whatever pain we endure in this life.
[13:04] Because we know that in Jesus, an eternity without suffering, without trials, and without pain awaits those who have trusted in him in heaven.
[13:17] As Jesus prepared his disciples for his imminent death on the cross, he told them that he was going to leave them for a time. He explained that he was going to a place that they couldn't go right now.
[13:31] And he would prepare that place for them. Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples, didn't quite understand. And so he asked Jesus, Lord, we don't know where you're going.
[13:42] How can we know the way? And in John 14, 6, Jesus answered in reply, I am the way and the truth and the life.
[13:53] No one comes to the Father except through me. There is one way to eternal life. And that way is through Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
[14:08] He is the way. He is the path that leads to an eternal destiny in heaven. Do you believe that? If so, good, rejoice.
[14:23] Psalm 1 will encourage you today in being the blessed man, woman, boy, or girl whom God has been gracious to save. This psalm will also encourage you to pursue the things in this life that bring blessing as you remember or perhaps better appreciate who you are in Jesus Christ and what you have in him.
[14:45] But if not, this psalm confronts you with a reality, an eternal reality that those who have not trusted in God, those who are not in Christ, will perish, will perish.
[15:02] Their suffering will never end. In fact, it will only intensify to degrees that we couldn't understand in this world. If you reject Jesus, you reject God's blessing.
[15:16] You reject the only hope that you have to be saved from your sins and the consequences of your sins.
[15:27] The only hope you have for freedom. The only hope that you have for life. The only hope that you have to escape the eternal consequences for the sins that you've committed against a God who is holy, holy, holy, as we sang this morning.
[15:47] If you discover this morning that you are on the wrong path, friend, God has brought you here to this place at this time.
[16:02] And I pray that in hearing his truth, that you will turn to him in faith before it's too late. I pray that today God calls out to you, calls your name, and that you would turn to him in faith.
[16:23] And God would save you and would place you on the path that leads to paradise. To determine what path you are on, we're going to examine this psalm by asking two questions about the two kinds of people mentioned in these verses, in this first psalm.
[16:47] The first person is the blessed man. And we ask, who is the blessed man? In verses 1 through 3, the psalmist tells us three truths to identify who this blessed person is.
[17:03] The first truth is that he protects himself from sinful influences. He protects himself from sinful influences.
[17:14] The blessed man walks differently from the rest of the world. The psalmist first identifies him by what he does not do and who he does not associate with, thus protecting himself from influences that would either deter or obstruct.
[17:33] His pursuit of God. Verse 1 describes a downward spiral of sin that the blessed man resists. Again, verse 1 says, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.
[17:54] The picture here is how sin will take a person from bad to worse. The blessed man protects himself from the world's influence by refusing first to take its counsel.
[18:06] When it comes to what he should value, when it comes to what he should care about, what he should do with his life, how he should spend his time, or how he should respond to different situations, he does not take counsel from the world, from the wicked.
[18:24] We live in the age of the social media influencer. People who make a living off of their ability to influence others.
[18:40] These people influence opinions, behaviors, purchasing decisions, and the latest trends. They make a lot of money off of their ability to influence people.
[18:51] I remember, I think Jack was in the first grade, and we were going for a parent-teacher's conference, and outside of his classroom door, there was these pictures that the kids had drawn, and one of the questions that they answered is, who do you want to be when you grow up?
[19:09] And I was stunned by how many kids said they wanted to be a YouTuber. You know, what happened, like it used to be like fireman, astronaut, professional athlete, and there was still some of those, but a lot of them were just, I want to grow up and be somebody who takes videos of myself and posts them on social media and make money off of that.
[19:35] I was stunned by how many wanted to do that, and also by the reality that at such a young age, first grade, kids are exposed to the influence of others, who they want to be like.
[19:54] That doesn't change as we get older. We are inundated with all kinds of media in our day that seeks to influence us, telling us what we should think, what we should believe, who we should trust, what we should value, and what we should fear.
[20:13] But the blessed man, the blessed person, receives counsel from a better source. In Isaiah 9-6, the prophet foretold the coming of a future king who would give supernatural counsel to God's people.
[20:30] Isaiah 9-6 says, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
[20:48] That future king prophesied there is Jesus, the Son of God, the eternal Word of God, who added flesh to his divinity and dwelt among us.
[21:00] Prior to his crucifixion, he promised his disciples that he would send them another helper. In the Greek, a paraclete, a word that can also be translated as counselor.
[21:11] John 14-26, Jesus says to his disciples, But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
[21:23] The Holy Spirit inspired the apostles. He filled their minds and their hearts and guided their thoughts and their words to record and produce an inerrant and true understanding of the life, work, and ministry of Jesus Christ, just as he did the same for the human authors of the Old Testament.
[21:42] What we have in our Bibles is the Word of God. We have his divine counsel. The blessed person believes this and does not walk in any kind of counsel that contradicts the divine counsel that God has given to us in his Word.
[22:02] He likewise doesn't stand in the way of sinners. This doesn't mean to stand in their way, like as an obstacle for them to get around, but to stand with them, to stand in agreement with them.
[22:19] For example, you might hear someone in our culture say about an issue. Where do you stand on this? These have a stance.
[22:31] They've taken a stance. They have taken a position. The blessed man protects himself by refusing to take a stand with the world because he stands with God.
[22:47] He stands on his Word. And guarding his mind and heart from the world's counsel, the blessed man, the blessed person, likewise does not sit in the seat of scoffers.
[22:59] To sit in this time, in the ancient world, was to take an authoritative position or to take an authoritative posture.
[23:11] In Bible times, people sat to teach. They sat to judge. It was customary in the Jewish synagogue to stand when reading God's Word and then to sit to teach God's Word.
[23:27] Jesus did this in Luke chapter 4, verse 20, and then on the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus sat and opened his mouth and then he preached. The blessed man protects himself by refusing to take a seat with those who have positioned themselves against God's Word and who teach others to do the same by scoffing, mocking, or making fun of those who walk in God's way.
[23:54] It isn't easy to go against culture, to take a stand against what it teaches and be called names for it. But the blessed man, the blessed person, endures such derision because he takes pleasure in the truth.
[24:14] And so I ask you, who or what are you listening to? Who is influencing you? And then, once you figure that out, another question, are they encouraging you to move towards Jesus or away from him?
[24:33] What do they talk about? What do they promote? What do they teach? Do they encourage you? And this also includes sources who say that they're Christians, sources who say that they're even pastors, that they're teachers of God's Word.
[24:49] Do they encourage you to trust God's Word? Or do they encourage you to doubt God's Word? And that'll tell you a lot because the very first temptation given by Satan in the Garden of Eden was to what?
[25:05] To doubt God's Word. Who is influencing you? Whose counsel are you taking? The next truth is that the blessed person takes pleasure in God's Word.
[25:17] Verse 2, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. The blessed man takes pleasure in God's Word because he loves God and he desires to learn how to please God.
[25:31] This love of God compels them to engage God's Word with their mind. And so the psalmist says that they meditate on his Word, his truth, and they do this day and night, all day long.
[25:44] The Hebrew word translated as meditate means to murmur or mutter. It carries the sense of talking under your breath or talking to yourself.
[25:55] Do any of you do that? Okay. Take by your giggling that yes, you do. I do that too. I often do it when I'm trying to remember something. When I'm trying to recall information.
[26:10] What was that thing that, who was that person, what's their name? Or when I'm trying to remind myself of something that I need to do next after I've finished what I'm doing now. Okay, what was that thing that I was going to do after I got done with this?
[26:26] In a similar way, the blessed person meditates on God's Word, muttering, murmuring its truth to themselves, recalling that obedience brings blessing because it protects them from sin and its consequences.
[26:40] They meditate on God's Word when they make choices, calling upon its counsel to remind them to choose what is good and what is right. They meditate on God's Word because they love what it says.
[26:52] They believe what it says. They love the nourishment it gives to their hearts, their souls, and their minds. It comforts them in seasons of despair. It relieves them in times of fear.
[27:03] It calms their anxious thoughts. It gives them peace and turmoil. It gives them hope to face tomorrow. It gives them pleasure to know that God who saves them keeps them and will complete the good work that He began in them.
[27:17] it protects them from temptation. To meditate on God's Word requires spending time in God's Word to memorize what it says and to pray its words back to God.
[27:36] After I have my quiet time reading God's Word, I'll pray a few things back to Him that stood out to me in the reading. And so, for example, if we're looking at Psalms 1, it could look something like this.
[27:52] God, protect me from taking the counsel of the wicked. Lord, help me to know those who are influencing me in ways that are moving me away from You. Help me remember Your Word when I'm tempted to be influenced by this world, when I'm tempted to disobey You, when I'm tempted to take a stand against You.
[28:12] Protect my heart, protect my mind from returning evil for evil with those who scoff at You. Remind me, Lord, that Your ways are blessed. The blessed man, the blessed person, protects himself from sinful influences by taking pleasure in God's Word which nurses their heart, their mind, their soul and thus produces the third truth which is fruit.
[28:39] He produces spiritual fruit. Verse 3, He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither and all He does He prospers.
[28:53] Notice here that this tree is planted. Trees grow randomly in the woods, in forests but it takes a landscaper, it takes a gardener to plant a tree.
[29:06] tree, the landscaper, the gardener plans where to plant the tree so that it will grow, that it will thrive. My first job was working at an arboretum, a botanical garden and we worked with people who had degrees in horticulture and we would plant all kinds of things and as we would plant things they would tell us about why we were planting this tree or this plant where we were placing it and we were doing it so that it got enough sunlight or it got enough shade or that it would get enough water so that it would grow, that it would thrive.
[29:47] I remember they would tell me you can come back here one day with your kids and this little sapling that we're planting will be a giant tree and you'll be able to tell your kids I planted that.
[30:01] I've never done that. I don't know that I will because that was hard work but it takes a gardener to plant a tree and to put it in a place where it's going to grow where it's going to thrive in the same way God chooses where to place us where to plant us and he does that for our good and for his glory to bring order and to bring beauty into this world through our witness to him and how we live and what we say.
[30:35] The tree in Psalm 1 is planted by streams of water. It is planted in a place located near an abundant life-giving source of water. Multiple sources of water.
[30:47] Thus it will produce in every season of its life. The idea here is that the blessed person who takes pleasure in God's word and uses it to protect themselves from going the way of the wicked will produce thanksgiving to God in every season of life.
[31:04] Endurance in times of suffering, faith in times of doubt, strength in times of temptation, and hope always in the Lord. This person prospers by avoiding sin, avoiding the pitfalls, the snares, the traps laid out by the enemy to cause stumbling.
[31:23] They produce spiritual fruit giving evidence of their connection to the true source of life, the vine, the living water, Jesus Christ. John 7, 37-39 records Jesus saying on the last day of a feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and he cried out, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
[31:48] Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now he said this about the spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive for as yet the spirit had not been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
[32:06] The blessed man, the blessed person, protects himself from sinful influences because he delights in God's word because he knows the true source of living water, Jesus Christ.
[32:21] And out from them pour forth these fruits, these living waters because he abides in the truth of God's word.
[32:33] That's the blessed person, the blessed man. Now we look at who is the wicked man. The wicked man, very simply, is the polar opposite of the blessed man.
[32:47] Verse 4 says, the wicked are not so. They are like chaff that the wind drives away. Everything that the blessed man is, the blessed person is, the wicked man, the wicked person is not.
[33:02] He walks in the counsel of the wicked. He is influenced by the wisdom of this world. As a result, they eventually take a stand with them in opposition to God and to the truth that he's revealed in his word.
[33:19] Then they sit in the place of the scoffers, ridiculing the truth, thinking that they are an authority when in actuality they are chaff that the wind blows away because they have no root in the life-giving source of Jesus Christ.
[33:40] They are like chaff that is driven by the winds, driven by the changing, ever-changing minds, ever-changing opinions of the world. Chaff is the inedible, useless pieces of husk from wheat gathered after it's been harvested.
[34:01] The wheat would be cut, it would be bundled, it would be dried, and then it would be taken to a place called the threshing floor, an outdoor circle with stone pavement.
[34:13] And the wheat would be spread out. and then they would take a sledge, these boards that they'd nail together and they'd drill holes through them and they'd put big rocks in the sledge and then somebody or an animal would pull that sledge and it would rub up against the grain, the wheat that had been cut and it would separate the grain from everything else that was not as useful.
[34:39] Or an animal would trample on it. The whole point being we want the grain, we don't want the other stuff, they'd use the straw for bedding and things like that, but the chaff had no purpose. And so once that was done, they would take pitch forks or winnowing forks and they would put it all in a pile and then they would just pick it up and they would throw it in the air.
[35:00] And the grain would fall because it had substance. But the chaff was hollow. It was dead, it was lifeless, it was good for nothing and so it would just blow away.
[35:14] a time of harvesting is coming. A day, verse 5, describes as a day of judgment.
[35:26] Let's look at that verse again. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows there's no hiding.
[35:38] The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. Jesus often spoke about his second coming and this day of judgment.
[35:53] In Matthew 7, 21-23, Jesus says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven, speaking of this judgment day.
[36:13] On that day, again, this is terrifying. Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name?
[36:27] And then I will declare to them, and this is tragic, I never knew you. I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.
[36:41] God the Lord knows. There's no hiding from him. The Lord knows his sheep. They are those he has called and has graciously saved by faith in Jesus Christ who is the true blessed man.
[37:01] How do we adjust according to what we've heard? The blessed man, the blessed person pursues the blessed man. There's an important aspect of this psalm that I've waited to share until now.
[37:17] I thought about sharing it at the beginning. I decided to share it here at the end. The Hebrew verbs describing the blessed man in verses 1 through 4 are written in the perfect tense.
[37:31] The blessed man is someone who has never taken counsel from the wicked, the truly blessed man, has never in their life stood in the way of sinners and has never in their life sat in the seat of scoffers who has always, always delighted in the law of the Lord.
[38:02] Friend, we don't measure up to that, do we? We don't measure up to that. I can say for myself and I can say for yourself that there are times where you have taken the counsel of the wicked, where you have stood with them, where you have sat maybe with them and ridiculed what God has said in his word.
[38:34] none of us meets this standard. We don't measure up. But Jesus did because he is the true blessed man that this psalm talks about.
[38:50] This psalm points us to Jesus revealing our need for another, for someone better, for someone perfect, to meet the standard that we can't meet, but who in meeting this standard amazingly gives us his righteousness so that we now are the blessed of God.
[39:19] 2 Corinthians 5.21, for our sake he, God the Father, made him, Jesus, God the Son, to be sin who knew no sin, who never knew sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
[39:38] In Christ, in salvation, we are no longer slaves to sin. That means we don't have to sin. Do you realize that? You don't have to sin.
[39:50] In Christ we experience the blessings of God, all of his blessings. In Christ you can protect yourself from the sinful influences of this world.
[40:01] In Christ you can take true pleasure in God's word. In Christ you can produce spiritual fruit, but only if you're in Christ.
[40:15] If you've been born again, if you've repented of your sins and you've turned to him in faith, only if you know Jesus as your Lord and as your Savior, if you've been saved by God's grace, Christian, you are blessed.
[40:42] You are clothed in the righteousness of Christ. You are forgiven. You are loved.
[40:54] You are known by God. You have a place with him forever. A place where all the sufferings, all the trials, all the temptations, all the bad stuff of this world will not exist.
[41:09] A place where he will dry every eye. A place where you will be with the Lord forever. The sorrows, the fears, the anxieties, the tears, the fears, the pains, the suffering, it comes to an end for you, an eternal end for you.
[41:29] And even as you experience it now, you know that there is an end to it, and there is a hope in it. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of you, working in you, making you, changing you into the image of Jesus Christ, the true blessed man.
[41:49] you can apply these principles to your life and you can prosper spiritually. You can be like this blessed person because you know the blessed man.
[42:04] But if you don't know him, the anguish that you feel in this world, I'm telling you, in love, will only intensify to the grease that we could not put into human language.
[42:22] You will be eternally separated from God in hell. And in that time, there will be no deliverance. There will be no second chance.
[42:35] You will die and you will stand before the Lord in judgment. And when he returns and all are resurrected and he separates those on his right from those on his left, he will say to them, who have rejected him and who have not believed in him, depart from me.
[42:50] I never knew you. And there's no second chance. God has brought you here today to hear this truth.
[43:04] This is your chance. This is your time to repent of your sins and to turn to him in faith. No matter your sins, no matter what you've done, no matter how you don't measure up, you turn to him in faith and he will save you completely.
[43:25] He will forgive you totally. He will clothe you in the righteous life, the righteousness of his sinless son, Jesus Christ.
[43:37] You will be made new, you will be transformed, you will know a hope that's unlike anything in this world. And I pray that today is the day the Lord calls to you and you turn to him and you're saved and you know the blessedness of being in Jesus Christ.
[44:01] Let's pray. Amen. Lord, we are grateful for your grace.
[44:19] Lord, we are grateful for your mercy, for your forgiveness, for your patience with us. Lord, we're grateful for your salvation.
[44:32] Lord, none of us measures up to the perfect standard of a holy God who has never sinned and who requires holiness, perfection.
[44:45] Lord, we're thankful that you have made that way through Jesus Christ, your son, the true blessed man who emptied himself of the glories of heaven to become a servant, to live the sinless life that we could never live.
[45:02] to sacrifice himself on the cross for the sins that we've committed and who rose again on the third day as proof that that sacrifice is complete, that salvation is through him.
[45:21] He is the way, the truth, and the life. And for those of us, Lord, whom you've been gracious to reveal that truth to, we thank you, you, that we are blessed in him.
[45:33] And Lord, help us to remember this psalm as we go about our life, as we go about our day, to remember the blessings that we have in Christ and the ability we have to live for him in this world in the hopes that more would be saved.
[45:49] Lord, for those who are on the path that ends in perishing, God, we pray that you would open their eyes to see the truth, that you would open their mind to understand their desperate need, and that you would open their heart to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, having repented of their sins and turning to you for salvation.
[46:23] God, we pray that you would save them, and we pray for those whom you have saved, Lord, that we would live our lives in ways that glorify you as living sacrifices, because, Lord, you are worthy.
[46:40] Thank you for how you've blessed us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you.