[0:00] If you have your Bibles, would you go ahead and turn to them in Psalm 119.
[0:18] What is the truth?
[0:31] And why does the truth matter? Why is it so important to us? Psalm 119, verses 1 through 4. If you don't have a Bible with you, there are Bibles in the pews that you can use.
[0:42] And if you don't own a Bible, please take that Bible home with you today as a gift from our church to you in our hopes that you'll continue to be reading the truth, which is God's Word. Would you please stand with me as we honor God's Word together, again, reading in Psalm 119, verses 1 through 4.
[1:00] May God add a blessing to the reading of His Word.
[1:23] Would you please be seated? You know, in a few months, our nation will be headed to the polls for midterm elections.
[1:34] And while those elections are important, and I certainly encourage you to vote, one thing that I'm not looking forward to come election season is the plethora of political attack ads that we will be flooded with.
[1:50] Commercials and phone calls and billboards and flyers that are stuffed in your mailbox. Ads that pop up on your computer screen. There's just no escape.
[2:03] We've already been hit hard with attack ads over this runoff election. Each candidate presenting the other as some kind of incompetent monster with secret, nefarious agendas, exaggerating and twisting the facts to scare people from voting for their competitor.
[2:22] I see these things and I wonder, do people really believe this stuff? Do they really trust the reliability of these ads to tell them the truth?
[2:37] They must. Otherwise, they wouldn't spend the money, the millions of dollars that they do to produce them. But what we see is that they have turned dishonesty into an art form.
[2:54] And I think it's sad that we've come to this sort of point where this type of behavior is behavior that we've grown to accept from our politicians.
[3:07] We just kind of accept the fact that politicians lie, they exaggerate, they hide the truth, they distort the facts and promote a narrative that suits whatever their agenda is.
[3:25] And we also see in our world people who use lies to prey on those who are trusting, catching them in schemes that rob them of their money and of their identity.
[3:45] American consumers reported losing more than $5.8 billion with a B billion dollars to fraud last year in 2021.
[3:59] A lot of people make a large profit from telling lies. And it's strange how they were able to get away with it given how we live in this age when facts are so easy for people to come by.
[4:16] If you just did a little research, you could find out if those attack ads contain any truth. If that phone call, that number that called you is linked to some kind of a scam.
[4:27] If there really is a long lost relative that you have in some far away land that has left you this large inheritance if you'll just send them $10,000 in order to get it over here to you.
[4:41] People have become extraordinarily advanced in passing off lies as if they were truth. And the devil is loving every single minute of it.
[4:55] The Bible refers to Satan as the father of lies who has nothing to do with the truth, as John 8.44 says. It says that Satan blinds people to the truth, 2 Corinthians 4.4.
[5:10] That he leads people astray from the truth, 2 Corinthians 11.3. And even disguises himself as an angel, a messenger of God to deceive people, 2 Corinthians 11.14.
[5:22] The Bible counsels God's people in 1 Peter 5.8 to be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
[5:41] And so as I was putting together a list of topics to preach on this month as we take a brief break from preaching through books of the Bible, I noticed that a lot of those issues, in fact, all of those issues and all of those problems in our world today, in our churches today, they exist as a result of deception and people's exchanging the truth of God for a lie.
[6:06] All of our problems, all of our problems stem from rejecting God as the author and the source of truth.
[6:19] And so I felt it necessary to begin this series of sermons focusing first on the importance of knowing the truth and the importance of believing the truth.
[6:30] And so the main idea for this morning's sermon is that God's Word is true and you must internalize it to keep from being deceived. God's Word is true and you must internalize it to keep from being deceived.
[6:46] Again, in a culture that is great at crafting lies and passing them off as truth and with an enemy like Satan who is a master of deception and who is constantly plotting and devising schemes to ruin and destroy people's lives, it is critical that we know and that we internalize the truth.
[7:08] That truth which is contained in God's Word as we follow the truth incarnate who is Jesus Christ. And so in Psalm 119, what we see is three reasons why you must internalize God's Word.
[7:24] The first reason is this, that God's Word will guide you in the truth. God's Word will guide you in the truth. Psalm 119 is the longest psalm.
[7:36] It consists of 176 verses and a repeated theme in it is the importance of knowing and trusting God's Word.
[7:47] It begins here by establishing a foundation expressing the importance of internalizing God's Word. And to internalize God's Word, you must first understand how His Word keeps your ways pure by trusting in it as a guide.
[8:08] Now, I'll never forget many years ago, I took a teens to a retreat center and we discovered there that at the center they had a cave that you could take a guided tour of. And one night I kind of went in there on my own, I think Danny was with me, and we checked it out and it had this huge big opening.
[8:28] And you could walk about five or six people across and it was very well lit and the ground was smooth. And after walking in about 75 feet and seeing another corner up there, I was like, you know what?
[8:41] This seems pretty tame for our group. And so I went back to them and told them, yeah, one night after dinner we're going to go take a guided tour of this cave.
[8:53] And so we show up and many of us have shorts on and some of us have flip-flops on and a few of us thought to actually bring a flashlight. And our guide takes a look at us and I can instantly tell that he's pretty concerned.
[9:11] But again, I didn't see the big deal. I checked out the cave. It was well lit. The ground was smooth. And so he says, okay, I'll let you in, but you're going to have to distribute those flashlights throughout the group.
[9:25] And it's going to be very important that you pay very careful attention to my instruction. And so he leads us through the cave and before long we get past the point where I had turned around when I first came to check it out.
[9:40] And he leads us to this small hole and he climbs into it and he tells us to follow him. And then I started having second thoughts, right?
[9:51] You know, do I have all of those releases for liability? Did I make sure that I got all the parents and kids to sign those waivers? And from that point onward, this cave turned into a legit cave.
[10:06] I mean, we were on our hands and our knees crawling through this thing. It was wet. It was slippery. It was pitch black. But our guide had done this many times before.
[10:18] He knew the terrain very well and he'd tell us when to duck. He'd tell us areas that were slippery and places where if we weren't careful, we could slip and get hurt.
[10:30] And so we made it back to the back of the cave and nobody got hurt. Everybody survived. Everybody made it back fine. But then on the way back, one of our adult sponsors felt like he had got a pretty good idea of the outline of that cave, the terrain of that cave.
[10:49] And so on the way back, he kind of went off on his own a little bit thinking he was going to get out ahead of us. Well, guess what? He bumped his head pretty hard. And as he was complaining about bumping his head hard and all this stuff, our guide said, well, you should have followed me and I would have kept you safe from getting hurt.
[11:07] And so for God's word to guide you, it is important that you not just know what it says and remember what it says, but that you trust what it says, especially when you think you have your life under control, that you think that I know the terrain well enough and I can be my own guide.
[11:30] The Bible reminds us how we got into this mess as a result of our first parents, Adam and Eve, who knew God's word, who remembered God's word, but who failed to trust God's word when they needed to most, when Satan came and he planted seeds of doubt.
[11:51] Let's read that passage. It's in Genesis 3, 1 through 7. Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, did God actually say you shall not eat of the tree in the garden?
[12:07] And the woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it lest you die.
[12:18] But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you'll be like God, knowing good and evil.
[12:31] So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her absent-minded husband who was with her and he ate.
[12:48] Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and they made themselves loincloths and they hid from God when he came back into the garden.
[13:00] Notice how the devil begins with the nature of knowing and understanding God and what he's said as he begins to plant these seeds of doubt in Eve's mind.
[13:13] He begins by challenging Eve's knowledge of the facts. Eve responds with what she remembers God to have said or at least what she reckoned what God meant by what he said.
[13:28] But then Satan counters her recollection with an alternative truth. It's his truth, which he suggests that she make her own truth.
[13:38] And she begins trusting in herself, in her feelings. Well, that fruit does look good. I bet it tastes better than it looks.
[13:51] It doesn't appear to be harmful. And you know, if it can make me wise like this creature says that it can, how is that a bad thing? Notice too how Eve runs out of words from God to counter Satan's lies.
[14:06] Either she doesn't remember anything pertinent from her creator about experiencing fulfillment, beauty, and enlightenment in him, or she doesn't care at that point.
[14:18] Because the lie being presented to her as the truth just seems too good for her to pass up. And so she judges that this truth will guide her to better things, a better existence, and we know how that obviously wasn't the case.
[14:38] Thousands of years later, Jesus, the Son of God, the Word who became flesh, begins his public ministry. He came to be cursed on the cross to bear sin's curse for us.
[14:52] Satan comes to him like he did Eve, but he comes to Jesus after he had been fasting for 40 days and nights in the wilderness and Jesus, no doubt, and his humanity is physically drained.
[15:06] And like a lion on the prowl, Satan perceives that his prey is prime for an attack and he pounces for the kill. But notice how Jesus responds differently to Satan than how Eve responded in Matthew 4, 3 through 10.
[15:25] And the tempter came and said to him, if, again seeking to plant a seed of doubt, if you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. But Jesus answered, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
[15:42] Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, he will command his angels concerning you and on their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone.
[15:56] Jesus said to him, again it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. And the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
[16:08] And he said to him, all these I will give to you if you will fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said, be gone Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.
[16:26] The devil knows God's word. The devil can quote God's word, he's quoting it to Jesus, the Son of God, but he's twisting it and he's ripping it out of its context to try and trap him in one of his schemes.
[16:43] But Jesus doesn't fall for it. He knows what God actually said by what he meant and what he said and he understands the context in which it was said. And so in the face of these lies, in the face of these satanic appeals, which offer to exchange the truth of God for a lie and faithless versions of fulfillment and beauty and enlightenment, Jesus did not run out of Bible verses.
[17:10] For God's word to guide you from falling for lies and being tricked into deception, you must, like Jesus, know God's word well.
[17:25] Psalm 1, 1 through 3 instructs, 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, but his delight is the law of the Lord.
[17:37] And on his law, he meditates day and night, he is like a tree planted by a stream of water that yields its fruit in its season and his leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
[17:51] For God's word to guide you, you must not only know it, you must not only remember it, but you must trust that it is true.
[18:03] You must trust in God's wisdom, that God knows the terrain better than you. Bible study can be hard work, but it's well worth the effort because Satan never takes a day off and he has no mercy.
[18:20] If God's word isn't guiding you, then something or someone else is. The second reason why you must internalize God's word is that God's word will guard you from exchanging the truth for lies.
[18:34] Again, Psalm continues, 119 with verses 2 and 3, blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways.
[18:45] So again, another repeated theme in this Psalm is trusting in God with your whole heart. heart. In Hebrew, the heart refers to the intellect, the will, and the emotions.
[18:59] And so to seek him with your whole heart is to know God through his word, live your life according to his word, and love the truth that he's revealed to you in his word.
[19:12] Seeking God involves, excuse me, keeping his word, which guards your heart, your mind, your will. And it guards your heart, ultimately, from your heart.
[19:30] Now you might think, well, that doesn't make sense. How can, how can, or what do you mean by guarding my heart from my heart? Well, Jeremiah 17, 9 tells us, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick.
[19:49] Who can understand it? Desperately sick, in Hebrew, has the idea of a terminal, incurable illness. See, our minds, our wills, our emotions are all corrupted by sin.
[20:03] And as a result of that, Psalm 14, 1 says, the fool says in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They are abominable.
[20:14] They do abominable deeds. There is none who does good. You see, when we think of foolishness, we think of unintelligence. But I'm sure that you, like me, know a lot of atheists and agnostics who are pretty smart people.
[20:31] The Bible says that they aren't fools in their minds, but they're fools in their hearts. And it's not simply those who intellectually discredit the existence of God who are fools in their hearts.
[20:44] When you engage in this biblical kind of foolishness, trusting in your heart over the truth revealed by God's word, choosing sin over obedience, you engage in a practical kind of atheism.
[21:00] When you give your hearts over to the passions and to the desires of your flesh, when you give your heart over to someone or something other than God, what you are saying in your heart is that God is not truly worthy of your allegiance and your devotion.
[21:25] You are saying in your heart that God is not worthy of the glory that you are denying Him. You say in your heart that God is not going to hold you accountable for the sins that you have so easily excused and the lies that you've so easily exchanged for the truth.
[21:45] If you are not guided by God's word, you will not be on your guard against sin. Behavior problems are belief problems. And if we aren't on our guard, we become pretty good at finding ways to justify sin in our lives.
[22:03] For example, one of my favorite passages in Scripture is the Sermon on the Mount. But those chapters can also be very frightening for me to read because they reveal attitudes within me that I would rather not be confronted.
[22:29] Like Jesus' instruction to turn the other cheek. Or when He says to love your enemies. And He commands us to forgive others of their sins that they've committed against us.
[22:44] And what frightens me is sometimes I'll read those verses and I'll justify some cases where you know what? God, I don't think it's right for me to turn the other cheek in that situation.
[22:56] Lord, I know and I'm willing to forgive some people but that person? Come on. You know? If that person doesn't get a swift kick then how are they ever going to learn that I'm not somebody that they can mess with?
[23:11] Or they're just going to keep doing it and they're going to do it to somebody else? I can't forgive that person. If you don't get them back then you think well, I'll basically just become a doormat for other people or that person to do it again.
[23:28] Isn't that how Satan works? Especially when we're talking about forgiveness. Don't forgive that person. You crazy? Remember what they did to you and how that made you feel? They'll just do it to you again if you don't forgive them and they'll just walk all over you.
[23:44] Forgive them. Go ahead. See how far that gets you. Forgiving people can be very, very hard. And sometimes those whom you forgive do take advantage of you for forgiving them.
[23:58] But the Bible says that unforgiving people get taken advantage of by Satan. Look at 2 Corinthians 2, 10 through 11. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive.
[24:10] Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ so that we would not be outwitted by Satan for we are not ignorant of his designs.
[24:22] Do you see that? Either you're going to get taken advantage of by somebody else or you're going to get taken advantage of by Satan and being taken advantage of by Satan is far, far worse.
[24:35] God's word, his truth, guards our heart by unmasking Satan's schemes. You can't go to it with an agenda. You can't go to it seeking justification for your sin.
[24:47] But you know, that hasn't stopped people from trying. There has been some debate about the continuity or discontinuity between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Some argue that God had said some things in the Old Testament that he did not say in the New Testament.
[25:04] And so they ask, doesn't that mean that some of those Old Testament laws no longer apply or are binding or applicable today for those who live in the New Covenant or in New Testament times?
[25:16] The New Testament helps us understand and apply the Old Testament. And it's clear on which laws were intended for a particular people, for a particular time, for a particular reason, and it's clear on which laws still apply today.
[25:36] You see, the problem really isn't with what we don't understand about God's law. The problem is with what we do understand about them.
[25:48] Our problem is with what we do understand. And we know what he said. It's just that sometimes people wish he hadn't.
[26:00] it's not really an issue about hermeneutics but disobedience and being inconvenienced by the truth.
[26:12] And when that happens, you let your guard down and you question what is clear and you seek to redefine what is true, even questioning if truth can be known at all.
[26:27] In John 8 verses 37 through 38, Pilate meets with Jesus whom he knows is innocent. But if he lets Jesus go, Pilate knows that that will enrage the Jews and they will riot and he's already on thin ice with his superiors and he'll have to answer to them if that happens and that will be very inconvenient for him to have to deal with.
[26:50] Jesus is an inconvenience to Pilate. And so in verse 37 it says, Pilate said to him, so you are a king. Jesus answered, you say that I am a king for this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth.
[27:07] Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Pilate said to him, what is truth? Jesus says that people interested in the truth listen to him.
[27:22] But Pilate dodges Jesus' claims about the truth by questioning that there even is such a thing. If there really is such a thing how can we know what it is Pilate is saying.
[27:35] And you know Pilate would fit in well with our culture. Pilate would make a great politician. If you can redefine the terms then you can win the argument.
[27:52] Or better yet as we see today what are terms? What is the point of having terms? You know maybe term doesn't mean what we think it meant after all.
[28:05] And so he's redefining reality to suit his interests. And that's what people who reject God who reject truth who reject his guidance end up doing.
[28:17] It no longer guards them from a debased mind which seeks to redefine reality. That's why in the name of women's rights 350,000 little girls were aborted last year.
[28:34] But we're not biologists so we don't know at what point a little girl becomes a little girl unless they later decide to change their gender and in that case biology doesn't matter anymore.
[28:49] anyone can be a girl or a boy or a man or a woman so long as it makes them feel happy. Facts are true so long as they support our feelings but if they don't then they aren't.
[29:04] Trust the science until the science interferes with your opinions and your feelings and then the science no longer matters as long as you feel happy. And what's so wrong with that?
[29:15] Well if God's word is not accepted as true then there is nothing to guard us from Satan sin and self destructive decisions that we'll make.
[29:30] There's a book in the Bible basically all about this it's called Judges and it's filled with bloodshed and perversion and destruction and over and over again as you read that book it uses a phrase to describe why all of this is.
[29:47] Here's the phrase everyone did what was right in their own eyes. Everyone came up with and obeyed their own truth.
[30:00] But the truth is there is no your truth or my truth there is only the truth. People who live by their truth believe that everything will be better as a result of their finally deciding to follow their heart and trust their gut and make their own choices.
[30:25] But you know let's suppose that that does go well for that person. Suppose they do seem happier. Suppose they surround themselves with people who support their version of the truth.
[30:38] People who encourage them to reject God and his words that seem to stifle their freedom. But even if that was the case at the end of their life they will face the author of truth and he will want to know why they traded eternity with him in paradise for a little blip on its radar in pursuing their own truth.
[31:08] You know I understand the appeal for living your truth but ultimately the truth and the author and source of it cannot be avoided. If you reject God if you reject Jesus and his gospel you will continually be caught off guard being deceived into thinking that your ways are best until one day you realize that the end of that path is destruction and that will be intensely and eternally more inconvenient.
[31:42] The third reason why you must internalize God's word is that God's word must govern your life. Must govern your life. Verse four you have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently for God's word to guide you in truth and guard you from lies that you may be tempted to exchange for it it must govern your life.
[32:04] The religious world that Jesus stepped into was composed of many different people with their own versions of the truth. There were the Essenes who were Jews who retreated into the desert and dedicated themselves to mythical forms of Judaism.
[32:21] They thought that was the path. There were the Zealots who believed violence was the best course to purify the nation and that was the path. There were the Sadducees who were sellouts.
[32:32] They bent over backwards for the Romans to keep them happy in order to secure their positions and their places of power and comfort. And then there was the Pharisees. The Pharisees who seemed to be the lone holdouts, the ones who were the closest to the truth.
[32:49] At least of all these people they seemed to know God's word best. They seemed to be diligent in keeping God's word. But as Jesus constantly pointed out and exposed it, they did not love God nor did they truly love his word.
[33:06] There was no admission on their part of their sinfulness and their need to be saved and to have a savior. And then when God's savior came and stood before them and they heard him say in John 8 31-32 if you abide in my word you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.
[33:30] But the Pharisees did not believe. And they heard that and they interjected with a statement. They were arguing with Jesus and they said we're already free. And what ensues is a struggle over two versions of the truth.
[33:46] For every word that Jesus speaks they present alternative facts. However the ultimate fact was standing before them. Jesus Christ the living embodiment of truth the fulfillment of God's word which they knew but they did not truly believe.
[34:04] He is the fulfillment of longing that nothing else can satisfy. He is the apex of enlightenment that they think that they already have. And instead of seeing Jesus as the truth incarnate they debated with him.
[34:19] They argued with him. They called him names and they picked up rocks to kill him with. That's the lengths that people will go to to preserve their own version of the truth.
[34:33] But ultimately and according to God's will they did get their hands on him and Jesus goes to the cross willingly because he knows the truth of what it will accomplish the salvation of his people.
[34:48] He took their sins so that by faith in him they will receive his righteousness that they will know the truth and that they will be set free from sin's eternal consequences.
[35:01] If you haven't believed the gospel you haven't received the truth. Life has consequences for being wrong and nowhere are the consequences more important than in the area of knowing Jesus as the way the truth and the life.
[35:21] Eternity is an awfully long time to be wrong. a lie believed no matter how sincerely it is believed is still a lie. The most miserable that I've ever been was when I was in college.
[35:39] I was called to the ministry when I was 16 and I pursued that until I got to college and I thought you know what God who are you to tell me how to spend the rest of my life.
[35:52] These other things, these other careers I think I would have more enjoyment in. These other things that my friends are doing I think I can find more satisfaction in doing. And so when the time comes Lord I'll eventually find myself back in church and maybe I'll pursue that ministry thing but right now I want to be the captain of my own ship.
[36:12] I want to govern my own life. I remember many times after doing that after a party or during a party I would look into a mirror and hate the person looking back at me.
[36:30] On the outside things seemed good seemed fun but on the inside I was crushed and miserable and unhappy. Now I remember many times when I thought I've made such a mess of my life and so many people know about the mess that I've made in my life.
[36:54] Would God ever forgive me? Would God ever give me the chance to pursue the calling that he originally called me to? Thankfully I was wrong about doubting God's forgiveness and his mercy and his goodness and thankfully he showed me that one of the best decisions that I could ever make was to trust in his word over my opinions over my emotions to guide me and to guard me and to govern my life.
[37:34] You know I'll tell you and I'm sure you have too one of the things I've found out in that is often the hardest thing to do is the right thing to do. And I'll tell you in those hard moments where I've had to confront sin in my own life or the sin in somebody else's life or just stand up for the truth as God's word has declared it in a world that has rejected it I've never regretted what has happened afterwards.
[38:01] That is what true progress is. True progress is allowing God's word to guide you and to guard you and to govern your life.
[38:14] One thing that blessed me during that time in college was a book called Mere Christianity written by C.S. Lewis and as I was dealing with these internal things, doubting God's willingness to forgive me, wondering if it was too late to turn back, I read this quote that stuck with me and still sticks with me today.
[38:37] Lewis wrote, we all want progress but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about turn and walking back to the right road. In that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.
[38:52] So maybe you're here today and you realize that I have trusted in my own version of the truth and maybe the Lord in His grace has revealed to you the error of that and you're already feeling the pains of that.
[39:08] That Satan wants to come to you and tell you that it's too late, you've gone that course, you know what, following Christ is no fun, just keep going your own way, keep trusting in yourself.
[39:19] But I want you to hear from God saying today, turn back to me. I am gracious, I am kind, I am loving, I am merciful, I am full of forgiveness for you.
[39:36] You turn back, you acknowledge your sin, you repent of it, and you pledge that from this on out, God, I want to follow your ways, I want your word to guide me and guard me.
[39:47] You have your own work to do, you need to read his word and internalize it, but he will. Maybe that's you today, and maybe that's the truth that you need to hear. It's not too late.
[40:01] Turn to the Lord, he is good. So the main point of application for this sermon is this, trust God's word, speak God's word, and stand firm in the truth.
[40:17] Trust his word, speak his word, and always stand firm in the truth, and you will not regret it. Three questions of application for you to look at later today or sometime this week.
[40:30] Question number one, has there ever been a time when you trusted in your feelings more than God's word? What motivated you to do that? How did it turn out?
[40:45] Question number two, read Colossians 3.16, Philippians 2.16, 2 Timothy 2.15, Deuteronomy 6.6, Psalm 37.31, and Psalm 1.19.11.
[40:58] What do these verses teach about the importance of internalizing God's word? And then finally, read Romans 1.18 through 32.
[41:12] What does this passage teach about the danger of rejecting God and his word? In a world that thinks progress is exchanging the truth of God for a life.
[41:26] Let us as God's people be the most progressive ones who are continually walking in his ways, speaking about his truth, and standing firm in it, no matter what the case might be, that others would come to know Christ, the word of God incarnate, who came and died for us, and who rose again, that by faith in him, we know the truth, and we've been eternally set free.
[41:56] Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for your word and for its instruction. God, I confess, and I know many of us can confess to you as well that our Bibles often go untouched and unread during the week, that we don't internalize your word like we ought to.
[42:20] Lord, and we're so easily caught off guard by Satan and his deceptions and his lies and his schemes. So, Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit would use this message to convict us and to apply this instruction to our lives, that we would be people who know the truth and speak the truth and love the truth and not just remember the truth but trust in it, no matter what our opinions or our emotions or this world might be telling us to do otherwise.
[42:48] God, we need you. We need you to encourage us, Lord, to be the kinds of people that you've called us to be and we thank you, God, that even when we mess up, you forgive us, you pick us up, and you set us back on our way.
[43:04] We ask that you be glorified in our lives, Lord, and we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[43:15] Amen.