We are taking a slight break because it is the end of October. My watch told me so. It's the 29th. The 31st is on Tuesday, which means this is as close to seeing most of you on the 31st as I can get, so I then get to say, happy Reformation Day, happy Reformation Day, happy Reformation Day, happy Reformation Day! You're welcome. That's as close to singing as I get most of the time. So why Reformation Day? I mean, come on. There are so few actually good holidays that don't require you to get a sappy card from Hallmark that when you actually get one, you should celebrate and pay attention. And by the way, if you love sappy cards from Hallmark, take that up with your spouse, not with me, okay? Just so you know, I'm not responsible to give you sappy cards from Hallmark on holidays. The look I just got from my wife. Anyway, so why the Reformation Day? Well, because the Reformation is a thing and the Reformation is still a thing. You do need to realize that there is an actual history of what's going on in the church, what's going on with Christianity. the Reformation was not just about, we don't like the Catholics and we're tired of them being in charge. This was a call to get back to Scripture, to actually build the Church, to build theology, and to build all of Christian life on Biblical principles as opposed to historical or authoritarian principles. Now look, I like history as much as the next person, but the minute you start elevating history to the level of what scripture should accomplish, guess what you've done? You have done the wrong thing, you have put too much emphasis on the wrong syllable, and your history needs to take a backseat to the scripture. A couple of you are still awake, I haven't lost all of you yet. So, because it's nice to do something fun, to take a break out and actually mark out the Reformation as something special. And by the way, why this time of year? Because it was on October 31st of 1517 that Martin Luther put up his offer to debate. And the great mythology is that opening picture. Can you go back to that real quick Sally? Just click on that little welcome screen. Will that work? I asked the computer to do so much. There it is. It didn't look like that. I wish it did. Odds are Martin Luther probably stuck it on the 16th century equivalent of a bulletin board. So for those of you that went to college, you know how every building and room has that one little bulletin board where people are selling their sofas and used cars that no one will buy, and you have to pull off a tab for a phone number? Basically, he did that, and it was an offer to debate. and he put up 95 theses. Why? Because he was giving you 95 options on what to debate. He wanted a public disputation. You can go back to the title screen for Psalm 119. Thank you. There was no cable, there was no ball game on that week, so an actual public disputation was kind of a big deal. So to stick 95 options up there was basically a way of saying, pick one. There's got to be something up here that you are passionate about that we can argue over. And people would attend, eat their popcorn, listen to the debate, and say things like, good show, and things like that. Or whatever the German equivalent of good show is. So I'll trust you German people to figure that out. And always remember the rules of theology. Ever since the Reformation going into about the 19th century, it is the Germans' fault. Just about every bad theological idea has come out of Germany. I don't know why, I don't make the rules, I just live here, I keep telling you that. So anyway, now. Why Psalm 119 then? Because it is a celebration of God's Word. Well, that's the reason I tell you. The real secret reason is because there are 22 sections of Psalm 119, and we're on section 3, and since I'm not clever in coming up with new ideas every year, that means I have Reformation Sunday planned out until 2042. Yes! Win! I don't have to think, I just go to the next little section in Psalm 119 for Reformation Day, and then when 2043 gets here, I won't have any brain cells left to remember what I did before, so we can just start over. Sound good? It'll only be 19 years from now, so yeah, I won't have any brain cells left. I will be 61, so yeah, I'll be done for. Remember, I've told you before, I torture my wife with this. There are two streams in my family history. In my family, you are either taking after my grandmother's side, in which case everyone drops dead between 62 and 64, or there's the rest of the family where they're all 95 and angry at each other. So those, because they're demented and don't remember anything. So those are her options that she gets to look forward to. Pray for my wife, she's got a rough go of it. Now, we are on section three. It is laid out according to the Hebrew alphabet. It is an acrostic poem. You can look that up and have fun with it if you'd like. The first section is Aleph, we covered that two years ago. Blessings on those who follow the word of God. The second section, you say that three times fast, say it once even, is Beth. It is the righteousness in following the word of God. And this section is started out with Gimel. which is, again, an actual letter in Hebrew. So Hebrew alphabet is so much fun. If you don't have a study Bible, you wanna look at mine, they actually put the little letters there with the titles, and it's kind of fun to look at that and realize that that's what a G is supposed to look like in Hebrew, and that's such fun, unless they put a dot next to it, and then it goes from a guh to a gh, because you gotta swallow and require a spittoon when you're done, so. We will dive in and have fun. Let's start with verse 17, which, oh, by the way, someone has already pointed out my lovely typo in your bulletin. It is supposed to be 17 through 24, not 71. My bad. I got typing in a hurry and the fingers went faster than the brain. You couldn't imagine me having a hard time getting my fingers to do what my brain would like, could you? I have a hard enough time getting the words to come out properly. You can't imagine trying to get the brain to the hand to the computer properly. Or the argument that I had. I will spare you this one. This is fun. I had this argument with a math teacher in high school. I think I was a sophomore or junior taking a pre-calculus class. And my problem is once I get something in my brain, my brain just sees it that way until the end of time. So she was doing that fun thing to try to pick on us where they make you come do the problem on the board. So I did the problem on the board. I don't remember what it was, but it took up like, you know, you remember chalkboard in high school, it took up like half of it. And I got to the answer and she goes, that's wrong. You need to go back and retrace your steps. I'm like, how is it wrong? Okay, I did everything right. So I went back through and looking at the board and retrace my steps. Nope, that's the answer. I said, no, that's wrong. Go through it a second, go through it again. So I'm going through the problem for a third time going, I'm retracing all of my math and doing my long division and making sure I, you know, multiplied by whatever. No, that's the answer I got. At some point, I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was something like I was dividing 18 by 6 and getting 4 instead of 3. And so every time I did the problem in my head, I was going, 18 divided by 6, yep, that's 4. And I just did that over and over, because once it was into my head that that was the answer, I couldn't see it another way. So yeah, once I'm typing, I looked at it, went, that said 17, and I never looked at it again. And every time I read the bulletin after that, my brain saw 17. So when you catch fun typos, that's what happened. Because I do actually look at it a second time, and I look at it and go, yep, yep, that's all right. And it's never all right. It's never all right. It's never all right. It's never ever all right. So anyway. So let's dive in celebrating the word that God has given to us. Verse 17, deal bountifully with your servant. We're going to pause right there because we always get so far. This is already hitting the ground running, running headlong against the world. So buffer this with things like Psalm 37. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Where does the world and her philosophy hope to find bounty? Here. in your stuff. This is why Jesus warns you about where your treasure is and where it should be. See, where does the Christian supposed to be finding their treasure and their hope and in their bounty? That's why you have to remember, that's why we don't air drop in and I remind you of what the sections that have come before. This is a celebration of God's word for God's people celebrating the work that God has done. So you can rewind all the way back to the beginning of the Psalm, Psalm 1. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yield its fruit in its seasons, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers." Psalm 13 gives you a similar understanding. I have trusted in your lovingkindness. My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me." This is one of those things that... should influence how you see the world and how you think about the world, but not only that, it should influence how you understand how they see the world. And there's going to be a little bit of us in them today, and it's going to be necessary. Just remember, they are not the enemy, okay? The philosophies, the worldview, the sin behind them are the enemy. But... Sorry, swallowed wrong, and next thing you know, I'm choking myself. Your hope is in the salvation that God has granted. Your provision is what has been granted by God. Your sufficient provision has been granted by God. And this is something we've talked about before, but I'm going to remind you of it a second time. What changes whether or not you see the provision that you have as good or bad has nothing to do with the provision. It has everything to do with the contentment of your heart. If you are discontented in this world, you can be given everything, and you know what you'll think of it? Eh. It's trash. It's useless. It's nothing. You can be content in God and have very, very little, and you know what you'll think of it? as though you are blessed beyond measure. If your hope is placed in anything that is here, in anything that is part of the here and now, you will be in trouble because you will breed discontent. This is one of those lessons that is almost impossible to get across to children. Trust me, I'm trying. I mean, you ever given a kid a big piece of cake? What do they want? They want a bigger piece! You give them half the cookies, what do they want? All the cookies! Oh, I made that mistake years ago. I have a little cookie junkie in Connor in our house, and he was like, what, two? Yeah, and Cameron had made chocolate chip cookies, and we were, I forget what we were setting up for, it doesn't matter. But we were running around doing stuff and Conor had Cameron had put they made the cookies like made dozens of cookies and then put them in this green container. She got those things you remember those green thing the green containers that QVC used to sell because they would keep your bread from going bad or something longer. We had gotten some of those from my mother-in-law for Christmas and so that's what Cameron's putting the cookies in. And Conor kept wanting a cookie so we're in the middle of something we go and pull the container out open it up and give Conor a cookie and he'd take his cookie and go walk off and Because Connor was notorious at that age, he would eat until his fingers and then he just put the cookie down when he was done to go get another one because he couldn't figure out how to move it and he didn't want to bite his own fingers. So there was like pieces of cookie all over the house because he got to his fingers and just put it down. So I'm in the middle of this project and I can't keep stopping to get Connor a cookie so I just took the bin down and handed it to him. I know, I'm sorry. In the past, what Connor has done is eaten until he was tired of his cookies and then just been done. All of a sudden, Cameron looks at me and goes, where's Connor? I don't know, he's in here somewhere. It's not like he left. Where are the cookies? I gave him the cookies earlier. And then I got the look. You did what? Sitting on the couch. Feet out, cookie bin in his lap, with most of the cookies gone, with this glazed look in his face, like... With hands just sitting in the bin. Took the bin away, the hands just dropped, put the pillow on the side of the couch, laid him down. It was like three hours before he woke up. I OD'd the toddler on the cookies. Yeah. Because when you're discontented with what you have, what do you want more? You know, more and more and more and more and more. And at no point did the little button kick in in the back of the brain and go, I think that might, you know, you're starting to be sick and the room is spinning. You know what you should probably do? Put the cookie down. No, no, no. It doesn't work like that when you're a toddler. It doesn't really work like that when you're an adult, but at least we usually have enough self-control to realize I better stop before I sicken myself. Welcome to the world that is discontented because what do they want more of? Everything. How many times have you heard this argument? When is enough? It isn't, because their hopes are here, their gifts are here, their provision is here. As Isaiah puts it, there is no fear of God before their eyes. As Romans 1 puts it, they have rejected him. They have sought after not the things that are honoring and pleasing, but the things that are base. That's a really good paraphrase at the end of Romans 1. So this is already running headlong into your worldview to center you back in the right place. Now you can continue. Deal bountifully with your servant that I may live and keep your word. Always remember, Christian, that right there is the hope. That is the ultimate hope of sanctification. This is what you want day by day. I want to grow in holiness, to grow in Christ-likeness, to be less like the world and more like the Savior who has died for me. Well, that means I should actually be holding to something. What pray tale should I be holding to? Oh, I don't know. How about things like Luke 6? Why do you call me Lord and do not do what I say? You've never thought that with the kids, right? You've never once looked at the world and been like, you keep telling me you love me, but... You keep doing everything but what I see. I love that part because I get some of the parents are like, yes, get out of my house. Just so you remember, I had this conversation with somebody the other day. I am from New England. I have lived in the South and I am now in the Midwest. People are people. Did it again. I'm determined to choke myself today. Apparently today is the day I drown mid-sermon. So you have something to look forward to. People are people everywhere you go. They think the same way. They may just have a different accent slightly. They may have a faster or slower way of talking, but people are people. The reason why I like picking on children is because kids are kids. And whether you had kids now or kids 500 years ago, they do stuff that kids do and they think the way kids think. It's one of the reasons why it's an enduring example. but this is the argument that you have, this is the argument that Jesus is having. You're telling me that I'm Lord, that I'm in charge, and yet you're not actually doing the stuff that I tell you to do. Now, rejoice, Christian, because you've read Romans 7, we've covered that. This is the work that Jesus is accomplishing. But, on this side of salvation, this is still the cry, this is still the hope, is as we recognize that I am not living and keeping the word that Jesus has given to me, that I cry out to who? to Jesus. Just forever keeping the eyes on a forward progress. This is what Paul talks about. What is he searching after? That upward call in Christ Jesus. Forsaking what is behind, striving for what is before. Yes, that's Philippians and Hebrews smushed together, but it'll be good for you. Now. These descriptions are real, they are in your Bible, and we cannot ignore them. However, as I am attempting to do, you have to see your Bible in context. So this is the danger of what happens. This is what we do, this is what legalism does, and this is what the world tries to do, is the world looks at you and goes, oh, see, see, see, you need to live and keep the word, so have you killed your Philistines today, hmm? Because God commanded you people to kill the Philistines. And be like, well, look, find me some Philistines. And you know what? We'll get right on that. Just as soon as we also do what? You know, like become Joshua and David and Israel and mount an army and take over a nation. Once we've done all that, then we can kill some Philistines. Sound good? See, the reason why I'm making this joke is because, yes, you have your commands, but you have to remember them in context of the entirety of scripture. So, go back to the simple answer of the day. When you get to the end of your Bible, when you get to the end of any section, what's the answer? Jesus. Which means if you got to the end section and it says, and that's why we can kill the Canaanites, pause, we need to rewind, and start again. Because when you got to the end and said, and that's why we get to kill the Canaanites, you got the wrong answer. You should have gotten to Jesus. And if you didn't get to Jesus, then you got to the wrong place. So when they look at you and go, see, that's what your commands are. That's what your Bible commands. No, it isn't. My Bible is trying to command me to follow after God, to point me to who He is, who I am, and what He's doing about the intersection of those two things. That's the command that goes all the way back to the garden. That's the work that is being worked out in the story of Cain and Abel. That's the work that is being worked out in Noah. That's what's being worked out with Abraham. That's what's being worked out in all of Scripture, is to explain your problem in light of God's holiness and what God is doing about it. Your growing in God is not growing in anger towards building a nation, it is growing in grace and mercy. This is why, the reminder of the prophets. So, I've told you this before, you wanna understand your prophets, you have to, this is your chance, you ready? This is your chance to shine. If you want to understand your prophets, you have to understand what historical event? Ah, I was hoping. Exodus, you have to understand the Exodus. Unless you're from the Southeastern United States, then you have to understand the Exodus. They're over easy. Sorry. Those were two that used to drive me insane was the Exodus and then first Chronicles. Every time they would say that, I'm like, you meant, no, no, you didn't mean Corinthians, you meant Chronicles, but it would always come out Chronicles. And it was just like, my brain would do this every time I heard it, but it was just, I imagine being me for 25 years and just going, every time somebody would say something like that. Now, This context matters because this means your life is lived how? The recognition that you exist by grace through faith and that everything that you do has to be viewed through that lens and everything that you follow has to be viewed through that lens. So I've read this last week, I'm gonna read it here in this context, Hebrews 11. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen, for by it, talking about faith, the men of old gained approval. This is the work that Scripture is pointing you to, the change of heart and mind. So things like Micah, when I mentioned the prophets, what does he require of you, man, and what has God told you what is good? That you love, do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. This is built upon what Jeremiah is promising you, a removal of the heart of stone, a heart of flesh, a new covenant. I might have just confused Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Read them both, it will do you very good. It's the thing like we read in Isaiah this morning, talking about the accomplishment of the word and the calling after God while he may be found. This is the hope of scripture. This is why, so to bring you back into our church history, this is why the call of the Reformation is what it is and was what it was. It was ad fontes, which meant to the sources, to the font of wisdom, so that you go back to scripture. The argument that continually was had in the Reformation is an argument that we are still having, it's an argument you're having with the world, was that the magisterium that had become the Roman Catholic Church was building its authority on how many legs. I know Lou knows this, so he's not allowed to answer yet. Anybody else know this? How many legs were in the stool? Three. You had scripture, you had scripture, you had history or tradition, and then you had what they called the magisterium, or the declarations of the church. Now, let's be honest, which one holds sway most of the time? You would think it would be scripture, but for the church structure, you know who's in charge, really. We are, our tradition, our history, our declarations, because our declarations are built on the history of the church, and it's the history of the church that defines what scripture actually means. Aren't we spanky? The reformers come along and say, no, your history is secondary. Your declarations are secondary. You have to go back to scripture. This was Martin Luther's great speech at the Diet of Worms, which in English is spelled Diet of Worms, but it's German. Again, it doesn't make any sense, it's German. I always have to pick on the Germans just a little bit. I'm English, Irish, and Italian. I mean, I have no German in me whatsoever. I'm English and Italian. We've been on both sides of this. So I get to pick on the Germans. We've been against them and we've been for them in my family. You know, it depends on what side you're on. So when they want him to recant, he says what? I can't unless I am convinced by scripture. Unless you can show me where I have erred by scripture. Why? Because popes contradict themselves and councils contradict themselves. So in other words, the authority of the church argues with itself. The authority of history argues with itself. So what's the objective standard? To come back to the word, to come back to what God has said and then build your life moving out. That's what this section is trying to deal with. And that's where you now move forward to things like verse 18. Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things in your law. See, this is proof of concept. Be honest. No human being has ever looked at a law and said, yes, this is awesome. This is exactly what we needed. I needed someone to tell me what I'm not allowed to do. Thank you. Has that ever happened once? Be honest. No. Somebody makes a law and you say what? You turn into Yosemite Sam. Why? Big fancy theological concept. It's one of my favorites. We've done this a thousand times. The noetic effect of the fall. N-O-E-T-I-C. Noetic effect of the fall. It is the corruption of your mind and reasoning. It's one of the reasons why the reformers rejected history and the authority of the church. Because they are both run by who? People. And people have sinful hearts and sinful minds and sinful ideas, and if you leave them alone long enough, what will they do to their history and their authority? I mean, let's be honest, create an institution, just leave it alone for a little while. How long before it goes crazy? I mean, we did this with our church history stuff. Some of my favorite lessons from history are things like the Ivy League schools, because like Harvard was founded to train pastors to go evangelize the Native Americans of the continent. My favorite alliteration in all of church history, the first seven presidents of Princeton University were Presbyterian pastors. Princeton was a Presbyterian school founded for the propagation of the gospel. It's Dartmouth, I think, which is my favorite. I never remember which one it is, but I'm just gonna go with Dartmouth. If it's not Dartmouth, I will be wrong and I'm okay with it. But the church elders got together and went, all of our church elders and pastors are old and we need, this is in their official documents, and we need to train up new people so that when they die, there will be people to teach and preach. I'm like, here's frying pan, meat face. You know, Dave, we really love you and you've done a great job shepherding the flock, but you're gonna die soon. Have you thought about a replacement? I haven't. Well, we're gonna think about it for you and found a school so we can train someone. If we train enough people, someone good will come out of it. I mean, this was the Ivy League. What are they today? Because they're not that. Like anytime you see those weird History Channel specials that I get Christmas and Easter, what do they always have? The professor that they always have is from Harvard, Princeton, or Yale, right? Well, someone has 12 PhDs from Yale Divinity. They must be smart. Yeah, they might be smart, but they also hate the Bible and disregard God at every turn. Other than that, they know what they're talking about. What could possibly go wrong? This is the corruption of the heart and the mind. This is what we do. This is the warning that God lays down, Isaiah 29. This people draws near with their words, honors me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from me. Their reverence for me consists of traditions learned by a rote. Corrupted mind will make us in charge. Therefore, behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelously. and the wisdom of their wise men will perish. The discernment of their discerning men will be concealed." And then my favorite reference to remind you of this are things like John 5. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. Jesus reminding them what? It is these that testify about me and you are unwilling to come to me so that you may have life. Don't be upset, we didn't offend Jimmy and Renee. They have a family reunion thing going on for folks that are 91 and 97, so they had to, they warned me they had to duck out early. That's why they're trying to sit by the door. I didn't upset them, I don't think. If I did, we'll find out later. But they planned, if I did, they planned it ahead of time. So, now this ends up becoming an interesting thing because we break this in two different directions. So, like if you take the Western mindset, you look at laws and say what? Now tell me, Hadaleth, do you think you are giving me commands and rules? Don't you know who we are, that we are free, and the only laws should come from God, you evil pagan lawmakers? Go away! See, you get the Western corruption, but you do also get an Eastern corruption, which is, ooh, laws. Rules. How can I use that? How can I give myself power and authority? How can I make people do what I tell them to do and bind their conscience so they will follow me? You see this in Eastern philosophy, you see this in Middle Eastern philosophy, even to this day. And by the way, I would count things like Islam as a Middle Eastern philosophy. What do they do? Well, create laws, create structures, and now you're stuck. Because if you violate that, you know you're just gonna have to go to hell. Nobody wants that, right? So get in line and do what we tell you. So if you ever wonder why they willingly blow themselves up, you just figured it out. Now, why do we do these things? Corruption of mind. We are broken at our very cores. What does the work of Christ accomplish? By changing the heart, changing the spirit, renewing the mind, which leads to a change of how you see the world, how you live in the world, and what you do in the world. So hallmark for that are things like Romans 12. I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Verse 19. I am a stranger in the earth. Do not hide your commandments from me. If verse 18 is the proof of concept that you need sanctification, verse 19 is your proof of transformation and restoration. You can't do this unless you are actually part of a different community. You can't do this unless you are no longer a citizen of this world, but are now a citizen of the world that is to come. So things like 1 Peter 2. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Now pause for a second. If you have not had a change of life because you have not had a renewal of mind because you have not had a change of heart, you look at the things that you want and you go, oh those things are just evil and wicked that I would want anything in this world. Is that how that works? No, with your heart of stone and your unrenewed nature, you say what about the things that you want? They're good, how do I know they're good? Because I want them! And anything that I want is good, and anything you want that would cost me anything by definition is... bad, see? Because it's all about who. Now, this is why I tell you to rejoice when you see that you hate your sin, and you see the desires of your flesh that you're trying to crucify, and you go, I don't like this, I don't want to live like this. Rejoice! Because the Holy Spirit is going, hey, that's the thing you're killing, that's the thing you're getting rid of, that's the thing you're warring against. This is the work of God in your action. This is a reminder that you are no longer a citizen here. Now, why are you no longer a citizen here? That you need to build on. So I read 1 Peter 2.11. Let's go back and read 2 and 10, or 9 and 10, sorry. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God. You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. And keep in mind, 1 Peter 2 comes after 1 Peter 1. I am not an excellent math student, but I at least know that much. Now, 1 Peter 1 tells you what? That you are grounded in Christ and you are rejoicing in the salvation regardless of what the world may do to you. That you have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and you are being strengthened to live in this world. And then you get to 1 Peter 2 and you're being told to cling to the word and long for it like babies long for milk. that you are being built up by the foundation stone that is Christ, and that you have been made into a people by the accomplishment of God. Therefore, because you are the people of God, grounded in the work of God, you are no longer a people of the world, grounded in the work of the world. In order to follow this, in order to live this out, that I am a stranger in the earth, you have to be changed. This is, again, part of why I tell you when you read through your Bible, Do not allow the world to interpret it for you. Do not allow them to look at you and say, see, see, see, you just hate us, it's us and them, you don't even live here, you're a stranger. You're right, because this world and the things of this world are passing away, as John warns us, and there is an eternal kingdom that is coming, and the only reason I'm a citizen of it is because of who Christ is and what He has done. This is why I've said, even though there's going to be a lot of us versus them, recognize that they aren't the enemy. The enemy is the sin, the corruption of the mind, the work of Satan, everything that is pulling them astray, the way they see the world, that is the enemy. And when you look at, when I talk about things like patience, I always like to point out like Israel, God dealing with Israel, and dealing with them over centuries. Give yourself another one. Look at the earthly ministry of Christ. I mean, how many times do you say the same thing to your kids before it's like, look. I have now said this blank times and you know, the volume is going up and that blood pressure is going up and you can feel that vein right here just going. I used to have a pastor that had it, but he didn't have it in his neck. He had it in his forehead. And it was great in meetings. Cause all of a sudden you'd just be looking at him and you'd be like, he's not, he's going to explode. Cause right here, it would just be like, his face would turn red. Like we'd be in the middle of a building and grounds committee meeting. And I'm just watching that thing go. I'm like, I got my cell phone out, you got nine, one, just in case. And sure enough, I ended up having to fill in for him for a couple of weeks because he borderline had a heart attack and had to have some stints put in, but he's okay now. He's actually director of missions for an association. He's not dealing with all the meetings and he's so much happier for it. It's kind of funny. But for all the grief I'll give him, he was in one church for 30 years, so there's something to be said for dealing with the same people for that long and them dealing with you for that long. If you can manage to live and work amongst the same people for 30 years and not get annoyed with them, there's something wrong with you. And I'm serious about that, because you're not human. You're like a robot who's never bothered by anything, and that's just not life. That's just not how it works. You repeat yourself to your kids like twice and you're ready to like strangle half the household. Now remind yourself of the earthly ministry of Christ, all the parables. all the sermons, all the miracles, all the healings, all the miraculous accomplishments, all of the things that he has done, and they're like, you know, we're not real sure about who you are. Oh, the disciples, you get to the end of three years of ministry, and you're standing there for the ascension, and the disciples look at you and go, are you now going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Like, I would have slapped somebody. I would have absolutely slapped somebody. Like, we have done all of this, calmed the storm, walked on water, raised the dead. You watched me die. Come out of the tomb. And this still didn't make sense. I've explained this, I walked through walls, I've done... Okay, Jesus is like, no, you'll get it. It'll take some time. When we talk about the patience of God, we can't quantify it because we're not wired for it. We're not capable of it. But yet Christian, we're called to it. We're called to see the world through this lens. We're called to walk in the proclamation of his gospel. And this is the danger because be honest, what do we do? We go, look, look, look, we've tried the gospel. And we preached it at him and they just ignored us and kept on living their life. So maybe if we do this, what did we just do? We just said scripture's not good enough. That there's got to be some history, some thing that we can build upon, some authority that we can take for ourselves that will possibly change their hearts and minds. What have we forgotten? Other than everything that scripture has taught us and everything that God has pointed us to, we've left all of our good weaponry at home and we are no better than the world at that point. You come back to the standard, come back to the foundation that God has given you. This is the heritage that the Reformation was building, and this is the heritage that good churches are supposed to still be building. Now here's the thing, in order to have good churches, you know what we have to put in them? We have to have good Christians. Now stop right there, because I just upset so many of you, because I can see the look of disappointment on your face. Be like, wait, wait, if you need good Christians for good churches, there's no hope here because I'm not good. I know, and that's what makes you a good Christian. Because you recognize your faults, and you recognize your inabilities, and you recognize that you can't, but by God's grace and mercy that you can. And as you cry out to Him, and as you lean into Him day by day, and you return to the Word, and you return in prayer, you are the good Christian! You are those who are hungering and thirsting for righteousness, those who will be satisfied. You are those who are poor in spirit, and you will inherit the kingdom. You are those who are walking meekly in this world. And I know I'm mixing up all the beatitudes. Go read Matthew 5, it'll do you good. But you are those people as you recognize that I. Can. Not. But in Christ we can, because He does. And this is the joy, and this is what the Reformation was calling to. This is what Luther's argument was. This isn't about selling indulgences, because that was the big complaint. Johann Tetzel, like the greatest villain in all of church history, because that was his selling indulgences, going through and saying, singing the song, like could you imagine setting this to music and making it a song that you sing? That every time a coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs. And realize that the teaching of the day was that if you died unbaptized, you could not enter into heaven. You could only go to purgatory. And then realize that the infant mortality rate was above 50%. that these villagers and these peasants were having families and that their children would die in childbirth. Their children would die hours after childbirth or even two or three days after childbirth. And most families in most rural villages throughout Europe would have had multiple children that they had buried in the ground that they had not baptized. So when Tetzel is promising you that if you stick a coin in his little cup or whatever his box was that he's coming around, you will get a soul from purgatory. They're not trying to get grandma out. They're trying to get these poor children that they loved and cared for that never lived. Now, how wrong is that? How evil a system is that? When you recognize that that's the burden that was being put on to people because they had abandoned the standard of scripture and they had built up some other ecumenical system. They had built up some power and authority. Now you're looking at people going, no, no, no, no, no, no. There is grace, and there is mercy, and it is in Christ, and this is not about indulgences. This is about the repentant heart and the work that God has done. You are not going out there with some intellectual argument, with some academic, you know, exercise, where we're gonna sit there and swirl our brandy and smoke our cigars and talk about how many angels can dance in the head of the pins. We're talking about hope for souls and redeeming a people who are being burdened by the brokenness of their culture. Now, Christian, you wouldn't know anything about that. You wouldn't know anything about a world like that, where you look out in the world and go, these people are lost, and they have been steered in the wrong direction, and they have hoped in a lie, and there is nothing for them to look forward to. Luther, and William Farrell, and guys like Booser, and Melanchthon, and you get to the second generations, and you get guys like John Calvin, and John Knox, and Tyndale, who are even pre-reformers, and going all the way back to Wycliffe, And you start seeing these guys and you realize that, no, no, no, no, no. This was not about seizing power or just having some snooty dispute in their ivory tower libraries. This was about proclaiming the hope of God from eternity past to a people that needed to hear it. And their answer was, you stand on scripture. Because there's nothing else worth standing on. There's nothing else that will hold your weight. Everything else will fall apart. I read you Luke 6 where Jesus says, why do you call me Lord and do not do what I say? Do you know what parable that's the lead into? The foolish and the wise builder. The one who built his house upon the rock versus the one who builds his house upon the sand. The reformers looked at that and went, yes, yes. And they lived and they suffered and many of them died for it because it was the only hope that this world would have to understand who Christ was, to understand who they were in light of Christ, and what He has accomplished on their behalf. That's a good lead into verse 20 because this is what should happen next. My soul is crushed with longing after your ordinances at all times. Excellent, excellent Smithers. That's what's supposed to happen. If you've read and not been completely asleep when we've gone through Romans and we keep highlighting Galatians, isn't this what the first step in the law is? Is that you look at it and go, oh man, I am really, really bad at this. And I have no hope apart from Habakkuk 2, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him, but the righteous will live by his faith. I have no hope apart from God. I have no hope apart from what he has done. I have no hope in myself and in this world. I need something else. That means the law has done its right job. And if you do not recognize that, it continues to do its job in things like verse 21. You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed who wander from your commandments. Yes! What would it look like if you saw the commands of the law, you recognized what it said about you, and you kept walking the same way anyway? It would look like that. It'll look like that reality. This has been the problem with people, going all the way back. This is what sin promises you in the world. So things like Genesis 2, the Lord God took the man, put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it, to keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, from any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die. And we looked at that fruit and saw that it was good to eat and it was pleasing to the eye and we said, what? Gimme! Because it's good to make one wise. You have God in his holy sanctuary. What more wisdom could you possibly need? And humanity went, you mean there's more? I mean, just process this. You're standing there. I mean, he's not walking in the garden at the time, but you are in the beautiful work that God has made. You have direct communion with God. He has met your needs, He has met your hopes, everything that you could possibly require for the work that He's given you to do. You have, and you were like, you were Billy Mays selling you garbage at 2am, but wait! There's more! Gee, what does a corrupted mind actually look like? What does it look like when you sit there and say, I will never be satisfied with everything that you've given me? Do you understand now why I made such a big deal out of it? You need a change of heart in order to have that change of mind? Because Adam was given everything and was like, nah, there's got to be something better than this. This can't be the end. I mean, this was the brokenness of humanity from the very beginning. And by the way, it doesn't get better as they become air quotes God's people. So Leviticus 18, as for you, you are to keep my statutes and my judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native nor the alien who sojourns among you. By the way, the abominations are like everything Leviticus has been telling you to do, which by the way, I encourage you to go actually read Leviticus. Yes, it will be dry. Yes, it will be boring. I'm not telling you you have to do all of it in one sitting, but like a chapter every couple of days, and just realize that some of those laws are there because people needed to be told not to do that, okay? I've made the joke before, there's always that warning on your hairspray, like, don't use this as mouthwash. Because be honest, you've never once looked at your hairspray and been like, I'll bet this would create some minty fresh breath. Oh no, I was wrong! Like, do not spray in eyes and face because like, you were like, ooh, hairspray. I wonder if that would make a good eyedrop. So why does it say that? Yeah, because somebody did. Like, just the same reason your toaster has that warning when you first buy it on the box. They'll tell you like, when you hit the little button down for the toast not to put your fingers in there. Yeah, or don't stick sharp objects in their wallets. Because someone was like... We had to be told not to marry our sister and not to sleep with our stepmother. And we had to be told not to sacrifice our children in the fire. And we had to be told not to lie with an animal like one lies with a woman. We had to be told this because humanity was like, yeah, sure, why not? What could possibly go wrong? This is the brokenness and God with his redeemed people at the foot of Mount Sinai was like, okay people, meeting, pay attention. We're not leaving anything to doubt here. I'm going to tell you all of this. That's the abominations. The men of the land who have been before you have done all these things and the land has become defiled. So do not do them so that the land will not spew you out should you defile it as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you. Now stop for a second. What did the land do to the nation of Israel? It spewed them out by the hand of the Babylonians. Why? Because they did all the abominations that God had told them not to do. So it's like, God brings you out of Egypt. He gives you the manna from heaven. He parts the Red Sea. He cares for you in the wilderness. He comes upon the mountain with the shaking and the whole bit. And you're like, ah, this looks like fun. Who's with me? Oh my goodness. Even today, Romans 7 has not gone away. Jude 12. These are the men who are the hidden reefs in your love feasts, when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves. Clouds without water, carried along by winds. Autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead and uprooted. Wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam. Wandering stars for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever. Jude's warning them about people in the church, about people that they have fellowship with, about people that go to their lunch on fourth Sunday, who are waves who will crush them, wandering stars who will be cast off into the darkness. Romans 7 hasn't gone away. There is the reality of human corruption and the hope of Christ. Now please, Remember which one is more powerful. Please? For me? You look at human corruption, and you recognize the power of Christ to overcome that, and remember who has the authority here. That it is not the corruption that wins, that it is Christ who is victorious. And the reason why I beg of you to follow after the Reformers, to lean upon Scripture, to stand where Christ has commanded us to stand, is because that's the weapon He has called us to use. And if we fail to use that weapon, what we're saying is, no, no, no, God, we know that, like, you got this, but they're really tall. And for those of you that remember that joke constantly, that was the Israelite complaint when the spies came back from the land. The land is just as God has said. It is a land flowing with milk and honey and it is beautiful and it will provide for us. But the Nephilim are in the land and they are very tall. And we felt like tiny grasshoppers when we stood next to them. And so we don't think we should go conquer the land. Because the God who can bring hail and darkness for three days and part the Red Sea and manna from heaven and strike down the firstborn of Egypt can't kill people if they're over six feet tall. Apparently once they hit a certain height requirement, God's like, my power only works up to here. And then, like, I'm done for. Matt in the back is like, I'm taller than that, I win! See, it's ridiculous because it's ridiculous. It's a failure to understand who is the real authority. When we cling to the world, when we try to operate in a different method, when we forget scripture, when we stand upon something else, we're basically saying, but God, they're really tall. And the warning from Scripture is, don't do that. Recognize the brokenness, yes, but recognize the power to transform hearts. Recognize what Paul says in Romans 1, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. And what does that salvation do? It changes the heart, renews the mind, changes the life, and moves one that was dead, one that was a wandering star, and puts them back into their proper orbit, puts them back into the light that is shining, the light that has been from eternity, and it accomplishes all these things. Verse 22, so what do you do? Take away reproach and contempt from me, for I observe your testimonies. Yes, and thanks be to God, what? that he has. Romans 5, God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Remember, that's not an equation. That's not you forgive me because I've been good. No, the only reason I'm good is because you have forgiven me. Much more than having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation." In other words, if he was willing to die for us when we were on the other side, is he going to abandon us now that we're on the same side? To borrow a Roman's phrase, may it never be. This is a hope in the world, is that look where you were and look what God accomplished. Now look where you are and your answer is, well, I don't know if he's done, I think he's done working with me now. Now, what have I always told you? You're drawing breath, so what's going on? God is still at work, you still have ministry to do, figure out what it is and keep going. You know, when you're done with your stuff for God here, when you're not here anymore. So for me, it'll either be between 62 and 64 or about 94. I always remind Cameron that 62 to 64, it means I'm two thirds of the way there, getting closer. And then I get the luck, yes. Verse 23. Even though princes sit and talk against me. Who cares? I mean, think about this. This is one of those follies. How many times have you heard this complaint about the modern world? Why do we give athletes and actors such platforms? Who cares what they think? All they are, they can dribble a ball and pretend to be somebody else, right? You've heard this, right? Why do we care? Because they're important. And in our minds, they're important and we're not. Well, who in a kingdom is more important than the prince? except maybe the king, depending on how they want to structure it that day. Psalm 2, the queen, it depends on the structure, right? Psalm 2, therefore, O king, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence. Rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the son that he not become angry and you perish in the way. For his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in him. Who cares what the authorities think? Who cares what they say? Do you know why you shouldn't care? Revelation chapter two. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone and a new name written on him on the stone, which no one knows but he who receives it. Who cares what the world thinks? God knows who I am. And by the way, we don't have time to do all of this, but we'll do like rapid fire version of it real quick. The fact that God is giving his people a new name is kind of a big deal in the continuity and connections and typology of scripture. Because if you go all the way back to the beginning, how does God create? And then he does what? No. Oh, this is so much fun. You ready? Here we go. Oh, my Bible pages are sticking together. Why does nothing want to cooperate? All right. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. And God said, let there be light, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening, and there was morning, one day. He names it. And when God sets his agent in the garden, what's the first job he gives him? to name things, including the helper that He has provided. And then things go terribly wrong, but when you get to the end, what is God promising? That His work will be continued, that His work will be fulfilled, and this name that you have now, God will name you, meaning God will claim you, God will redeem you, you will be His, and everything that is His, that He has created, that He has named, will be called good. That's the hope that Revelation 2 is pointing you to. That's the reminder of what's going on. That's why you need the new name. That's why it is there, so that you'd be connected back to the beginning and go, ooh, this is kind of important. This is going to be special. That's what's going on here. So who cares what they think? God's like, that one's mine. That was mine, I don't care what you say about him. He is good, and he is righteous, and he is holy, and he is my servant in my kingdom, and that is where he will dwell for eternity. You, on the other hand, may want to watch out. Because that's the warning of Psalm 2, do homage to the sun, because his wrath may soon be kindled. And when God's wrath is kindled, and the sun comes down with his sash, and his sword, and his eyes of flaming fire, what side of that battle line do you think you want to be on? Do you wanna be on this side or on the other side? Yeah, I wanna be on this side. That's the warning here. So even though princes talk against me, your servant meditates on your statutes. Of course I do, because he has redeemed me. And that's what I now do. 1 Peter 5. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. That's the hope. That's the accomplishment. And then verse 24. Your testimonies are also my delight. They are my counselors." Yes. Yes, they are. Because in God, redeemed from this world, but still living in the midst of it, where's my refuge? Where's my safety? Where's my security? It's in God, and where do I meet Him? in his word. It's where I'm reminded of who he is, where I am reminded of what he has done, reminded of his patience, reminded of his grace, reminded of his mercy. Proverbs 18, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runs into it and is safe. Luke 24, the work that Jesus did instead of slapping them like I would have, which is why Jesus is a better savior than I am, but you didn't need to be told that. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in all the scriptures. That's the hope of the Reformation. By the way, Christian, as you are clinging to the Word, and as you are seeking to study it day by day, as you've sought out churches and ministries that teach and proclaim the Word, you are the children of that Reformation. You are the heirs, the inheritors of that tradition. So what do we do? We trust the Word. Why? Because we love the Savior that it points to. Then what? We cling. We build ourselves upon it. We study it. Why? Because we now know the God who is behind it. And then we do what? We live it out. How do we do that? Because we're being strengthened by the Spirit who gave power to the Word, gives power to God's people, and is the one who will bring them to a good end in the kingdom. It is a reminder of all that God has done, all that He is still doing, and all that He will do. And it is the place where we rest. That's what they would have longed for 500 plus years ago at this point when they kicked this whole thing off. That's what they would have hoped their churches would have done. Now, like I said, they kicked it off and what did people do with it? Because what did we mess up? Everything. And yet, day by day, how are we the good Christians? when we cling to Christ, call out for His grace and His mercy, cling to His word, and pray that we are built up in it day by day. That's the promise of the Reformation, that's the hope of people going back to Scripture, and it's the hope that we live in each and every day. Let's pray.