You're listening to Key Life Fellowships Pulpit ministry
podcast. We thank you for tuning in as we
learn from God's Word together. If you would like more
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pastors, please visit us at keylifefellow-ship.com.
Amen. When my race is complete, as the
song said, may my lips still repeat, Yet not I, but through
Christ in me. I pray that is your prayer, that
you live your race, however long that race is, because you don't
really know where you are in that race.
Some of you could be closer to the finish line than others, but
we are all still in the race. And so may we run the race with
diligence. May we run the race with
passion. May we run the race focusing,
fixing our eyes upon Jesus, the author and the perfector of our
faith. You have your Bibles.
You know where we are if you've been with us.
If not, turn to the 119th Psalm as we continue looking at our
study. Living live in the light of
God's Word. And that is what we intend to
do. That is what we have been
looking at. That is what we have been
teaching. How do we, as professing
followers of Christ, actually live our lives in light of the
Word of God? As we sang a moment ago, Thy
word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my bath.
I don't know how people walk around in the darkness of this
world without the Word of God leading every single step of
their lives, but many attempt to do that.
And I pray that we not accept that as who we are, but we who
are followers of Christ and people of the light, that we
would walk in the light as He is in the light.
Today in 119th Psalm, we'll be looking at verses 137 all the
way to 144. And we will be talking about
these verses in length, as you well know.
But it's often been a struggle in many cultures throughout
history. And the struggle is this, to
determine right from wrong. However, where we live in our
day, in our age, it's not that easy.
Is it right? Our grandparents could look at
something and say this is right and this is wrong.
And they weren't afraid to distinguish between right and
wrong. However, we live in a day and
time where we don't need to learn to distinguish between
right and wrong. We need to learn how to
distinguish between right and thought right.
And what I mean by that is the relative truth that has
inundated our culture. Wrong has all but been erased
from the ideology and the thinking of our modern age that
we live in. In fact, the easiest thing to do
is just to remove wrong in its entirety.
And whatever's right in your eyes, well, that's right for
you. And whatever's right in your
eyes, it's right for you. And whatever's right in my eyes,
it's right to me. The problem is, is that we see
that's a pattern that we saw long ago in Scripture when there
was no king and every man did what was right in his own eyes.
And it leads to chaos and it leads to destruction, and it
leads to carnality, and it leads to sin.
And today what we're going to be talking about from the psalmist
and what he's teaching us is how do we distinguish in our culture
right from thought right? How do we distinguish what is
right? Now I'm going to give you the
short answer. Are you ready?
God and his word. And we can distinguish right and
thought right from God and his word.
It's this simple. If man has an opinion that
opposes. The word of.
God man's opinion is tell her so smart and God's opinion is a
plus. Students, man's opinion is wrong
and God's opinion is right. Now, I don't want you to forgive
that because I'm afraid in our culture, oftentimes this has
been forgotten because of the idea of relative truth that we
see so prevalently prevalently around us.
But biblically, there is right and there is wrong.
And I pray that we would be a group of people who say we want
to be biblical and everything that we do and everything that
we say and everything that we believe, and we want to embrace
what is right and we want to discard and run from those
things which are wrong. And so we see, as Richard Baxter
took a note of, and he said this, he said, let Scripture be
your rule and that will be your safety.
Nothing can be right that is contrary to Scripture.
It is impossible for something to be right in quotations that
isn't direct contradiction to what God has already established
in his word, because God is he's right.
In fact, in the Psalm that we're going to look at today in the
verses that we're going to cover the first verse and and 1:37
there and we'll get to all of it in a moment.
He says righteous are you, O Lord, and your laws are right.
So anything that contradicts the word of God is.
Wrong. You're going to participate this
morning. Whether you like it or not.
God is right. And things that contradict God
in His word, they are wrong. And I want to show you that.
I want to show you that this morning by looking at many of
the major issues in our day and in our culture, the topics of
debate, the things that people even in the church are arguing
about, whether they're right or whether they're wrong.
And God has taken a firm stance on all of them.
And if God has taken a firm stance on them and he has
already said his opinion about the matters, his opinion is, and
man's opinion that contradicts his opinion is.
You believe that, do you believe in Sola Scripture, that is
scripture alone that allows us to decide what is right and
therefore what is wrong? Do do you agree with that?
Because for the believer, there is no room to agree with
anything else. And so let's just look at it.
And what I'm going to do is I'm just going to wade right off
into it. All of the topics that
everyone's afraid to talk about in church, I'm going to talk
about them in church this morning.
So go ahead and just brace yourselves.
I'm going to wade right off into them neck deep.
Risk all the emails that are coming, all the hate mail, all
the social media posts. Risk the fact that people may
leave the church because they don't think that God is.
They think that man is. And so let's look at these
things because I don't want to, while you are under my care as
your shepherd, I don't want to lead you astray.
I don't want to teach you to compromise.
I don't want to teach you to be soft in your biblical worldview.
Because at the end of the day, what we're going to see is that
the difference in opinions about all of these matters is one side
has a biblical worldview and the other side has a man centered,
sinful, unbelieving worldview driving their.
Thoughts. So let's talk about the first
one that no one likes to talk about anymore in the church.
How about divorce? How about divorce?
And I know what many of you are going to say.
Well, I've had a divorce and I want to tell you this.
God is full of grace and mercy and He will forgive you of all
of these things that we're going to talk about if you seek
forgiveness through Christ. I'm not here to condemn you for
the sins that you have committed.
It's not my place. What I am here to do is to help
you distinguish between right and wrong as we look at the word
of God. And so we talk about the topic
of divorce. And because in our time we know
this, people get divorces for any reason that they choose.
When we know that Jesus himself gave one stipulation that
divorce would be acceptable, and that is in regard to
fornication, to adultery, and that is even after.
You have tried to reconcile. But I see so many in today's
time they just want to get a divorce because they wake up 1
morning and you know what? They just want to change.
They just want something different.
And So what they began to do, they began to find every fault
that they can find in their spouse.
And let me just tell you, my wife can testify to this.
If you're married to me, it doesn't take you long to find
faults. But what is God's opinion on?
This What does God think about this?
Here's what God thinks about it. He reveals that to us in Matthew
chapter 19. In fact, Jesus himself said this
when he was talking about the subject of divorce.
In verse 6 of 19 He says you are no longer 2 but one.
Flesh therefore what God has joined together, let no one
separate. There's Jesus stance on divorce.
It should not happen, it should not be accepted, it should not
be acceptable. Why?
Because God says that it is wrong and God is he's right.
Let us not forget what Malachi says in Malachi chapter 2 verse
16 when it's plainly and openly says this for I hate divorce,
says the Lord the God of Israel. He doesn't hide his opinion
about it. He makes his opinion well known,
doesn't he? I hate this.
This thing does destruction. This thing brings reproach.
That's for all of the couples who would adopt the relative
thinking in our age that would say, girl, if you're tired of
him, just leave him and take all of his money, or at least half
of it, because you're going to get it.
And that's a bad opinion. Why?
Because it's contrary to God's opinion.
And God's opinion is right, not just some of the time.
His opinion is right. All.
Of the time. How about this next, a little
hot button that we could push. How about racism?
Racism. And God covers this in his word,
as he will cover everything that man wants to debate from a
humanistic perspective. He'll cover it.
He'll give his opinion. How about Galatians 328, when it
says there is neither Jew, nor Greek, nor slave, nor free, nor
male, nor female? For all who are in Christ are
one in Christ? Jesus.
There's your answer to racism. Let's unite in Christ.
It doesn't matter the color of your skin.
It doesn't matter your background.
It doesn't matter where you were born or what language you speak.
Let's come together in Christ. Let's see things as Christ sees
things in regard to race, as the Word of God declares.
In fact, in Acts chapter 17 verse 26, we see some clarity on
this from one man. He made all the nations so that
they should inhabit the whole earth.
From that one man was Adam. You want to really get down to
it? We all stem from Adam, don't we?
So we're really all one race. When it's all said and done.
So who are you to decide that you prefer one race over the
other, that you have favoritism toward one color of skin or the
other? James says this and James
chapter 2 verse 9 he says But if you show partiality you are
committing sin. That's what James calls racism.
He calls it sin. James doing that under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I know this.
I know that if we show favoritism based on someone's
nationality or their skin color or whatever.
It is that we separate and distinguish people with these
days. If we show favoritism or
partiality towards someone else, we sin because God says that
it's sin. And God is He's right.
What about sexual immorality? That's any sex outside of
biblical marriage. That includes your play time on
the computer in your imaginary sexual world.
God has a stance and He has an opinion about sexual immorality
and it's high time that we consider what He says is right
in regard to sexual immorality. First Corinthians chapter 6
verse 18, he says flee from sexual immorality.
Then he goes on and he says your body is the temple of the Holy
Spirit. This is no place for you to
entertain these things in a body that belongs to the Spirit of
God purchased by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
How about Hebrews 13, four where it says let marriage be held in
honor among all and let the marriage bed be undefiled.
He's saying that there's holiness in the sacred union of
marriage when you come together in the act of sexual intercourse
and outside of that it's all unacceptable to God.
How about this in First Thessalonians chapter 4, verse
three, he says for this is the will of God.
You want to know the will of God concerning sexual immorality.
He says this is the will of God, your sanctification.
There's something big at stake here, your sanctification.
He says that you abstain from sexual immorality all.
Of it, every ounce of it that you flee and that you abstain
from it. So on the topic of sexual
immorality, when the world says, you know what, you ought to live
with someone out of marriage and enjoy a sexual relationship and
there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.
If it's right for you, then it's right.
God says that is what is wrong. Any sex outside of the marriage
covenant between you, your spouse, and your God is wrong.
So he settles the issue about right versus what is thought
right. How about the next hot button in
our culture, Homosexuality. Oh, pastor, are you really going
to talk about that? Yes I am, because God has an
opinion about it and I'm sad to say that many in the church.
Are not resting in the opinion of God about this matter.
Oh, you do until someone that you know falls into the sin and
then you quickly turn and you try to justify embracing their
sinful and detestable lifestyle simply because that's someone in
your family. But just because they're in your
family and they do something wrong does not make it right.
Because who's right? God's right, and what does he
say about the sin of homosexuality?
In fact, in Romans chapter 1, verses 26 through 27, and I'll
paraphrase this just for the sake of time, he's giving us the
distinguishing March of a reprobate, of a generation of
reprobates, of those who God gives over to their natural and
sinful affections. He says women exchange natural
relationships for unnatural ones with women, and men committed
shameless, shameless acts with other men.
He's talking about sexual acts. And contrary to modern thinking,
please listen up. Sodom and Gomorrah was in fact
destroyed because of the sin of sexual immorality and
homosexuality. Please know that I know that
they're trying to erase that. They're trying to make it say
something other than what it said.
But that is absolutely not the case.
Go back. I love all the critics.
You want to say that's not what it's saying in Sodom and
Gomorrah, then, then tell me what you know about that story.
Well, I don't know a whole lot about it, but I know that's not
what it's saying. Oh, it's not.
They saw these angels and they thought they were men and they
wanted to have a sexual relationship with men and, and
even a lot said, I'll give you my daughters.
And they said, no, we would rather have the men.
Why? Because that's the the depravity
of the human mind. They thought they were right in
their sinfulness. So God takes his stance on
homosexuality over and over and over again.
He's never left what he's already decreed.
In fact, the First Corinthians chapter 6, he says neither the
sexually immoral nor men who practice homosexuality.
Will inherit the Kingdom of God. That's for all these people who
want to say things like this. Well, I know someone and they're
actively practicing an unrepentant lifestyle of
homosexuality, but they're a believer.
No, they are not. Stop saying that they're not a
believer. And before you go to make
accusations and you go to say that I'm spewing hate, I am
telling you this for the well-being of your own soul,
that unless you repent from your sinful lifestyle and turn to
Jesus Christ and you are forgiven in Him, you do not have
a portion in eternal life or in the Kingdom of God.
Why? Because God's right in what He
says. Your opinion is wrong.
God hasn't changed His mind. In Leviticus chapter 18 verse
22, He says you shall not lie with a man, man as one lies with
a woman. He shows his opinion and his
view on this. It is an abomination.
Now when God says that it's an abomination, He is and everyone
who disagrees with him is. You're getting this.
There will be a test at the end and I think you're going to do
very well. What about the next thing that
we see so often debated, even debated and discussed in the
church? The sin of abortion.
Yeah, I call it what it is. Why?
Because God said you shall not commit murder.
Exodus chapter 20, verse 13. And when you take the life of an
unborn child, you are committing.
Murder. When you approve of that, you
were committing murder. You said, well, they, they don't
know anything. They're not even a person yet.
How about Jeremiah chapter one, verse 5, where he says this,
Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.
You know what that is? That's intimate knowledge of
them before they were ever created.
That's why I'm disturbed by the lack of understanding in regard
to God's foreknowledge. God for knows people.
He intimately knows us before we are ever created.
Before He ever formed you in your mother's womb, He knew you
intimately. Who are you to disagree with?
God, who says I knew that child before he was ever formed?
Who are you to oppose him? You're wrong.
And God again remains undefeated.
And he is, he's right. How about immigration?
Oh, wow, I told you, we're waiting off in it this morning.
How about immigration? How do we treat those who are in
our country illegally? I'll tell you how you don't do
it. You don't spew hate in your
recliner while you're watching Fox News.
Let me let me say that again. You don't spew hate while you're
sitting in your recliner watching Fox News.
I know what many of you say when we talk about this difficult to
talk about topic, right? All of a sudden you all become
Border Patrol or ICE agents. You forget what the word of God
says, and if you're not Border Patrol or you're not an ICE
agent, or you're not some judge with a warrant in your hand, who
has a right to actually. Fulfill the laws of this land
and to hold someone accountable who breaks them.
Here's what you're to do according to the word of God.
Leviticus 19 verse 33 says when an alien lives among you, you
listening, you shall love him as yourself because God is man is
what he says you should. You should love him as yourself.
He doesn't cover it just there. What about Exodus 22 verse 21?
You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him in any manner in any
way. I know you all have your
opinions about it right? You all have your opinions about
immigration. You all have your opinions about
should a wall be built, should a wall not be built?
All those things. Your opinions don't matter.
These people are here as believers.
Are you doing what is right towards them?
Have you ever stopped to think this, that perhaps God, by his
grace and his Providence, because He works in all
situations, doesn't He has allowed them to come to this
country so that we can love them like ourselves, so that we can
share the gospel with them, so that they have a hope for
eternity? Well, but you would rather play
ICE agent or Border Patrol agent.
Oh, don't forget what Jesus said in Matthew 2535.
He said I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
And whatever you do to the least of these, you have done it.
Unto who? Him.
Oh, I know I'm not going to win the popularity contest today.
I got news for you Church. I stopped trying to win the
popularity contest a long time ago.
Why? Because God is right.
And I will side with God on every situation because He has
proven himself the right to be right.
How about this? Since we're getting them all,
let's not leave any out. How about support of Israel,
right? Because we see in our college
campuses these days, you know what we're we're having
peaceful, peaceful protests protesting Israel.
Pro Palestinian, right? Peaceful protests that include
Molotov cocktails being thrown at cars.
Not sure about that. Don't know how that's peaceful
at all, but you know, hey, people want to define things the
way that they want to define things.
But what about Israel? Here's what God says about
Israel. In case you've forgotten Genesis
chapter 12, verse three, He makes a promise to Abraham.
Oh, and let me just remind you that you've been engrafted into
that promise. He says this, I'll bless those
who bless you and I will dishonor, curse those who curse
you. I'll be very careful when you
get into the political realm and start just spewing the opinions
of uneducated man who opposes holy God.
How about we do this Psalm 122, verse 6, what it says, Pray for
the peace of Jerusalem. May they be secure who love you.
Why would we pray for the peace of Jerusalem?
Because here's the deal. There will be no peace in
Jerusalem until the Messiah returns, and when he returns,
the Prince of Peace will establish peace once and for all
for the people of Israel. And there is that remnant who he
will save. Romans Chapter 11 definitely
covers this force, though we often times want to read over
it. Paul teaches that Israel's not
been rejected. So far as they will not have a
future in His redemptive plan, He still has a plan for their
redemption. So pray for peace, because the
only one who can redeem them is Christ.
Pray that they would see. As we see in Isaiah the prophecy
of Israel looking back, saying, surely he bore our sin, surely
his iniquity, our iniquity was upon him, surely he was the
Messiah as they finally. Realized that his scripture says
that they will. How about the role of women in
the church? Go on and buckle your seat belt.
Enjoy the ride because there are major denominations who are
disputing this over and over and over again and it's wasting time
as people are going to hell. God has spoken on these issues
that so many people are afraid to side with God on.
Let me just tell you what he says he says in First Timothy
chapter 2 verse 11. Let a woman learn quietly.
I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a
man. He is talking about the roles
and the leadership in the church.
And I want you to understand the context of that because there
are many people who are going around now because they have a
family member who's a woman who's claiming to be a pastor,
that they have to embrace her as a pastor.
She is not a pastor. She is a woman who is walking
out from underneath her biblical role, out from the will of God,
out from what God has already spoken, and she is wrong.
Now, listen, there are many times that I don't fault her
because she's wrong. You know what?
She's having to step into that role because men are not
stepping into it. And if men would step up and be
the men of God that they're supposed to be?
Teaching their families, teaching others in the church.
We wouldn't have this problem. Images.
You know what, for the last 100 years is the only time it has
been a problem in the church. Why?
Because we won't simply side with God in the fact that he's
right on this. I know what's going to happen.
Well, Pastor, you're saying that a woman doesn't have a role in
the church. That's not what I'm saying at
all. That'd be like saying a woman
doesn't have a role in the home. Does a woman have a role in the.
Home. You bet she does.
But who's the leader? The husband Women have roles in
this church. This church couldn't do what it
does, ministering to others without women participating and
even leading women's ministry. You earned an announcement a
moment ago. What was it?
Hey ladies, D groups are signing up.
If you have any questions, ask Brandy.
That is not Pastor Brandy. That is Brandy, wife of Pastor
Kirk. I couldn't do what I do without
her role in supporting me. But she is not a pastor in this
church. She never will be a pastor in
this church. And she watches.
Are you OK with that? And she's OK with that.
You know why? Because God says it's right.
Even though man wants to argue. Women's roles in the church
ought to mirror women's roles in the home.
Women are mandated. By God in both places as they
mirror one another in scriptures just admit to male leadership.
I don't say that just because I'm a male.
I say that because the word of God speaks it plainly and
clearly. He said, well, that was only
just one place that you always pull out of first Timothy
chapter 2. How about this First Corinthians
chapter 14. The women should keep silent in
the churches. He's talking about speaking
gifts at the time he's. Saying that they should not
exercise them in the congregation.
Why? Because that would assume the
authority over a man and leadership over a man.
He gives us clarity in his word why this is so dangerous.
It's just as Eve was deceived in the garden through her emotions.
Women are prone to that. I don't say that to slight you.
That is a. Compliment to you.
It is beautiful because when your child skins their knee and
you run over there and you and your feelings nurture them and
you love them and you bring them back to health and you, you can
stop them from crying when a dad just like, do something with
them. You're fulfilling your biblical
role, and it's beautiful when we see those things, right the way
that God says that they are, right?
And so the role of women in the church, yes, I went there, but
why stop? How about transgenderism?
You said, Kirk, you surely don't think that the Bible and that
God in his word addresses transgenderism.
Yes, I do. I think he addresses it in the
first book of the Bible when it says this.
And male and female, he created them.
Did you catch that? I've already seen how you're
answering the right and wrong questions.
I believe that you're all here in this room.
A+ students. How many genders did God create?
And they are. And you guys were probably all
first in your class. God says he created them all,
male and female. There is no male and female.
And fill in the blank. Or what pronoun do you identify
with? Or who are you or what are you?
People are confused. They think that they know more
than God and they're wrong. God is right.
And when your baby is born on that beautiful day when God has
graced you with such a blessing and the doctor lifts them up in
that light, whoever deliver delivers your baby holds them up
for the first time. Before you cut that cord, I'm
going to tell you how you can do this.
And I'm not even going to be that graphic.
Look right between their legs, and what God has already deemed
and said about them is right. They are either male or they are
female. Created a Maggio day in the
image of God and so know this know that when we look at the
word of God, God. Is always right, male and
female. He created them.
In fact, in Deuteronomy he makes it even more clearly so that
people understand. He says a woman shall not wear
men's garments and men shall not wear a woman's cloak.
He even covers the sin of cross dressing.
For us, and here we are, thousands of years later,
debating God on an issue that He has already settled.
How about this last one? Can I do one more?
Oh, don't worry, this is just introduction.
We haven't even gotten to the sermon yet.
I told you this morning I'm preaching from Psalm 119.
I hadn't even read it yet. Oh, but you'll see why I'm going
to read it in just a moment. But we must establish the things
that everyone else is afraid to establish before we can look at
why they are so important. How about creation versus
evolution? Right as you send your children
off to these indoctrination stations each day, please know
this. There's someone who thinks that
they're right, teaching your children that they evolved from
some kind of ape species, and they are dreadfully wrong.
How do I know this? Because Genesis 1 says this one.
In the beginning, God created the heavens.
And the earth, He created it all just as it is, cautions 116 For
by Him all things were created, and through them all things in
heaven and earth, all things that were created, were created
by Him and through Him. He is the creator of everything,
just as it is. It did not evolve.
But you don't understand. I have a difference in opinion.
Well, square it up with God because both of you can't be
right. As we're going to see in just a
moment, He's always right and when we stand toe to toe against
Him, we are always wrong. How about this, the earth being
billions of years old, when in fact we know that in Genesis the
earth was created in six days. Exodus confirms that in 20 verse
11 that in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth
six days. Now if you have a problem
understanding how long a day is, go back to Genesis and you'll
see this. There was morning and there was
evening and God's word says that was a day.
And so if the earth was created in six days, the earth is
somewhere between 6:00 and 7000 years old.
And to put another number on that.
Is to disagree with God. It's to say that you know more
about the creator and how he created.
I know what the skeptics say they said, but the earth looks
older than that. Adam looked older than two
minutes old when he was created too.
Adam was created a grown man. God has the.
Power to do things that mesmerize, mesmerize the wisdom
of or thought wisdom of man, doesn't he, in fact?
Our wisdom's foolishness to him, as we learned last week.
And so we've hit all of our the major buttons that we face in
debating right or wrong, or as I said, right or thought wrong in
our time. And God has taken a stance on
every single one of these issues.
And God is in all opposing views they are.
Oh, that's music to the ears of this pastor in this postmodern
secular worldview that we live in, to know that there is still
a group of people who say God is right and His.
Word is right and man, if he opposes God and His word is he's
wrong this world has the Fonzie complex.
I said that earlier and dated myself right.
You remember Fonzie he would never admit that he was wrong.
This world doesn't even want to use the term wrong, but anytime
that you square knuckles with God in your.
Debates. He's right and you're capital
WRONG. Wrong.
And so we asked this question with all of the differences and
opinions in this world, because we can find someone who will
believe just about anything, can't we?
With all of these differing opinions in the world, why does
God and His Word and God through His Word have the right to be
right? This is the question that the
psalmist is going to answer for us today as we get into our
text. Here's what he says.
Verse 137 Righteous are you, O Lord, and your laws are, say it
with me, class right. The statute you have laid down
are righteous. They are fully trustworthy.
My zeal wears me out for my enemies.
Ignore your words. Your promises have been
thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.
Though I am lonely and despised, all the people around me have a
difference opinion, a difference in opinion than me.
And, and, and they, they despise me.
It's as though I'm lowly and despise.
I do not forget your precepts. Your righteousness is
everlasting in Your law is true. Trouble and distress have come
upon me, but your commands are my delight.
Your statutes are forever right. Give me understanding that I
may. Live.
Let's pray together, Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to
you, thanking you for your word, thanking you that it is true.
And it is right now as we endeavor to see exactly why we
can trust Your Word as right. Lord, give us insight.
Give us insight from your word. As you use the.
Teachings, the writings of the Psalmist here to instruct us and
lead us and to guide us into righteousness.
For your name's sake. May you receive all the glory
and honor and praise for it. Lord, I pray for the soul who's
here today who has spent their life kicking against you, trying
to justify their wrong as right. God, I pray in your mercy by
your grace today that you would usher them out of darkness and
into light, that they would believe what is right, that they
would believe the truth of the gospel as revealed in your word
today, and that they would be saved.
May you receive the praise for it in Jesus name, Amen.
So God's Word is right, and I hope we can all agree on that.
But let's talk about why God's Word is right before we depart
today #1 because of its perfect author.
Well, I love that the psalmist doesn't leave this out.
Watch what he says. Righteous are you, Oh Lord, you
are righteous. You are right.
You are perfect in every degree and in every manner.
He says righteous are you, Oh Lord, and your laws are right.
The statutes you have laid down are righteous.
They're right, they're perfect, they're fully trustworthy, says
in 3139, My zeal wears me out for my enemies.
Ignore your words. When the author is completely
perfect in regard to something, their works are also perfect.
And there is but one completely perfect author, and it is God
himself and his God who has breathed and inspired His Word.
Therefore, His Word is perfect, and we can count on it being
perfect because the author of Scripture.
Is perfect Second Samuel chapter 22 verse 31 it says As for God,
His way is perfect. The Lord's word is flawless.
He Shields all who take refuge in him.
Why is his? Word because he establishes
first and foremost because it's author is perfect.
I want you to understand that when you open the Word of God,
you are not opening the word of man.
These men were simply carried along by the Holy Spirit.
You are opening the eternal literal word of God, inerrant
and infallible. And so when you open the pages
of Scripture, no, there was not a flawed author involved in
this. God is a perfect author.
Everything that he says is perfect.
In Second Timothy chapter 3, verse 16 says all Scriptures.
God breathed all of it. Not one part of it was not
breathed out by God himself. And God is perfect, and He is.
Righteous, just as the Psalmist has laid forth for us today.
He is perfectly righteous, right in all he does and in all he
says. Psalm 1830 it says, As for God,
His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is
flawless. He is a shield for all who take
refuge in him. If that sounds familiar, that's
the psalmist declaring exactly what we saw declared in Second
Samuel. He's perfect and he is flawless
in all of his ways. Deuteronomy 32 Four He is.
The Rock, His works are perfect and all His ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong upright and just is He.
That's why I spend so much time teaching you from the Scriptures
who God is. So when you see His perfection,
you see His righteousness, you see His Majesty, you know that
every word that comes from His mouth is just as majestic and
just as righteous and just as perfect.
You can trust that He is right and His word is right because
the author of His word is perfect.
He's opposite a flawed mankind. He is opposite of me and all of
my reasoning and all of my humanistic thinking, my
theories, in fact. Isaiah 55 verse 9, it says as
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Let us see Him for who He is. The author is perfect and for
His word it's perfect unflawed, just as He is unflawed.
Numbers 2319 says God is not man that he should lie, nor son of
man that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and did not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
No, he doesn't. He's perfect and everything that
he promises he does fulfill. He is perfectly righteous.
Not only that, when we look at our perfect author, he's
perfectly righteous, but he's also perfectly reliable, to
which I'm so thankful for. That when I stand on the Word of
God, I stand on the reliability of a faithful God, and He is
unable, please get that. He is unable to be anything but
trustworthy and true. That is who He is, not just what
he does. It encompasses his entire
character. Psalm 111.
Seven. The works of his hands are
faithful and just, and all his precepts are trustworthy.
Second Samuel 728 And now, oh Lord God, you are God and your
words are true and you have promised this good thing to your
servant. He says I can trust you, I can
trust your word. Why?
Because you are perfectly reliable.
Have you ever had to rely on God's word?
I can tell you this, 30 plus years studying the word of God,
relying on His truth, not one single time has he ever failed.
Not one single time will he ever fail.
He is perfectly reliable and trustworthy.
Therefore his word established through that perfect author.
It's not only perfectly righteous, but perfectly
reliable. The psalmist goes on and he says
this. My zeal wears me out.
It seems so out of place. You know what he's saying.
He is so perfect and his word is so righteous that it deserves my
passion, deserves my passion. Does not the perfect word of God
established through a perfect author deserve our passion?
The psalmist here said is saying I'm.
Eaten up by my passion for the Word of God.
I wish the American church would be eaten up by passion for the
Word of God to stand on it and say this is right.
Thus saith the Lord, we don't care about the opinions of man.
We don't care about the liberal agenda.
We care about truth from the Word of God because it comes
from our perfect author who is perfectly righteous and
perfectly reliable. We can trust in Him.
That we would have. Zeal for the Lord.
There's nothing wrong with zeal. Did you know that?
There's wrong when we have zeal without knowledge, but when we
have knowledge from the Scriptures to back up our zeal
and we are eaten alive by the very Word of God, God is honored
by that, that Paul says in Romans chapter 12 verse 11, to
never be lacking in zeal, never be lacking in zeal, but keep
your spiritual fervor, that fire serving the Lord.
How can we do that? Trusting in His Word, it is
reliable. Knowing that he's never going to
fail you. He has never failed anyone who
has trusted in his word. Psalm 2317 says do not let your
heart envy centers but. Always be zealous for the fear
of the Lord. Always be zealous for the fear
of the Lord, the psalmist says. My zeal wears me out.
He says. The Lord is worthy of my zeal.
He says even though my enemies ignore your words, even though
everyone around disagrees with me, I rest in the authority of
the Scripture because of this. It's perfect author who is
perfectly righteous and perfectly reliable, and I am
going to trust in Him and not the opinions of man.
And so we can know that scripture is right.
And all opposing views are wrong because of Scripture's perfect
author. Secondly, God's Word is right
because of its proven authenticity.
Watch the psalmist here. Your promises have been
thoroughly tested, and Your servant loves them.
No, I am lowly and despised. No, others hate me for it.
I do not forget your precepts. Your righteousness is
everlasting and your law is true.
Church, please listen to me. The Word has been and is
continually being thoroughly tested as a refiner tests and
heats the metal and it. Over and over and over again
passes the test of being 100% pure.
In fact, if you have a King James Bible this morning, it
says right there, thy word is very pure.
It's very pure. In fact, there is nothing as
pure. And the word has proven through
the course of time it's authenticity because it has been
tested by fire. Did you know this?
It has been tested by fire. In fact, it's being tested now.
And this is the fire of friends. What are we doing?
We're scrutinizing the Scripture and we're asking ourselves the
question, is Scripture right or am I right?
Is Scripture right or are the opinions of the world right?
We, even as friends of God, are putting the Word of God too much
scrutiny today to come to the conclusion, do we believe and do
we trust in the Word of God? Absolutely.
So we see that it's been tested by the fire of friends, those
who examine and then who agree, as the psalmist did, that the
word of God is pure. Psalm 19 verse 9, it says the
fear of the Lord is pure, enduring, forever.
The ordinance of the Lord are sure and all together righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold.
They're sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb, he
says. The words of God are more pure
than pure gold. The purest of gold you can
imagine His word is even more pure.
Why? Because it is perfectly pure.
And it stood the test of time in proving that as it has been
scrutinized scholar after scholar, even men of God who
love God and who love His Word. Every day I open the Word of
God. And you know what I do?
I read through the pages of Scripture and I scrutinize and I
look, is this true? Or is what I'm feeling true?
And I find this out time and time again.
My feelings aren't pure. God's word is pure.
It has passed the test over and over and over again.
And we as believers who trust in that have experienced time and
time and time again his faithfulness, the fact that his
words are pure. Oh, we relate with the hymnist
Loosa Loosa Steed and she wrote in 1882 if I get that year
right. You can Fact Check me on that.
And it goes like this. Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
and to take him at his word, just to rest upon his promise
and to know. Thus saith the Lord.
His word has been tested by fire from his friends, just as this
hymn writer says. And then she goes on in a course
and you know it. Sing it with me, Jesus.
Jesus, how I trust him, how I've proved him more and.
More Jesus. Jesus, precious Jesus.
Oh, for grace to trust Him I want.
It is by His grace through His Word that we have learned to
trust Him over and over and more and more.
Why? Because His Word has proven to
be authentic. He is faithful to it.
Tested by fire, the fire of friends, but also the fire of
foes. Haven't the foes tested the Word
of God throughout history? And the Word of God still
remains undefeated from all of the hatred of its enemy.
Surviving attacks and attempts to destroy it throughout the
ages going all the way back to the Old Testament.
There in the book of Jeremiah we see king Jehoiakim who was an
evil king and what did he do? He burnt Jeremiah's prophecy
there in Jeremiah chapter 36. Interesting fact is God said OK
Jeremiah he thinks he won but he doesn't win.
My words eternal. Go tell him everything that I
told you to tell him. Write it down.
Take. It to him and then I'm going to
add to it so that he gets it this time.
Go back and look, evil men have been trying to destroy the word
of God even as far back as Jehoiakim.
Oh we don't have to mention we know.
Historically, it's proven Diocletian under the tyranny of
Rome, burning the scriptures and executing all of those who
possess any portion. Of the word of.
God, how about the Catholic Church?
Forbidding laypeople to even own their own copy of the
Scriptures. Now, I know some of you have
your opinions about that, but it's high time you know that
there was a Reformation. In that reformation, we declared
that the Catholic Church is incorrect and they are wrong and
that God is right. No man should be forbidden to
have a copy of the word of God in his hand, that he can see
that God is right and man is wrong.
About the French Revolution and all the burning of scripture
that took place there for all the many communist regimes
throughout history. Well, let's mention Nazi Germany
if you want to talk about trying to destroy.
The Word of God. And you know what?
It just won't go away. It just won't go away because
the Word of God is very clear and it declares this about
itself. Isaiah 40, verse 8.
The grass Withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of
God endures forever. You cannot destroy the Word of
God, try as you may. Many of men, many of women have
attempted to do so. The fire of the foes, but yet it
has endured the test, proving its authenticity.
The Word of God has been tested by fire, but it's also been
tested by faith, hasn't it? Hasn't it though the fires
tested ignoring what Jesus said, that heaven and earth will pass
away, but his words will never pass away, still attempting to
destroy it? But then there is the test of
faith, where the Word of God proves itself to those who
believe in its promises. How many times has the Word of
God proven itself to you as a believer where you apply the
truths that you see in Scripture?
You apply the opinion of God and what stance He takes in the
issue, and He shows Himself to be faithful over and over and
over again. Romans 1011, Paul quoting the
Old Testament, He says anyone who trusts in him will never be
put to shame. When you trust in the God of
Scripture who reveals himself in the truth of the word of God,
you will never be put to shame. He is faithful to his own.
Word know this, believe this. Rest in that the test of faith
has proven the authenticity of Scripture time and time again.
Men and women holding on to the truths that they possess in
these 66 books, in every situation that they face in
life, His word proves to be eternally and absolutely true.
Psalm 33, what we read in our Scripture passage this morning,
verse 4. For the word of the Lord is
right and true. He is faithful and all He does
He proves himself over and over to be faithful and true to His
Word. David declares this in Psalm 51,
verse 4. As he's repenting, he says you
were right and you're proved right when you speak.
When God speaks, He is right and He's faithful to everything that
He has declared. Time and time and time again.
God has allowed His Word to be proven as authentic to those who
oppose it and to those who trust in it over and over and over
again. He is faithful to show you the
proven authenticity of His Word, that it came from eternal God
and it is eternal. So the Scriptures have endured
through the strenuous testing, yet they still.
Remain you holding them in your hand this morning.
Still remaining, still giving you strength, still proving to
you how faithful God really is. So we move to the Third Point
and the final point. It says God's word is right
because of its powerful ability. Please don't miss this one, he
says in 143. Trouble and distress have come
upon me, but your commands are my delight.
Your statues are forever right. Give me understanding that I may
live. So the psalmist is now going to
remind us that the powerful ability of the Word of God
proves that it can be trusted and that it is absolutely right.
He speaks of the Word of God as having a powerful ability.
I want you to pay close attention to the specifics of
this because the first one you all know this to be true.
That God's Word has the powerful ability to bring comfort to the
afflicted. His Word has the ability, the
miraculous ability. And power to bring comfort even
to those who are in the most stressful, bothersome, troubled
situation. Psalm 11949 You remember this
earlier on in our study, he says in verse 49.
Remember. Your word to your servant, for
you have given me hope. My comfort in my suffering is
this. Your promise preserves my life,
he said, Even in the midst of my suffering.
I hold on to and I find comfort. From your promises, Oh, I know
this to be true because what you don't understand that I do
understand Because I'm pretty sure that none of you in your
lifetime have actually participated and officiated
funerals. I have officiated more than my
share even though I know to some of you I only look to be 25 in
certain fake applause. But I am astonished every time
how the Word of God does exactly what the Word of God says that
it will do and just sharing the scriptures with people how they
are comforted in those times of distress.
The scriptures bring comfort to the.
Afflicted. What an ability that we don't
have. Usually if I try to say
something I mess it up, but you can take the word of God and you
can share a passage. Of scripture with someone in
immediately you see their entire countenance change.
It's as if in the unseen God lifts their arms up as they
lifted Moses arms in the desert. He has a powerful ability
through His Word to bring us comfort no matter the situation
that we face. In fact, Second Corinthians
chapter one verse 3, it says, praise be to the God and Father,
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God
of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we
can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves
receive from God. And where do we receive that
comfort? From the Scriptures.
And what does he say here? The God of all comfort gives us
comfort from His Word so that we can then take His Word and we
can give it to others. What is a beautiful thing to see
in a body of believers like this?
Someone who goes through a trial and they're not sure why they're
going to through the trial, but they find in Scripture those
words of comfort and those words of comfort carrying them all the
way through that trial. And when the trial is over, God
then uses them. They'll be passing somebody in
the hallway and they'll overhear a conversation.
Somebody's had the same diagnosis as them.
Somebody's going through the same difficulty with their
children as them. And they'll take that same
scripture that God powerfully used to comfort them and to give
them strength as they went through this difficult time.
And they will recite that to another believer.
And you will watch as God empowers them and comforts them
by His Word. How His Word?
Has the ability, the powerful ability to comfort the afflicted
no matter what you're facing, no matter what you're going
through. You know, even the lost people
understand this because just prior to the moments of death,
you know who they call for? They're in that hospital to come
by that bedside chaplain. If that chaplain's a believing
chaplain, what is he going to do?
He's going to take the scriptures and he's going to sit
down by that bed and he's going to recite the word of God to
them, giving them comfort in that dark time.
You know how I know that the lost world knows that the word
of God comforts us. And someone passes away who's
one of the first people that they call when they're making
Funeral arrangements. They call me and they don't call
me because I'm entertaining and I tell good stories and I'm
funny. They call me because they want
someone to bring the word of God to that hurting family.
So that they can. Hear comfort from the word of
God and that they can receive that powerful comfort.
His word has the powerful ability to comfort that's.
Why? His word is right.
You've all experienced it in your life.
That moment of darkness, that one scripture verse that pops up
on your phone. Giving you hope so you can make
it to the next day. And the next day He provides you
with another, and another, and another, and He comforts you,
and He carries you by His word over and over and over.
Again, He powerfully comforts his children through the
scriptures. Isaiah 4913.
It says shout for joy, you heavens, rejoice, you earth
burst into song you mountains. For the Lord comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
I'm thankful that is in reference to my God who comforts
me by his word even in my affliction.
He brings comfort to the afflicted powerfully.
The psalmist said trouble and distress have come to me.
There's affliction, but your commands, they're my delight.
I'm comforted by them. I I'm not worried about the
uncomfortable feeling of this affliction and this distress
that I'm going through, Though it's real and though it's
painful, I find delight in God's Word because it has the powerful
ability to comfort me in those difficult times.
He goes on and he says in 144, your statutes are forever,
right? He says it again.
They're right. Forever.
Eternally right. And he says give me
understanding that I may live. This is a life and death matter
to him. He says give me understanding of
your word that I may live. Why?
Why would he say it like this? Because not only does God's word
have the powerful ability to bring comfort to the afflicted,
God's word has the powerful ability to breathe alive into
the dead. You don't believe me, Go back to
John Chapter 11 in your Bible. You can flip over there.
You know the story, Jesus, friend Lazarus who was dead and
in the grave fact Scripture says he was already stinking.
He'd been in the grave for so long.
Jesus shows up on scene and there in verse 43 of Chapter 11.
Jesus calls out in a loud voice. Lazarus come out.
And the dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with
strips of linen and a cloth around his face.
And Jesus said to them, take off the grave clothes and let him
go. He didn't need grave.
He didn't need grave clothes any longer.
Why? Because he was alive.
And what made him alive? A wish.
A Hallmark card, No, the very word of God breathe life into
him. When Jesus said Lazarus come
out, that is the same voice that said let there be light.
That is the same voice who spoke everything into creation.
That is the same voice on the day that you were born again
that spoke to your dead soul, quickening you to life so that
you could believe and so that you could trust in Jesus as your
Lord and Savior. And he said, Lazarus, come out.
That is the word of God and the word of God transfers people
from death into life. The psalmist said, Give me
understanding that I may. Live and the Word of God is
spoken. Things come to life.
Oh, you remember Ezekiel. In the valley of dry bones.
And he said, Son of Man prophesied to these dry bones.
He said, can they live? He said, You and you alone,
Lord, know if they can live. He said, preach to them.
What did he preach? He declared the word of God.
And what happened? The bones came together.
The sinews and the muscles came upon the bones.
The Spirit entered into them and knew life was given to them, and
they rose to their feet. A vast army for the Lord.
What a picture. And the word of God is
proclaimed because it has the powerful of ability.
Dead men come alive. Dead women come alive.
Oh, his powerful word, doesn't it resonate with those who are
spiritually deaf? Oh, just as Lazarus was already
dead, he couldn't have heard the word of Jesus Unless Jesus
quickened his ears to hear come out, He was already gone.
He'd not just passed out. He'd not just swoon.
They had already wrapped him in grave clothes.
He was. Dead.
The same for us spiritually. We can't hear the Word of God
until by the Word of God, our deaf ears are unclogged and we
hear the truth for the very first time.
And the truth is that we are dead in our sins and in our
transgressions, but we can be made alive in Christ Jesus.
The truth is that we are wretched and we are pitiful, and
we are poor and we are blind and we are naked.
But He allows us to hear that. We would hear His call out of
that darkness as He ushers us into His marvelous light by His
powerful word, resonating to those who were once spiritually
deaf, allowing us to hear the things of God clearly, to hear
the Word of God clearly as it is proclaimed.
The Spirit then opens our ears to the truth.
He empowers us to believe and to repent.
And in that moment we are born again and we are saved forever.
Why? Because of the powerful Word of
God that breathes life into the dead.
Isaiah 2918 says in the day, in that day the deaf will hear the
words of the scroll, and out of gloom and darkness, the eyes of
the blind. We'll see.
Oh, if you're in Christ, you were living that, aren't you?
The word of God proclaimed, opening your deaf ears and
opening your blind eyes so that you can see your need for Christ
and Him doing just as His Word says that He does, saving all
who turned to Him and call on Him.
Isaiah 35 five, it says it again and reference to the same thing.
Then will the eyes of the blind be open?
The ears of the death deaf unstopped?
What are you saying? The God, through His Word, has
the power to breathe life into deaf ears so that they can hear,
so that he can then breathe. Breathe.
Life into the dead soul so that it can live.
He regenerates the spiritually dead.
Ephesians 2 verses one through 5.
I'll read it as quickly as possible.
It says, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and
sins. He knows me exactly, doesn't he?
Dead. He didn't say kind of dead.
A whole lot of bad and a little bit of good.
No, you were spiritually just as dead as Lazarus was physically.
He said whence you used to live when you follow the ways of this
world and of the ruler of the Kingdom of the air, the Spirit
who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
And he says this so that we all understand we're in the same
boat. All of us lived among them at
one time. Among who the depraved because
that's what we are apart from Christ.
He's just gratifying the cravings of our flesh and
following his desires and thoughts like the rest.
We were by nature deserving of wrath, describes me to AT that
in my sin, doing only sinful things deserving of the wrath of
God. But verse 4 because of his great
love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with
Christ, even when we were dead in transgressions.
It is by grace you have been saved.
And how did he do this? The proclamation of the word of
God as the gospel went forth. It has the powerful ability to
open the deaf ears. And to open the blind eyes, and
to breathe life into the dead soul, so that they will come to
life in Christ. Because He loved us and He gave
Himself for us that we would hear the word of God and that we
would be made alive. I pray today that you would hear
the Word of God and see its powerful ability even call some
of you who were spiritually dead this morning and to raise you to
spiritual life and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, forgiveness
of sin and eternal life that He promises.
God's Word is right because of its powerful ability.
I know it to be right because I have witnessed time and time and
time again, not only in my life, but in the lives of many of you
and so many others who in the Word of God went forth life
transpired, new life and eternal life for all those who believe
and trust in Jesus Christ, surrendering to Him as their
Lord, and they're saved. Have you experienced the
powerful ability of God's Word to comfort us, to bring comfort
in our affliction and to breathe life into the dead?
Do you know this power personally?
He has the right to say what is right in the Word of God because
His Word has the powerful ability to bring comfort to the
afflicted, breathe life into the dead.
So I wrap this up to the believer.
May we clearly see you today that God's Word is right.
There is no room to compromise in regard to that for anyone,
for anything. God's Word is right.
May we stand with the apostle Paul as he does in Romans
chapter 3 verse 4, when he says, let God be true in every man, a
liar. Let us see who is true and let
us side with him and side with His word on every issue.
Though we may become afflicted, though we may have to suffer,
though we may have to face persecution, many have faced
death because they stood in the fact that God's Word and God in
his word is absolutely, imperfectly right.
Do you believe God's Word is right?
You're awful quiet. Do you believe God's Word is
right? Then to the believer, I say
this, live like it. It's that simple.
If you really believe that the word of God is right, live like
it's right. There is no room for compromise.
There is no room for negotiation.
Let God be true and every man a liar to the unbeliever.
May you recognize that God's Word is right just as well
today, and know that His Word is right when it declares that all
who have not believed in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will
face the eternal wrath of God and the justice of God in hell
for all eternity. I don't say that to scare you.
I proclaim that though it'd be a scary thing, it's true.
And it's. Right.
And how do I know that it's true and it's right?
Because we've already established that God's word is
true and right, and God has declared this, that all who
depart from this world. Will perish for all eternity
because they have not surrendered to Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior of their life. Now you see what Scripture says
is right. It is right when it says that we
are all sinful. There's none righteous, no, not
one. There's no one who seeks after
God. It is right when it says that
we've all fallen short of the glory of God.
And we need to repent and to turn to Christ for forgiveness.
God's Word stands right, and I pray that you would believe that
today, that God would in His Word reveal to you your need for
Jesus Christ because you are a Sinner.
That you would in desperation call upon the only name under
heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved, and that is the
name of Jesus Christ. Knowing that the Word of God is
true, that whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. In your desperation, upon seeing
your sinful condition, upon seeing the deserving wrath that
you will face in hell, may you run to the feet of Jesus and cry
out for His mercy, and know that He is faithful to save all who
come unto Him. Oh, may the Spirit open your
eyes today and open your ears to hear the truth.
May He quicken you to life so that you can and so that you
will believe. Jesus plainly said this.
I am the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the
Father but by me. Come to Jesus today and be
saved. Let's pray together.
Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to you, thanking you for
your word, thanking you that it is right.
Father, forgive us when we square up to You in opposition
based on our opinions or our feelings for our agendas.
Forgive us. May we see today that You have
every right to be right and You are right on everything that
Your word has declared, and You are perfect and righteous in
every area. Let us rest in that.
Let us trust in that. But I pray for the soul who's
here today, who's not trusted in the perfect righteousness of
Jesus Christ to save them and cleanse them from their sin.
Lord, I pray today that you, by your grace, would draw them unto
yourself for salvation, that they would repent.
Turn to you and we'll give you all the praise for it in Jesus
name, Amen. You've been listening to Key
Life Fellowships Pulpit Ministry podcast.
Join us each week for more teaching from God's Word.