God's Word: Prescription for Peace

Thank you once again for the opportunity we have tonight to study the Bible What a great treasure we possess in your word And we thank you Lord that you allow us to gather together and to use this part of the week to invest into the word of God And we pray that tonight you'd open our hearts and minds to understand what it is you have for us, that we might live a life of great peace before the world, that they might better come to understand the great Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ our Lord We pray in your name, Amen

Tonight we're in Psalm 119 again, Psalm 119 verse number 161 and following the 21st section of this great Psalm, I hope that you've had a great time in our study. I hope that you've learned a lot. I have It's been a great joy for me to study what it is God's word says about His very own word And tonight we're going to talk about how God's word is the prescription for peace The great prescription for peace is the word of God Remember what Jesus said way back in John chapter 14 verse number 27 He said, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you

Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful Christ says to His men that the peace I'm going to give you is my peace And the peace that I want you to have is not anything the world can do for you The world can't give peace World can't produce peace Only God can do that He is the Prince of Peace And so the kind of peace that God gives, listen carefully, is a peace that is not victimized by situations and circumstances The peace that God gives attacks, aggressively attacks events and circumstances and remains calm That's the peace of God And Christ says, my peace I give unto you

What kind of peace is that? Remember when there was a storm in the boat, he was asleep The disciples were awake They were fearful He was calm Christ says, that's the kind of peace I want to give unto you And so we know that Philippians chapter four, verse number seven says this, the peace of God surpasses all comprehension It will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus The peace of God Well, in order to have the peace of God, you must be at peace with God You see, you need to understand there's objective peace and there is subjective peace Objective peace is my standing before God

Subjective peace happens in situations before man So we know that Romans five one says that we've been justified by faith in Christ And so having been justified by faith, we have peace with God Well, in order to have the peace of God, you must be at peace with God And the only way you can be at peace with God is to be justified by faith And so the Bible says in Colossians chapter one, verse number 20 or 19, for it was the father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in him and through him to reconcile all things to himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross through him

So because of the blood of Christ, we can be at peace with God because the world is at enmity with God, they can experience the peace of God Well, because we've been justified by faith, we have the peace with God And if you have the peace with God, then you can have the peace of God See, the peace that we have experienced is given to us by God It's a given peace And that peace is not only given to us, it's a godly peace because Philippians says it's the kind of peace that surpasses all comprehension, all human understanding So it's not a normal kind of peace It's a supernatural kind of peace

So therefore, it's a godly peace It's a given peace It's a godly peace and it's a guarded peace Why? Because the Bible says in Philippians 4, 7, that peace will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus So it's a kind of peace that guards your life And yet we find in ourselves so many times uneasiness, tension, no peace And the psalmist wants us to understand the prescription that God gives in His Word for peace, subjective peace in your life and mine The Bible says in Isaiah 48 that there is no peace for the wicked

So we know the wicked by last week's sermon, the wicked are the ones who are far from God The ones who are far from God are far from the law of God They want nothing to do with God and His Word That's the wicked person Well, they can't experience peace because they're at enmity with God They're at war with God But because we understand the blood of Christ, that it was shed for our sins and that Christ died in our place and we appropriate that sacrifice on our behalf, then we understand what it means to have peace with God And because we're at peace with God, we experience the peace of God

And Christ wanted His men to experience that peace. I want you to experience my peace, the kind of peace that I have when facing negative circumstances I'm at ease We need to have that kind of peace, don't we? So the psalmist explains to us how it is we can experience that peace Now, if you're not born again this evening, you're never going to understand the peace of God You'll never, because you don't have peace with God, you're not going to understand the peace of God It begins because we've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb

And because we've been redeemed by that blood, we are at peace with God Therefore, we can experience the peace that He wants to give us The unbeliever can't experience that They'll always be uneasy But we can experience that peace The psalmist gives it to us this evening So let's read it together. I'll read the odd verses You read the even verses as we've done throughout the last 21 weeks together Verse 161, Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of thy words. I hate and despise falsehood, but I love thy law

Those who love thy law have great peace and nothing causes them to stumble My soul keeps thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly We come to Psalm 119, verse number 161 And now we begin to understand who was persecuting the psalmist, where his turmoil, his trouble was coming from We come to a point in the psalm where he is able to experience or express to us his experience of peace Great peace, he says, in verse number 165, or excuse me, yeah, 165 Those who love thy law have great peace and nothing causes them to stumble

Well how is it this man who has delineated for us his troubles for all these weeks come to a place where he experiences peace? And he tells us where that persecution comes from He says, princes persecute me without cause Those in authority, those in power have persecuted me And yet at the end of Psalm 119, or toward the end here, he's expressing to us the peace that he has You see, he has gone through difficulty, he has gone through intimidation, he has gone through persecution, affliction, depression, disappointment, all kinds of those things have been thrust upon him

He tells us now it comes from those who are in authority, and yet he states, because I love the law of God, I have great peace, great peace You see, God's word never returns void God's word always accomplishes its purpose in your life and mine It might not happen the way you want it to happen, and it might not happen in the time frame you want it to happen, but it always happens The psalmist can say with a joyful spirit, you know, I want to let you know that I've gone through persecutions Even those in authority, the princes, have come against me

But you know what? I want to let you know I love the law of God, and those who love the law of God have great peace, because as you go through the psalmist's words in Psalm 119, he tells us how much he loves God's word He just keeps telling us over and over and over again Last week I told you ten times, he says, I love the word of God He loves it so much that that word has taken root in his life, and now he can say with great joy that I have great peace, because I love the law of God

And, you see, how is it he comes to that point? What is it about this man that made him be at peace amidst all the negativity in his life? Against all those who have come against him, what causes him to be at peace? Well, number one, if you're going to be at peace and understand the prescription that God has for peace for your life, if you're going to have the peace that surpasses all understanding, if you're going to have the peace that Christ wants to give you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives give I unto you, but my peace I give, then you must revere God's word

That's number one You must revere God's word Listen to what he says He says, Prince, persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of thy words In other words, he says, my heart trembles at your words In the Hebrew, it's a word that means to shake If you're ever going to have the kind of peace that Christ has, there needs to be a reverence for the word of God He stands in awe at God's word So important. A number of years ago, I did a series called Trembling at God's Word, because so very few people do

Christ says, Isaiah 66, verse number two, to this man will I look, to him who is broken and of a contrite heart, and who trembles at my word You ever want to know if God's looking at you? You ever want to know if God is showing favor upon you? You ever want to know if God is looking down upon you and showing favor toward you? It's those who are broken and of a contrite heart, and who tremble at his word Yet isn't it true that very few people shake under the authority of God's word? They just don't do that They read it as they are reading another novel

They read it as if they're reading People magazine They read it as if they're reading Sports Illustrated They just read it as another magazine or another book, but they don't shake uncontrollably under its authority Psalms did He says, those in authority on earth might persecute me, but I have no fear of them But I do fear the authority, and tremble under the authority of God's holy word See, that's what caused him to stay true to the word of God throughout his entire life No matter what anybody else said to him, or how they dealt with him, it's because he revered the word of God

He held it in high esteem He had a broken and a contrite heart, and he trembled under the authority of God's holy word Why did he do that? Why do you do that? Why do I do that? Why do Christians tremble under the authority of God's holy word? Number one, it's because it reveals the identity of God It reveals his identity Think about it this way Those in the scriptures who understood Jesus Christ trembled with fear Those who didn't, just saw him as another man But God's word is that which reveals his identity

He told the Pharisees in John 5, you search the scriptures, for in them you think that you have eternal life, but in your searching you've missed me How do you search the scriptures and miss Christ, miss the Lord of the universe? But they did, see? And it's the words of God that speak of him, that paint the picture of him We've told you before that the word of God is a revelation about who Jesus Christ is The theme of the Bible is a salvation provided to us by a God who is the deliverer And it all happens through his son Jesus Christ, our Lord He is the theme of the Bible

And yet the book of Revelation is that one book, the unveiling, the apocalypsis, the unmasking of the identity of the Lord And we've told you before that there are two books of the Bible that Satan doesn't want you to read and study Now he doesn't want you to read any of the 66 books, but there are two in particular he wants you to stay away from One is Revelation and the other is Leviticus The book of Leviticus is about the holiness of God, how holy he is And the book of Revelation is about the character and nature of Jesus Christ, our Lord

And Satan knows that if you read the book of Revelation, you're going to become holy as he is holy He doesn't want you to do that If you read the book of Leviticus, you become holy as he is holy If you read the book of Revelation, you begin to see the character and nature of Jesus Christ, our Lord He doesn't want that to happen But yet Revelation is bracketed by blessings in Revelation 1-3 and Revelation 22-7 that blessed are those who read and hear the words of this book Because it reveals to us the identity of Christ

There are 32 different titles in the book of Revelation that describe Jesus Christ. 32 of them And just to do a Bible study on those 32 titles, explain to us and expose to us Jesus Christ our Lord Remember King Josiah? King Josiah became the king at age 8 in the 18th year of his reign or when he was 18 years of age The text isn't really clear So he could have been 18 or he could have been 24 or 26, thank you My math wasn't that good Either way, he's a young man

And when Hilkiah came to him and read to him the book of the law, he tore his clothes and repented and shook uncontrollably under the authority of God's Word Here was a man who became king at 8 His father was the most wicked king in the history of Israel And yet at age 8, he was able to maintain a proper perspective of the Lord And through his teenage years, he began to grow in his walk with the Lord And when he heard God's Word read, it changed his life And God blessed him because of his response to the Word of God

Because, you see, when the Word of God was read, it revealed to him the identity of the Messiah, the identity of the God of the universe It revealed to him all that he needed to know for life and godliness And so because God's Word reveals his identity, it causes us to revere him for who he is Not only does it reveal the identity of God, it also radiates the majesty and glory of God That's why God's Word is revered God's Word is adored God's Word is that which causes us to tremble It radiates his majesty, his glory

Remember Peter in the Mount of Transfiguration when he's up there with James and John and Christ unzipped his flesh and manifested his inner glory Peter would record these words in 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased

And we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain He's describing his time on Mount Hermon with James and John And we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain And so we have the prophetic word made more sure to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts But know this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation

For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God Peter says, listen, there's something more important than my experience on the Mount of Transfiguration And that is God's holy word It is more majestic than what I saw on that day when the flesh of my Lord was unzipped. I see in his word a great and wonderful glory See God's word radiates his majesty When you see him, you see him in all of his glory And when you see him, you shake You begin to fear him even all the more

And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 that when someone comes into your church and the word of God is spoken and the word of God is preached and they come into conviction, they fall on their face before God and begin to worship him Why? Because the word of God is that which reveals the identity of God and radiates the majesty of God Also the word of God is revered because it reiterates the authority of God It reiterates the authority of God Matthew 28, Christ says, all authority, both in heaven and in earth have been given unto me It reiterates to us the authority of Almighty God

Romans 3, 2 says that these are the oracles of God This is what God has said And we live in a society where no one wants to bow to a higher authority No one wants to be accountable to somebody else, but God is that authority And when God speaks, we would do well to listen to what he has to say And over and over again, the Bible reiterates, thus saith the Lord, because he is the authoritative one And that would cause anyone to tremble when God speaks And so God's word is revered because it reveals his identity, radiates his majesty, reiterates his authority, reflects his purity

This word reflects the purity of Almighty God And an unholy man, when confronted by a holy and pure God, can't help but tremble, can't help but shake for fear The Bible says, Psalm 19, 8, the commandment of the Lord are pure Proverbs 30, verses 5 and 6 says, every word of God is pure Psalm 99, 3 says, let them praise thy great and awesome name, for it is holy Psalm 111, verse number 9, holy and awesome is his name If God's word is that which reveals his identity, it will automatically reflect his purity, because he is a pure and holy God

And so when we open the word of God and begin to read it, we see a holy God And the more we see a holy God, the more we see how unholy we are, and that causes the humble and the broken and contrite heart to tremble with fear. A psalmist was that kind of man Oh, princes might persecute me Ah, but I tremble at your word. I fear your word. I don't fear them. I fear your word Why? Because it reveals the identity of God It radiates the majesty of God It reiterates the authority of God, reflects the purity of God It reinforces the sovereignty of God It reinforces the sovereignty of God

Psalm 99, 1, the Lord is in his holy temple Let all the people tremble Because God is in his temple, because God is on his throne, we need to tremble Here's a declaration This is a true fact God stands as the supreme sovereign ruler of the universe, and your duty, based on that declaration, is to tremble before him The Bible says over in Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes chapter 3, or, excuse me, Ecclesiastes, yeah, 3, verses 14 and 15, these words, it says, I know that everything God does will remain forever There is nothing to add to it There is nothing to take from it

For God has so worked that men should fear him Solomon said, there's nothing you can add to what God does There's nothing you can take away from what God does And why does God do what God does? He does it so you'll fear him, that's why What happens in life happens so that man will learn to fear God

He would go on to say, over in Ecclesiastes 7, these words, verse 13 and 14, consider the work of God, for who is able to straighten what he has bent? In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider, God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not discover anything that will be after him God has control He is sovereign And the word of God reinforces the fact that he is the sovereign ruler of the world He has it all under control Romans 11, 36, everything is from him, through him, and to him Everything Everything that happens comes from him

Everything that happens must go through him, because everything that happens will ultimately come back to him He's God And God's word reinforces that And when you read the Bible and understand prophecy and understand the end times and understand all about the crucifixion of the Messiah, the coronation of the Messiah, you begin to understand that it was all under the control of the Messiah Under God, because he is the sovereign ruler of the universe And when you realize that God controls everything, you fear him You shake uncontrollably under his authority, because he rules over everything

God's word is revered, because it resolves God's mystery It resolves his mystery That's something unique about God The mystery is something concealed in the Old Testament, revealed in the New You go through the New Testament, you realize that in Colossians 2, there's the mystery of the incarnation Second Thessalonians 2, the mystery of iniquity First Corinthians 15, the mystery of the rapture Revelation 17, the mystery of Babylon Ephesians chapter 1, the mystery of the church Ephesians 5, the mystery of the bride Romans 11, the mystery of Israel's unbelief God's word resolves his mystery

And what was concealed in the Old Testament, now revealed in the New Testament, shows us the sovereignty and the providence of Almighty God God's word is revered, because it recounts his mercy It recounts his mercy over and over again He's long-suffering, he's graceful, he's full of loving-kindness We are saved by his mercy, and when we realize our lost condition, we, like the publican in Luke 18, beat upon our breasts and say, oh God, be merciful unto me, a sinner And we shake because of the mercy of God We are so undeserving of anything, and God grants us mercy

But number eight, the reason God's word is revered and men tremble under its authority is because it records man's destiny It records man's destiny We know that Jesus said in John chapter 12, verse number 48, these words, he who rejects me and does not receive my sayings, has one who judges him The word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day God's word records man's destiny If you don't accept and believe the words that Christ says, then you will die in your sins

If you accept and believe what God says about your lost condition and his substitutionary atoning and work on the cross, then you can be set free from your sin But first, our second Thessalonians chapter one, verse 68, talk about those who do not know God and those who do not obey the gospel of God, their end, they will be separated from God forever So why does man shake under the authority of God's word? It's because it records man's destiny It tells you where you will spend eternity Based on what you do with the words that he has spoken And that's why the psalmist has peace

Because he reveres God's word He trembles and shakes under the authority of God's word Not the princes that persecute him Not those who come against him Because he knows that God has them in control That God uses even the wrath of man to praise his name He understands that Listen, if you want God's prescription for peace, it happens, number one, when you begin to revere God's holy word Number two, it happens when you begin to rejoice in God's holy word He says this, verse 162, I rejoice at thy word as one who finds great spoil

As one who looks for a treasure and finds that what he's always longed for, that's how I rejoice in your word. I look at your word and I realize that as I see it, I embrace it, I obey it, that is what I want And he begins to rejoice in the word of God Listen, if you want to experience the peace of God in your hearts, you need to rejoice in what God's word says That's what the psalmist did The Bible says in 1 John 1, verse number 4, I write these things that your joy may be full These things are written so you can experience the fullness of joy

Christ said in John 15, verse number 11, these words, these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full Now, Christ says, I speak these things so my joy, the joy that I experience, will be in you and that your joy will be made full And so the psalmist learned to rejoice in God's holy word Listen to Psalm 43, Psalm 43, verse number 3, O send out thy light and thy truth, let them lead me, let them bring me to thy holy hill and to thy dwelling places

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and upon the lyre I shall praise thee, O God my God The psalmist says, Lord, send out thy light, send out thy truth, let me see your word When I see your word, it will lead me to you and when I see you, I will rejoice with exceeding joy Folks, that's what the word of God does, you see God's word exposes us to God and when we see God, we have joy And that's why the psalmist could rejoice in God's word, because it led him to God

It paved the way for him to see his God and as much as it caused him to tremble, it caused him to experience the greatest of all joys, because he was able to see the fullness of his God He says, I rejoice at your word Over in Psalm 112, verse number 1, we have these words, Praise the Lord, how blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments See, the one who fears the Lord is the one who greatly delights in the commandments of God

See, we need to be more joyous, folks, we, you know, we as Christians sometimes can be kind of dull, but we need to be the most joyous people there are, because it's the word of God He says, I rejoice over that word as one who finds great spoil You know, for most of us, if we won the lottery tomorrow, we'd be a lot more happier than if we held the word of God in our hand tomorrow Think about it

You know, as one who finds great spoil, I rejoice in your word, it has brought me such great joy, why? Because I know when your word goes forth, it leads the way, it leads me to the holy dwelling places of God, and when I see God, I rejoice with exceeding great joy And that's what the shepherds heard in Luke chapter 2, right? We bring to you good news of great joy, great joy The good news brings great joy, why? Because there's been a Savior who's been born And that Savior is the God of the world, and He produces joy in the life of those who believe in Him

He rejoices in God's word, and that includes praise Verse 164, seven times a day I praise Thee because of Thy righteous ordinances Now, that doesn't mean that He does it at seven ritualistic times throughout the day It means that there's something continuous about it The word seven is the word of completion or the word of perfection So it talks about the perfection of His praise It happens throughout the day It's not something He does just on Sundays

It's something He does seven times a day, throughout the day, I sing praises to Your glorious name, I praise Thee, why? Because of Thy righteous judgments, Thy righteous ordinances Again, He says, I rejoice over Your word, why? Because Your word leads me to You And when it leads me to You, the only response I can have is praise Whether it's sung, whether it's shouted, it's praise to my God for all that He does You know, you ever been depressed? You ever been down? Well, the answer, the Bible's answer to that is to praise the Lord Look over in Psalm 42

The psalmist says, verse five, why are you in despair, O my soul, and why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence The psalmist says, in the midst of my despair, in the midst of my downward spiral, I'm going to praise the Lord Now folks, that's what we should be doing Remember what Paul said over in Philippians chapter one, verse number twelve? Philippians one, twelve, he says this, now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel

What are our circumstances? He's in prison And because I'm in prison, the gospel is spread So that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole Praetorian Guard and to everyone else And that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord, because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear And of course, in Philippians, Paul is saying rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice Paul's in prison He says, listen, my imprisonment has led to the spread of the gospel

My imprisonment has led others who know the gospel to have more courage to speak it without fear He had the right perspective Why? Because he knew that his circumstances were able to spread the good news They weren't going to squelch the good news, they were going to spread the good news He believed that He lived that And so the psalmist says, princes persecute me without a cause Those in authority come against me There's no cause for that But I'm not worried because I stand in awe of the word of God. I stand in awe of the word of God

And because I stand in awe, I revere God's word, I rejoice in all that God's word says It brings great joy to my heart because I see God, and God is bigger than those who persecute me And when I see God, it causes me to praise his glorious and holy name, to shout for joy for who he is and what he's done That's the psalmist That's the way we should be He says these words in verse 163, I hate and despise falsehood, but I love thy law Verse 165, those who love thy law have great peace Verse 167, and I love them exceedingly

He just can't say it enough. I just love the law of God. I love it exceedingly, beyond what I can ever express in words That's how I love the law of God Well, why does he love the law of God so much? It's because he reveres it so, and it causes him to rejoice and praise to his God You want peace? God's prescription for peace is number one, revere my word Number two, rejoice in my word And number three, listen carefully, reject all those who oppose my word Reject those who oppose my word He says this in 163, I hate and despise falsehood, but I love thy law Now falsehood is more than just lies

We know Satan is the father of lies, right? We know that But in the context, the falsehood is put in contrast with that which is true, the law of God So, that which is false is the false religion That which is false is that which Satan spreads through his lies to get people to go away from the truth of God's holy word And so you reject all those who oppose God's word Why? Because you love the law of God so much You know, we don't do that today We're kind of all encompassing

Let me give you a couple of illustrations. A couple of illustrations, because I think it speaks well to what is happening today One month ago, December 2007, on Fox News, Chris Wallace interviewed Joel Osteen He asked this question He says, tell me what you think about Mitt Romney Is Mitt Romney a Christian? Is a Mormon a true Christian? Here's the quote from Joel Osteen Well, in my mind, they are Mitt Romney has said that he believes in Christ as his Savior, and that's what I believe So you know, I'm not the one to judge the little details of it So I believe they are

Mitt Romney seems like a man of character and integrity to me So Chris Wallace says, so for instance, when people start talking about Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, and the golden tablets in upstate New York, and God assumes the shape of a man, do you not get hung up on those theological issues? I probably don't get hung up on them, Mr Osteen says, because I haven't really studied them or thought about them And you know, I just try to let God be the judge of that. I mean, I don't know Well, in essence, he doesn't know anything, yet he's on TV and makes millions of dollars Figure that

Tells you a lot about America, doesn't it? Doesn't know much about anything But he believes that Mitt Romney is a Christian because he's a Mormon, because he believes in Christ Folks, we have a problem It's getting worse. I received a letter this week that's very telltale-ing about American evangelicalism It's a letter written concerning the Yale Center for Faith and Culture They wrote a letter to the Islamic world on behalf of all Christendom asking forgiveness from the All-Merciful One It's an alternate name for Allah in the Koran

They went on to establish that Christians, Jews and Muslims all genuinely love and serve one and the same God of love The letter then draws theological truths regarding God's character and central commands from the Koran Muhammad is referenced and quoted as a true prophet of God and his life is upheld as an exemplary life of love, faith and righteous service unto God on par with Jesus Christ It is noteworthy that they carefully made no reference to the deity of Christ or the trying nature of God in the entire letter

The authors close with this hyper-humble, gospel-convoluting, biblically bankrupt statement which says, and I quote, if we fail to make every effort to make peace and come together in harmony, you correctly remind us that our eternal souls are at stake as well, end quote In other words our eternal souls are at stake if we are not one with the Islamic world Now the key is who signed this letter? I have the names of all those who signed that letter One, Leith Anderson, the President of the National Association of Evangelicals Lynn Green, the International Chairman of Youth with a Mission

Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church Rev Roy Oxnavad, Director of Muslim Ministry, Billy Graham Center, Wheaton, Illinois Doug Penoyer, Dean, School of International Studies, Biola University Rev Robert Shuler, of course Dr John Stott, Michael Trenier, International President of The Navigators Rick Warren, Pastor, Saddleback Church You mean to tell me all these men believe that Allah is one with Jesus Christ? All these men believe that that's exactly the truth? That Jesus Christ is on par with Mohammed? That's what they signed That must be what they believe

You see, we stand by and what do we do? The Psalmist says, I hate and despise falsehood Why? Because I love that law You love the law of God, you're going to speak out against what those men signed, and those men, because they signed heresy See, we just can't pass them off as, well, they're just good authors, good pastors, they got big churches, they must be good men No, they're heretics if they signed that letter Heretics. I don't care what organization they're with They have signed something that is blatantly opposed to the truth of the gospel

Where are the people who say, I hate and despise all that which goes against the law of God? Where are those people? I hope that that's you and me Because, you see, if you're ever going to be able to experience the peace of God, you must reject all that opposes the word of God You must Because God's word is that which you love more than anything else So, Psalmist gives us a prescription Number one, revere God's word Number two, make sure you rejoice in God's word Number three, reject all that opposes God's word And number four, rest in the God of the word Verse 165 and 166

Those who love thy law have great peace Nothing causes them to stumble. I hope for thy salvation, O Lord Great peace have those who love thy law Wow Great peace Not just a little bit of peace, but great peace You know, I've come to realize that the more I love the law of God, the better I handle everything else that comes in my life. I really do. I'm able to handle it better Because my perspective changes based on who God is God's word actually does a transforming work in your life and mine The Psalmist says that those who love thy law have great peace See, he's experienced that

He's experienced that And nothing shakes them up Nothing causes them to fall over Nothing causes them to stumble Why? Because they maintain that commitment to God And he did And he has He's maintained that commitment What did Christ say? Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you Learn from me, and you will find rest for your souls If you're learning from me, you'll find rest for your soul Peace for your soul Your soul will be But if you're not learning from me, you'll cease to have that rest It comes from me

That's why over in the book of Proverbs, it says these words Proverbs 3 Proverbs 3, verse number 17 It says, the way of wisdom are pleasant ways And the paths, all her paths are peace Listen, if you follow the way of wisdom, then the path that the way of wisdom leads you is peace Complete peace Verse 33 of chapter 1 of Proverbs He who listens to me shall live securely and be at ease from the dread of evil He who listens to me Wisdom, knowledge, instruction If you listen to the word of God, your life will be secure And you'll be at ease from the dread of evil

There'll be a peace that consumes you as an individual Proverbs chapter 4, verse number 18 Great peace have those who love the law Nothing causes them to stumble Listen to Proverbs 4, verse number 18 The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn that shines brighter and brighter into the full day The way of the wicked is like darkness They do not know over what they stumble My son, give attention to my words Incline your ear to my sayings Do not let them depart from your sight Keep them in the midst of your heart For they are life to those who find them and health to all their whole body

Watch over your heart with all diligence For from it flow the springs of life Put away from you a deceitful mouth And put devious lips far from you Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established Do not turn to the right nor to the left Turn your foot from evil In other words, when you follow the word of wisdom, when you follow the instruction of God, and don't turn to the left or to the right, listen, you won't stumble You'll stand erect You'll stand strong

And that's why the psalmist says that those who love the law, great peace just encompasses them And nothing causes them to stumble Why? He says, Lord, I hope in your salvation He rests in the God of the word He's completely trusting the God of the word He is hoping, he is trusting, he is imparting his soul, his life, into God and his word and God's salvation of his life He is completely at rest in the God of the word And that's where we need to be

Entrusting our souls, as Peter said, 1 Peter, we talked about Sunday morning, 1 Peter 4, verse number 19, entrust your souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right What happens when you go through a trial? What happens when you go through difficulty? Entrust your soul to the one who created that situation and you keep doing what the right thing is Watch and see what God does And that's the psalmist He is resting in the Lord He is resting in the God of the word He can do that because he rejects all those who oppose the God of the word Because he rejoices in God's word

He reveres God's word And he resolves to obey all of God's word Verse 167, 168, My soul keeps thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. I keep thy precepts and thy testimonies, for all my ways are before thee All my ways are before thee He resolves to obey God's word Listen, remember David, King David, when he sinned with Bathsheba? No peace in his heart, right? No peace Because he did not resolve to obey God's word He disobeyed God's word Listen, when you disobey God's word, there is no peace There's that constant turmoil

You know why? It's because the spirit of God is working on your heart, convicting you of your sin And there's this battle going on in the inside You fight against the repentant spirit because you want to hide your sin That's what David wanted to do He wanted to hide his sin He thought he could get away with it, but he couldn't And the Bible says that he drenched his couch with tears and that God's hand was heavy upon him until he repented He had no peace See? A lot of times we don't experience the peace of God because we haven't resolved to obey God's word in its entirety

He says, I'm going to keep your word. I'm going to do what your word says, all of it, not just parts of it, all of it, because I love it exceedingly Therefore, Lord, I'm going to resolve to obey your word Listen, you make that resolve, ah, great peace envelops your soul Why? Because if you're wrong and you've sinned, you've got to repent and get right And God's always there to forgive, and God's always there to restore the broken soul That's what he does Isaiah 26.3, thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee See, the Hebrew says, thou wilt keep him in peace, peace

Peace, peace? What's peace, peace? That's unbelievable peace That's what it is He can't express what he wants to say, so he just reiterates peace Thou wilt keep him in peace, peace whose mind is fixed, is stayed on thee That resolve to say, Lord, what does your word say? That is what I'm going to do And in obedience, experience the peace of God The psalmist said in Psalm 16, verse number eight, I have set the Lord continually before me, because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken

And the psalmist said in Psalm 119, how did he say it? He says, I keep thy precepts and thy testimonies, for all my ways are before thee In other words, he's saying the exact same thing the psalmist said in Psalm 16 Lord, because all my ways are before you, I have nothing to fear. I cannot be shaken The psalmist said in Psalm 16, Lord, David said, I have set the Lord always continually before me He is my focus My resolve is to follow him My resolve is to obey him My resolve is to serve him And I'll never be shaken The psalmist says in Psalm 119, God's presence is always before me

He sees it all What do I have to fear? All I got to do is follow what he says That's God's prescription for peace And if you live in turmoil, uneasiness, go back and ask yourself, am I revering God's holy word? Do I tremble under its authority? Do I rejoice in the God of the word? Because God's word leads me to him. I see his face It causes me to praise him and love him all the more Do I reject all that opposes God's word? Do I reject it all? Refuse to follow it? Do I rest in the God of the word? Because my hope is in his salvation

And have I resolved to obey completely all that God has said? Because that's God's prescription for peace Let's pray Father, I thank you, Lord, for your word, the truth that's there, the joy we can have because of it Thank you for those who are here tonight. I pray, God, that your word would take deep root in their lives. I pray for those who one day will listen on the radio by way of CD or tape. I pray for them, whether they're in their car, at home, whether they may be, that, God, your word would take deep root in their lives as well

And that, God, we'd learn to live in peace because we serve the God of peace And we know what your word says And we resolve to obey all that it says That we can truly say that we love your word exceedingly Way beyond anything else in this world Because it's more precious to us than everything else We pray in Jesus' name, amen.