True Blessing from God, Part 5

I love that song. It's based on Revelation 19. It begins by telling us about how all heaven breaks forth in praise as a result of all the devastation that's taken place on the world. How God himself has destroyed all the unbelievers because of their unwillingness to repent and to obey him. And he's just about to return to set up his kingdom and to rule and reign to fulfill all of his promises to Abraham, all of his promises to David. And amidst all that devastation about the Lord, a warrior coming to destroy all the ungodly, heaven breaks forth in praise, giving glory to his name because he truly is almighty.

He truly does reign and he is worthy of praise for all that he has done. It's a great passage of scripture, Revelation 19, as it talks about the coming of the king. Let's pray together. Father, we thank you, Lord Jesus, for the truth of your word. We are so blessed to be able to understand the future. Oh, we don't know all the details, but we know where we're going because we know what the word of the Lord says. And we are grateful, Lord, that we can believe in the one who rules over all, who truly is the king of glory, the Lord, the mighty conqueror, the Messiah of Israel.

I pray, Father, that we as a people of God would truly be in tune with all that your word says, that we would be able to live out the truth of your word on a regular basis. Oh, Lord, please help us by your grace and by your mercy to honor your beautiful name through our lives. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our soon coming king. Amen. There comes a time in the life of every preacher, I would assume, because it happens in my life, that there is something that begins to be a heavy burden upon your heart and soul.

And as that burden begins to increase, you want to be able to share it with the people that you have the opportunity to teach and shepherd and watch over on a regular basis. The topic that we're looking at is my burden. That burden is that you would experience the true blessing of God, that you would be able to experience from God the blessing he wants to give you because you have listened to his word and have obeyed his word. That's why we've taken time out in Luke 11 verses 27 and 28 to help you understand what that true blessing is, because I really want you to experience the blessing God wants to give you in your personal life, in your family life, in your ministry life, in your church life.

I want you to experience from God firsthand his blessing upon your life. I am saddened over the number of people who so easily are willing to forfeit God's blessing because they will not listen to what he says, nor will they obey. And yet this has always been the issue. It just doesn't begin in the 21st century. It's always been the issue. In fact, the Lord God said to the prophet Ezekiel these words thousands of years ago. But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the Lord.

And they come to you as people come and sit before you as my people. God says to Ezekiel, they talk a lot about you in the marketplace.

In fact, everywhere you go, on the corners of the streets, on the walls of the people say, come, let us listen to the prophet Ezekiel. He is an eloquent man. Let us go hear what the message of the Lord is. And so they come to you as people come, God says.

And then he says, they hear your words, but they do not do them. And then he says, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth. And their heart goes after their gain. And behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument. For they hear your words, but they do not practice them. So when it comes to pass, as it surely will, then they will know that a prophet has been in their midst. God says, oh, they love to hear the words, Ezekiel, that you say.

You're like one who sings with a beautiful voice. You're like one who plays on a beautifully fine-tuned instrument. Oh, they love to hear it, but they just refuse to obey. They refuse to practice the word of the Lord. But when that word comes true in their lives, as it most surely will, then they will know, but it will be too late. Oh, they'll know that a prophet was among them. It's almost as if God says, you know, there's going to come a time where they're going to finally hear what you have said and realize that because they did not practice the truth of the word, they will experience the desolation in their lives.

But it will be too late. But they will know that truly it was a prophet who spoke those words. Oh, if I could tell you the number of people over the years that have come to me and said, if only I would have listened to the word of the Lord and then done what God's word said, how different my life would have been if I just would have listened and obeyed. Folks, that's where true blessing lies. And that's the blessing that God wants to give you. And so we've spent time looking at the discipline of listening, because it's important that you listen quickly, quietly, openly, reverently, gratefully to all that God has said.

And once you understand the discipline of listening, because it truly is a discipline, then there comes the duty of living, the practicing of the precepts, the living out of the truth. And we told you to live, you must live it freely, volitionally, not compulsively, but freely. And you do it internally from the heart, not outwardly, just ritualistically, but really it comes from inside the heart. It's truly where my heart is. And then you do it fully, totally, not partially because partial obedience that we saw last week is as idolatry and is as wickedness to God.

And so you want to do it fully. And yet there's more to living God's word. I want to live it freely. Yes. I want to live it internally. Yes. I want to live it fully, but I also want to live it number four, constantly, constantly. It becomes the habit pattern of my life. I want it on a daily basis. I don't want to fully live what God says for me today and then partially live it tomorrow.

I want it to be a constancy in my life, continually in my life. Listen to what Paul said to those in Philippi, in Philippians chapter two, verse number 12, he says, wherefore my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. He commended them for their obedience to God, their continual obedience, not just when he was among them, but after he left, they continued doing the word of the Lord. There was a continual obedience there. The Psalmist said it this way in Psalm 119, Psalm 119, verse number 112.

He said this, I have inclined my heart to perform by statutes forever, even to the end. There is a continual obedience. It's not that there's today, I want to obey you and maybe I'll do it tomorrow, maybe I won't. There's a constancy in our lives that says, Lord, I want to obey your word forever, even to the very end. That's important because that's where true blessing lies. Paul would say these words to those in Thessalonica, first Thessalonians four, finally then brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you receive from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God, just as you actually do walk.

In other words, you receive the instruction and not only did you receive the instruction about how to walk and please God, you do do that. You do it in your lives. That you may excel still more. And then he says in verse nine, now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. For indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in Macedonia, but we urge you brethren to excel still more. He would write them.

He would tell them, you walk with the Lord, you obey the Lord, but I want your walk to excel still even more. Go beyond where you're already at. That's what God has for us. He wants us not only to obey him today, he wants us to obey him forever because that's where true blessing really lies. In fact, over in the book of Colossians, Colossians chapter one, it says this in verse number 21, and although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet he has now reconciled you in his fleshly body through death in order to present you before him, holy and blameless and beyond reproach.

If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard. The continuance of obedience is the highest mark of one's salvation. The continued obedience of the believer is truly what sets him apart from those who nominally hear the word of God and nominally obey the word of God, who get on the Jesus bandwagon and then fall away. You continue in that word. So not only do you freely obey and not only do you internally obey from the heart, but you do it fully and you do it continually because you want to honor the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our obedience is to be a continual act toward our God on a regular basis because we love him so. And not only continually, but you do it cheerfully. That's number five. You do it cheerfully. You don't do it grudgingly. You don't obey God and say, well, you know, okay, honey, I, I gotta, I gotta love you as Christ loved the church. So get over here and let me love you.

That doesn't go over very well with your wife. Or you, or you tell you, you tell your kids, you know, okay, okay, okay, kids get over here. I got to spend time in the word with you. So get over here and sit down and I'm going to tell you what the word God says.

You know, it doesn't go over so well. There should be a joy about your life. So you obey cheerfully, right? Listen to what the word of the Lord says. Second Corinthians nine verse number seven.

Every man is to give accordingly as he purposes his heart. So let him give not grudgingly or necessity for God loves a cheerful giver. For instance, so let's say it comes to giving. God wants us to honor him with the first fruits of our increase, right?

Proverbs chapter three. So we, we give to the Lord, but when we write our check, we write it with joy. When we give to the Lord, we, we give with joy. We don't say, well, you know, I got to give to the Lord. So here it is. And with, with clenched fists, we just barely want to let go of that change in the, in the, in the offering basket as it goes by. But instead we do it cheerfully. We really want to give to the Lord. We don't want to sow sparingly. We want to sow bountifully so that we can reap bountifully, right?

But you do it out of a joyful, joyful heart. Listen to what Paul says in Philippians four, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. You know, we're going to talk about this a little bit on, on, on Wednesday night, but you know, it's amazing to me that if you ever listened to the words of the Christmas songs and the songs that we sing, but we just don't do, we sing about joy to the world, but we have no joy. Why is that? We sing about the hope and fears of all the years have been met in thee tonight, but we have no hope.

Why is that? When we sing about Christ Jesus, the Savior of the world. I mean, if you listen to the Christmas songs and as, as secular people sing the Christmas songs, knowing that Jesus Christ is the land that was sacrificed for the sins of the world, yet they don't believe and trust herself to him as the only means of their salvation. We sing a lot of songs that have no meaning in our lives whatsoever. Just kind of go give it lip service. And the Bible says that we are to rejoice in the Lord always.

And again, I say rejoice. Well, when we obey God's word, we are to obey it cheerfully, joyfully. There should be an excitement about obedience to God. Listen to what the Psalm has said. Psalm 119 verse number 14, I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches. Now I want you to compare your attitude toward obedience to God with your attitude toward, toward your boss when he gave you a raise last. You know, we get excited about a raise, but are we excited about obedience to the word of the Lord?

The Bible says in Psalm 119 verse number 16, I shall delight in thy statutes. I shall not forget thy word. The Psalmist says, I am so excited about your statutes that I am not going to forget what you said. And then he says in verse 24, thy testimonies also are my delight. They are my counselors. I am so excited about your testimony that they are which, they are the things which guide me from day to day. They are my counselors. And then he says over in verse number 35, make me walk in the path of thy commandments for I delight in it.

In other words, he wants God to make him obedient to his word. He wants God to make him obey his word. He says over in verse number 70, verse 69, the arrogant have forged a lie against me with all my heart. I will observe thy precepts. Their heart is covered with fat, but I delight in thy law. Verse 77, may thy compassion come to me that I may live for thy law is my delight. Verse 111, I have inherited thy testimonies forever for they are the joy of my heart. Verse 143, trouble and anguish have come upon me yet thy commandments are my delight.

Think about that. Trouble and anguish have come upon me yet thy commandments are my delight. So many times when trouble and anguish come, what consumes us? Sorrow, does it not? Sadness, depression. Yet the psalmist says, thy commandments are my delight. No matter what takes place around you, the constancy and joy comes from obedience to God's word. The psalmist would say in Psalm 174, I long for thy salvation, O Lord, and thy law is my delight. Is God's word your delight? Do you enjoy obeying what God says?

Do you enjoy sharing your faith because God wants you to speak to others about Christ? Do you enjoy giving to the Lord because God wants and loves a cheerful giver? Do you enjoy obeying your parents because God wants you to honor your mother and father? Do you enjoy doing those things? Because if we're going to experience true blessing from God, it comes because there is an inner joy that happens because of my obedience to God. There is a delight in learning to submit to the statutes of our Savior.

We obey cheerfully. We obey continually. We obey fully and totally. We obey internally from the heart and we do it freely because God's commands are not burdensome. And lastly, you obey energetically. There's an energy behind your obedience. There's a tenacity behind your obedience. There is a zealousness behind your obedience. You truly do it with all that you have. Ecclesiastes 9 tells us that whatever your hand finds to do, you do it with all your might. That is, when you are involved in the ministry of the church, you do it with all your might.

You don't do it half-heartedly, right? I mean, you can't go to work and do your work half-heartedly and your boss keep you employed in that position. He'll fire you, right? And so when you go to church, you're working for the Lord. You want to give it all you have. When you go home to your family, you want to give it all you got. So you give everything you have to your family. I know a lot of men who give everything they have to their work, but they give nothing to the family. They give a little bit to the family.

You should be pouring all your energies into whatever ministry God has for you. In any place of leadership God has for you, you do what God says energetically from the heart.

There's energy behind that. You know, your wife knows whether or not you love her with energy, doesn't she? She knows whether or not you really love her. She can see it in your eyes. She can feel it in the kiss, right? I mean, let's be honest, right? She can sense it in your behavior because there's energy behind your love for her. Your kids know when you love them, right? Your kids know. Your kids know when you love them. There's energy behind that. I remember just a couple nights ago, I had to spank my youngest, Avery Shea.

I know, don't feel sorry for her. Don't do that. But she was disobedient. So I just took her into the room. I said, okay, now listen, you must understand that your disobedience has led to me having to spank you. And tears are just strolling down her eyes, just strolling down her eyes. And I'm fighting back just to want to extend grace and mercy and say, oh, just go ahead and do it. But I knew I couldn't do that because she had been disobedient. So I said, you know, I'm going to have to spank you.

So turn around, grab your ankles. That's what we do in our house, you know, turn around, grab your ankles, you know, and I spanked her. And boy, the tears just came rolling down her eyes. I said, okay, now there's a rule in the house, you got to cry. You can cry, but you got to cry quietly. See, you can't cry loud. You can cry, but you just can't cry loudly. You got to cry quietly. That's the rule we have. So she cried quietly. And I said, you know, when you're ready, you can come out, you can come out of the room.

So a little bit later, she came out of the room. That night, we were going to watch a movie with just the girl, me and the girls. And so as we began to watch the movie, I was laying on the floor. She came down, she put her pillow right next to me, and she brought her blanket over, and she put it around her and me, and she reached over, and she put her hand on my cheek, and she says, oh, daddy, I just love you so much. And I said, oh, baby, I love you too. And then she put her hand on my tummy, and she says, oh, daddy, I love your belly.

And I said, well, I love your belly too, you know. But she just snuggled up right next to me, and cuddled up right next to me, and just loved on me after I had spanked her. You know, it's interesting how children respond to discipline. When it's ministered in love and kindness, as much as I could be kind when I'm spanking my children, but you know, it's interesting to see that their response to the parent's obedience to the Word of God is exactly what God says.

Discipline your child, the Bible says, right? And you will not drive them away. You will not. If you don't discipline, guess what? They'll go away. This will. Read the book of Proverbs. And so as you begin to experience the blessing that God wants to give you as a parent in your parenting responsibilities, you begin to see in the eyes of your children what God is doing. All that to say is that, you know, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. There should be passion behind what you do.

Psalm 119, again, says this in verse number four. Psalm 119, verse number four. Thou hast ordained thy precepts that we should keep them diligently, or literally with energy. We should keep the precepts of God with energy. We should want to do what God says, not just joyfully, but with energy driving us to obey the Word of the Lord.

Listen to what the Bible says in Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12, verse number nine. Let love be without hypocrisy. In other words, let your love be genuine. Let it be sincere. How do you do that? Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Give preference to one another in honor. In other words, give, lift others up. Make sure you give of yourself to them. And then he says, not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. In other words, Paul is almost as if he knows that when you begin to be devoted to one another in brotherly love and giving yourself to one another, letting your love be genuine, not hypocritical, you're going to want to lag behind in your diligence.

You're not going to want to really do it with all the gusto you can do it with. So he says, don't do that. Don't become slothful in your diligence. In other words, be fervent, he says, in spirit. Be boiling over in spirit with your ministry because you're doing it for the Lord. You're serving the Lord. You're serving the Lord. So you ask yourself, am I submissive, ladies, to my husband as to the Lord with all of my energy? As husbands, do we love our wives as Christ loved the church with all of our energy?

When we go to work, do we go to work to honor the Lord and glorify his name with all of our energy? No matter what your job is, no matter where you work, no matter what your boss has for you that day, you do it joyfully. You do it with energy because you want to do it for the name of the Lord God who has saved your soul. Our obedience to God needs to be with energy. That's why the writer of Hebrews said these words in Hebrews chapter six, verse 11. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

There's energy behind our obedience. And that's how God wants us to live our lives. It is a duty to live in obedience to God. It's a discipline to listen to all that God has to say. And with that discipline comes the responsibility of putting into practice all that God says on a regular basis.

And I do it freely from the heart, fully, continually, and energetically. That should mark our lives. That's how we're to live our lives. Which leads us to point number three, the delight in learning.

You're going to learn a lot of things because you listen and you begin to live what God says. But there is great delight in learning. And I want to talk to you about the beginning of your blessing. Oh, your blessing will blossom over time, but there's a beginning part to your blessing. And I want to be able to explain to you for the rest of our time this morning and next week, and we'll conclude next week, I promise. But we will help you understand the delight in learning all that God has for you.

Because there's so much joy there. What's really truly is the beginning of the blessing, not the end. It's just the beginning of the blessing. And oh, if I could just explain to you how much God wants to bless your life. All He asks, all He asks is that you listen and obey. And that's it. I told you before, it's not rocket science. It's not like you can't do that. You can do that because God has enabled you with His Spirit to accomplish His will. And so He wants you to listen to what He has to say.

And how many times did He say to Israel in the Old Testament, Oh, if you would have listened to my voice, if you just would have obeyed my voice, but they would not listen and they would not obey. Let me help you understand the delight in learning.

Number one, when you begin to listen and to live out the principles of God's Holy Word, His Word becomes more adored.

His Word becomes more adored all throughout your life. You begin to adore God's Holy Word. The Bible says in Psalm 138, verse number two, thy word, O Lord, is magnified, even as thy very name.

God's Word is magnified even as His very name. He wants His Word to be adored by His people. The Bible says in John 4, verse 23, that God desires true worshipers, those who worship Him in spirit and those who worship Him in truth.

So you worship Him from the inside out in your spirit, in your soul, and you do it according to the truth of God's Holy Word because that's when God is adored the most. In fact, the Psalmist said in Psalm 119, verse number 161 and 162, these words, the Psalmist said, princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of thy words. No matter what the persecution is, the Psalmist said, I stand in awe of what your word says. He truly adored the Word of God. I rejoice at thy word as one who finds great spoil.

He would stand in awe of the Word of God. He learned to adore every single Word of God. Now, we ask ourselves, why is God's Word adored in the lives of His people? Well, simply this, number one, because God's Word reveals His identity.

That's why. It reveals His identity. How do we know who God is unless we read His Word, right? So God's Word is adored because it reveals who Jesus Christ really is. It reveals to us the identity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We know that the Word of God is the revelation of God. We even know there's a book in the Bible called The Revelation of Jesus Christ. In fact, if you read that, just that book alone, you will know more about who Jesus Christ is than if you read all the other 65 books together because that one book is designed to reveal to you Jesus Christ in all of His glory.

That's why it's called The Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is the unmasking. It is the unveiling. It is the apocalypsis, the unveiling of Jesus Christ for who He really is. And so when I read the Word of God, when I listen to what He says, and I obey what He says, I begin to adore more of what the Word of the Lord says because it reveals to me His identity. And the greatest thing in all the world is to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. To know Him in such a way, not that you have some information about Him, but that He actually rubs off on you because you have truly come to know the greatness of His character.

I adore His Word because it reveals to me His identity. I adore His Word because it radiates His glory. It radiates His glory. It radiates His majesty. That's why on the Mount of Transfiguration, remember that? When the Lord God unzipped His flesh and Peter, James, and John were able to see the glory of the Lord and the beautiful picture of what God wanted them to see as they began to understand more of the identity of their Master. But He revealed His glory to them. And Peter would later say in 2 Peter 1 that we have a more sure prophetic word.

He says, we are eyewitnesses of His majesty. We are eyewitnesses of His glory. But we have a more sure prophetic word. The Word of God reveals to us the glory and majesty of our God. And when you open the Word of God, 2 Corinthians 3, 18 says, we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror, the what? The glory of the Lord are being transformed from one level of glory to the next level of glory, even as by the Spirit of God. This Word is adored because it radiates His majesty. It radiates His glory.

It reveals His identity. It reiterates His authority. Why do I adore the Word of God? Because it reiterates His authority. Romans 3, 2 says these are called the oracles of God. 2 Timothy 3, 16 says that all scripture is inspired by God. These are God's words. So it really reiterates His authority over my life. So it makes me question why as a child of God I would ever want to rebel against the authority of God. These are His words. He has given us His Word in print that we might learn to subject ourselves to it.

And therefore, I adore His Word because it reiterates His authority. Number four, it reflects His purity. God's Word reflects His purity. Do you want to know why it's so hard for people to get involved in Bible study and to study God's Word is because it reflects His purity. And the more you read the Word of God, the more you listen to the Word of God, the more you set your heart on obeying the Word of God, the more you see your impurity. You get kind of grips with that, don't you? It reflects His purity.

He is the Holy One of Israel. He is the spotless Lamb of God. And I begin to see as Proverbs 30 says, every Word of God is pure. It's clean. It's true. It reflects His purity. That's why it's adored. God's Word is adored because it resolves His mystery. It resolves His mystery. First Timothy three talks about the mystery of godliness.

The Bible in John one speaks about the mystery of the incarnation, how God became flesh. The Bible in First Thessalonians four talks about the mystery of the rapture of the church.

First Corinthians 15, the mystery of the rapture of the church, how we are translated from this life into glory.

The Bible speaks about the mystery of the church. Something concealed in the Old Testament, now revealed in the new. That's what a mystery is. The Old Testament saints never saw it, but it's revealed in the New Testament. Therefore, it resolves the mystery of God, the mystery of the bride, the mystery of the church, the mystery of the incarnation, the mystery of the rapture, the mystery of godliness. It's all resolved as I begin to listen to what God's Word has to say. That's why I adore His Word.

That mystery now is resolved for me. It also is adored because it recounts His mercy. God's Word recounts His mercy over and over again. It's because of His mercies that I am not consumed. I begin to see the mercy of God. Every day I see the mercy of God. Every day I pass an unbeliever, I'm reminded of the mercy of God. Are you? I am. Every time I sin and don't die, I'm reminded of the mercy of God. Because the wages of sin is what? Death. So I'm always reminded of the mercy of God. Well, I adore God's Word because it recounts His mercy.

Psalm 136, it's because His mercies never change. They endure forever. Psalm 103 speaks about that. Titus 3.5 talks about how we are saved by His mercy. Ephesians 2.4 says that God is rich in mercy. And all throughout the Bible, I adore His Word because it recounts His mercy over and over again. That's why it's adored. And then it reinforces His sovereignty. That's why His Word is adored. It reinforces that my God is in complete control of everything. There's nothing He's not in control of. He has even designed the wicked man for the day of evil.

God's in control of everything. And so because of that, I adore His Word because now I begin to see how my God controls everything. He controls calamity, disasters. He's in control of everything. Nothing happens outside His sovereign control. Nothing happens. So I can know that all things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to His purposes because God has my ultimate good and His ultimate glory on the line. And therefore, I adore God's Word because it reinforces His sovereignty.

I adore His Word because it records man's destiny. It records man's destiny. I have no doubt where I'm going to spend eternity. None whatsoever. John says, these things are written that you may know that you have eternal life. There is no doubt in my mind where I'm going to spend eternity based on what God's Word says. And for the unbeliever, we know we'll spend eternity because He will deal out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of God 2 Thessalonians 1 verses 7 and 8.

You know what God's Word says. But I adore His Word because it records man's destiny. I also adore God's Word, lastly, because it ratifies His sufficiency. It ratifies His sufficiency. That is, God is sufficient to meet every single need that I have. The Bible says that we are complete in Christ.

In other words, because I'm a believer, I am complete. If I'm not a believer, I'm incomplete. If I am a believer, I am complete because Christ dwells in me. And I adore the Word of God because it helps me understand the sufficiency of God. The Bible says these words in Psalm 19.

The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise and simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing in the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true. They are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them thy servant is warned.

In keeping them there is great reward. That's why he says, who can discern his errors, acquit me from hidden faults, also keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins. Let them not rule over me, then I shall be blameless and I shall be acquitted of the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. God's Word is completely sufficient for everything. Everything I need is in the Word of God. Everything. There's nothing I need outside God's Word.

There might be some things I want outside God's Word, but there's nothing I need outside of God's Word. It's all written right here. And that's why I adore his Word, because I know that when I begin to sit and listen and to study and to read and obey, that God's Word is sufficient to help me in every situation. That's why his Word's adored. And so the delights of learning begin, they begin the blessing process, because his Word becomes more adored. When his Word, listen carefully, becomes more adored, the world becomes less attractive.

That's point number two. The world becomes less attractive. The world only becomes less attractive when God's Word becomes more adored. That's important. The Bible speaks about how we are not to love the world. We're not to even love the things that are in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. They're all going to pass away. He does what God endures forever. He lives forever. We're not even to become a friend of the world. With our leaders on Midnight's, we are looking at the state of the church.

What's the plight of today's church? Helping them to understand where the church in America is going. And as we look at the church, we've looked at laziness in the church.

We looked at phoniness in the church. And now we're looking at worldliness in the church. The church has become more and more like the world. And yet that's because God's Word is not adored in the life of the people of the church. Because when his Word becomes more adored, the world becomes less attractive. Right? The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. Years ago, 1880, that's a long time ago. None of us were alive at that time. At least I don't think so. 1880, Bishop J.C.

Ryle wrote a book called Practical Religion. Religion. Spurgeon said that Mr. Ryle was the greatest asset to the church. The greatest asset to the church. Because he spoke so eloquently about the condition of the church. 1880, this is what he said about the church. He says the subject of the world and worldliness, specifically 2 Corinthians 6, 17, come out from among them and be separate. The subject perhaps was never more important than it is in our present day. This is 1880. There is a widely spread desire to make things pleasant in religion, to saw off the corners and edges of the cross, and to avoid, as far as possible, self-denial.

On every side, we hear professing Christians declaring loudly that we must not be narrow and exclusive, and that there is no harm in many things which the holiest saints of old thought bad for their souls. That we may go anywhere and do anything and spend our time in anything and read anything and keep any company and plunge into anything and all the while be very good Christians. This, this is the maxim of thousands. In a day like this, I think it good to raise of a warning voice and invite attention to the teaching of God's word.

It is written in that word, come out from among them and be separate. So in 1880, Bishop J.C. Ryle in the Church of England began to fight against worldliness that had infiltrated the church. What would he say today in 2010 about the church? He goes on and says this, I appeal, he says, to any old Christian who keeps his eyes open and knows what is going on in the churches. I ask him whether it be not true that nothing damages the cause of religion so much as the world. It is not open sin or open unbelief which robs Christ of his professing servants so much as love of the world, the fear of the world, the cares of the world, the business of the world, the money of the world, the pleasures of the world and the desire to keep in with the world.

This is the great rock on which thousands of young people are continually making shipwreck. They do not object to any article of the Christian faith. They do not deliberately choose evil and openly rebel against God. They hope somehow to get to heaven at last and they think it proper to have some religion. But they cannot give up their idol. They must have the world. And so after running well and bidding fair for heaven while boys and girls, they turn aside when they become men and women and go down the broad road which leads to destruction simply because they love the world.

Wow. 1880, Mr. Ryle recorded those words. And yet where is the church today where the world has become so attractive to the Christian or should I say to the professing Christian? Because the more God's word is adored, which it is in the life of the believer, then the world becomes less and less attractive. Realizing there's nothing there to meet my needs. There's nothing in the world that will care for my soul. There's nothing in the world that will transform my life. I lay up for myself treasures in heaven where my God himself dwells.

That's why James said that pure religion and undefiled before the father is this, that one visits the widows and orphans and their affliction and keeps himself unspotted, unstained, unblemished from the world. That's pure religion, James says. That's true religion. There's a lot of false religion out there, but there is one true religion and that true religion keeps you unstained by the world. You don't want to go there because a friend of the world is an enemy of God. And so as we begin to understand the delight in learning about our God, we realize his word becomes to us more and more adored and the world becomes less and less attractive.

This is where the blessing begins. So let me close with this. If that's not appealing to you, that God's word becoming more and more adored in your life and the world becoming less and less attractive to your life, then there is a problem in your spiritual condition. There is a problem with where you stand with the Lord because that is the blessing that God wants to begin in your life. So it blossoms to a place where you are experiencing the full blessing of God throughout your life, throughout your family, throughout your ministry, throughout your work, because God touches it in a unique and substantial way because he is the king of the universe.

I know you want blessing from God. I know you do. I know you want to experience that true blessing, but it takes a discipline. It takes the discipline of listening. It takes the duty of living so you can experience the delights of learning. Let me pray with you.

Father, thank you for your word, the greatness of it. What a joy, Lord, to know that your word is sufficient for all things and that, Father, we can read your word and we can memorize your word and study your word and never really truly understand all of who you are because the knowledge of God is something that will never take place aside of eternity. And yet, Father, we pursue you. We want to be like you. We want to honor you. Lord, I pray for every person here today that, Father, they would experience the blessing of God because they want to listen and they want to observe all of your word.

Give them the grace and the mercy to have that great desire to follow all that you say. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our coming king. Amen.