Do You Love Gods Truth?

(Psalm 119:161-168)

I. Introduction.
A. Orientation.
This morning,
We considered the importance
Of not being ashamed of Gods truth
We saw that its possible
To be embarrassed
About what God says
Whether His Gospel,
His moral standards,
Even how He says He created the world.

Where does this embarrassment come from?

It can come from a lack of faith
Simply not believing
That what He says is true.

We do need to be careful here.

Without faith, the author to the Hebrews tells us,
Its impossible to please God.
Youll never come to God
Unless you believe that He is,

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And that He rewards
Those who diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6).
Without faith,
You cant be saved,
Because youll never trust
In a Savior you dont believe exists
To save you from the consequences
Of an imaginary judgment.
Without faith,
Youll never be able
To stand up for Gods truth
In a world that will hate you
Just for believing it,
Not to mention,
Speaking about it.

What gave Jesus the strength

To obey Gods Word,
And to teach others to do the same
In the face of those who hated it?
Why was He willing to do this
Even though He knew
They would kill Him for it?

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Why wasnt Paul ashamed of the Gospel?
Why did he preach it to everyone he could?
Why was he willing to go to prison for it?
Why was he willing to die for it?

Why did Onesiphorus go to Rome

Searching for Paul
That he might minister to him,
Knowing that to do so
Might identify him as a Christian
And that he might end up
In the same prison as Paul?

It was because they believed Gods truth.

They were so convinced
That they were willing
Even to lay down their lives for it.

Thats why youre willing to do the same.

If you know Jesus,
You have the same conviction,
Because you have the same Spirit.
Remember, we saw Jesus warning this morning
That if you dont have this willingness
You really dont know Him.

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful

generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the
glory of His Father with the holy angels (Mark 8:38).

Standing up for the Gospel

And for Gods truth
Because you are convinced its true
Is one very obvious way
You can know that you know Jesus.

But being ashamed of Him,

Of His Gospel or of His teachings,
Because you dont believe them
Is one very obvious way
You can know that you dont.

B. Preview.
What ultimately makes the difference
Between these two states?
Isnt it the attitude of your heart
Towards this truth.

If youre going to take a stand for Gods truth

Without being ashamed,
The Spirit must give you this conviction
But the way He does this

Is by giving you love for the truth.

Thats what we see in our passage this evening.

If you say you love God,

You must also love His truth
All of it
These two cant be divided.
If you love God,
You will love His Gospel
His Law,
Promises,
Prophecies
And you will stand up for Him
In a world that hates Him.

If you dont love His truth

As weve already seen
If you are ashamed of the Gospel,
Or of His holy standards
You really dont love God,
Which is why Jesus will be ashamed of you
On the day you stand before Him.

Its important for you eternal wellbeing

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That you have the heart of psalmist.
And so compare
What he says this evening
With whats in your heart,
And then respond accordingly
If you find this love,
Thank God for His mercy;
But if you dont,
Then pray for His mercy.

So what does the psalmist say is true

Of his own heart towards God and His truth
And what should be true of yours
If you know Jesus?

II. Sermon.
A. First, you will fear God and not man.
Princes persecute me without cause, but my heart stands in awe of Your words
(v. 161).
When Jesus sent His disciples out to preach,
He said, Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but
rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt. 10:28).
One fear cures another.
If youre truly afraid of God
Then you wont be afraid
Or at least, as afraid

Of man.

Thats what the psalmist has in view here.

To stand in awe of Gods Word
Is to fear it,
To revere it,
To tremble before it,
As you would before Him,
Because it is His Word.
Solomon tells us in the Proverbs
This is where knowledge and wisdom begin (Prov. 1:7; 9:10).

If you fear God,

Then it doesnt matter
What man can do to you,
Or what man threatens you
Whether a peer
Or the President of the US
You will still hold fast to Gods Word.
The psalmist writes,
Princes persecute me without cause
But my heart stands in awe of Your Words.

How can you stand up for Gods truth

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And not be ashamed (or afraid) to do so?
You must fear God
And His Word
Particularly His threatenings against sin.
If you do,
You wont be as concerned
Whether others approve what youre doing
But only that God does.

B. Second, if you know Jesus, you will not only fear His Word, but treasure it.
I rejoice at Your word, as one who finds great spoil (v. 162).

Is it possible
To fear and treasure something
At the same time?
Are you afraid of God?
You should be.
He is infinitely holy and just
And has your soul in His hands.

Do you also love Him?

You should.
Because He is the greatest,
Most glorious, most perfect,
Most holy and beautiful Being

That does or could exist.

You can both fear and love Him at the same time.

The same must be true of His Word.

You should fear what He says
Because of His threatenings against sin,
But you should also love and treasure it
As the greatest blessing
God has given to you,
Because it tells you
How you can be reconciled with Him
By trusting His Son,
And how you can walk with Him
In holiness as His sons and daughters.

How can you stand up for Gods truth

In a wicked world that hates Him
And not be ashamed?
You can by seeing His Word
As a great treasure
That others should know and love as well
One that God has entrusted to you
To give away to others.

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C. Third, if you know Jesus, your hatred of the worlds ways will provoke you to
an even greater love for Gods Law.
I hate and despise falsehood, but I love Your law (v. 163).

How can you love God

And the perfect expression
Of His holy character in the Law,
And at the same time
Love anything that is contrary to it?
You cant.
Solomon writes,
The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the
perverted mouth, I hate (Prov. 8:13).
The psalmist writes, Hate evil, you who love the LORD, who preserves the souls
of His godly ones; He delivers them from the hand of the wicked (Psalm
97:10).
Living in this world
You should experience
What Lot did when he was living in Sodom.
Peter writes, For by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living
among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless
deeds (2 Pet. 2:8).
You should not only hate
The sins of those around you,
Their sins should make you
Love God and His truth more.

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How can you stand up for Gods truth
In the face of a wicked world
And not be ashamed to do so?
Consider how the world
Provokes God to His face
How much He hates the sin
Of this wicked and perverse generation
And how much He is honored
When you stand up for Him.

D. Fourth, if you know Jesus, having Gods Law will move you to praise God.
Seven times a day I praise You, because of Your righteous ordinances (v. 164).

The psalmists fear of God and His Law,

His love for both,
And his hatred of the worlds ways,
Moved him to worship God
Frequently throughout the day
For giving him His truth.

The number seven in Scripture

Often refers to completeness.
David writes, The words of the LORD are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace
on the earth, refined seven times (Psalm 12:6).
God created the heavens

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And the earth in six days,
And rested on the seventh,
Because on that day
He had completed all His work (Gen. 2:2).

If you love God and His Law

It will move you to praise Him often
As often as you should,
A whole and complete number of times
Throughout the day
For giving it to you
For giving you the means
To escape His judgment
That will fall on this world
For all its sins,
And to stand before Him
Holy in Jesus Christ.

If this is your heart towards Gods truth

How could you ever be ashamed
To stand up for it
In the face of this world?

E. Fifth, if you know Jesus, having His Law will give you peace of conscience by
showing you how to avoid sin.

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Those who love Your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble
(v. 165).

One way that Bunyan pictured Gods Law

When he showed it as the rule
The redeemed soul is to follow
In his Pilgrims Progress
Was as a straight and narrow path
That led from the City of Destruction
To Mount Zion/heaven.
To get to the path,
You had to go through the Wicket Gate,
And then to Calvary
You had to come to Christ first,
Before you had the power
To live the life God calls you to live.

Stepping off the path

Represented falling to some sin,
And every time Christian did so
He fell into danger and trouble,
Lost his peace of conscience,
And ended up being disciplined
By His Lord
Until he got back on the path.

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God gave you a conscience

To convict you of sin
Whenever you break His Law
He used it to convince Christian,
When he was in the City of Destruction
When he was in the world
That he needed to get away from that city
To escape Gods wrath;

And He used it to convince him

After he became a believer
To stay on the path,
Or to get back on it when he strayed from it.

The only way

You can enjoy peace of conscience
If youre not a believer
Is by listening to the Law,
Turning from this world and your sins,
And trusting Jesus to save you
If you are a believer
You must listen to the Law
By avoiding sin and sticking to Gods path.

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If the Law/Gods truth

Can produce these blessings
In the lives of both believer and unbeliever,
Then why would you be ashamed
To stand up for it before both?

F. Sixth, if you know Jesus, the hope that God has delivered you from your sin
will move you to keep His commandments.
I hope for Your salvation, O LORD, and do Your commandments (v. 166).

The psalmist likely is looking

To the Lord for deliverance
From his physical enemies,
And we already know
That God promised He would
If he obeyed Him.

But this can be applied

In the spiritual realm as well.

The fear of the Lord,

Love for Him,
Hatred of the worlds sins,
And peace of conscience,
Are all powerful motivators to obey God.

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But so is the hope
Of final salvation
From your spiritual enemies in heaven.
You will only arrive there
If you obey His commandments.

When Jesus was asked, Lord, are there only a few who are being saved?
He answered, Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will
seek to enter and will not be able (Luke 13:23-24).
That narrow door
Has everything to do with Jesus
There is a sense in which
He is the Wicket Gate
If you dont trust Him,
You wont see heaven.

But it has equally to do with repentance

You must obey Him
You must walk on the straight and narrow path
If you are to see heaven.

That path includes not only

Your personal holiness
Pursue peace with all men
And the sanctification without which

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No one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14)
But also your efforts
To tell others about Gods truth
So that they might be saved as well.
Remember how Christian and his companions
Sought to evangelize everyone they met on the path.

How can you be ashamed

To stand up for Gods truth in this world
When it is the only path
That leads to heaven?

G. Seventh, if you know Jesus, your love for Gods commandments will move
you to keep them.
My soul keeps Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly (v. 167).
Weve spent enough time on this to understand it.
But again, if you love Gods commandments this much,
You will keep them,
And you wont find it at all difficult
To stand up for them.

H. Finally, if you know Jesus, the knowledge that God sees and knows all you do
will encourage you to keep His commandments.
I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies, for all my ways are before You (v.
168).
That God saw all he did,

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And knew from eternity all he did,
Further motivated the psalmist
To keep Gods commandments,
And it should motivate you as well.

God sees and knows

All that you do with His truth
Whether you stand up for His Gospel
And His moral standards
Or are ashamed of them,
Whether you obey them
Or dont,
Whether you shine by keeping them
Or hide your light under a bushel by not,
Whether you are salt in the world,
Or whether the way you live
Only promotes ungodliness
In those around you.

The fact that He knows

Should give you the final incentive you need
To live according to His truth
And to stand up for it.
Just remember the eye of the Lord

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Is always on you,
And He either approves
Or disapproves what youre doing.
If youre at all concerned
Of what He thinks of you,
Youll take what Jesus said seriously
And stand up to the world in His name.

If you fear God,

If you treasure His Word,
If you hate the world and its ways,
If are thrilled to be one of the few
Who possess His truth,
If you want peace of conscience,
If you have the hope
That youll one day be in heaven,
If you love Gods truth,
And know that He sees what you do with it,
You will not only submit to Gods truth,
But you wont be afraid to stand up for it
In the face of a world that hates it.

If these things arent true of you,

If you are ashamed,

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Then turn to Jesus
Trust Him to save you. Amen.

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