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[0:00] Well, we're studying the little book, Profiting from the Word, by A.W. Pink. We should know by now that it's one thing to read God's Word and another thing to profit from the Word.

[0:12] It's one thing to memorize Scripture and another thing to really profit from the memory of the Scriptures, to hear preaching of the Word and to profit from it.

[0:24] And how do we know if we're actually profiting from the intake of the Scriptures? Someone tell me. How can I know that my experience today is profiting my soul?

[0:40] All right, by the fruit of it in my life. So we've been looking at the different fruits of the Word of God in our life, how it will affect our relationship with God.

[0:54] How we will come to know God. If we know God, then we're profiting from the Word. How it will affect our relationship to Christ. How it will affect our understanding of sin.

[1:08] How it will affect me in my prayer life. How it will affect good works in my life. In all these ways, we can measure whether the Word of God is really doing any good in our hearts at all.

[1:21] Well, this morning we come to the next chapter. Right after good works is obedience. And so obedience then becomes the barometer this morning by which we are measuring our profiting from the Word.

[1:37] Now before he gets into the seven points whereby we can know that we're profiting from the Word with regard to obedience, he starts out with a more general concern.

[1:52] And I'm going to put it in a true-false format. True or false, every true Christian obeys God's commands. True or false, every true Christian obeys God's commands.

[2:06] False. Alright, you're saying false. Tell me why you say that's false. Well, if we can obey His commands, where would the need of forgiveness be?

[2:18] Okay. So Jim says that's false because if we were able to completely obey God's commands, where would be the need for Christ and forgiveness? So Jim's asking the question, if you mean by obeys God's commands, perfectly obeys, there's none, right?

[2:36] But I'm not asking that question. Because if I were, that's exactly the right answer. There is none who obeys perfectly. But as you read the Scriptures, you find out that there are people who obey God.

[2:52] And the question is, along that vein, true or false, every true Christian is one who obeys God. You want to answer it again?

[3:04] I'll give you first shot. False is wrong. I'm picking on you, brother.

[3:14] That's okay. That's okay. But you're exactly right. We need to understand the issue because one way it is false, the other way it is true. And we're looking at it in the true sense.

[3:25] And A.W. Pink was concerned about that as well. He said, there are many hearers, I'm quoting him, there are many hearers of the word, regular hearers, reverent hearers, interested hearers, but alas, what they hear is not incorporated into the life.

[3:48] It does not regulate their way. And God says that they who are not doers of the word are deceiving their own souls. So Pink was concerned with the Christianity in his day that treated obedience as an option in the Christian life.

[4:07] Well, I'm a Christian. Well, I'm a Christian. Well, I'm not all that interested in obedience. Duties, commandments, you can kind of keep that.

[4:18] I just like Jesus dying on the cross for my sins. I like my sins being forgiven by his blood. And that's what really excites me about Christianity.

[4:28] You can keep the other stuff for yourself. And Pink saw a lot of excitement about people's excitement about the scriptures and about prophecy and about the end times.

[4:39] And yet there was no mark of obedience in their life. And so that was a real concern of his. And I can't remember when our brother went home to be with the Lord.

[4:51] But I think it was, okay, early 50s, 51. You think he'd be concerned today of professing Christians without a concern for obedience?

[5:05] That treat obedience to the commands of God as if they were optional. Where would you point someone in the scriptures to teach that obedience is not optional for the Christian?

[5:20] John 14, 10. Okay, what does it say, Dennis? John 14, he must say, he who has my commandments to teach that he is, he loves me. And John 1, 1 John 5, where it says, this is love to God, who offers my obedience to my commandments.

[5:36] Okay, John 14, 21 was the first reference. And then what was the second reference? 1 John 5, 3. 1 John is an excellent book to turn to, isn't it?

[5:50] As we just studied. Look just at one verse there, chapter 2. There are many of them. Dennis quoted one in chapter 5 and verse 3. But 1 John chapter 2 and verse 4 is probably as blunt as the apostle John knows how to be.

[6:09] The apostle of love. And with that love brimming in his heart, he speaks the truth plainly. 1 John 2 and verse 3.

[6:21] We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, I know him, but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

[6:39] So that's just, yeah, we could spend the rest of the hour just taking verses that say the same thing. But a few verses suffice it to say that the Bible knows nothing of a Christian who doesn't obey the commands of God.

[6:55] Anyone who makes the claim is a liar. But you see, that has been so hushed that it was hushed in Pink's Day, and it's certainly not being preached in ours.

[7:07] But you don't have to read foreign scriptures to find that obedience is not optional. Well, you read through the book of Ecclesiastes, and you come to the end, and he says, now here's the sum of everything.

[7:19] This is the summation of all that we've talked about. What is the sum for man? What is it required of man? To fear God and keep his commandments.

[7:33] My goodness, if that's the sum of all things, then we can't say it's optional. Can we? And what about 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 19?

[7:44] 1 Corinthians 7 and verse 19. Some people were acting as if circumcision in the flesh was something that was so important for a Christian.

[8:00] Now, there is something that truly is optional in this age. But he's talking about this issue. Was a man already circumcised?

[8:11] Verse 18, 1 Corinthians 7. Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised.

[8:24] Now, here it is. Verse 19. Circumcision is nothing. And uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands is what counts.

[8:36] You can't say commandment keeping is optional to the Christian when he says, keeping God's commands is what counts. All right? And then one last verse.

[8:48] Jesus' words. You are my friends if you keep my commands. Okay? So, there is no option. You're not even a friend of Christ unless you keep his command.

[9:01] So, pink begins with that. And I think we've done enough teaching on that that I'm not going to take the time this morning to rehash that any further than what we have here.

[9:13] But we do need to be reminded of it. We live in a day that treats obedience in the Christian church very often as an option. Now, remember, we're not saying that by a man's obedience he makes himself right with God.

[9:27] We're rather saying that one shows that he is right with God by grace, through faith alone, in the merits of Christ alone, by one's obedience. It's the proof.

[9:38] It's the fruit. It's the result of being saved by grace. Well, then, let's look. We're talking about how can we know if we're profiting from the word? Well, number one, a man profits from the word as he discovers God's demands on him.

[9:54] As we discover God's demands on him. God's commands are God's demands, aren't they? Moses didn't come down from Mount Sinai with ten suggestions.

[10:09] If you all would like to consider this, this would be fine. He came down with ten commands. Thou shalt do this. Thou shalt not do that. There's a note of authority in that, isn't there?

[10:23] There's the assumption that someone has authority to make demands on my life. What I do and don't do. And we're profiting from the word when, by reading or hearing it, we come away with a sense that I've got demands placed upon me.

[10:40] That I find in the Bible not only historical accounts to believe and doctrines to accept and promises to claim.

[11:01] But I also come away from the scriptures realizing there are commands to be obeyed. And that is a sign that I'm profiting a right from the word.

[11:13] David said in Psalm 119, 4, you have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. David found that, too, as he read the Bible. As he heard the word of God read and preached that God has laid down commands that are to be fully obeyed.

[11:30] Hundreds of them. You run into them on every page almost. I'm profiting from the word then when I realize I'm a man under obligation to God. I can't sit back and read this book as I do a novel.

[11:46] I can't just kick back in my easy chair and just enjoy a mere intellectual read. A casual spectator where I come and read and hear and then walk away without any further thought.

[12:01] I'd rather see I'm being addressed here. Demands are being placed upon me. I'm being told how to live and how not to live. I'm being called to change the way I live.

[12:11] And if you're experiencing that, it's a good sign. You're profiting from the word as you are being made aware of the demands of God.

[12:22] Second, a man profits from the word when he discovers how greatly he's failed to meet God's commands. And that follows right on the heels of we become aware of God's demands on us and then we become aware how far short we come from meeting God's commands.

[12:42] What do we call that? Failing to meet God's demands. What's the Bible word for that? Sin, isn't it? 1 John 3, 4. Everyone who sins breaks the law.

[12:55] In fact, sin is lawlessness. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's the standard. God's demands on us. And there's the mark.

[13:05] And we see that he's making the demands on us and then we see that we've come short. Another Bible word is trespass. We read in the Bible, no trespassing.

[13:18] And then we see we have stepped over that boundary. So, in other words, we're profiting from the word if we're seeing where we are breaking God's commands.

[13:37] So, if you can read far in your Bible without learning how greatly you failed in this matter of obeying God's commands, then you're deceived. You're not profiting. In the days of King Josiah, the book of the law was found in the temple.

[13:53] It had been lost. Imagine that. You're a priest. And your job is to, in part, to teach the people the law of God. And the book's lost.

[14:05] What have you been doing? That just shows you how low things had sunk in Israel. But then Josiah came to the throne. He was a good king. And he says, clean up the temple and get out the idolatry and sweep up all the trash and renew it and restore it and get it back in shape.

[14:25] And in the midst of all the house cleaning, they found a little book, the book of the law. I don't know if it was little. It was the book of the law. And they brought it to King Josiah and they started reading it to him.

[14:37] And when he heard it, he tore his clothes. His royal robes were torn. He was struck with something. He saw God has made demands on us and we have fallen so far short of them.

[14:51] And he was made aware of it. How? By the book of the law. He profited from it, didn't he? He saw how far short he came from meeting God's demands.

[15:05] I like that 119th Psalm for many reasons. The whole thing is about the scriptures, isn't it? About the word of God. And he praises the word of God all the way through.

[15:17] And you come to the very last verse, verses 176. And what does this man have to say about, that's just been extolling the scriptures and how valuable it is to him?

[15:30] I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands. There's the summation of a man who's looking into the law.

[15:43] And he says, oh, I've strayed. Well, you don't know how far you've strayed until you see the path, do you? And he's been meditating on the path. And so at the end of the whole psalm, he ends with a confession.

[15:57] I've strayed, Lord. Come and seek your straying sheep. He was profiting from the word. And if you come to the end of your devotional reading of scripture in the morning, Monday morning, and you have a sense, oh, Lord, I've strayed.

[16:12] I have not done that. Don't go away saying, what a bummer of a quiet time today. I didn't leave feeling good. I didn't leave feeling better about myself.

[16:25] Pink is encouraging us. You have profited from the word. And sometimes I think that our whole manner of evaluating, whether it be sermons, preaching, or devotional life, needs to be rethought.

[16:44] What makes for a good devotional reading of scripture? What makes for a good hearing of scripture being preached? Not whether I leave feeling good about myself or whether I go bouncing out of here, but it's rather, did I become aware of some of God's demands upon me that maybe I'd forgotten or neglected?

[17:06] Did I see that I've come short of that? Oh, we've profited. We've profited. Be encouraged. Don't be beaten down by that. Rather be encouraged.

[17:17] Pink says, the law must be preached before we're ready for the gospel. The tendency today is to lower the standards of God.

[17:28] So that's what God demands of us. But man's tendency is always to lower the demands. Really, all God really expects of us is that we do our best, right? What's wrong with that?

[17:42] A couple things are wrong with it. Tell me one thing that's wrong with it. To think that all God really expects of us and demands of us is that we do our best. I set the standard, okay?

[17:55] Who defines what is really my best effort? I mean, if we put forth any effort, we'd say, oh, I did my best. Well, that's very open to discussion, isn't it?

[18:10] We often think we've done our best when we haven't. Raj? If we found a spiral, it's just a man who's going to do that much and much. It's just a man's study. Okay.

[18:21] Dave? Our best is nothing but filthy rags. Okay, our best is nothing but filthy rags. We saw that last week. If we're not doing it out of love to God, for the glory of God, and in faith in Jesus Christ, it's just splendid sins.

[18:35] Mar? Mark? We need to go in the county. Okay. That's all we need to do with the best. You've done it. You're back to what Jim said at the outset. Why do we need forgiveness?

[18:46] Why do we need the blood of Christ? Where in the Bible does it say, just do your best? It doesn't, does it? So the standard is much higher. Read the Sermon on the Mount, and you see how high the standard is.

[18:58] Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you'll never enter the kingdom. It's a high standard. Who can enter that? Oh, now you're ready to hear of Jesus.

[19:08] Now you're ready to think about one who can save you from your shortcoming of the law. So if you've seen that you've come short, it's a good thing.

[19:19] And that's not only true of the sinner. When he first needs to come to Christ, why is it important as well for the Christian? That the Christian as well live with the experience of realizing that we've come short.

[19:33] Why is that important for us as Christians? All right? Continually brings us back to Jesus.

[19:43] Do you need Jesus Christ? I didn't ask you, did you need him before when you were a lost sinner? Do you need Jesus Christ today?

[19:57] Do you need him to forgive your sins today? Do you need him as a prophet to teach you the will of God and to teach you what God's demands are? Do you need him as a priest to atone for your sins?

[20:07] Do you need him as a king to rule over you and to help you? Well, the thing that will show you how much you need Jesus is when you see how far short you come of what God demands.

[20:22] So a Christian is never in a more healthy state than when he sees how much he needs Jesus. It may not, as we said Wednesday night, it may not feel comfortable seeing how greatly we need him, how poor and needy we are.

[20:39] But we're never in a more healthy state than when we see how much we need Jesus Christ. So if that's happening from your scripture reading, from your sermon hearing, your memorizing, then you are profiting.

[20:53] Don't despise it. That's good. Number three. So a man profits from the word when he's taught that there are demands God makes, and then that we see how far short we come of reaching those demands.

[21:09] And then thirdly, a man profits from the word when he's taught that God in infinite grace has fully provided for his people's meeting his own demands. There's the demand.

[21:31] And here we are. And in infinite grace, God has provided a way whereby we can meet the demands that he places upon us.

[21:43] Without grace, we're always here. We're always coming short. But God has given us the provision to meet his own demands.

[21:56] Someone used to quote often, was it you, Lou, that would share with us Augustine's command what you will, and then will what you command? Is that familiar?

[22:07] About a few years ago, Don. Okay. I was hoping that was in the fly leaf of your Bible there or something. But something to the effect, God, whatever you command, you then will for me to keep what you command.

[22:23] And that's what Pink is talking about. If in reading the scriptures, you not only see how far short you come, but you come to learn and to appreciate the fact that God has made a gracious provision whereby we can meet the law's demands.

[22:37] So God demands obedience. And then he graciously provides for his people to obey. And he does it in two ways.

[22:48] And to neglect one or the other is to end up in serious error. The first way that God enables his people to meet his own demand is that all the demands God makes of me have been fully met by Christ for me.

[23:08] Christ for me. He became a man. And he didn't just come down a 33-year-old man and go to the cross on the afternoon that he visited us.

[23:19] What did he do before he went to the cross for 33 years? Pardon? He kept the law. He fulfilled all righteousness. Why was he baptized?

[23:30] Did he have any sins? No, but I suffer it to be done, John. He says. I must fulfill all righteousness. So from the moment he's born until he's dead on the cross, his life was one whole life of obedience.

[23:47] Never once broke God's command. So why was he doing that? Because we would need that righteousness. You see, we need to have a perfect righteousness if we're to measure up to the demands that God makes of us.

[24:05] So by trusting in Jesus Christ, all of his perfect obedience is put to my account. And so God looks at my account in heaven and I have an obedience equal to his demands.

[24:19] That's the Bible doctrine of justification. That the righteousness of Christ is put to my account and is received by faith alone. And so I am regarded righteous.

[24:32] I am declared righteous because of the obedience of Jesus Christ. For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also by the obedience of the one man, and the many will be made righteous.

[24:47] Romans 5, 19. But all of that is only one part of this so great salvation. To teach this as if it were all is to preach another gospel for God, who had his son perfectly satisfied the obligations of the law for me, also gives me his Holy Spirit that I might obey the law myself.

[25:10] And this is the second part of this great salvation. His work of salvation in me. And I find that's a convenient handle for me to understand that the two sides of salvation, two aspects that we're looking at, there is what God in Christ does for me, and there's what God in Christ does in me.

[25:33] Justification is something that God in Christ does for me. It's not in me at all. It didn't happen here at all. It's on the record books of heaven. The transaction has been made.

[25:44] I've been counted righteous in his sight. There. But there's another part of salvation. And God never does that without doing this. And it's his work in Christ in me.

[25:55] Remember we saw it in Philippians 2.13, he works in me both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And that's sanctification.

[26:07] It starts at the new birth. A new spiritual nature is given. And one of the things that marks the new spiritual nature when we're born again is we get a whole different attitude toward God's commands.

[26:20] A whole different attitude towards God's commands. Whereas before, we would not submit to God's law, neither indeed could we. Nope. Nope. Now we're given a heart and a nature and a will and an affection that says yes, yes.

[26:38] Now that's in me. That's a change that took place in John Heaney's mind, the way I think of God's laws, his demands, my affections, my emotional response to his commands, my will, how I decide, what I decide to do with his command.

[26:55] That took place right here. And it was his work in Christ in me. The Spirit of Christ has made all things new. I will put my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts, is the new covenant quoted in Hebrews 8 and verse 10.

[27:12] So now there's this new inner disposition to do what the law demands of me. And it matches the word of God outside of me. So the word of God says, you shall have no other gods besides me.

[27:25] And there is now in my heart an echo. Yes, Lord, that's what I want. There is no other God beside me. And I want you alone to be my God.

[27:36] Don't want to have anything between us. You see, there's the echo in the heart. That's the work of God. So God finds us ungodly and he justifies the ungodly.

[27:51] Right in our ungodly state, we trust in Jesus Christ as an ungodly sinner and he puts the righteousness of Jesus to my account even while I'm ungodly.

[28:03] I may be a murderer, but if I as a murderer trust in Jesus Christ, he justifies the ungodly. Romans 4 verse 5. But he doesn't leave me ungodly.

[28:17] The grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to say no to ungodliness. Titus 2 and verse 11 and 12. And so he begins to work in me, you see, a new nature, a new heart's attitude toward the law of God.

[28:34] Listen to the way Pink puts it. Christ not only rendered a perfect obedience to the law for the justification of his believing people, but he also merited for them those supplies of his spirit which were essential unto their sanctification and which alone could transform carnal creatures and enable them to render acceptable obedience unto God.

[29:05] So, yes, God's demands are far above what I can do, but Jesus obeyed them perfectly for me. And besides that, he so works in me that I am able by the spirit to render obedience that is acceptable to God.

[29:23] Romans chapter 8 and verse 4 speaks of this work of Christ in our hearts in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us.

[29:37] Not for us. In us. Who do not live according to the sinful nature, but who live according to the spirit. And so as we walk in the spirit and we enjoy the supplies of the spirit, we are enabled to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law.

[29:58] Romans 8, 4. Not for our salvation, but as a part of our fruit of a salvation freely given us by Jesus Christ. So that's the third aspect.

[30:12] What a deal, we might say. I say it reverently, that what God demands, he supplies. That's why salvation is all of grace. The very things he demands of us, the very obedience he demands is supplied to us by his infinite grace.

[30:29] Fourth, we profit from the word when we not only see it is our duty to obey God, but when there is worked in us a love for his commands. And here let's turn to that 119th Psalm.

[30:48] I not only come to realize that God has these demands on me, I feel my duty, but I'm profiting from the word when I also have a heart of love for the commands of God.

[31:02] This is again the same David who at the end of the chapter can confess, seek your servant for I have strayed like a wandering sheep.

[31:14] But here in verse 47. Jim, would you read that for us, please? For I delight in your commands because I love them.

[31:28] Okay, so here's a man who's not only sensed his duty to the commandment, but he's actually finding delight in his commands because I love them. Verse 97.

[31:40] He says, Oh, how I love your law. I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. Verse 127.

[31:53] I love your commands more than gold, more than pure gold. If that doesn't search you, I don't know what does.

[32:05] Brothers, you work hard for the green stuff all week. Not the gold stuff, but the green stuff. Do you love the commands of God more than money?

[32:17] More than pure money. I obey your statutes for I love them greatly. 167. I obey because I love them greatly.

[32:30] So, when you read the psalmist here, you don't get the idea that the commands of God are viewed as a ball and chain on his leg.

[32:42] You know, life wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for this thing on my leg. You know, that's the heart of the non-Christian. You read it in Psalm 2. That's why he says, let's cast away these cords from us.

[32:54] Let's get out from all this. We want to be free. That's the unregenerate heart. It wants to be free from the commands of God so they can do their own thing. But when a person's born again, they get a new attitude to the law.

[33:08] And it's not the ball and chain attitude. It's rather, I love your law, Lord. I love your law. And I want to obey it because I love it.

[33:20] At midnight, I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws. Seven times a day, I praise you for your righteous laws. They are wonderful.

[33:32] Therefore, I obey them. I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands. Not for your promises. Not for your doctrine. For your commands.

[33:43] For those aspects where you tell me what you demand of me. I'm panting like a thirsty deer after the water brooks for your commands. Now, what do we see in the scriptures?

[33:55] Now, this is what Pink is saying. We're profiting from the word when we have this love for the commands incited in us.

[34:06] What is it that you might find in this book that would do that? That would make you love the commands of God? There might be a host of things. What might you find in here that would incite a love for the commandments and for doing them?

[34:25] Anybody? To please my father. And why would you want to please your father? Okay.

[34:37] I love him and he loves me. Why would you want to please this father? Well, I love him. Why do you love him? Because he loved me. Because of what he's done for me. He sent his son for me.

[34:48] More valuable than a whole world. You know, he could create a new world in a moment. But he had only one son. And he gave him for me.

[35:01] And I love him and I want to please him. And his commands are the ways that I please him. So, I'm panting. I'm wanting to obey his commands. What else do you find in this book that might make you want to obey God's commands and love them?

[35:17] The cross. Okay. Excellent. That's the pinnacle of it all. We look at the obedience of Jesus Christ to his father that he humbled himself and was obedient unto death even the death of the cross and we suddenly see the beauty of obedience unto God as we see our Savior obeying unto death for us.

[35:39] Alright. What else would you see? David put it this way.

[36:05] In the keeping of your commands there is a great reward. And I'd like for us to tease out that what Scott is just saying that there are benefits for those who keep the law of God.

[36:17] There are there are rewards and they aren't just for heaven. There are rewards in this life for those who keep God's. Look, you've got it open to 119.97.

[36:29] Oh, how I love your law. Okay, David. Share with us a little more about this love for the law. I meditate on it day and night. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies.

[36:42] I love your law because it makes me wise. The scriptures which are able to make us wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ make us wise in the whole of life.

[36:56] He goes on. Verse 99. I have more insight. Oh, I love your law because I find insight in it. 98. Or 100.

[37:09] I have more understanding than my elders for I obey your precepts. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey your word and in seeking to obey your word what do I enjoy?

[37:22] I enjoy being kept from the snares the evil paths on the right and on the left because your word sets out before me the right way to go.

[37:33] kept from a thousand deceitful ways. Romans 7 and verse 12 says that your commandments are holy, righteous, and good.

[37:47] Scott said they're right. Isn't it wonderful to have commandments that are right? You follow them, you know you're doing the right thing. You ever second guess should I? But you never second guess the commands of God because they're all right.

[38:00] and they're all holy and they're all good and you might say is this really for my good? And well yes it's for your good.

[38:14] The all wise God has designed the way that is not only for his glory but for your good. There it is, the commandments. And so we come to profit from the word then when we we love his word and we see the benefits and really this is the last point that he makes and I might as well just finish it into this because he says when we are enjoying the rewards of obedience godliness has profit for all things both for the life the present life and the life to come.

[38:46] There are benefits from the commandments of God in this life as well as the next. Someone quoted John 14, 21 he who has my commands and obeys them he is the one who loves me he who loves me will be loved by my father and I too will love him and show myself to him.

[39:07] Do you enjoy having Christ show more of himself to you? More of his glory more of his love? That's a benefit of those who obey his commands John 14, 21 great peace have they who love your law great peace you enjoy peace the calm in the midst of turbulence great peace have they who love your law and nothing can make them stumble Psalm 119 look how the whole psalm begins with a blessed a blessing a beatitude happy who's happy blessed are they whose ways are blameless who walk according to the law of the Lord blessed are they who keep his statutes there's a happiness there's a blessing attached verse 6 what's the blessing they're not put to shame and I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands isn't a wonderful thing to know that I'm never going to be disappointed put to shame if I go this way the way of God

[40:22] I'll be kept pure verse 9 how can a young man keep his way pure by living according to your word how about joy verse 14 I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches guidance verse 19 I'm a stranger on earth do not hide your commands from me Lord they're the map they're the guidance that I need in this world verse 24 they're my counselors your statutes are my delight they are my counselors what's the value of counselors verse 29 they keep me from deceitful ways be gracious to me through your law freedom verse 32 I run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free that's the way of freedom that's the way of liberty and I find my heart set free from a thousand addictions as I walk in obedience to your commands verse 52 comfort

[41:23] I remember your ancient laws oh Lord and I find comfort in them his commandments are not grievous rather in the keeping of them there's a great reward so you're profiting from the word if you're enjoying the benefits of it as the scriptures are so full and just to back up and to close on the last the last one that we're going to look at this morning you're profiting from the word when you're moved to pray earnestly!

[41:57] for enabling grace oh that my ways look at it verse 5 oh that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees if that is ever squeezed out of you after hearing a sermon it's it's doing you good if it's ever squeezed out of you after reading your bible oh that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees if ever at the end of the day you say oh that my ways were steadfast Lord they slipped and slid oh that they were steadfast in obeying you your profiting verse 10 I seek you with all my heart do not let me stray from your commands that's the way a person prays who's profiting from the word don't let me stray from your commands verse 33 teach me oh Lord to follow your decrees then I will keep them to the end teach me Lord teach me in a way that I'll actually walk in your ways in my favorite section verse 35 through 37 direct my feet in the path of your commands for there

[43:10] I find delight somebody have the King James version it says make me to go in the path of your commands isn't that a blessing that we Christians can pray something like that I find a propensity in me I find sin in me balking before the command there it is it's clear but I I have a desire to do what's right but I find there's another law in me that doesn't want to go that way make me to walk in the path of your command for there I find delight I know that's the way of delight Lord right now I'm feeling my flesh saying I don't want to walk in it make me direct me bring me make me willing and able to do what is your good pleasure what a blessing if we're learning to pray for the enabling grace to obey God's commandments then we're profiting may we then profit this day and every day from our intake of scripture as it leads us to the

[44:18]  Lord Jesus and to crying out after him for a heart to obey we're dismissed