So today I'm going to wrap up the series that began several weeks ago on analogies in the
Bible.
And the last analogy we're going to look at tonight is where the Bible likens itself unto
water.
And as we've been going through these different analogies, we've been trying to appreciate
the attributes that the Bible gives to itself and also, of course, to make application in
each instance.
And we are going to be able to make application tonight of how the Bible is likened unto water.
And the Bible or the scripture has a spiritual effect upon us, much like water has a physical
effect upon us in that it cleanses us, right?
And it quenches us.
So we've seen different ways in which the Bible is likened to physical objects.
And we're just going to look tonight at the cleansing effect of the water of the Word
tonight.
And just real quick, the first point I want to make is that we are first cleansed by the
water of the Word in salvation.
There's that initial cleansing.
And that's a one-time cleansing that has to take place there.
He said there in John 15 where you are, look at verse 3,
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
So what is it that cleans us?
It's the word that Christ has spoken.
God's word is what cleanses us.
It's our faith in that word, of course, we understand that.
And if you remember, another great picture of this is the rock in the wilderness that
Moses smote in the wilderness and the water came out of it, right, and gave them water
out of the rock.
And that was a picture of Christ, that from him water would come forth and for our cleansing
and for the quenching as well that we need.
So the first point I want to make here is that we're cleansed by the water of the Word
in salvation and that that is a permanent effect.
We get clean with water physically, but then we have to do it again and again and again,
or at least we should be, right?
It's something we have to do all the time because we're always going to get dirty.
But when we're cleansed by the water of the Word in salvation, that's a permanent one-time
thing.
And if you would go over to John chapter 4, a real familiar story.
Jesus said in John 6, he said unto them, I am the bread of life.
He that cometh to me shall never hunger.
So there's another analogy of Jesus, you know, he's the bread of life.
And when we receive Christ within, we shall never hunger again, spiritually, we're satisfied.
And he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Familiar story in John chapter 4, look at verse 10.
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that
sayeth to thee, and give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked him, and he would given
thee living water.
Of course, we're probably familiar with the story where Jesus is resting on the well,
and he's speaking to the Samaritan woman, and she's gone to draw on water.
And he's using this opportunity to remind her that if she would have asked him for drink,
he would have given it to her, and he would have given her living water.
And she said in verse 11, the woman sayeth unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with,
and the well is deep.
So she's not getting it.
And she's looking at him, so where's your bucket, where's your rope?
From whence hast thou that living water?
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us this well, and drank thereof himself,
and his children, and his cattle?
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again,
but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.
But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, springing up unto
everlasting life.
So we are first cleansed by the word through, and it's likened under water, and the fact
that it quenches us permanently.
It's a one-time effect.
It's something that we only have to deal with once.
The cleansing and salvation is permanent.
However, and this is more what I want to get into tonight, is the fact that even though
we are permanently saved through that cleansing, there is still a need to be cleansed daily.
There's still a need to be cleansed from the filth of this world.
Not for salvation, but for fellowship with God.
We will always have our sonship.
We always be children of God.
We always have that relationship.
That doesn't necessarily mean we're always going to be God's friend.
That doesn't mean God's always going to be pleased with us.
Just like any other parent-child relationship, often parents are displeased with their children
when they misbehave and they do things they shouldn't do.
It's not that they've ceased loving them.
It's not that that relationship has changed.
It's just that that fellowship isn't there.
That sweet communion isn't there that they want to have with their children.
It's the same with us and God.
We're always going to be saved.
We're always cleansed initially by that word, but as we get dirty and stinky in the world,
God looks at us, ugh.
Who wants to be around the stinky person?
No one wants to be around that guy.
You say, go take a bath.
Go get cleaned up.
Even though we are cleansed initially, we still have to have an ongoing process of being
cleansed from what?
The filth of this world.
That's what we see over in, go over to John 13, John chapter 13.
We'll always be his child, but some people are going to be closer to God than others.
Well, where do you get that?
Well, I don't know.
John was the disciple that Jesus loved.
There was only one of them that was leaning on Jesus' breast at the Last Supper.
Some people, I'm not saying he didn't love them, but it seems like John had a closer
relationship and that's what we should desire.
You had the 70 disciples, then you had the 12, a little bit more of a closer inner circle,
and then even within the 12, you had the three, Peter, James, and John, that got up to go
to the Mount of Transfiguration, that got to go in and see the young maiden raised back
to life.
Even amongst those three, John's the one that's right up next to Jesus at the Last Supper.
We can, even though we have that relationship and our permanent cleanse, we can distance
ourselves from God.
We can get away from him.
We have a need to be cleansed from the filth of this world.
Look there in John 13, verse 3.
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he was come
from God and went to God, he riseth from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel
and girded himself.
After that, he poureth water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and
to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.
Then he cometh to Simon Peter, and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
Excuse me, Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou
shalt know hereafter.
Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet.
Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
So we need to, I want you to pay attention where he's saying here.
He's saying, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
But he goes on and he says in verse 9, Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only,
but also my hands and my head.
So I want to have part with you, so you might as well just wash my hands and my head too.
Then Jesus saith to him in verse 10, He that is washed, right, you say, No, Peter, I don't
need to wash your hands and your head because you already are washed, right?
You've already had that initial cleansing, you've already been cleansed by the water
of the word, you've been saved, right?
But he goes on and says, He that is washed need not to save, wash his feet, but is clean
every whit, and ye are clean, but not all.
So he's showing us that, you know, even after we're saved, there still needs to be this
process of being cleansed by the Lord.
There's still this process of being washed by the word, right?
There's still this process of having to clean our feet, and it makes perfect sense because
of the fact that that's what carries us through this world.
You know, our feet are going to take us places, we're still here on this earth, we're still
having to live out our lives, we're going to come into contact with the world, we're
going to be influenced by the world, the world's going to, you know, have an impact upon us,
and you know what it's going to do?
It's going to make us dirty.
We're going to have dirty feet from walking through this world, and we're going to need
to have that cleansing continue to take place.
So what he's showing us is that because we are washed, we need not to wash, save our
feet.
It's still a cleansing, but it's just of the feet.
Why is that?
Because our necessary dealings in this world are going to make us dirty to some degree.
Because we're still in the old man, because we still have the body of this flesh to deal
with.
Go over to 2 Peter chapter 1, 2 Peter chapter 1.
The Bible says in 1 John chapter 5, and we know that we are of God and that the whole
world lieth in wickedness.
The Bible says that the whole world lieth in wickedness.
So how can we walk through a wicked world and not have it affect us to some degree?
You know, if the world lies in wickedness and we're, you know, getting involved, and
look, we're all going to be involved with the world to some degree.
But you know, even more so if we are worldly, if we're allowing the world to have more of
an influence upon us, the more wicked you're going to be, the more filth of the world is
going to begin to cling to you.
The more cleansing is going to need, the more need of cleansing you're going to have in
your life.
Say, well, is the world really that bad?
Well, the Bible says the whole world lieth in wickedness.
And you know, you say, well, is it really that bad?
Well, yeah, but can a clean thing come from an unclean thing?
Is anything good going to come out of the world?
Whatever's going to come out of the world is going to be wicked.
The same spring cannot send forth, you know, bitter water and sweet.
So if we're allowing the world to influence us and have an effect on us, it's not for
the better.
It's always for the worst.
It's making us dirty.
It's making us filthy.
It's making us having a need to what?
Be cleansed of that in our lives.
Look at 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 2, grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge
of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things
that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to
glory and virtue.
So God has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.
We can live a godly life whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises
that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature.
Look, we're going to have that divine nature, but in the meantime, we're still here on this
earth.
And yes, we have, as it goes on and says there, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust.
We know ultimately we've escaped, but the fact is that this world is still corrupt and
that we are still in it, and that we are still going to have to walk through this world and
be influenced by this world, and it's going to have an effect on us.
It's going to make us dirty, and there's still going to be a need for further cleansing.
The corruption can still cling to us as we walk in this world.
And what I'm talking about tonight really is what we would call sanctification.
There's salvation, which is permanent, it's one time, you know, it's not of works, but
then there's this process called sanctification.
And being sanctified just means being set apart, being made, you know, set apart unto
the Lord, being sanctified, being holy.
So our sanctification begins and continues as what?
As we live for Christ.
It's a process.
Go to John chapter 15, I should have had you say something there, John 15, because we're
still going to be in this world.
It sounds like we got saved and all of a sudden, you know, we never struggled with sin again.
The world never had any kind of an effect on us again, because we all know that if we're
honest, the fact is that it does.
You know, we might not be, you know, wallowing in the mire of sin, but it still has an effect
on us.
We might not be at home watching smut and trash, you know, but we're still going to
see that billboard every now and then.
We didn't mean to see it, but it's there.
You know, that could have an effect on our mind.
And that's just one example.
You know, we could think about all the different ways the world has an effect upon us, because
we are still in this world.
Look at John 15, verse 15, he said, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the
world, but thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world.
Even as I am not of the world, sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth.
So what is it that's going to sanctify us?
What is it that's going to cleanse us and separate us and make us clean from the filth
of this world?
It's the word of truth.
It's God's word.
The word of God is what's going to sanctify us as we obey it.
It's not just, oh, I read my Bible this morning, I'm clean.
It's I read my Bible, I read what was written in there, and I started to do what it said.
I went to church and I heard the Bible preached, and I did what it said.
That's the process of sanctification.
It's not just this mystical thing where we just read the Bible and somehow we just become
a better person.
You have to put those things into action.
That's the process of sanctification.
That's how we're cleansed by the washing of the water of the word.
Go to Ephesians chapter five, Ephesians chapter number five.
I mean, you can go home and draw a bath for your kids and staring at it ain't going to
get the dirt out from behind their ears.
Eventually you've got to pick them up and throw them in and get out the rag and start
scrubbing.
That's the same way with us.
We can't just have our Bible and not do, we got to get in it, right?
Then we got to start scrubbing.
We got to put some elbow grease into our Christian life to get that filth out of the world.
Everybody comes, has this work to do in their lives.
No one just gets saved and is instantly just free from all sin.
That's a false doctrine.
We all have sins and things that we need to work on getting out of our life and constantly
always cleaning it.
Maybe we got this fixed and then something else is popping up and we got to put that
down in our lives and some other filth is trying to cling to us from the world.
The word of God has a cleansing effect on us.
It says in Ephesians chapter five verse 25, husbands love your wives, you need to ask
Christ loved the church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse
it by what?
By the washing of the water, by the washing of water by the word.
So it's the word that cleanses and it's the word that's going to clean us up that he might
what?
Present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle nor any such thing
but that it should be holy and without blemish.
So why is God so interested in cleaning me up?
Why is it so important that I get cleansed?
Because God is trying to present you to himself.
We're not cleaning up for one another.
You're not cleaning up for me.
We're not going to get the filth and the trash out of our life and clean up our lives because
the preacher, if that's your motive, it's not going to last.
Eventually you'll go back to that.
But here's the thing.
If you realize that you're getting cleansed up, you're getting cleaned up so you can be
presented unto Christ, that's your real motive.
That should be your real motive anyway.
I'm going to read to you from Romans chapter 12.
Actually, go over to Romans chapter 12.
Romans chapter 12, we are kept clean by the word through the renewing of our mind.
It takes action.
We have to put some effort into it in order for this process to take place in our lives.
Romans 12, verse 1, it says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service.
So that's a very practical application, isn't it?
To present your bodies a living sacrifice, to not letting lust just run wild in our life,
not just giving in to every temptation and every sin of the flesh, but actually, like
Paul said, bringing our bodies under, bringing them into subjection.
That's what he's talking about here.
Presenting your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, again, unto God, not unto a man,
which is your reasonable service.
You say, well, that sounds tough.
Yeah, but God said it's your reasonable service.
It's practical.
So that's the elbow grease there.
That's the practical part of it, of bringing the flesh into subjection.
But that's what begins this process here.
And if you look at verse 2, and be not conformed to what?
This world, because the world lieth in wickedness.
But you be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
As we present our bodies a living sacrifice, as you say, I'm going to clean up my life,
I'm going to get the sin out, I'm going to stop doing this, I'm going to start doing
that, this process takes place where your mind is renewed.
And we find ourselves, we're saying, at the beginning, I'll never do that, I'll never
be that way, or why, why, why, why do you even do that?
But then as we go through this process, our mind is renewed, and it all starts to make
more sense.
They may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
That's that cleaning up, the renewing of your mind.
The word of God has this cleansing effect on us.
It's the word of God that's going to clean us up.
It's the word of God that's going to renew our minds and get the sin out of our life.
So really, if you show me a dirty Christian, if that's the reasoning there, follow me with
this one, is that if it's the word of God that cleans us up.
If you show me a dirty Christian, I'm going to show you a dusty Bible.
Show me a Christian who's got sin in their life, who's got a dirty life, I'll show you
a Bible that's got dust on it, a Bible that's dirty.
Because it's the word of God that cleanses us.
It's the word of God that's going to renew our minds, it's the word of God that's going
to cleanse us from the filth of the flesh.
Now again, I understand we've been cleansed initially by the blood of Christ, we're saved,
we always know that, that we always are, but as we live this Christian life, as we go through
this world, there's this need to be continually cleansed by the word of God.
Because the world's filthy, the world's full of sin and iniquity, and it's going to cling
to us.
We have to get in our Bibles.
This is why Bible reading is so important.
This is why Bible memorization is so important.
People struggle with their thoughts, they have dirty thoughts or just foolish thoughts,
just things that are affecting their heart and their spirit.
Bible memory will clean that up.
It's so great whenever you have your mind just wandering off into whatever, whether
it's sinful or just, even if it's not sinful, if it's just vain and empty.
Am I the only one that does that, just has dumb thoughts?
I don't believe it.
I'm sure we'd all admit sometimes we catch ourselves like, why am I even thinking about
something from 20, 50 years, whatever, well not 50 for me, but ...
Probably not 50 for anyone else, right?
But you know what I'm saying.
We catch ourselves just thinking about things that don't matter.
We find ourselves dwelling more on things of the world that are just vain and empty
and probably a lot of times even sinful.
God looks down and goes, man, you stink.
You smell.
Can you stand over there?
I still love you, but I got this other Christian over here.
He's been in the Word.
He's been cleaning up.
He's been putting on the ointment.
I smell better.
I think I'm going to stand over here.
You go stand over there.
When you get a bath, when you clean up, then maybe we'll talk.
That's what we need to do.
That's why we need to be in the Bible.
That's why we need to be meditating on the Word of God.
That's why we need to be in church for preaching the Word of God because that's what's going
to cleanse us.
That's what's going to get the filth of the world off of us.
Go over to Psalms 119.
Psalms 119.
This isn't going to be a long sermon, but I did want to preach this one because it's
important.
It's important that we understand that just because you got saved doesn't mean that all
of a sudden your life is what it should be for Christ.
We still have to clean up our lives.
Even if we've been saved for a long time and we've maybe been living for the Lord, if we're
not careful, the same thing could still happen to us.
Some sin can creep back into our life and make us dirty.
Psalms 119.
Are you there?
Verse 9.
It says, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?
That's important to understand that especially for young men, this could apply to anybody,
but there's a lot of temptations for young men, aren't there?
There's a lot of them out there, and the devil really wants to spoil them and to ruin
them.
So wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?
Maybe our way has already gotten dirty.
Maybe you would say, well, it's not even a matter of me maybe perhaps one day stumbling
into some slop somewhere.
I already have been.
I look like Pigpen spiritually right now.
I've just got a brown cloud around me, flies circling around.
How do I cleanse my way?
We read it.
By the washing of the water of the word.
You're clean to the word which I have spoken unto you.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed thereto according to thy word.
And again, it's the taking heed thereto.
It's not just, oh, I read it.
I've heard it.
It's taking heed to it.
It's putting it into practice.
Saying, oh, God wants me to offer my body a reasonable sacrifice, which is my reasonable
service.
Well, let me do that.
That's the cleansing of your way.
God wants me to get the sin out of my life.
God wants me to start living a certain way.
Let me do that.
That's the cleansing.
That's the taking heed according to thy word.
It's not enough to just know what it says.
Look at verse 11.
It says, thy word have I hidden mine heart that I might not sin against thee.
That's that preventative maintenance.
Maybe we're at a place where we say, well, I'm already dirty.
Well, here's how you cleanse it, by taking heed according to his word.
You say, well, I've managed to get some things together.
I've cleaned up.
How do you keep it that way?
Thy word have I hidden my heart that I might not sin against thee.
I'm trying to use kind of a crass illustration, but verse 9 is like the spiritual soap.
You're already dirty.
You got to go in there and you got to clean up.
You got to exfoliate spiritually with what?
The word of God.
It will clean you up as you take heed to it, as you begin to obey it.
That's the spiritual soap that'll clean you up if you're already dirty.
Verse 11 is kind of like the spiritual antiperspirant.
It's the one that's going to keep you from sinning, from making, you know, so I'm not
going to start smelling and getting dirty, right?
You know what?
I'm going to take some time to get God's word in my heart so that, you know, when I am tempted
to do this, when I am tempted to do some sin, I'm just going to think about this verse.
I'm just going to think about this verse that, you know, tells me not to do that.
I'm going to memorize some scriptures that are going to help me in whatever area it is
you need help with.
That's you, you know, thinking ahead and keep, you know, that's the preventative maintenance.
So we have to allow the word to wash us.
I mean, once we're saved, we're always saved.
We understand that, you know, and we can go ahead and live our lives however we want,
but if you want to be a Christian that God can use, that God can bless, you have to learn
to be that sanctified Christian.
You have to go through that process.
You know, God's not going to use a dirty vessel.
You know, he wants to use clean vessels to do his work.
So you have to allow the word to wash you.
You have to take heed according to his word.
Once for salvation, right, but daily, like Peter, you have to accept what is needed,
right?
Peter said, oh, you're not going to wash my feet.
Well, then you have no part with me.
Let's not be like that.
You know, and I understand Peter had, he was saying it for the right reasons.
He was probably just, you know, taken aback that the Lord was humbling himself that way,
you know, whatever, but we don't want to be like that.
We don't want to say, oh, you're not going to wash my feet.
No, you need to let the Bible, you need to let the word wash you, but that means you
have to get in it.
You have to read it.
You have to memorize it.
You got to be there when it's preached, and then you have to actually apply it to your
life and actually do what it says.
You have to take heed to it.
You have to accept what is needed to be cleansed from the filth of the world, so the whole
world lieth in wickedness.
Go over to Psalms chapter one.
We're going to close in Psalms chapter number one.
Psalms chapter number one.
I'll begin reading in verse one of Psalms one where he says, blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.
Are the ungodly out there today?
Are they offering counsel today?
Everywhere.
The world has its philosophies everywhere, and they'd be more than happy to just take
you alongside and get your ear and tell you how to think, tell you how to live your life.
Yet counsel of the ungodly is out there.
He said, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
This is really a whole sermon in itself.
Notice the process there.
First you're walking with the ungodly, then you're standing in the way of the sinners.
Eventually you're sitting down in the seat of the scornful.
Ungodly people are bad, right?
Sinners are bad, people who are sinful, but you could say that we were all that at least
at one point.
We were all ungodly.
We were all without God in this world.
We were all sinners at one point.
But this is the path that will actually lead you to where you are sitting down with the
scornful, sitting down and listening and participating with people who are mocking
God and scorning the things of God.
He said, blessed is the man that has nothing to do with any of these people, that has nothing
to do with the ungodly, doesn't walk in their way, doesn't stand with the sinners, doesn't
sit with the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.
This is something I've brought up several times, is that when you're going through this
process and you're trying to get things out of your life, you can't just leave a void
there.
You have to fill it with something.
Otherwise that old stuff will just come right back in.
Something's going to fill that space.
That's why you have to delight yourself in the law of the Lord.
What gave this guy the ability to say to the ungodly, no thank you?
What gave this guy the ability to say to the scornful, no thank you?
It was the fact that he delighted himself in something else.
He delighted himself in the law of the Lord.
You know, the Bible, the word of God.
If the word of God is not a delight to us, we really need to search our hearts.
We really need to do some introspection and think about what really matters to us.
The law of God should be a delight to you.
I know when I read my Bible I don't go, oh, let's get this over with.
Well, I know it's my duty.
It's that time again.
And look, I understand there's some days we get in the flesh and there's some times we're
in certain portions of our Bible that maybe we don't like as much as others.
But every time we go to it we should understand what a privilege it is to read God's word.
It's a beautiful book.
It's wonderful.
You know, I remember someone telling me once that Bible reading, people were, I was having
a conversation with somebody, several people, and people were talking about Bible reading.
They say, well, you know, I've learned to, you know, I want to speed read.
I want to learn how to speed read so I can read the Bible a lot.
And on the surface, you know, that sounds like, okay, yeah, you want to get a lot of
Bible reading in.
But the problem with that is that you turn the Bible into just some kind of an obstacle
to be overcome.
You see what I'm saying?
I've got to hurry up and read my Bible a bunch so I can know what it says.
That's just like turning it into something, you know, like people say, oh, you need to
read your Bible X amount of times.
And look, I think you should read your Bible a certain number of times, especially if you
endeavor to, you know, be any kind of a minister.
You know, I think every Christian should endeavor to read their Bible at least once a year.
That's not a big ask, folks.
I know we look at them and go, that's a really thick book.
But it's like, if you're an average reader, it's like 15 minutes a day, 15 minutes.
I guarantee you we all have 15 minutes to read our Bibles.
But we don't want to ever turn the Bible into this obstacle that needs to be overcome.
We don't ever want to turn it into just, you know, having to check it off.
Well, I've read it 10 times.
You know, I'm good, I'm glad.
And then I was in this conversation and someone was saying something along those lines.
I want to learn to speed read so I can just read the Bible a bunch.
I remember somebody else said, you know, that's not how you should read your Bible.
And he said, well, what do you mean?
So you should think about your Bible reading like stopping to smell the roses.
And I thought about that so many times.
I said, that is exactly right.
That's what your Bible reading should be.
That's what he means here.
His delight is in the law of the Lord.
Have you ever stopped to smell a rose?
Literally.
I'll admit it, I've done it.
I always thought it was just an expression.
I was out in Soul Waning one day in Chandler somewhere in some of this beautiful rose bush
and I was like, someone told me once you should stop and smell the roses.
And man, it smelled so good.
But then I thought, well, I'm going to make a habit out of doing that.
Every time I see a rose, I'm going to smell it.
And not all roses smell the same.
And not all roses have, some roses don't have any smell at all.
I didn't know that either.
But I never would have known that if I hadn't stopped to smell the roses.
I don't know what this has to do with certain.
That's a little botany lesson for you.
But that's how our Bible reading should be.
It shouldn't just be like this drudgery.
We should think about it like, man, I'm going to open up this book.
It's going to be like, smelling something sweet.
You ever bite it, you ever been real hungry, bite it, get a really good meal?
Just like a savory meal?
Man, you slow down.
You're looking at me like, that's every meal for you.
I remember when I got married, we went on our, I got this head cold right before I got
married.
I mean, I was completely stuffed.
Like I couldn't, you know when you get a head cold and you can't taste anything?
That's the most miserable experience.
Like I got, I can't go off on all this, but anyway, this happened to me, right?
So we're on our honeymoon and we're driving to where we're going, somewhere outside Chicago.
And I looked at my wife in the car, I said, well, what do you want to do for dinner tonight?
And she said, let's go to Red Lobster.
I was like, yeah, that sounds good.
And I said, what if we went there and there was a Red Lobster right near the hotel?
And I said something like that, yeah, Red Lobster sounds really good.
And there was literally a Red Lobster like across the parking lot.
And I was just like, it's God, it's the Lord.
And it may have very well been, I don't know.
But so we go up the hotel, we get cleaned up, and we're getting ready to go have dinner
at Red Lobster, then it dawns on me.
This is my honeymoon, I'm not going to be cheapskate.
I'm about to go drop some serious coin on a meal.
And I can't, I haven't tasted anything in days.
And I literally stopped and I prayed and I said, Lord, if I could taste this meal, I
would really appreciate it.
I tasted every bite.
And the point I'm making is this, you think I'm just talking about food, is that when
I finally got a taste of that, my wife still reminds me of it from time to time, she said,
the look on your face.
I closed my eyes and I'm like, oh, you know.
It was like, you know the stuffed mushrooms they have there?
That was like the first thing they brought appetizers, I was just like, I'm literally
like, I'm like bowing down, just like, mmm, mmm, just like enjoying this meal, like savoring
every bite.
Because I hadn't tasted anything for a long time, like I hadn't tasted anything for days.
And now here I am at Red Lobster on my honeymoon and I'm just enjoying every bite, the steak
came, the lobster tail came, the butter, those biscuits, you know the cheddar biscuits they
have there?
Oh, man.
That's the only reason I'll ever go back, I don't do Red Lobster anymore.
I had a bad experience, but this is back in, anyway, I'm bagging on Red Lobster in my sermon.
But I'm just making the point, that's how our Bible reading should be.
We should realize that when we get into it, man, we should be savoring it, stopping to
smell the roses, we should be delighting in the law of the Lord.
Because that's what's gonna keep you from walking the counsel of the ungodly.
And if we just approach the Bible reading, which we need to what, cleanse us from the
filth of the world on a daily basis, and we just approach it as just, you know, it's just
some brand muffin we gotta choke down, you know what, eventually you're not gonna go
for it anymore.
You're gonna go for all the cheap, unhealthy food that the world has to offer.
He said his delight is in the law of the Lord, and his law doth he meditate day and night.
I mean, he can't stop thinking about it, it's all he wants to think about is God's word.
Look at verse three, he said, and he shall be like, what, a tree planted by the rivers
of water.
So he's the river, or excuse me, he's the tree, right?
He's the one that's planted by what?
The rivers of water.
So what are the rivers of water?
It's the law of the Lord.
His delight is in the law of the Lord, he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers
of water.
So there again, you have this analogy where the Bible's being likened unto water.
And it's nourishing.
He's that tree that's going to, you know, have that sustenance that's gonna sustain
him, that's gonna allow him to put roots down deep and grow big and strong and be fruitful.
It bringeth forth fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever
he doeth shall prosper.
I mean, who wouldn't want that for their life?
Who wouldn't want everything they touch to just turn to gold?
And I'm not saying some kind of prosperity gospel, but I'm saying that they have such
a deep root in the word of God, they have such delight in the word of God, they're so
firmly planted by that river that the world can't faze them.
They're not gonna wither.
They're gonna prosper.
They're always gonna be fruitful no matter what happens.
What storm blows?
They're not gonna fall over.
They have that deep root.
Why?
Because they've learned to delight themselves in the law of the Lord.
So here's the thing, we might not, you know, we might not walk with the ungodly, but we're
gonna pass by them, aren't we?
We're gonna pass by them at the very least.
We might brush up against them as we live our lives in this world.
We're not gonna stand with the sinners, but we're gonna stand near them, you know, they're
gonna have some level of influence on our life just from having to be here.
And we will always need to be cleansed from the filth of this world and its ungodly influence.
The world is not gonna have a godly influence on you, ever.
It's opposed to the things of God.
So how are you gonna, how are you going to get cleansed when you learn to plant yourselves
near the water, the law of the Lord, the Bible?
We'll get, this will be, you know, this will be accomplished when we cleanse ourselves
with the washing of the water of the word.
Let's go ahead and close the word of prayer.