Ps 119:17-18 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. 18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. ________________________________________________________________________

Some of you know that Bro. Jones drinks only Pepsi products. It's sort of a "law" within the company that the employees are supposed to drink their products rather than the competition and if the boss catches them drinking something else, it looks very bad for them. The other side, Coca-Cola has another law that is the reverse. I read recently about something that happened in 1985 that made me think about all of this. A lady named Amanda Blake of Northampton, Massachusetts had been working for Coca-Cola Bottling Company for eight years when she fell in love with and became engaged to David Cronin who worked for Pepsi. When Coca-Cola found out about her engagement, they ordered Amanda to either break off her engagement, persuade Cronin to quit his job, or to quit herself. When she refused she was fired for "conflict of interest." The entire thing ended with her marrying David anyway, suing Coca-Cola for a $600,000 settlement and serving Pepsi at her wedding reception! Amanda was the victim of the dilemmas of trying to choose between two conflicting laws. I doubt today that she drinks Vanilla Coke like I do!

It's a strange and difficult thing to have to choose between two sets of law in your life. When Israel was conquered by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, we find the Jews in a similar scenario, being pulled between following the rules of the foreign country that they were now inhabiting or staying true to the laws of God that had been given back in Israel. Very quickly the two did not agree. We find that while the foreign king's law said to bow down to the golden image, God's law said not to bow down or serve any graven image. And so when the golden idol was set up and the command was given for everyone to bow, every Jewish person had to make a decision that came down to choosing which of the two laws they would obey. Only the three known as Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego chose to stand and obey the laws of Almighty God. And God vindicated them by delivering them from the fiery furnace.

It was a few years later that Babylon had fallen into Persian hands and so Israel found themselves once again looking at two laws. Daniel was second in command of the country and when the king fell for a deceitful trick and commanded that no one in the kingdom could pray to any other god for thirty days, Daniel was forced to choose between two laws: the unchangeable law of God, or the unchangeable law of the Medes and the Persians. It is interesting that the enemy didn't want a decree forbidding prayer and worship to God for forever, but just for a month. The devil knows that if he can get you to take the things of God so lightly that you aren't totally dedicated for a month, that you will never be faithful in the long run! It's a common trap: the devil wants you to take a service off. And then he works on a week. And then he goes for several weeks. He's trying to see how important the things of God are in your life!

But Daniel passed with flying colors. He knew that the Law of Medes and Persians may have been said to be unchangeable, but that long after the Persian government would be gone, God's Word would still be true, and so he chose to obey the law of God rather than the law of men. And God vindicated him in the Lion's Den by delivering Him out and delivering his enemies in!

Lest you think that having to choose between two laws is an Old Testament dilemma, let me also remind you of the story of Acts chapter 4 when Peter and John were arrested for healing the lame man and then commanded by the Pharisees and Jewish leaders to no longer preach in the name of Jesus:

Peter and John then went out and continued obeying the laws of God! When having to choose between two laws, the three Hebrew boys, Daniel, and Peter and John all chose correctly! And from these stories we can learn some important truths about choosing between two laws to live by. The first thing that you should immediately notice is that the law that will last the longest is always the law to go with. The law of Babylon is gone now. Ditto for the "unchangeable law of the Medes and Persians." The laws of the Pharisees are inconsequential as well. But the word of God is still in effect! The second point that you should notice is that whenever there is someone who is trying to live by God's law, there is always another law that pops up decreeing something else. And anytime you have two laws to live by, there comes a day when you must make a choice as to which you will serve. Jesus said that "no man can serve two masters!" The third point that's obvious is that the crowd will always follow the wrong way, but that those who will stand up and obey God's law, will find out that God will vindicate them and protect them!

As Amanda Blake of Coca-Cola and David Cronin found out, two laws to live by are never compatible. Both will try to stand up and destroy the other. And some of the hardest decisions come when two laws are at conflict.

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It's true that up to this point in America, we have been blessed not to have to choose between church and state. I've been living for God all of my life and at least to this point I've never had someone pointing a gun to my head telling me how to believe or to denounce Jesus. We grow up thinking that America is a "Christian" nation and to some extent it is, but there may come the day that things aren't so easy. Eventually the homosexual marriage issue will be forced through into federal law -- it's too late to stop it. There's no use getting mad about it now. We should have gotten mad about it twenty years ago when Hollywood began to pump queer fashions and girly guys into almost every home in America in Primetime. Instead most of us welcomed them into our home and made them feel comfortable. The last two generations have been conditioned to be "tolerant" of "alternate lifestyles." It will only be about one more generation till those of us who still hold true to the Word of God's stance about homosexuality being a sin and an abomination in the sight of God will be in the minority.

And the greatest threat to genuine Christians in America is not homosexuality, but the law by which they are ushering their homosexual agenda into our society. Their law is the Law of Religious Tolerance which states that anyone bold enough to proclaim one way as "truth" and other views as "wrong" is a narrow-minded cult that needs to be punished and dealt with. Anyone willing to stand up against sin and preach things "black and white" is scolded with the phrase "don't judge." Under today's standard, Jesus Christ was a religious bigot because He said that He alone was the door and that all other ways into the sheep pen was robbery! He said "I am the way, the truth, and the life" and that no one could come unto the Father except through Him! I wonder what America would do with Jesus in their midst in modern times?! What would they do the first time that He took off His belt in a preacher's television studio to clean house of the same greed that He cleaned out of the Jerusalem temple? What would they do when He told a homosexual that wanted a ministerial ordination to go repent? Was Jesus patient? Yes. Was He loving? Always? Was He merciful? Often. But was He tolerant of sin? Never. Because He knew that the law of God was more important than the law of public opinion or anything else!

We tend to forget that for mercy to be in effect, there must be an admission of guilt. The woman caught in the act of adultery knew that she had broken the law. She received mercy. Peter knew that cursing God to His face and denying his relationship with Christ was not the right thing to do and so when he repented and wept bitterly, he received mercy. For a person to receive mercy, they must be convinced of their wrong doing. Today, when someone sins blatantly against the Word of God and keeps doing it and spiritual authority says something like "this is not right," or "we cannot have this," they immediately get blasted by somebody following the law of the religious tolerance saying "Jesus had mercy." That's true, but Jesus was NOT dealing with a woman that was saying "I don't think there's anything wrong with sleeping around with who I want to and I'm going to keep doing it." He was not dealing with a man who was saying "I don't think that there's anything wrong with cursing and so I'll keep doing it." He was dealing with people that knew that they had done wrong. Mercy is when you do not give the judgment that was deserved. Mercy must be received by the person needing it. And it is impossible to receive mercy unless the person realizes that what they have done is wrong.

Too many people confuse mercy with tolerance. They are not the same. Being tolerant to a homosexual means patting him on the back, letting him hold position in your church while in his lifestyle, and accepting him as he is without any change. Being merciful means that when we show them the scriptural truth, we are willing to teach them and love them and forgive them and if they will repent and change their lifestyle, we will help them overcome their issues and to grow in Christ while not holding their past against them. For them to receive mercy, they must admit what they are doing is wrong. And so mercy requires law because without admission of guilt, there can be no mercy given. Jesus gave mercy not tolerance!

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The is not a sermon just about the future because there is two laws fighting one another even now in your life. I'm not talking about the laws of church versus state; I'm talking about the war between the law of God and the law of sin.

In the beginning there was only one law, the law of God. It's commandment was sure and clear and was designed for man to live forever. But the scripture says that immediately another law began to vie for the attention of mankind, the law of sin. It began with the serpent's subtle voice questioning the accuracy and perfect ness of God's law. It ended with judgment. In Daniel's day, the law of the Medes and the Persians was unchangeable even by the king himself and so the only way that you could counter such a law was to introduce another law contrary to the first and let the people choose. It was the same way in the garden of Eden. Satan knew that he could not stop God's law, but he could introduce another law and hopefully Eve would choose the second one, thus voiding the first. When she ate of the fruit, the law of God was still in effect, but she had chosen to follow the law of sin.

What Satan didn't tell her was the end results of the two laws. Had Eve weighed her choice carefully, she would have never chosen the law of sin. In our text in Romans, Paul clearly illustrated and indicated that the same two laws are alive within our lives today:

Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

There is the law of the Spirit and the law of sin. Those are the two laws in every Spirit-filled believer's life. That's God's law versus the law of the world. Living for God isn't near as hard as we make it because every choice is choosing between two laws. Which law will you follow? Which choice follows which law and which law do I want to choose? You shouldn't have to ask the pastor about every life decision in your everyday goings on. Doing right is not hard -- at least if you think of it in terms of which law it falls under. Does it bring me further away from God or closer? Does it obey or contradict His word? But don't make the mistake that Eve made. We've got to keep the end results in mind. And Paul not only clearly identified the two laws, but he just as succinctly identified the end results:

The end result of following the law of the Spirit of God? Life and life eternal! But the wages of sin -- what you receive in return for obeying the law of sin -- is death. Two laws that are the inverse of each other. The laws of the Spirit will bring a final result of eternal life, but they do not wait until eternity to kick in because they will also bring life and hope and peace in your life right now! And we tend to forget that it is the same with the law of sin, but just reverse. The wages of sin is death and it will eventually bring physical death and eternal death, but it doesn't wait until eternity to commence it's influence, either, because sin brings destruction and torment and death immediately in your everyday life. It's not a popular message, but people's lives and situations and dilemmas is usually their rightful "wage." It's what they've earned with their life decisions. Your life will more often or not be the end result of the law that you chose to follow.

I don't believe in luck, but I believe that you create your own luck. I don't have a happy marriage because I "got lucky." I have a happy marriage because I chose my wife according to scriptural guidelines and I've prayed for my marriage since I was old enough to pray. I have a happy marriage because I'm living for God and I chose a wife that loved the Word of God. But more than that, I have a happy marriage because my wife and I both have chosen to try our best to live by the Law of God and not the law of sin.

Think about this: the great King David went through two, major times of trouble in his life. The first was the result of persecution of jealousy of King Saul who had chosen to reject the law of God and to follow the law of sin. The second time of trouble was a result of David's sin of adultery with Bathsheba. David had bad days and good days, but his chief "seasons of trouble" came from either his deciding to live according to the law of sin, or someone else's choosing to live according to the law of sin. Most of David's life was great and exciting and anointed and peaceful. That's because David learned as a little boy, the law of God. And with one major mistake, David obeyed the law of God rather than the law of sin. What I'm trying to get you to see is that David did not become a great man of God by "accident." He didn't kill the giant and become a hero of faith, by chance. It wasn't just because he was a favorite of some divine election that he was called "a man after God's own heart" and the Messiah was promised to come through his lineage. It wasn't just "fate" that made David anointed and chosen, but it was his decision to live according to the laws of God and not the law of sin. God doesn't like David any more than He likes you and I! And the same laws that enabled David to be great are still around, just waiting to be obeyed. But most people will not end up like David because they choose to obey the law of sin in their life!

I would venture to say that choosing to live by the laws of God is the single most important decision that you can make. And the choice is yours to make. If you can choose to live by the law of sin, then you can choose to live by the law of God. If you can choose to do bad, then you can choose to do good.

Take the Apostle Peter for example. Peter did not have a whole lot going for him that would indicate that he would end up so mightily used of God as he did. Peter's daddy was not a religious scribe or preacher. He probably grew up only going to the temple in Jerusalem once a year for the Day of Atonement and maybe a few times for Passover. Peter had a temper problem and a wrong attitude. He is the only disciple that ever rebuked Jesus! You can detect a little bit of sarcasm when the woman with the issue of blood pressed through the crowd and Jesus asked "who touched me?" Peter was like "uh, there's a whole bunch of us around, Jesus, what are you talking about?" It was Peter who asked "how many times should I forgive somebody that does the same thing over and over again?" and then hopefully supplied the low number suggestion, "seven?" It was Peter who was the only person called "Satan" by Jesus, and it was Peter who drew his sword and tried to take the head off of the nearest person at Jesus' arrest. Peter's mouth was always open, his foot always in it, and a very rough character always shining. If you would have asked me who would have been a good choice for the leader of the Early Church, I would have said, John, or maybe Andrew who was always bringing people to Jesus. But I certainly would not have chosen Peter.

But listen to this preacher and learn the lesson of the Apostle Peter's life. Peter had a lot wrong with Him before the Day of Pentecost and Jesus, Himself, said that Peter needed to be "converted." Before the Day of Pentecost, Peter had two things, and two things only right in his life: First, he had his doctrine right. When Jesus asked "who am I?" only Peter knew the correct answer to that. Doctrine is important! Who you say Jesus is, is very, very important! And the second, can be found in Peter's own mouth when Jesus had taught some very hard-to-understand, seemingly-impossible-to-understand messages and thousands of disciples were leaving from following Jesus, and Jesus turned to the twelve and said "will you go also?"

Peter had forsaken his nets and his old kingdom and sets of rules for the Word of God and the Law of God! Peter said "Lord, where can we go? Your word and law is what brings us eternal life, and we know who you are!" "I may not understand why you are asking what you are asking; I may not understand when you call me 'satan;' I may be rebuked several times and have to learn a lot of things about what I need to change in my character, but I know the end result of your law, and I know who you are, so I'm not going anywhere!" And God said "he's got some serious problems and flaws and issues, but his doctrine is right and his law is right, so I think I can use him and then let the Holy Ghost deal with the rest of his life!"

And so I'm preaching to you: Everyone of us have serious flaws in our life and areas that we desperately need for God change, but if you get your doctrine right, and make up in your mind to live after the "law of the Spirit," then the Holy Ghost will work on the rest! Make sure you know who Jesus Christ is and get your basic doctrines right, and then make up your mind to live according to the law of the Spirit and not the law of sin, and you will go far in the kingdom of God, no matter who your parents were, or what you have to fight through! Get those things right and you become someone that God can use! But He cannot use someone who chooses to obey the law of sin.

Paul said:

When you choose to live according to the law of God, you are loosed from the law of sin! The law of the Spirit sets you free from the law of death! Doing things God's way is the antidote for the confusion and destruction and stress and trouble that the law of sin brings! But like Eve, the choice is yours! You have two laws to live by, and you choose which one you will follow. But unlike Eve, make your choice with the end result in mind. Decide based on the law's wages!

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Paul said:

It's interesting to me that how Paul presents the laws in this scripture is the exact opposite of how most people in the world (and many in the church) view them. He said "the law of the Spirit of life, and then the law of sin and death. Life and living goes with God's law and death and destruction and pain goes with sin's law. Paul, of course, chose the law of the Spirit for his life so naturally he would present it this way. This show us that how you look at the two laws in your life will have a lot to do with your choice.

In the Garden of Eden, the way the serpent tricked Eve into obeying the law of sin was through her vision. The Bible says that:

She didn't partake of the forbidden, until she saw it as good and desirable! You will obey the law that looks the best and most pleasing and most delightful to you. But your vision towards the laws in your life can change. Satan had to get them to view God's law as binding and restrictive and his fruit the one that would "open their eyes" in order to get them to follow the law of sin. And their eyes were opened, but not in the way that they had planned. They immediately noticed the negative about themselves and each other. They then went and hid from God and tried to cover their issues with their own solutions. Before it was all over, judgment had come and death had come and their eyes were opened to what the law of sin would bring.

Today the process is in reverse. Mankind is born into a sinful world, away from the paradise of God and we are born under the law of sin. It is God now who speaks with us through His Word and tries to entice us to take the fruit of obedience of His Word. Paul said:

Just as the law of sin took mankind from the law of God, so now does the law of God take mankind out from under the law of God! We started out in a perfect setting being wooed by sin, but now we are in a non-perfect setting being wooed by God! And the method hasn't changed! For you to partake of God's fruits or righteousness, you must first desire God's fruits and righteousness, and for you to desire His law, you must look at it as something desirable and as a delight to the eyes. The devil knows this so he does his best to get people to view God's law as something that robs you of life and fun and that is binding and holds you captive.

But the disciples didn't view it that way! Peter said "Lord, you have the words to eternal life!" In writing His book, Jesus' brother James twice referred to the word of God as the "law of liberty!" The law of liberty! Too many Christians today view the law of God as something binding and inhibiting. Something that keeps them from having fun. Something that keeps their life boring. And so they repeatedly live their life having to deal with the effects of sin because they keep following the law of sin because it looks most appealing to them. The law of God is sort of like a guard rail on a mountainous road. It's there to keep you on the right track so you get to your destination. Sure, driving your car over the edge would be much more exciting than just driving down the road -- at least for a few seconds -- but the crash at the bottom isn't worth the few seconds of fun! In the end you'll have more fun in the long run if you keep going to where you're headed. Sin is fun for a few seconds, but what you we must learn is that the crash at the bottom is not worth the few seconds! Therefore the guardrail of God's law is important and actually liberating! It sets you free from the landing that is sure to result from you going over the cliff!

In our other text, we read the cry of someone who wanted to please God:

Ps 119:17-18 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. 18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

"Open my eyes, so that I see wondrous things from your law, God!" Wondrous. Oh, that our eyes would be opened so that would see God's law as something wonderful and great and desirable! That's the prayer of someone that is going to be pleasing to God because they desire God's law and view it as good.

And so I'm preaching to you about two laws in your life that are striving for you to follow. And the question is: "how long will it take for your eyes to be opened to the death and destruction that choosing the law of sin brings?" It took Adam and Eve seconds. It takes some people a lifetime before they finally realize that obeying God's Word brings life and disobeying it brings death!

The fruit of righteousness is before you. You are in the Garden of Sin and God is speaking to you. But you will not take of God's law until it looks desirable to you. This entire message has been to get you to change your view of God's Word. It's not a bunch of commandments trying to take the fun out of life. It's not the harsh words of a god that is trying to destroy your life, but rather the words of the One who came to bring life, and that more abundantly. He wants you to partake of His righteousness so that you can be free from the law of sin and death. But you must view it as the "law of liberty." You cannot view it as the slothful servant who saw God as "a hard man." If that is how you view it, you will never embrace it, but we need God to open our eyes today! Partake of His righteousness and allow us to see "wondrous things" in God's law!

Today the process of the Garden of Eden is in reverse. Our goal is to get back into an eternal relationship with God. Have you ever noticed that the tree of life is mentioned in only two books of the Bible, the first and the last? It's in Genesis, in the Garden of Eden, and we find Adam and Eve losing access to it because of their following the law of sin. But it's also mentioned in the Book of Revelation where God promises:

God didn't say "which was" in the paradise of God but He said "which IS." He has a paradise awaiting and the tree of life that Adam and Eve missed out on is still there. Your relationship can be restored with God! It's never too late to reverse the curse of sin and begin to reap the life that comes from living according to the law of the Spirit! It's not too late for you to be able to say with Paul:

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I close with this:

There was a song growing up that went like this:

And it had a verse that went something like this:

Verse 2 was this:

I don't just live according to the law of God because I want to escape hell, but because I've learned that it is a better way to live! God's law brings life! It brings wonderful things! Whereas sin brings death. Two laws to live by but for me the decision is easy: I choose to be like Jesus! I will choose to obey and follow the law of God!