Good morning to each of you. Turn with me in your Bible to
Psalm 126. Psalm 126. Be looking at verse 3 this morning. While you're turning, let me
say greetings from the saints in Madisonville. long history
between the two churches. They send their love and greetings
and blessings on this meeting. In verse 3, the psalmist writes,
The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. I want to show you the Lord enable
me, five things that are plainly taught in twelve simple words. The first thing, the first two
words, the Lord. We live in a day, sadly, where
the vast majority of men and women in this world profess to
love a Lord. But their Lord has no resemblance
to the Lord that this book proclaims and declares. No resemblance. The Lord is one, their Lord,
little l, is one who wants something from sinners. This morning I
turned on the TV and just happened to be on a religious channel.
God needs your money, this man kept saying. No, he didn't. He owns the cattle on a thousand
hills. It's all his. Their Lord is one
who needs something from sinners, but the Lord is one who has alone
done for sinners. And that's the Gospel message.
What God's done for sinners. The Lord. The message of this
book is about the Lord. Everything starts and finishes
with Him. In the beginning, God created. The first four words of the Bible
tell us who's in control. In the beginning, God. Right
there. It's He that laid the foundations
of the earth. And the heavens are the work
of His hands. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And all things
were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that
was made. That's the Lord. He's talking
about the Lord, and isn't it obvious from the words of Scripture
that He's almighty. He spoke the worlds into existence. Everything that was made was
made by Him. A God who can work all things
together for your good and my good is the Lord who controls
all things by the power of His might. That's why we can rest comfortably
knowing that He's going to do all things well for you and I
that know Him. Why? Because He controls all
things. What a simple, basic, beloved truth. And against popular
belief, sinners do not choose the Lord. The Lord chooses whom He will,
for it's not of man who wills or of man who runs, but of God
that showeth mercy. The Lord said, you've not chosen
me, but I've chosen you. That scripture doesn't need any
interpretation, does it? The Lord hath from the beginning
chosen you. to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. And that spirit and that
truth is the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Do you know what follows that?
A period. He's the first cause of everything.
Scripture says He's Alpha and Omega. He's the beginning. He's
the end. He's the first and He's the last. and everything in between. Second thing, the Lord hath done. That's the second thing, hath
done. What has the Lord done? Well,
David said, our God's in the heavens, and he's done whatsoever
he's pleased. And whatever he pleases in the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, None
can stay his hand or say to him, what are you doing? Because he's
God. He's the Lord and he hath done. Our text does not say the Lord
hath tried. It doesn't say that the Lord
hath attempted and failed. And it definitely doesn't say
that the Lord wanted to and that he couldn't unless you let him
have your way. Let him have his way, excuse
me. It doesn't say the Lord will
do if you do this or if you do that. I'm so glad that it doesn't
say that. It says the Lord hath done. It's
finished. The work's accomplished. Nothing
for you or me to do. Well, don't I have to believe?
Well, you can't do that unless he does something for you. The work of redemption is finished,
was accomplished before the foundation of the world, and God cannot
fail. He hath done. God does everything
He wants to because God is able to do everything He wants to.
I don't do everything I want to because I want to dunk a basketball,
but I can't. I don't have the ability. Never did. If the scriptures ask the question,
is anything too hard for the Lord? Is there? God's doing is always at His
discretion. Young man, if He saves you, it
won't be by a work of righteousness that you do. But according to
His mercy, He saves you. It's all at His discretion. It's
His discretion to leave others to themselves, letting them have
their own way, a way that seems right unto them, but the end
thereof are the ways of death and destruction. In the end,
they only find eternal judgment awaiting them, and they'll have
no one to blame but themselves. It's at God's discretion. Job
said, I know that thou canst do everything. Everything? Everything. And that no thought
can be withholden from thee. Our Lord thinks, and it comes
to pass. He purposes, and it always stands. And when the Lord purposes, who
can disannul it? These are scriptural questions,
good questions. The Lord of heaven. His hand
is stretched out. Who can turn it back? Let God have His way. No, sir.
His hand is stretched out to show mercy. None can turn it back. The Lord
of heaven and earth is the potter and we're the clay. And the potter
has power over the clay of the same lump. That's you and I. We're lumps. Just big old lumps. He has the power to fashion one
into a vessel of honor and another to dishonor. His prerogative. Third thing, the Lord hath done
great things. Great things. Samuel the prophet
said, consider how great things he hath done for you. all that
God might enable us today to consider the great things that
He's done for us. The Lord, the Lord of the Bible,
He can raise the dead. That's a great thing. The Lord
raised His friend Lazarus from the dead. And let me ask you,
when Lazarus was dead, and in that tomb, four days dead, stinking
dead, Did he receive life when he came forth from the tomb,
or did he receive life before he came forth? I think that's pretty obvious. Common sense will tell you that. But it's not obvious to everybody.
The Lord raised that young man they carried to the grave at
the gate. of the city name and he raised Jairus' daughter and
the most amazing thing to me is that he still quickens some
today. Those who are dead, dead, plumb
dead in trespasses and sin. The Lord Jesus came into the
world to save dead sinners and that's a great thing. To a sinner
that To a sinner, that's the greatest, other than God's grace
in saving them, the greatest token of grace that the Lord
has ever done is saved us by His grace and gave us one another
so that we can encourage one another in these things. Oh,
friends, these are great things. God made His own beloved Son
to be sin for His people, that His people might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. And that's a great thing. That
great and divine transaction is free to those who trust in
Christ, but it took the blood of God to bring it to pass. And how
great is that? If you ever see your sin, you'll
know how great that is. Won't you? Can't get over it. in all of him. Fourth thing, the Lord hath done
great things for us. Those two words, for us, they
start to mean something when God shows you who and what they
are. And it really means something
to you when God shows you you're one of those. Christ died for the ungodly. God commended His love toward
us, and then while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You know that that word commendeth
means approves? Read it like this. The Lord commendeth,
approves His love toward us. You know why? Because in His
beloved Son, He's well pleased. That's the only reason. And I can assure you, I've been
looking for years I've been looking for years now to try to find
something in me that would commend me to God, and believe me, it's
just not there. I can't stand before God in any
work of righteousness that I've done because I don't have any.
It's just that simple. I don't have any. Lord, Lord,
haven't we done? Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. I never knew you. But we've cast
out devils. We've laid hands on the sick.
We've preached the gospel. Works of iniquity. I never knew
you. It pleased the Lord to make you
His people for us. And the fifth and the last thing,
friends, is the Lord hath done great things for us whereof We
are glad. We are glad. This is the blessed
state of every chosen and elect child of God. I remember the first time I heard
Donnie preach, 1986. And when he got finished, I said,
he's about the happiest preacher I've ever heard preach in my
life. And you know what? He's still happy. Whereof we are glad. We're glad. Why? Because the
Lord hath done great things for us. That's why we're glad. That's why we're happy. Brother
Scott used to say, I can hear him say it, I haven't heard any
bad news since I heard the good news. You know what? I haven't either. We're glad that God crossed our
paths with the preaching of that gospel you talked about. We're glad that the Lord gave
us the grace to take sides with God against ourselves. That's
not easy to do. I'm glad that Jesus Christ died
the just for the unjust. You know why? Because I'm unjust. I'm glad that Christ came into
the world to save sinners. You know why? Because I'm a sinner. I'm the chief. And that's one
thing that you and I probably disagree on. Who's the worst?
You'll say you are, and I'll say I am. I'm glad that there's only one
mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. You know
why? Because I could not come. And
I would not come to him that I might have lot. I need a mediator
between God and myself. Our Lord said no man cometh to
the Father, but he didn't stop there. He said, but by me. Except the Father which sent
me draw him. There's the exception to the
rule. The Lord hath done great things
for us whereof we are glad. Amen.