Let us turn to God's Word and
I want this morning to direct your attention for a while to
words that we find in the book of Psalms. In Psalm 75 and reading
verses 6 and 7. Psalm 75 verses 6 and 7 for promotion
cometh neither from the east nor from the west nor from the
south but God is the judge he puteth down one and seteth up
another." A couple of weeks ago now we
were considering words that we find in the book of Proverbs
in chapter 19 and verse 21 that contrast between the puniness
of men and the greatness of God. There are many devices in a man's
heart. Nevertheless, the counsel of
the Lord that shall stand, says the wise man. And we spoke then
of the fact that God is the one who is sovereign, of course.
in spite of all the machinations of men and I said the word seems
so apt considering the momentous days in which we are living and
I believe that those days are still quite momentous when we
think even of political events in our own nation in the past
week and some of the awful atrocities that are still being perpetrated
here in in the Western world what days they are in which we
are living and yet I believe we see some comfort in the words
that I've just read for our text it reminds us does it not of
the absolute sovereignty of God and it is in particular those
words at the beginning of verse 7 that I want to take for a text
but God is the Judge. In the context we read, for promotion
cometh neither from the East, nor from the West, nor from the
South, but God is the Judge. He putteth down one and setteth
up another. Who is the one that is spoken
of then as the Judge? Well, we know from the New Testament
from the words that we read in John chapter 5 at verse 22 that
the Father judges no man but hath committed all judgment to
the Son. Here we are to think in terms
then of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the judge. And I want us
this morning to consider that Christ is that one to whom judgment
has been committed both in the present day and also in that
great day that is to come in the last day. He is the one who
is to return in power and glory and he is the one who will make
the final separation between the sheep and the goats. But
first of all to think in terms of the present that God is the
judge And are we not clearly reminded that God's works are
a wonderful revelation of himself, his character, as that one who
is the righteous and the true judge. In the opening verse of
the psalm, there at the end of verse 1, we read, For that thy
name is near, thy wondrous works declare, All that we witness
about us is declaring to us that the Lord Jesus Christ is that
one who is the judge. And we're told, we're told in
the New Testament that in all his works he is ever mindful
of his people. The language that we have at
the end of the opening chapter of the epistle to the Ephesians
for an example. God has put all things under
his feet we are taught and given him to be the head over all things
to the church which is his body the fullness of him that filleth
all in all in all that is taking place in our nation amongst all
the nations of the earth the Lord Jesus Christ is that one
who is the sovereign judge and he is that one who is executing
his own decree and in all that great work He is ever mindful
of His people. And He is saving, even in our
day, as many as were from eternity ordained to eternal life. But surely here we are, in the
first place, to think in terms of God's work of providence. Isn't this the context, really,
in which the words of the text are set? As we've said, we see
it in these two verses in the middle of the psalm. verse 6,
"...for promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west,
nor from the south." And then verse 7, "...but God is the judge. He putteth down one and setteth
up another." He is that One then who in His
sovereignty raises up and puts down There are those whom He
removes from office, there are those whom He puts into office. All the rulers of the earth are
subject to His divine will. Again here in verse 3 we're told
the earth and all the inhabitants hereof are dissolved, I bear
up the pillars of it, and then we have the sealer. Do you know
the significance of the sealer? It clearly has something to do
with the manner in which the psalm was to be sung in the divine
worship, in the tabernacle or in the temple. But it certainly
is significant, it indicates some pause. Does it not remind
us that we should stop and take account of the thing that has
been declared? It draws a certain emphasis then
in a sense to what we have there in that third verse. The earth
and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved. I bear up the
pillars of it. In his sovereign providence it
is the Lord Jesus Christ who is ruling. Even in events that are all around us. It's true of us, it's true of
all peoples, is it not, that it is in him that we live and
move and have our being. He is the one who is sustaining
all of his creatures. He is the one who is fulfilling
his eternal purpose in this fallen and sinful world. And that's
true even with regards to those who are in high places. What changes we have witnessed
when we think of events over this past month since the referendum
and the result of the referendum. We see a government that has
been removed and another government unexpectedly has been brought
in. And we have those words in another
psalm, in Psalm 65, do we not? God says that He will hear and
answer the cry of His children by terrible things. By terrible
things in righteousness will they answer us who are the God
of our salvation. We have prayed, many have prayed.
and God has heard the prayers of his people and God has answered
those prayers and we trust that God has some gracious thing to
accomplish amongst us yet. We know not. We pray that God
will answer, be it in mercy, be it pleasing, but alas, we
have to accept the truth that we are a nation ready for the
judgments of God. We are to observe these things.
to remember the truth of the text this morning that God is
the judge. Remember in another psalm in
the 107th psalm we have a great deal said there concerning God's
providential government it speaks of men doing business by land
or by sewage wherever men are to be found it is God who is
ruling and reigning over all their affairs and how that 107th
Psalm concludes on that great note that whoso is wise and will
observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness
of the Lord. For to be those who are wise,
who are observant of God's providences, who accept the truth of what
is stated here in this psalm concerning the God who bears
up the pillars of the earth the God who is even in this day in
which we're living the God of judgment and in all his dealings
of course there is that equity he is a just and he is a righteous
judge but we're not only to think in terms of God's providence. Surely we can also here see something
of God's grace and that reign of grace. What do we read in
verse 6? Promotion cometh neither from
the east nor from the west nor from the south. Now the word
that we have at the beginning of verse 6, it's rendered promotion
here in our authorized version literally means lifting up for
lifting up cometh neither from the east nor from the west nor
from the south and in fact this particular word is so emphatic
in this psalm because it's used A number of times we see it,
for example, used twice there in verse 4 and the beginning
of verse 5. I said unto the fools, deal not
foolishly, and to the wicked, lift not up the horn. Lift not up your horn on harm."
Now, there, the lifting up of the horn, the horn is a symbol
of power and strength, and it's speaking to us, is it not then,
there of man who imagines that he is powerful and strong, that
man can do the thing that he's pleasing in his own eyes, but
God says not so. God contradicts. the foolish
ways of men. They are not foolishly, he says.
And he says to the wicked, lift not up the horn, lift not up
your horn on high, that lifting off, it's the same word that
we find there at the beginning of verse 6. But then the word
is used again in verse 7. He putteth down wine and setteth
up or lifteth up another, or promoteth another. It's exactly
the same word. I say there's some sort of emphasis
with regards to this particular word. We have it again at the
end of the psalm, where it says, the horns of the righteous shall
be exalted. The horns of the righteous shall
be lifted up. That's the note on which the
psalm concludes. And who is the righteous? Dr. Gill says that the reference
here is to him who is the righteous man. It's a reference to the
Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is spoken previously in the 24th
Psalm. Remember, the language that is
employed there, the questions that are put who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place,
he that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted
up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive
the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of
his salvation." Who is the man that he's being spoken of? who
ascends the hill of the Lord, this man with clean hands and
a pure heart, it's the righteous Christ, that Psalm speaks of
Him in His ascension, does it not? Lift up your heads, O ye
gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King
of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? the
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. It's Christ
that is being spoken of there as the righteous man and it is
Christ that we see here in this 75th Psalm. The horns of the
righteous, the strength, the power of the righteous shall
be lifted up. It is Christ who is that one
who has all power in heaven and in earth. He is that one new
rules. And when we think of grace, of
course, and we think of the sovereignty of that grace, do we not see
how God puts down one and God lifts up another? Do we not see
that God is that one who is the great potter, and he has power,
therefore, over the clay? and he can make his vessels just
as he pleases. This is the imagery, of course,
that is taken up there in Romans chapter 9 at verse 21. Have not the potter powered over
the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour and
another unto dishonour? what if God willing to show his
wrath and to make known his power and to make his power known endured
with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction
and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the
vessels of mercy which he had before prepared unto glory. Oh, in the outworking of these
things we see how the Lord Jesus Christ is that one. to whom the
Father has clearly committed all judgment. God is the judge. Who is this
God? It is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ
even as He works in this day, in the present day, in what we
call the Day of Growth. The language is so plain. there
in the words of Christ recorded in the fifth chapter of John's
Gospel, where he speaks about the Father as committed the judgment
into his hands. In John 5 at verse 25, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming And now is when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in
Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself. And He hath given Him authority
to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. The hour is coming, He says,
and now is. He's not speaking simply of the
end of time, the last day. He is speaking of the present
time. They shall hear the voice of the Son of God, He says, and
they that hear shall live. How does the Lord execute His
work, His judgments? It is clearly to be understood
in terms of His Word. It is by His Word. Now, John
the Baptist, of course, comes as that one who is the great
harbinger of the Messiah. We see him as that one who is
the forerunner of the Christ. And we read that third chapter
of Matthew where we're told something concerning the things that John
said in the course of his ministry. Remember the language that he
used as Christ comes. There in verse 12 of Matthew
chapter 3 he says, whose fan is in his hand and he will throughly
purge his floor. He uses a different figure previously,
he says in verse 10, now also the axe is laid onto the root
of the trees. This is an imminent work. This
is a work that is about to begin. And so he speaks of the coming
one whose fan is in his hand and he will throughly purge his
floor and gather his wheat into the garner but he will burn up
the chaff with unquenchable fire. Then cometh Jesus from Galilee
to Jordan unto John to be baptized with him. The very thing that
John is speaking of in those previous verses is about to be
fulfilled And then there in verse 13 we have the coming of the
Lord Jesus. He will execute His ministry. His fan is in His hand. He's going to purge His floor. The figure, of course, is that
of the farmer winnowing his coir. And the fan, it's understood,
would be some great shovel-like implement that He would use and
He would toss the heap into the air and the wind would blow the
chaff away and the pure grain would fall to the ground. He's
separating the chaff from the wheat. His floor. He's going to purge his floor,
it says there. His floor, the reference there, is to Israel. The type of the church, is it
not? now the Lord Jesus you see is
that one who comes into his church amongst his people and he does
that winnowing work look at the language that we have for example
in the Old Testament in Isaiah 21 10 he says all my threshing
and the corn of my floor that's his people they are the corn
of his floor he has winnowed them the guy We have reference
to these things in the way in which the Lord God deals with
the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. How He would winnow
them time and again by His judgments. How He does it of course so strikingly
when He removes the true remnant out of the promised land and
they're taken into exile, into Babylon. And yet in all of that, what
he's got doing, he's dealing with his people, he's purifying
his people. Amos chapter 9 and verse 9, we read these words,
For lo, I will command and I will sift the house of Israel among
all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall
not the least rain. fall to the ground. With the
sieving there you see the pure grain is that that remains behind
in the sieve. It's all the rubbish that falls
through the sieve. And the grain is preserved. This
is the Lord Jesus Christ and His ministry that is being spoken
of. God is the judge. When we think of the ministry
of the Baptist, how John's ministry as we read it there in Matthew
chapter 3 it is such a discriminating ministry we see how the multitudes
would come to hear John out of Jerusalem and all Judea and the
regions round about Jordan's multitudes were coming and were
told, when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come
to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers,
who were sworn you to flee from the wrath to come, bring forth
therefore fruits, meat for repentance. Now John is faithful and discriminating. in the way in which he is addressing
those who are attending his ministry and witnessing his baptisings. And he speaks sharply there to
those Pharisees and those Sadducees. His ministry was a searching
ministry. Well, if that was true of him
who is the harbinger, the forerunner of the Christ, how much more
is that true when we come to consider the ministry of the
Lord Jesus? We have it in the text, you see, God is the judge
when the Lord Jesus is exercising his ministry. It is ever, always,
such a discriminating ministry. We're told several times in John's
Gospel, are we not, how dividing and divisive his ministry was.
There was a division amongst the Jews, we read, because of
him. Or it might say, there was a
division amongst the people because of these sayings. how he preaches. He preaches that that is offensive
to men. He speaks plainly of God's sovereignty. He doesn't hold back. He declares
the great truth of eternal election. And the consequence is offense. There in John chapter 6 verse
65 He says, therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto
me except it were given unto him of my Father. Al-Quran is
the statement. He is declaring clearly here
man's sinful impotence. Man is dead in trespasses and
sins that though he hear with his natural ear the truth of
God's Word he cannot come. No man can come except it were
given unto him of the Father. Wasn't that truth demonstrated
in the case of Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi? When Peter
confessed and acknowledged, thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God. And what does the Lord say? Flesh
and blood hath not revealed it unto them, but my Father which
is in heaven. Our God must open blind eyes,
unstop deaf ears. Our God must grant that gift
of saving faith. There can be no faith, no coming.
except it were given unto him of my father." There the Lord
declares that truth of God's sovereignty and salvation in
plain terms in John 6 and verse 65 and then the very next verse,
"...from that time many of his disciples went back and walked
no more with him." The word time in italics as you see literally
from that many of his disciples, it was from the thing that he
was saying that they were so offended they didn't like the
truth of God's sovereignty the ministry of the Lord Jesus as
he comes and exercises his ministry is a dividing ministry it's the
very truth, is it not? that was said concerning him
so soon after his birth, when he's brought as a child to the
temple. And how does Simeon speak? In
Luke 2 verse 34, Simeon blessed them, that is his parents, and
said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall
and rising again of many in Israel." Isn't this a fulfillment, you
see, of what we have here in the psalm? Promotion cometh neither
from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south, but God is
the judge. He put us down one and set us
up another. This child, says Simeon, He said,
for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a
sign which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through
thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. That's the ministry of Christ.
Revealing the thoughts of men's hearts. His ministry is such
a searching and such a sifting ministry. Again, the language
of Christ himself in the course of his ministry in Matthew's
gospel in chapter 10 and verse 34 he says, think not
that I am come to send peace on earth I came not to send peace
but a sword for I am come to set a man at variance against
his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law,
against her mother-in-law and a man's foes shall be they of
his own household. This is the ministry of the Lord
Jesus. How he takes forth the precious, how he makes the separation
between the pure grain and the chaff. The words, I'm sure they're familiar
with you, the words of the prophet Jeremiah there in chapter 15
and verse 19, if they take forth the precious from the vial, thou
shalt be as my mouth. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
one who is the very mouth of God, the Word of God. And He
takes forth the precious from the vial. And even after He has
accomplished His great work here upon the earth, after He has
made that one sacrifice for sins forever, and then vindicated
in the resurrection on the third day how the father raises him
from the dead and then he shows himself to his disciples over
those 40 days they have many infallible proofs of the truth
of his rising again they see him and they see that that body
though glorified is a real body he takes food and eats and drinks
before them and with them and then of course he ascends on
high, and then he addresses the churches, does he not? When we
come to the book of the Revelation, there in chapters 2 and 3 we
have those letters that are sent to the seven churches there in
Asia Minor. And what does he say? Writing
to the church at Thyatira in Revelation chapter 2 and verse
23, all the churches all the churches shall know that
I am he which searches the reins and the hearts." Isn't that the
mark of a true church? The Lord Jesus Christ is that
one who sits as king in the midst of his people and how he comes
and searches the reins and searches the hearts. God is the judge. Now this is necessary, is it
not? It must be so, because this is the way of the Lord. He only
does that thing that is right. Why is this necessary? Well,
two reasons. There's a negative reason, there's
a positive reason. First of all, the Lord Jesus
is that one who will come and expose those who are but empty
professions. those whose religion is to prove
to be only skin deep, those whose religion really is hypocritical. He exposes these things. Think of the language of John
the Baptist there in that chapter that we read in Matthew chapter
3 when he addresses those Pharisees and those Sadducees. He says,
think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father.
That was their great boast. We have Abraham. We are the children
of Abraham. It's not enough to say we are
the children of Abraham, the father of all them that believe. And it's interesting, he says
to them, say not within yourselves. their religion really goes no
further than themselves. It's evident, you see, that they
are such deluded souls. They have no real religion before
God. It's only what they think of
themselves. And it reminds me of the words that the Lord Jesus
himself spoke concerning The Pharisee. Remember in Luke 18
when those two men, the Pharisee and the despised publican go
to the temple at the hour of prayer. The Pharisee, it says,
prayed thus with himself. I thank you that I am not as
other men are and so forth. He prayed thus with himself.
Yes, he prayed inwardly, silently. But also the truth is his prayer
went no further than himself. All he is doing is congratulating
himself. How the Lord will search out
those who only have such a religion as that that goes no further
than self. Again in John chapter 9 where
we have Christ ministering so graciously to the man who was
born blind and the Lord gave him sight and remember how the
Pharisees had determined that they would cast out of the synagogue
all those who made any confession, any acknowledgement of the Lord
Jesus and so the man is put out put out of the synagogue but
the Lord goes and finds that man and ministers to that man
and asks him the question does thou believe on the Son of God and he does believe he does believe but what does the Lord say to
those Pharisees at the end of that chapter He'd just given
sight to a blind man, a man who had never seen, a man who'd been
born blind. And a man who had not only received
his physical sight, but had also come to a saving knowledge of
Christ, he had real faith. But what does the Lord say to
the Pharisees? If you were blind, if you were
blind, you should have no sin. But now ye say we see, therefore
your sin remain or they didn't see the truth concerning themselves,
they imagined that all was well with themselves because as I
said their religion never went any further than themselves,
they had a name or they were looked to by the Jews in general
to be their spiritual leaders but they knew nothing of the
truth again when we think of the words of the Lord Jesus to
the churches. He addresses a most solemn word
to the church of Sardis there in the beginning of the third
chapter of Revelation. He says, Thou hast a name that
thou livest and art dead. They had a name to live but they
were dead. Coming back then to the words
of the psalm in verse 4, I said unto the fools deal not foolishly
unto the wicked lift not up the whore all these foolish men who
don't see their desperate need that salvation is to be found
only in the Lord Jesus Christ who imagine that there's something
in themselves something that they can bring that would commend
them to God that would earn God's favor they're dealing foolishly
they're dealing foolishly How are the wise to deal? Well, you
know the language of Scripture, you know what the gospel market
is as it's spoken of there in the 55th chapter of Isaiah, "...O
everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that
hath no money, come ye by, and eat ye. Come by wine and milk
without money, and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for
that which is not bread? and your labour for that which
satisfyeth not, hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which
is good. And let your soul delight itself
in fatness, incline your ear, and come unto me. Herein your
soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with
you, even the sure mercies of David." All the fools, they deal
foolishly. when they think that they can
some way or other commend themselves to God. They are those who are
spoken of not only as fools, but the wicked. That's the parallelisms
that we have there in verse 4 in the 75th Psalm. I said unto the
fools, deal not foolishly. The parallel statement follows. To the wicked, lift not up the
whore. They're one and the same character. They're proud fools. and the Lord I say exposes that
but I said that this ministry of the Lord Jesus that we see
unfolded to us in scripture even in the day of Christ this searching
ministry this sifting ministry, this separating ministry there's
not only a negative reason for the necessity there's also a
positive reason and what is the positive reason? well it's so
encouraging to those who are truly the Lord's people. It's
so encouraging to those who are real believers. It exposes, it
exposes the empty professor. It exposes the man whose religion
is only skin deep, who is really, at best, nothing more than a
hypocrite. But now it encourages those who
know anything of the grace of God. Real faith Real faith really
desires to be searched and sifted. The Puritan John Flavel says,
false grace is shy of God's eye. It cares not to be examined.
Oh friends, if we've got something real today, we'll want it to
be examined. We'll want the Lord to be our
judge. and to judge the rightness and the reality of the religion
we profess. And we see it, do we not, in
the language of the God. Think of the language of David
in the Psalms. We're familiar with David's prayer
there at the end of the 139th Psalm. What does he say after
speaking of God as the One who is omnipresent? He's in all places,
omniscient, He knows all things. Nothing can be hid from Him.
His eyes run to and fro through the earth. What does David say
at the end of that psalm? Search me, O God. Search me,
O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts,
and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting. but not just there in the 139th
we have it also in the 26th Psalm and verse 2 he says examine me
O Lord and prove me try my reins and my heart all he wants to
be tried and proved he wants to know that what he has is something
that has been wrought of God in his soul and we see it with
Job in Job 31 and verse 6, "...let me be weighed in an even balance
that God may know mine integrity." That's the prayer of Job. Is
that my prayer? Is that really my prayer? Not
just as I come into a service, but every time I come to the
Word of God, is that my real desire? That God would weigh
me in an even balance? That God would make me to know
the truth? concerning the state of my heart.
Do I want God to sit as judge in my conscience? God is the
judge. God is the judge. And I say again
it is a mark of the godly man, the godly woman. Thank God that
it is so. Remember the contrast that's
drawn there in John chapter 3 at verses 20 and 21. everyone that doeth evil hateth
the light neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be
reproved but he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his
deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God. Oh friends,
which side of that divide do you stand on? The one that doeth
truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest
to the other, who does evil, hater to light, or that we might
be those who desire to come then to him who is the light, the
light of the world. We see then here something of
the Lord's dealings in this day. In this day, be it in his providence,
but also in his reign of grace. Promotion cometh neither from
the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is
the judge, he putteth down one, and setteth up another. But then
just briefly, we must also here take account of what will be
true in the last day. When we read these words that
I announced as our text at the beginning of this seventh verse,
but God is the judge, or will he not be seen to be the one
who is indeed the righteous judge? in that terrible day. Verse 8
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup and the wine is red
it is full of mixture and he poureth out the same but the
dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall wring them
out and drink them. Oh it speaks does it not of that
awful day, that dreadful day of judgment that is yet to come.
We've referred already to John chapter 5 that speaks to us of
Christ as the judge. And even Christ there is seen
to be the judge in the present day, in the day of grace. the hour is coming and now is
he says but besides that work that he
does in this day there's also another day spoken of there see what he said at verse 27
following that God has given him that he is the son of authority
to execute judgment also because he is the son of man marvel unto
this for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the
graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth they that have
done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done
evil unto the resurrection of damnation that ultimate judgment
has been committed into his hand into the hands of him who is
God the eternal Son of God, and yet that One who humbled Himself
and became a man, a real man. And at that first coming He roared
so great a salvation, yet that same Christ, that glorified Man
in Heaven is to come again without sin unto salvation, and He is
to sit as the One who is the final judge between all men you
know the language there in the gospel in Matthew chapter 25
verse 31 when the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all
the holy angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne
of his glory before him shall be gathered all nations and he
shall separate them one from another as a shepherd divided
his sheep from the goats and he shall set the sheep on his
right hand and the goats on his left. Verse 41, Then shall he
say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed,
into everlasting fire. Prepare for the devil and his
angels. No annihilation here you see.
The fire is everlasting. It is never ending. He uses a
different figure doesn't he? there in Matthew chapter 3 and
verse 12 concerning the chaff. He will burn up the chaff, it
says, with unquenchable fire. It's the same thing really. The
fire never goes out. It's ever burning. No annihilation, you see, for
the wicked. They go to that place where the worm dieth not, it
says, and the fire is not quenched. Fearful. or that God would come
even in this day of grace come to you, come to me and sit as
judge if we know him not as our judge in this day we surely will
know him as our judge in that day to our eternal damnation
but ought to know him as that one who comes even in the day
of grace and deals with us and searches us and sifts us and
separates us from all that is sinful, and calls us ever and
always to himself who promotes us, who exalts us, who doesn't
pass over us. Promotion cometh neither from
the east, nor from the west, nor from the south, but God is
the judge. He put us down one and set us up another. May the Lord be pleased then
to bless to us his own word.