Alright, let's open our Bibles
again to Psalm 62. I've entitled the message this
morning, Christ Only. Christ Only. I don't have the
words to stress sufficiently the importance
of Christ. I can't stress enough the importance
of knowing Christ, of believing Christ, of having union with
Christ. And it is my fervent prayer that
this morning, God the Holy Spirit will enable me to preach Christ
only. I want the subject of the message
to be Christ only. So that our faith will be in
Christ only. So that we'll leave here this
morning looking to Christ only. I don't want to preach mere doctrine. I want to preach Christ only.
Because doctrine doesn't say Christ is the Savior. I don't
want us to just have a religious service. You know, a lot of people
have a religious service that makes them feel better, but a
religious service doesn't save. Christ saves. I don't want to
preach about what the rest of the world is doing wrong, because
the rest of the world being wrong doesn't make us saved. It's Christ
only who saves. So here's my first point from
verse one, Psalm 62. Christ only is my salvation. Truly, my soul waiteth upon God. From him cometh my salvation.
Now, I know that there is a lot involved with a sinner being
saved. When God saves a sinner, we're
saved from sin. We're saved from the power of
sin, from the condemnation of sin. When God saves a sinner,
God saves us from God. He saves us from His wrath against
our sin. We've got to be saved from God.
When a sinner is saved, we're born again to new spiritual life. There's a new man born who never
existed before. When God saves a sinner, He justifies
that sinner. He sanctifies that sinner. And
not someday. Right now, we're justified, we're
sanctified. But the salvation of our soul
is not just the sum of those things. Salvation is a person. Salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is all. So it all comes
from him, doesn't it? Moses, David, and Isaiah all
said this. He is become all my salvation. It's not just salvation is not
a thing. They were all clear. Salvation
is a person. And Christ is the Savior. He
saved His people from God by suffering God's wrath for us
as our substitute. Christ is the one who saved His
people from sins. Christ was made sin for His people
and put that sin away with the blood of His sacrifice. The Holy
Spirit gives life in the new birth to everyone that Christ
died for. The death of Christ demands our
life. If Christ died for us, we must
live. It's Christ who justifies. He makes His people without sin.
It's Christ who sanctifies. He makes His people holy. And
salvation must be Christ only. I'll show you why in Genesis
chapter 6. Christ only is our salvation
because man is only sin. Genesis 6 verse 5, what God saw
about man in Noah's day, same thing he sees about us, flesh
hasn't changed. In Genesis 6 verse 5, and God
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. That's what we are, only evil,
only sin. All men. Now I'm not just talking
about the world out there in general. I'm talking about us
right here this morning. All we are by nature is only evil. We're only sin. We're helpless,
hopeless sinners. So if we're going to be saved,
Christ only is our salvation. He saves us without any input
from us. His salvation is Christ only. And when I say this, Christ only,
when I tell you I cannot stress enough the importance of you
knowing Christ. Brother, I'm not trying to get
a following from me. My heart's desire, my prayer
every single day is you know Christ. And I'm not just whistling
Dixie. I mean that. David says truly,
truly, We're not playing religious games here. I truly believe I'm
ruined in sin. I truly believe that. I truly
believe I'm so ruined in sin, the only way I can be saved is
in Christ. He's got to save me. He's my
only hope. I truly believe that Christ makes
sinners not guilty. I believe that. I truly believe
that God gives faith to his people through the preaching of his
word. This is the word. This is the seed. God uses this
word to give life to his people. That's why I preach it. I truly
believe God saves sinners through the preaching of the gospel.
I truly believe that Christ is going to come again. I believe
that. And in that day, there's going
to be a resurrection. And He's going to take everyone
He died for to be with Him forever. And once we're there, the only
thing we'll care about is Christ. He's all we'll care about. Worshipping
Him. Seeing His praises and seeing
Him as He is. And because I truly believe this,
that Christ is all my salvation, I'm going to wait on Him. I truly
believe if God's going to save you, Christ will be all your
salvation. So I'm not going to try to talk
you into doing anything. I'm going to wait on him, wait
on God to do it. This word wait, waiteth. It means
stillness, waiting with no movement, just waiting. And it means silence,
not making suggestions, not constantly asking, are we there yet? Are
we there yet? Are we there yet? One thing I look forward to this
afternoon I'm not going to hear that as we travel. Janet can
look at the GPS and tell how long it's going to take for us
to get there. You kids, you do that when you're traveling? Are
we there yet? Are we there yet? You do that? Well, that's not
waiting in silence, is it? That's not waiting in stillness.
The word David uses here means waiting on God in stillness. I'm not trying to make anything
happen. I'm going to wait on him and waiting on him in silence.
He doesn't need any suggestions from me. He knows what's best
to do. He'll do it when it's time. And
if you know you're helpless, if you know you have no hope
in yourself, you'll wait on Christ. You'll wait on Him only to be
your salvation. I told Janet, every preacher,
Joe, Terrell, I talked about this last week, every preacher
ought to have a dog at least once in their life. You get a
lot of illustrations from dogs. We've got these two crazy Yorkies,
one of them named Brutus. Brutus loves Janet. That's what
he loves. He wants to be with Janet. He
wants to see Janet. He wants to touch Janet. And
when they're in a room together, he watches Janet. Now, he doesn't
do it silently. He's always barking, trying to
get her to go get him a treat or something. But he watches
Janet. He loves her. He watches her. Because he wants to be the first
to know when she makes a move. Because wherever she's going,
he's going to do. I want to be God's dog. That's
what it is to wait on Christ. He only is my salvation. So I'm looking to him. I'm waiting
on him. I'm watching him because I want
to be the first to know when he makes a move. Christ only
is my salvation. Second, Christ only is my rock. Verse two, he only is my rock
and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. Now Christ only is my rock. Christ is the rock smitten for
me. When he was smitten, out of his
side flowed blood and water, blood to justify, blood to atone
for my sin and water to cleanse, water to sanctify me, water to
give a thirsty sinner drink. Christ only is my rock. He's
my only foundation. He's the chief cornerstone. Truly
all of my faith is in Christ only. Everything I believe is
Christ only. So I know I'll not be greatly
moved. I'm just not going to be moved far away from Christ,
my foundation. Now I may be moved. I may be
staggered a little bit. Something unexpected happens.
It'll stagger me, but I'll not be removed. I won't be removed
from Christ. All my faith is in Him. He's
my smitten rock. He's the rock of my foundation.
And Christ is my only rock, my only rock of defense. Christ
is my place of defense from God's wrath and from man's wrath. When
I was flying out to Iowa, I read a book on the Code Talkers, the
Navajo World War II Code Talkers. And the author talked about them
island hopping, you know, invading these islands. There's one Pacific
island they were at and the whole island, it wasn't sandy anywhere,
it was entirely volcanic rock. Well, they landed there, they
couldn't dig a foxhole. And so they slowly, you know, moved
their way in and slowly moved the Japanese back. As they moved
the Japanese back, the Japanese had been there a long time. And
they were using dynamite to blast foxholes and to blast little
caves and tunnels down in that rock. Well, those Marines started
using those caves that they had blasted out. And they heard those
Zeros come and they just ran, jumped in those caves. And they'd
sit there and they'd eat their Vienna sausages and their Spam,
you know. No worry in the world. We're safe in the rock. Nothing
can harm us here. That's the Christ to the believer.
This world sounds like a scary place. When you want to just
run and find cover, go hide in Christ our rock. There's no fear
in Him. Christ only is my rock. So I'll
flee to the rock that's higher than I. Third, Christ only is
my defense against my enemies. Verse three. How long will you
imagine mischief against a man? You should be slain, all of you.
As a bowing wall shall you be, and as a tottering fence. They
only consult to cast him down from his excellency. They delight
in lies. They bless with their mouth,
but they curse inwardly. Now our Savior has overcome this
world. He said, don't worry, now I've
overcome this world. But we do still have very real
enemies in this world, don't we? Well, don't be full of fear. You know when we become full
of fear? We start looking at the enemy. Then we become scared. Don't look at them. Look to Christ
only. Don't look anywhere else. Don't
look to anyone else. Look at Psalm 73. Don't get full
of fear looking at these enemies. Their foot is going to slide
in due time. In Psalm 73, David has been talking
about, seems like the wicked got everything going their way,
and he didn't understand, until verse 17. He says, until I went
into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. Surely
thou hast set them in slippery places, thou castest them down
into destruction. How are they brought into desolation?
As in a moment, they're utterly consumed. These enemies, all they are is
a bowing wall. And a bowing wall, a tottering
fence, it's not going to stay in for long. It's going to fall
sooner or later. And a bowing wall, the more pressure
it puts on you, the sooner it's going to fall. It's going to
fall. Just look to Christ only. And you can recognize the enemies
of God by their tactics. Here are the weapons of God's
enemies. It's what they only do. This is what they only use. They only try to harm you by
taking you away from Christ only. They cast Christ down from His
excellency and try to get you to look somewhere else other
than Christ. They cast Him down from His excellency. I'm telling you, Christ is not
numb. Brethren, Christ is excellent.
He's enough. But they try to tell you Christ
is not enough. You still have to do something.
You still have to know something. Christ is not enough. They cast
Christ down from His Excellency by saying Christ's sacrifice
is not enough. Yes, Christ died for you, but
you still got to give up some things. You either got to give
them up, you know, all the time, or maybe just for a few weeks
of the year, you got to give up something you like. Now that's
casting Christ down from His Excellency, saying Christ is
not enough. They try to cast Christ down from His excellency
by saying Christ's obedience is not enough. Yes, Christ was
obedient. Yes, He died on the cross, but
now you still got to keep the law. That's saying Christ is
not enough. And they try to have a priest.
Any man-made religion that has a priest is casting Christ down
from His excellency. They're putting someone between
you and Christ and they're saying, Christ is not enough of a great
high priest. You need this earthly priest.
You've got to go to God through him. That's casting Christ down
from his excellency, telling you Christ alone, Christ only
is not enough. And then David says they only
do this. They only delight in lies. They don't delight in the
truth. They delight in lies. They delight to lie about men.
They delight to say how good man is. They delight to say all
men aren't dead and trespasses and sins, all men still have
the ability to make a decision for Jesus. They delight to lie
on man that way. And they delight to lie on God.
They delight to say, oh, God loves everybody. God just wants
to save everybody. God, Christ just died for everybody. You know, poor little Jesus,
he wouldn't hurt a flea. You know, don't you want to come
to him? That's a lie. That's wrong. God loves his people. He loves his people in Christ.
Christ died for his people. And this they only do. They bless
with their mouth, but they curse inwardly. They put on this fake
religious smile, but they curse inwardly. That's not being truly. That's being a hypocrite. They
put on this smile and talk about doing it to your face and then
all you ought to hear behind your back. That's being a hypocrite. Look at Psalm 55. They put on
his fake religious veneer, but they curse God and they curse
his people inwardly. Psalm 55 verse 20. He hath put forth his hands against
such as be at peace with him. He hath broken his covenant.
The words of his mouth are smoother than butter, but war was in his
heart. His words were softer than oil,
yet were they drawn swords. Well, what are you going to do
with that? What are you going to do with this? His words are softer
than butter, but war is in his heart. How are you going to handle
that hypocrite? Look to Christ only. Look at verse 22. Cast
thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall
never suffer the righteous to be moved. Just look to Christ
only. In the face of every enemy, whether
it's men who are without, or whether it's that old man who's
within. Now that old man who's within, he's an enemy, isn't
he? He does all these things. That old man, he's trying to
take Christ down from his excellency. He's whispering in your ear,
telling you Christ is not enough. He's lying to you about how good
you are and lying to you about God. In the face of every enemy,
without or within, just look to Christ only. He's our defense. When someone casts your sin in
your face, Look to Christ only, He put it away. When someone
tells you how bad you are, true, but look to Christ only, He's
your righteousness. Look to Christ only, He's our
defense. And fourthly, Christ only is
my expectation. Verse five, Psalm 62. My soul,
wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him. This word expectation, it means
what we hope for. This is not a wish like something
we don't know. Is this going to come true or
not? This is an expectation. We know what's going to happen.
We expect it to happen. But what does a believer expect? Well, we can only expect what
God promises in his word, can't we? You can expect God to do
what he promised. That's not presumption. You can
expect God to do what he said he's going to do. I expect the
forgiveness of my sin based on Christ only. Wayne, I expect
that. That's not presumption. God promised it. I expect, and
this is not presumption, this is what I expect. I expect to
persevere to the end. I really do. Through every trial,
through every valley, through every storm that I think is going
to crush me, I expect to persevere to the end. by the power of Christ
only. Not because anything of me, but
the power of my Savior. I expect the resurrection of
this body. It already ain't much, but I
expect it to be raised in perfection by Christ only. I preach expecting
sinners to be saved. I preach expecting you to believe.
I have no idea why you wouldn't. I expect you to believe. by the
preaching of Christ only. I expect you to believe. I expect
sinners to be saved when we preach the gospel because what did God
promise? By the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. I expect God's sheep to be fed
from the preaching of the gospel. Y'all, you got a hard life. I
mean, it's difficult. And you come in here and you're
tired and you're weary and you're thirsty and you're hungry. I
expect you to leave refreshed by the preaching of Christ only. He's enough for your soul. He'll
strengthen you. I expect that. I really do. So
I'm just very content to wait on God to do His will because
He said He's going to do it. Fifthly, Christ only is my keeper. Verse 6, He only is my rock and
my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be moved. Now, David says in verse six,
something very similar to what he said in verse two. In verse
two, he said, he's my defense. I should not be greatly moved.
In verse six, he's, in verse two, he said, I shall not be
greatly moved. In verse six, he said, I shall not be moved. And what's David doing here?
Well, God gives all of his children faith. It's faith in Christ only. Now that faith, when God saves
you, when he reveals Christ to you, gives you faith, that faith
will never change. I don't care how long you live,
that faith will never change. The object of your faith will
never change. It's Christ only. But now that
faith will grow. It'll deepen over time. At first,
David knew he wouldn't leave Christ. He believed him. He knew
he wouldn't leave Christ. He felt like a ship. that was
anchored to the bottom of the ocean, that was anchored to the
rock by a long chain. Now that ship can move around,
can't it? But it can never go very far
away from the center. So it's anchored to the rock. But after a while, after David
went through some hard times, he went through some trials,
he went through some difficulties, David now felt like a man whose
feet were cemented to the rock. It's not just that I'll wander
not very far from the center. I won't leave the center. My
feet are cemented to Christ. I know I won't go anywhere else.
I know it. Where else could I go? David saying with Peter, Lord,
to whom shall we go? Only you have the words of eternal
life. We believe and we're sure thou
art that Christ. You're the son of the living
God. I'm not going anywhere. One of the things I frequently
see at the beach. I was thinking about this. It
always amazes me. I don't know if you've ever seen
this. I'm sure you have. There's a rock and there's seashells
attached to that thing and you can't pull them off. They've
become one with that rock. They can't be broken away. If
you know how that happens, don't tell me. I prefer for it to stay
a mystery. Those shells cemented to that
rock, you can't pull them off. That's the believer's union with
Christ. You can't be separated from Christ. That's David's faith. It grew
stronger over time, didn't it? Christ only is my keeper. I can't
be separated from him because he's going to keep me. Six, Christ
only is my glory. Verse seven, in God is my salvation
and my glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. Now David repeats himself often
through this psalm, doesn't he? He talks frequently about Christ
being my salvation, Christ being my rock, Christ is my strength,
Christ is my refuge. And you know, that repetition,
that's part of faith in Christ only. There's a singleness of
faith in Christ. There's a singleness of salvation
in Christ only. And the message never changes.
Because the Savior never changes. The message is always Christ
only. Do sinners need to be saved? They need Christ only. Do God's
sheep need to be fed? They need to hear Christ only.
Are you broken hearted and suffering? What's your pastor to do for
you? Preach Christ only. He's the message. The message
never changes. But here in verse 7, David says
something different. He says, God is my salvation
and my glory. Christ is my glory. He's my honor. Now there's no honor. There's
nothing, no glory about me and my flesh at all. There's no glory
in any man's flesh. You know how Paul described this
flesh when we bury it? We go to the cemetery and we
bury a loved one who died. Paul says this flesh is sown
in dishonor, because that's what this flesh is. It's the opposite
of glory. It's the opposite of honor. Well,
then how can I have glory? How can I be honorable? In Christ
only. Look at Galatians chapter six.
I can glory in Christ only. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 12. Paul here talking about
these Judaizers, these who are trying to get you to go back
under the law. He says, as many as desire to make a fair show
in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised only lest
they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. They're
afraid to tell you the truth because they don't want to suffer
persecution. They won't preach Christ only because they're afraid
of persecution of men in the flesh. For neither they themselves
who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have
you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. See what they glory in? They
glory in, oh, the numbers that we had. You know, they're always
counting people. They glory in the size of the offering. They
glory in the size of the building. They glory in all these things
that are just fleshly things. If they want to have a contest
in glorying about how many converts they won, they're going to lose
the Apostle Paul, aren't they? If they want to glory in how
many churches they established through their preaching, they're
going to lose the Apostle Paul. God used him more greatly than
any preacher of that time to establish churches and to preach
the gospel. If they want, would you like
to have a contest about how much scripture you wrote? How much
the Holy Spirit inspired you to write the Word of God? Well,
they're going to lose the Apostle Paul, aren't they? But what was
Paul's glory? What would he glory in? Nothing
that he ever did. Paul would glory in Christ only.
Look at verse 14. He says, but God forbid that
I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. For
in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature. See, Christ is all that matters. Christ only is my glory. And then seventh. Christ only
is my refuge. Look here at verse eight of Psalm
62. I like this verse. Trust in him at all times you
people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. Now,
Christ is the refuge from the storm. We hide in Him, but David's
talking about more than a refuge from the storm. David means a
refuge as a safe place. Someone who really loves you,
they're a safe place for you, aren't you? Aren't they? You
can tell them whatever's on your mind, and they're a safe place.
I don't care how ugly it is. I don't care how dark it is.
Whatever it is, it's on your heart. You can say it to them
and they're your safe place. They're going to love you anyway.
They'll listen to you and they'll love you anyway. Christ is our refuge. He's our safe place. He's the
safe place. You can lay open your heart to
Him and He'll still love you. He'll still listen to you. I
think sometimes about my prayers. I'm afraid that was juvenile
or that was, that wasn't right. I didn't say that right. I didn't
think that right. He still listens. Just pour out
your heart to Christ. Just empty it before him. Don't
hide any of the sin that's in there. Just pour it out. He forgives
sin. He sees it anyway. Don't hide
any doubts. Christ is the one who gives faith.
He's the object of our faith. Just pour it out to Him. He won't
leave you. Despite our doubts, He doesn't
leave us. Don't hide any fears. Whatever it is that just makes
you afraid, pour it out. Just empty it before Him. There's
no fear in love. He loves you. There's no fear
in love. Perfect love casts without fear. Don't hide any desire of
your heart. Just ask God for what you need.
What do you need? Pour it out before Him. Do you
need forgiveness for your sin? Pour it out. Do you need grace
because you're guilty? Pour that out. Do you need peace
with God? Pour it out. Whatever it is.
If you need earthly things, ask God for it. He's the only one
who can give it to you. Just pour it out. Don't forget this one. Don't hide in your heart any
thanksgiving or any praise. Just pour it out to Him. Empty your heart. It all belongs
to Christ anyway, doesn't it? Just pour it out to Him. And
David says, do it at all times. All times. Day or night, whether
you're on the mountaintop or in the valley. I don't care what
circumstances you're in. I don't care what it is that's
on your mind. Pour it out to Christ only. He's your safe place. He's your refuge. Who else are
you going to tell? Brother Marvin Soniker tells
me, he says, sometimes it's best to only tell God. Just don't
tell anybody. Just pour out your heart to Him.
Now trust Christ only. That's the message. Have I made
my point? Christ only. But now here's a warning. Don't
get caught up and all the other things that are around us. Don't
get caught up in men. The best of men or the worst
of men, either extreme, don't get caught up in them because
they're just men. Look at verse 9. Surely men of
low decree are vanity, and men of high decree, they're a lie.
And men is a lie. They're not high, they're low,
they're vanity too. To be laid in the balance, they're
altogether lighter than vanity. Just trust Christ only. If you put any trust in a man,
You're trusting in dust. It's just dust piled up, you
know, knee about five feet, 10 inches high, just dust. It's
just a pile of dust. Don't put your trust in a man.
He's just, he's nothing. There's no substance. He's just
mostly air. Don't trust Christ only. And don't put any trust in your
circumstances. Trust Christ only. Verse 10,
trust not in oppression and become not vain in robbery, If riches
increase, set not your heart upon them. Now, some people think,
you know, if I'm oppressed and I'm hated by the world, then
I must be a child of God. Well, it's true. Believers are
hated by the world, but the evidence of being a believer, the evidence
of being a child of God is not in the flesh, not in our circumstances. The evidence of being a believer
is you have faith in Christ only. That's the only evidence. We
can see no physical evidences of being in Christ. A person
could be hated by the world and oppressed by everybody he knows
because he's a jerk. It doesn't have anything to do with being
a child of God, right? And then some people in religion go, most
people, they go the opposite way. They say, well, if I've
got a lot of riches and just everything's going my way, you
know, those are evidences that God's blessing me. I'm saved,
I know I am because God's given me all these blessings. Well,
now be careful. Usually when the scriptures talk
about the rich, how does it describe them? As the wicked. Now, certainly
God can bless his people with monetary riches and usually he
doesn't, but he can bless them with a lot of whatever it is
we have. God gave us right. But either way, whether it's
whether it's poverty or whether it's riches, none of those things
are all fleshly things. They cannot be evidences of salvation. What's the evidence of salvation?
It's only faith. Faith in Christ only. You know,
it could be a religious fellow's rich because he's a tight-fisted
crook Monday through Saturday, and then he just acts religious
on Sunday. Those riches are absolutely no indication of God's blessing. Now, it's fine to have enough
money. I hope you all have plenty of
money. But just remember this. If God starts sending that stuff
your way, It may be that plenty of money, a big pile of money,
is the greatest trial of your life. It could be. It could be
Satan, the God of this world, sent it to you. I mean, I don't
know. But if they come to you, what David tells us here is very
wise advice. Don't set your heart on them.
Don't set your heart on getting them, and don't set your heart
on keeping these riches. Set your heart on Christ only. If God blesses you with plenty,
you hang on to it with an open hand. A generous giving hand. God gave it to you, not just
for you, but for others, to use for the good of others. It's
a gift from Christ only. So hold it with an open hand.
Now trust Christ only. Put your trust in God only because
of the character of God. There's nobody like Him. Look
at verse 11. God has spoken once, twice have I heard this, that
power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth
mercy. For thou renders to every man
according to his work." Now you trust God only. He's got all
power to accomplish His will. He made promises to His people.
Now you can bank on Him keeping them because He's got all power
to make those promises and His will come true. God said trust
Him. Just trust Him. Everything is
under His control. Just trust Him. Trust God only. He's the one who has all power.
He's the almighty. Yet he's kind and he's gentle
and he's merciful to sinners. Is anybody here a sinner? If you are, you trust in God
who's merciful. He's got the power to save you
and he's merciful enough to save you. That's good news. Now here's
something else about the character of God. I like this. At the beginning
of verse 11, he says, God has spoken once, twice have I heard
this. Now God only has to speak once,
doesn't he? But he's spoken many times. He's spoken unto us by
his prophets. He's speaking unto us right now
through David. He's spoken unto us by the apostles. He speaks
to us by his preachers. God hath in these last days,
the writer of the Hebrew says, spoken unto us by his son. But
you know, God only has to speak once. Once is enough because
He's God. He shouldn't have to repeat Himself,
should He? You parents have to answer that question over and
over and over. Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there
yet? Can I have this? Can I have this? Can I have this?
You know, saying no once ought to be enough, right? But our
children keep asking. Well, God only has to speak once.
But He's spoken many times. because he remembers our friend.
He remembers we're just dust. We think we forget and need to
be reminded. God knows better than we do we
need to be reminded. That's why he gives us pastors
and teachers, so we'll be reminded. God knows better than we do how
hard of hearing that we are. You know, you think I never heard
that before. Wow, I've never seen that before. God knows we're hard of hearing.
That's why he sends a pastor, his preachers, to tell us again
and again and again. One day it'll sink in. We think
it's safe for us to hear the gospel over and over and over
again. God knows it better than we do.
So he's spoken more than once. But here's another meaning of
this verse. God has just spoken once. He just got one message. And David says, I've heard it
twice. I heard it with the physical ear. I can identify with David. When I was in Iowa last week,
Joe talked to the children that were there. And he told those
children, he said, you know, Frank was your age hearing the
gospel. And I did. I heard it with these
ears. But one day I heard. One day
I heard twice. One day God spoke to the heart.
And that's what David's saying. I heard with the ear. I heard
again. I heard with the heart. In God's
message, the message of gospel to the sinners is what David
heard. He said, I heard God has all
power and God has all mercy to save me. That's the message.
And David knows this. He says, thou renders to every
man according to his work. God will by no means clear the
guilty. God will give it. every man,
woman and child exactly what they deserve. Exactly. God will
either give us exactly what we deserve because of our sin and
our rebellion and our unbelief, or God will give us exactly what
we deserve because Christ is our righteousness. Our righteousness
is Christ only. And if Christ was made sin for
you, he took your sin and his body on the tree. He suffered
the judgment and the damnation and the wrath of God that you
deserve. Then you know what he's done?
He's made you righteous in the end. And God's justice demands
you have eternal life. If Christ died for you, he's
given you life. Then your claim to salvation
is Christ only. If God's given you life in the
new birth, your claim to righteousness is Christ only. Your claim to
justification It's Christ only. Your claim to sanctification
is Christ only. Your claim to eternal life is
Christ only. Your claim to one day awaken
Christ's likeness in glory is Christ only. That's the message. I hope God will bless that to
His glory and to our good. Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, we thank you. We
thank you for your mercy, for your grace, We're so thankful
that in justice, complete, utter justice, you've saved your people
from their sin through the sacrifice of Christ only. How thankful
we are. Father, how thankful we are that
one more time you've seen fit to speak to us through your word.
Father, I pray that you'd give every soul here ears to hear,
that you give us a heart to hear and a heart to receive and to
believe your word, to look to Christ only, to see Christ as
our all and in all. Father, I pray that as we leave
here, that as we think upon the things that we heard, that Christ
would have the preeminence. As we go through our week this
week, that Christ would have the preeminence. As we gather
again in the midweek service at Christ to have the preeminence
in all things, let Christ be all in all to us. We pray and
we give thanks in his great name, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
for his glory and for his sake.