All right, let's turn back to
Psalm 145. Having considered the heart of
God's people, the desire to praise the Lord,
and to see how the Lord has brought praise unto Himself, showing us the infinite mercy
of God. David was moved of God to say
in verse 3 of Psalm 145, Great is the Lord, and greatly to be
praised, and His greatness is unsearchable. I've entitled this
second message, The Unsearchable Greatness of God. David said great. It's the definition means great
in magnitude and great in extent. But you know, I can read these
definitions and they just trying to enter into the fullness of
that greatness, I just can't grasp hold. And
that's what he's saying. His greatness is unsearchable. He's great in every sense. He's
great in the perfections of his nature. He's great in his wisdom,
in his power, in his faithfulness, his holiness, his grace. His
goodness, He's great in all the works of
creation. He's great in all His works of
His providence. Oh, and His work of salvation
and saving His people. How He orders everything in this
world. I read that in John 17 2, Thou
has given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as Thou has given him. And I read that and I think,
I hear it, I read it, I believe it. Oh, I just, how do I enter
into that? Titus 2 13 says this, Looking
for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great
God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. David was moved to say, great
is the Lord, and greatly to be praised. While we do know him in mercy,
we all confess, Lord, you're great. It's about like trying
to explain how We can praise the Lord. We just, we fall so
short. We confess how frail we really
are and we confess his greatness and we would desire to be able
to enter into his greatness, but in our weakness, what do we know? But thanks be
unto God, the spirit of God has told us something that we'll
all readily, readily confess. Lord, I can see that. He's greatly
to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable. My margin says concerning that, there's no search. There's no
search. Not going to get there. You're
not going to arrive at it. You're not going to get it. His
greatness is unsearchable. When we think about the greatness
of God, God is great. Great is the Lord. Great is the
Lord. My mind was brought back. I jotted
this scripture down. Psalm 46, hold your place right
there, we'll come right back. Psalm 46, verse 10. And you start,
I start thinking about that greatness of the Lord, the praise of the
Lord, the extolling the Lord. Psalm 46, 10. Be still and know that I'm God. I will be exalted among the heathen,
I will be exalted in the earth. Be still. Do nothing. That's what he said.
Be quiet. Be quiet. Just confess what the Lord has
confessed concerning himself. You tell people. This is what
a preacher does. A preacher tells God's people
what God says about himself. That's what a preacher does.
And he's to take the scriptures and he's to look, search out
the sense, the meaning of those scriptures. But don't, don't
try to, don't try to be higher than what the Spirit of God has
revealed. Great is the Lord. Great is the Lord. The scripture
reveals this concerning his unsearchableness. That's what it says. His greatness
is unsearchable. Hold your place. Turn over to
Job 5. Turn back to Job chapter 5. I love the unsearchableness of
God. We can't find Him out. We can't
plumb the depths of Him. I just, He's God. He's higher
than us. We're never gonna perceive the
depth of Him. He said we're not. And God's
people said, Lord, thank you for telling me that. Thank you
for reminding me how frail I am. Look at Job 5, verses 8 and 9. Job 5, 8 and 9. I would seek
unto God, And unto God would I commit my cause, which doeth
great things, and unsearchable, marvelous things, without number." We can't find him out. Concerning
the things that he does, they're numberless. There is no number. There's no number. You say, well,
everything's got another number, not this. No, no, they're numberless. What He's done in creation, providence,
salvation, I spoke of a moment ago, unsearchable. What He does, providence, how
He sovereignly moves, Unsearchable. Romans 11, Paul, this was a man
that God Almighty had taken to the third heaven. All the apostles had heard things
that he couldn't even utter. There's no words for me to say
what I saw and heard. This was a man that God used
to pin the majority of the New Testament. I'll tell you what
Paul the Apostle said of himself, Romans 11, verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
His judgments. His ways pass finding out. We've come this morning to hear
about the unsearchable God. The numberless things that he's
done. The mercy and the grace and compassion
that he's shown his people. He's great. How many times I
found myself thought a fly through my mind before I even know it
was there. I didn't even know it was coming.
Got there, I didn't even know it. How many times have I felt
this thought, Lord, thank you for your forgiveness. Thank you
for mercy. Thank you for your long suffering.
Oh, God have mercy on me. Paul, the apostle, I was talking
about. He set forth how almighty God,
who is unsearchable in his greatness, numberless, in the things of
his hands and will and purpose. Turn to Ephesians 3, 8. Paul,
he marveled at something concerning these things. Ephesians 3, verse
8. I can enter into this a little
bit, a little bit. I'm just, I don't know. Maybe
I can, I don't know. Ephesians 3, under me. who am
less than the least of all saints. Is this grace given? That I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. I was just sharing with someone
a moment ago. Often I think back, I've said
this before, I think back when I was in college. Not just in
art school, but when I was in college. And I think back now
on all these people that I was there with, and I often wonder, were there any others? I don't
know of any. I don't know of any. But what
amazes me, well, I can't even grasp hold of this. How is it
that I, now you talk about, Paul said I'm the least, you know,
less than the least. I thought, well, I know that's
so because the Spirit of God moved Him to say that, but I
tell you what, I can enter into that. How in the world could
God, how can it be but for grace that God would show mercy to
me? For one like me, and give me a heart to preach the unsearchable
riches of His grace? We hear the glorious gospel of
His grace and mercy. to sinners. We hear it preached
and preached and preached, and we meditate upon that which we
hear upon His goodness, seeking Him, knowing that He said that
He's going to be found when we search for Him with all of our
heart. And I think to myself, Lord, I'm lost in that statement. You're gonna find me when you
search for me with all of your heart while we find ourselves
seeking, asking, knocking as diligently as we would. I'm convinced
that we wanted to be here this morning. I believe we did. We
wanted to come. We wanted to hear once again.
But do we not find ourselves even right now hearing what we're
hearing completely taken up and surrounded with the unsearchable
wonders of his grace. Let me tell you something that's
unsearchable, that I just thought of, that he's here at the Lord. Now, I know he said where two
or three gathered together in my name. He said, I am in the
midst of you. Can we truly, can we truly, now
you think about who we're talking about. God Almighty that spoke
all this, everything into existence. God Almighty by whom all things
consist. They're all held together and
all working and everything's in perfect harmony. And that
God Almighty would be here with us today. grace us, show mercy to us with
His presence. Hold your place and turn to 2nd
Chronicles. 2nd Chronicles chapter 6. 2nd
Chronicles. The temple was being dedicated
by Solomon. And 2nd Chronicles chapter 6
verse 18. The Spirit of God moved this
man Ask this question. 2 Chronicles 6, 18. But will God in very deed dwell
with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven
of heavens cannot contain thee. How much less this house in which
I've built. The heavens can't contain him. And he's here
with us. Do you believe that? I do, I
believe he's here. But is that not marvelous? Do
not our attempts to search him out, don't they just fall so short?
Psalm 145, verse four. One generation shall praise thy
works to another and shall declare thy mighty acts. You consider the unsearchable
riches of His grace that God Almighty would permit perpetual,
perpetual praise. Perpetual. How the Lord has provided
for His church by one generation teaching another generation.
Turn to Deuteronomy 4. Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse
8 to 10. Now listen to this precious,
and I'm gonna try to make an application to this after we
read this, Deuteronomy 4, verse 8 to 10. Deuteronomy 4, verse
8. And what nation is there so great
that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law
which I've set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself
and keep thy soul diligently Lest thou forget the things which
thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all
the days of thy life, but teach them thy sons and thy sons' sons,
especially they that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb.
When the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I
will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear all
the days that they live upon the earth, that they may teach
our children. Now let me let me just make applications. I said a moment ago. David said back in Psalm 145
for one generation shall praise thy works to another and shall
declare thy mighty acts. I want you to muse for just a
second upon the mercy the unsearchable riches of God's grace here at
this little this little Assembly right here in Katy, West Virginia. Years ago, God called and taught
a faithful preacher of the gospel that preached to his generation. And then that generation that
was blessed to have children, some of you born right here,
born in this, within this, the confines of this place right
here. And you grew up hearing the gospel that was being preached
faithfully. And you grew up, if God was pleased
to give you kids, that you taught them. I can tell you this, God's gonna
save who he will. And you can rest assured that
The Lord's people are going to be saved. And you say, well,
as of this moment, maybe the Lord has not shown mercy to one
of mine. But you taught him. You told
him. It was a generation that was
taught. They had kids and that generation
grew up. They had kids and they taught
them. And then those kids are growing up. And by the grace
of God, God taught them. They're going to teach their
kids. David said, one generation shall praise thy works to another.
and should declare thy mighty acts. Is his greatness not unsearchable? How God almighty. Think how God
had a people in this one, in this place right here. Verse
five, I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty and of thy
wondrous works. Here David, He uses a word, he
said, I will speak of God's majesty. And that word right there, I
will speak, it has a word that means I'm gonna enter into the
particulars. I'm gonna enter into the particular
works, the marvelous works of God. You see, here's a particular. He's the only begotten of the
Father. He's the brightness of God's glory, the express image
of God's person. He's the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. I wrote those few things down
and I just stopped and I thought, I'll never get to the end of
this. Who is He? I will speak in the particulars. of the glorious honor of your
majesty. Who are you? He's God. He's God. And concerning those wondrous
works, I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty and of thy
wondrous works. I'm just going to mention a few
because I'm not going to get to the end of them either. He's the surety of the sheep.
I promise you we will, this side of glory for sure, we'll never
enter into that. The surety of the sheep, the
almighty God, from before the foundation of the world, there
was a surety. He gonna answer. And I'm gonna
give you some good news. Those that God's called out of
darkness, they realize this. God almighty never looked to
the sheep. from before the foundation of
the world. He never looked to the sheep for establishing righteousness
before Him. He never looked to them. He looked
to the surety. He trusted the surety. Now you
try to enter into that. You mean to tell me that before
I even knew Him, before He called me out of darkness, Are you telling
me that he never looked to me for anything? I'm telling you
exactly that and you rest assured in that. He never has looked
to his people. He looked to his son. This is
my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. You hear him. Never
looked. Assurity. He redeemed us. The wondrous works of God. He
redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse. for
us. And you try to enter into that.
These marvelous, marvelous, wondrous works, works that we cannot plumb
the depth. Oh, the unsearchableness of his
wondrous works. David spoke as one who had seen
the mercy of God. Micah, I'll read this for you.
Micah chapter seven and verse 18. The prophet was moved to
pen this, who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity
and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage.
He retaineth not his anger forever because he delighteth in mercy.
He delights in mercy. He delighteth in mercy. And God's
people, they like to rehearse that day. That's what David said.
Verse five, I will speak of the glorious honor of thy majesty
out of the abundance of a man's heart. That's what his mouth's
gonna speak. I'm gonna brag on him. I'm gonna brag on the Lord.
Verse six, all men shall speak of the might of thy terrible
acts, and I will declare thy greatness. I was very, very careful
and wanted to make sure I understood these terrible acts. It actually,
it means to seize the attention of men. Acts that cause men to
stand in awe, to fear, to reverence, to be astonished. Everything I could find on that
was talking about God Almighty sending forth judgment. Hearing about it, speaking of
it, men will speak of the might of thy terrible acts. Let me
ask you something. Who hasn't heard of the flood?
Has anybody in here ever heard of the flood when Noah built
an ark? Anybody ever heard of that? You
say, sure, everybody's heard of that. Has anybody ever heard
of Sodom and Gomorrah? You ever hear of that? A couple
of cities over. over there, you ever hear of
that? These famines that we've been
considering, these famines in the world, they said, men shall
speak of the might of thy terrible acts. Men will see these things
and they refer to them, these catastrophic acts of nature. That's what they say, all these
destructive hurricanes. When God Almighty sends a famine
to a place, and they got these pictures of these kids, and they
got flies all over their face, stuff like this, and they're
horrible. And man will speak of those things. How could a
loving God do something like that? They'll speak of the might of
thy terrible acts. David said, I'll declare your
greatness. I'm going to declare you that
are great, you that do that which is right, just, and holy. I'll just, let me just share
something with you. I thought about so often how
many, I see these kids, they show over there and there, these
little infants and they're dying from starvation. David said concerning his little
baby, that died, he said, he can't come back to me, I can
go where he is. I can go where he is. I'm telling you, I'm convinced
that the vast majority of heaven is gonna be made up of these
little infants that died, never knew anything, they just died.
How do you explain the mercy of God? I don't have to explain
it. I don't have to explain that. All I know is that David was
moved by the Spirit of God, said he can't come back to me, but
I can go where he is. God spoke, God spoke. All these saying, man will speak
of the might of thy terrible acts. I'm gonna say, Lord, you're
great, you're good, you've done that which is right. In verse
seven, we'll stop with this one. They shall abundantly utter the
memory of thy great goodness and shall sing of thy righteousness. God's people, They behold God's
hand of justice, judgment on the earth. And they, the scripture
says, they abundantly utter that the memory, abundantly utter
the memory of thy great goodness. What does that mean? The abundantly,
it means it pours out, it gushes forth. It bubbles up in honor to him. Nobody has the right to question
God. Nobody. Who art thou? Paul was moved
to say, who art thou, old man? That replies to against God. abundantly utter the memory of
his great goodness and sing of his righteousness. Lord, you're
right. You're right. Lord, if you show
mercy to this worthless worm, thank you. I don't know how to
thank you. I don't know how to thank you. But Lord, I believe I have enough sins to
know. If God left me to myself and put me in hell, I deserved
it. I deserved it, and he's right.
God, please don't do that. God, please don't send me to
hell. Please have mercy on me, for Christ's sake. Amen. Gary.