Alright, Psalm 115. Verse 1 says, Not unto us, O
Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy
and for thy truth's sake. We saw last time that the difference
between true and false religion is who gets the glory. False
religion preaches with the emphasis on the sinner. The emphasis is
on the sinner's will and his works. That's the emphasis. Those
born of God preach with the emphasis on the Lord Jesus Christ, our
righteousness, on his will and his works, because he's made
mercy and truth meet in harmony. He's declared God just and justifier
of his people, and he shall not fail to save us. Verse two says,
wherefore should the heathen say, where now is their God? The heathen are unregenerate
sinners, sinners dead in sins. Some are irreligious, not in
any church. Some are religious, some are
in a church, but they're still heathens. The Psalm speaks here
of those who are religious, the heathen who are religious. Speaks
of them worshiping their idols. So we're talking about religious
heathens. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their
God? Now why do they say this? Where
is now their God? Why would they say this? Remember
what faith is? Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. And remember how faith's given?
It's given by the Holy Spirit of God. By grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourself, it's a gift of God.
The reason they say, where now is their God, is they don't have
faith to see Him. Because they've not been born
of God. They've not been gifted with faith. That's why. That's why the heathens say,
where is now their God? They have to have idols. Something
they can see. Because they don't have the spirit
and have faith to see what's unseen. And those idols can be literal
idols covered in silver and gold, like is said here. Most of the
time, their idol is silver and gold. The love of money is the root
of all evil. Not money. I didn't say money's
the root of all evil. The love of it. And after you
see it, but they take their idol and they cover it over in silver
and gold so it looks valuable and it looks honorable. And then there's other kinds
of idols too. Church buildings, programs, activity, many good
works. Religious folks today, you read
in the Old Testament about how they sacrifice their children
in the fire. Religious folks are still doing
that today. They're not sacrificing their children in a literal fire.
They're sacrificing their children to their idol God by getting
them to make a profession Get their name on a church roll.
Paul said they constrain you so they can glory in what they
constrain you to do. So they can go to God and say,
look what we brought to you. Look what we accomplished. And
it's all idolatry. It's all idolatry. Any confidence
in the will or the works of man's hands, any confidence at all,
any at all is idolatry. Covetousness is idolatry. Not
being content with God and what God's given. Thinking gain is
godliness. Thinking to have more is godliness. That's covetousness. Not being
content with what God's made you and what God's put in you
and what God's doing with you and what God's given to you.
That's idolatry. Well, what do we answer? Verse
3. But our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. You see, it's going to take this
God, given a sinner faith, given him life and faith to believe
that God is in the heavens. Until God gives faith, men don't
even believe God's in the heavens. And it's going to take the spirit
given faith for a sinner to believe God does whatsoever he hath pleased. That's the definition of God.
He does whatsoever He hath pleased. Now this is a great blessing
when we think of God's sovereignty over all things. It's a great
blessing to know everything's coming to pass. He purposed it. He brings it to pass. He's ruling
it. He said his evil happened in the city and I hadn't done
it. But it's much more of a blessing
to know He does whatsoever He hath pleased in salvation. That's
the God we're talking about. He does whatever He pleases in
salvation. Our God's in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever He hath pleased, whatever pleased Him. That's what He's done. That's
what He's doing now. He's in the earth as well as
in the heavens. He's sovereign. He's all-powerful. He's all-knowing
God. He's doing whatsoever He hath
pleased. Now, what hath pleased Him? What
is He pleased to do? It's been about 10 years, I think,
since we looked at this, but we have looked at this before.
I want to look at it again today. Now, I can't turn to all the
scriptures that show what pleases God, but we'll go over as much
as we can, and we'll look at as many as we can. I won't have
you turn to this first one unless you can get there quickly, but
Colossians 1.18 says, it pleased God that all fullness dwell in
Christ, that he might have all preeminence. Now listen to this.
Listen. It begins by saying, He's the
head of the body. That's preeminent. That's first,
isn't it? That's where your fullness is,
the head. He's the head of the body, the church. It says, He's
the beginning. Everything began in Him. He's
wisdom. Everything began in Christ. He's
the beginning, God. He's the firstborn from the dead. Some were raised from the dead.
He's the first that was born from the dead, raised himself,
raised of God. That's preeminence, isn't it? Why is all this so? That in all
things he might have the preeminence, that he might be first, that
he might be above all, that he might be the most glorious high
God above all. Why? Because it pleased the Father. He's done whatever He pleases.
He pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. That means the fullness of everything
we need to be saved is in Christ. and He's made peace through the
blood of His cross, reconciled all things to Himself. In all
things He has the preeminence. The things are His people. He's
reconciled all His people to Himself by His blood. All fullness
is in Christ. Later it's going to say in Colossians,
it says He is the head, it says He's the fullness of the body. He's the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. That means the fullness of God
in a body. And you are complete in Him. And that word fullness
and complete are the same exact Greek word. They mean, so here's
what it means. As fully as Christ is all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily, that's how fully His people are
complete in Christ. That's complete. All fullness
is in Christ. It's in Christ. Don't be looking
to you. Don't be looking to others. Look to Christ. All your fullness
is in Christ. He's salvation. He's going to
have all preeminence. That's God's purpose. That's
what pleased God. Now, secondly, it pleased God
to choose and make His people His own and never cast them away. This is from 1 Samuel 12, 22.
It says, The Lord will not forsake His people for His great namesake,
because it hath pleased the Lord to make you His people. This
is what pleased Him. Go to Romans 9. See if it's by
grace. If He chose you by grace, then
it pleased Him. That's why He did it. There was
no cause in you. That's what grace is. He pleased
Him. That's why He chose you. He loved
you. He chose you. That means He'll never forsake you. He didn't
choose you because of you. He's not going to forsake you
because of you. Verse 9, he gives that illustration of Jacob and
Esau. Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. And he said the
reason is that the purpose of God according to election might
stand. Not of works, but of God they
calleth. And so he says in verse 15, this
is his glory that he gave to Moses. I will have mercy on whom
I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion. That's God being pleased to do
what he will, to whom he will. So then it's not of me and you
that wills, nor of him that runneth or works, but of God that shows
mercy. Look at verse 18. He has mercy
on whom he will have mercy, in whom he will he hardeneth. He
can harden a man sitting in a church. He can harden a man sitting under
the gospel. So it's these things just get
so old to him, and it gets worn out to him. I know we don't have
a bulletin this morning, but you read the last article in
that bulletin. But apostasy don't come immediately. Apostasy is
slow. It comes slowly. Verse 21, hath
not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make
one vessel under honor and another under dishonor? He's the potter.
We're the clay. He's the God who created us.
We're the creature. He can do with us what He pleases.
It pleased Him to have a people. It pleased Him to choose a people.
It pleased God to make you His people. That means by His grace. And He'll never cast away His
people. And then thirdly, I'll have you
turn here, Isaiah 53. I want you to see this. Isaiah
53. This is vital. Isaiah 53. It pleased God to
bruise his son in place of his people. I'd be interested in
what God's pleased with, wouldn't you? This would be the most paramount. He said it pleased him, Christ
have all fullness. All fullness being Christ, he
have all premise. I wanna see what pleases him.
Isaiah 53, 10. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. It brought satisfaction to his
holy law to bruise him in place of his people. That pleased God.
He hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin. God did this. God provided the
offering and he made his soul an offering for sin. He shall
see his seed. He shall prolong days. and the
pleasure of the Lord. What pleases the Lord shall prosper
in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. That's what he is now. By his
knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he
shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the
strong because he had poured out his soul unto death and he
was numbered with the transgressors and he bear the sin of many and
made intercession for the transgressors. Look over at Isaiah 42. It pleased God that his son get
the glory for fulfilling his law and righteousness for his
people. He said here in verse 1, Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect and whom my soul delighteth. He's pleased with his son. This
is his son. I put my spirit upon him. He
shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry,
nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A
bruised reed shall he not break, and a smoking flack shall he
not quench. He didn't come to destroy sinners, he came to save
them. When you're bruised and smoking and a stench, he's gonna
save you if you're his. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged
till he have set judgment in the earth and the owl shall wait
for his log. Thus saith God the Lord, he that
created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth
the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath
unto the people upon it and spirit to them that walk therein. I
the Lord have called thee in righteousness, he's talking to
his son. I will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give
thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles,
so that Christ opens the blind eyes, and brings out the prisoners
from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison
house. I'm the Lord, that's my name, and my glory will I not
give to another, neither my praise to graven images. And he said,
worshiping, I'm not giving my praise to them, God said. Behold,
the former things are come to pass and new things do I declare
before they spring forth. I tell you of them. He knows
it all. He's bringing it all to pass.
Look at verse 21. What did Christ do? The Lord
is well pleased for his righteousness sake. He will and he has magnified
the law and made it honorable. See these things that please
God? It pleased God to bruise Christ in the place of His people.
Christ, it pleased God, He was satisfied that Christ magnified
the law and made it honorable for His people. And so He's in the heavens. He's
done whatsoever He pleased. The pleasure of the Lord has
prospered in Christ's hand. Here's the fourth thing. It pleased
God to save through this means right here, through preaching.
You know 1 Corinthians 1.21, I won't have you turn there.
After that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God. God gave the world His oracles,
He gave them the sacrifices, and He just let them go. And
after years and years and years and years, finally Christ came.
Why? Because the Lord proved that
by man's own wisdom, he can't know God, can't save himself. Can't save himself. You make
a decision for Christ. You make a profession, but you
can't save yourself. Can't know him. Can't know him. So it pleased God. He done whatsoever
he pleased. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. See, this means takes
away every reason we have to glory. We can't glory in this
means. We just can't. God shuts us up
to him. First, he don't save many wise
people. He don't save many noble people.
He don't save many rich people. He saves poor folks. He made
them poor, and he saves poor folks. He saves mostly ignorant,
poor, hardworking folks. Why? To stain the pride of rich
and noble, powerful people. He saves the people in a sketchy
place. That's where he saves his people. That's where he finds
them. That's where he saves them. Because doing it this way stains
the pride of man. And this pleasure of the Lord
prospers in his hand. Christ Jesus is our victorious
redeemer. He's the head of the church.
God raised him to be head over all things to the church that
he might fill all in all. So see, it's Christ. The reason
he's saved through preaching is Christ's going to get the
glory for sending the gospel to his child, filling his heart
with the gospel, and filling his pew with that child and keeping
him there the rest of his days. Christ is going to get the glory
for this. Why? Because God, for Ephesians 1.5 says, God predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the what? Good pleasure of his will. He's
done whatever he's pleased. And it says, and wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, and he's made known
unto us this mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure,
which he purposed in himself. Prospering, the pleasure, whatever
pleases God is prospering in Christ's hand. You know, I know
men will bring up these situations and these scenarios, you know,
what about this natural event and what about, you know, this
obstacle and this, that and a man doing this or that and the other,
you know. God controls all that. Every bit of it. That's nothing
to God. He brings the gospel to His child
as it pleases Him, because it pleases Him to save through preaching.
And the other reason He does it is not only so that we have
no room to glory in ourselves, but so that we glory only in
the Lord. We glory only in the Lord. I've heard people mock God's
people, especially in country churches and what have you where,
you know, they just come and hear that gospel and they just
do that all their lives. They got their butt imprint on
the pew. That's what I've heard people say. They don't do, they're
not doing all the works that corporate religion is doing.
No, they're not, thankfully. God saved them from that. But
they take care of one another. When a church wants to buy a
building, they send them about $100,000 so they can buy a building.
They have little old poor folks that just have their butt imprint
in a pew doing nothing. They take care of one another.
They love one another. And God keeps them there. God
saves them because it pleased him to save through preaching.
That's everything they do. They do it with this preeminent
thought. We got to have the gospel. Whatever
we've got to give up, we'll give it up. Don't cut the baby in
half. We'll give it up. But we've got
to have the gospel. Keep it at peace. We don't want
to give it up. Why? Because it pleads God to
save through the foolishness of preaching. That's what he's
going to do. Fifthly, well, what if a sinner
refuses the gospel? Go to Galatians 1. What if a
sinner refuses the gospel? You know, sinners hate God by
nature. that don't have any desire to
be saved by God, especially the sovereign God of heaven and earth,
that does as He pleases. They're going to get all the
glory. So what if they reject the gospel? Well, there was a
man one time named Saul of Tarsus, steeped in religion, steeped
in religion. He thought he was doing God's
will by killing these people that he didn't think was keeping
the law, these people that were saying Christ is the end of the
law. He was going to kill them. And look what he said in verse
14, I profited in the Jews religion above many of my equals in my
own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the tradition of my
father, but when it pleased God. When it pleased God. God does
whatsoever He's pleased. When it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal
His Son in me that I might preach Him among the heathen, immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood. God got the job done.
See, God's appointed a day. He's appointed the hour. where
he's going to cross the path of those that he chose and those
that he redeemed. And he's going to send this gospel
to them, and he's going to come to them in person, in spirit.
He came to Paul personally because he was an apostle. And Paul,
you remember Paul said, you would think when Paul talked about
how we don't want to sin anymore, and God forbid that we sin at
grace may abound, we've been saved, we've been made holy,
so we have our fruit under righteousness. You would think Paul would begin
right there talking about all the things that, you know, good
works and things. You know what he begins with?
To tell you that we don't sin that grace may abound. You know
what he begins with? He begins by saying, you're as dead to
the law and the law is as dead to you as a dead husband is to
a living wife. That's where he begins. Why?
Because that's our number one sin and lust is to have the glory,
to have the glory. But he said, The commandment
came, and everything I thought was life died. I died when the
commandment came. You know when that commandment
came? He said, I was zealous for God. I was going to do God's
work. That's what I was doing. I was
working for God. And God spoke to him. Christ Jesus said, Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? The commandment came. And his
sin became alive to him. And he saw he'd never kept the
law, he'd never done anything that pleased God. And he died. He died. That's when it pleased God. He
just said in Isaiah 42, he gave Christ to open the blind eyes,
to bring the prisoners out from the prison, them that sit in
darkness out of the prison house. And this pleasure of the Lord
is going to prosper in Christ's hand. He'll give faith to each
one given to him of the Father. That's what he'll do. when it pleases him, when it
pleases him. We got loved ones we want to
see saved. We want to see them hear the gospel. You know what
the best thing you do, the best witnessing you can do? I know
we want to talk one-on-one to people and do that. That's fine.
If the Lord opens the door, don't do like religion does and try
to buttonhole people and, you know, force them into listening
to you. If they don't want to listen,
they're not going to listen. But if the Lord's opened the
door, talk to Him. But usually people are thinking
about what they're going to say and they're not listening to
you. The best way to witness to people is to say, come go
with me to hear the gospel preached. Come go with me. And if they're His, God will
bring them. You may have to keep asking and
keep asking and keep asking, but God will bring them. And
when it pleases God, At the time he said he'll reveal himself
in them, and they'll quit conferring with flesh and blood then It
won't be it'll be between them and the Lord And he'll save them
all right six Lee It please God to set each member in his body
his church and as he would. We saw this Thursday night, 1
Corinthians 12, 18, it says, Now God has set the members,
every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him. He's
done whatsoever he's pleased, as it has pleased him. Christ
is the head of his body, he's filling all in all. That's what
Ephesians 1, 23 says, the church is his body, the fullness of
him that filleth all in all. The Lord's adding to the church
daily such as should be saved and it says in Ephesians 4.16
it's from Christ that the whole body is fitly joined together,
compacted by that which every joint supplies. That's what we
saw Thursday night when we read about the members of the body.
The ear can't say because I'm not the eye, I'm not of the body.
He's compacted the members together in his body so that each one's
supplying what each one needs. Well, how do we get any supply
to supply what the other needs? It says according to the effectual
working, his effectual working in the measure of every part.
He only gives grace and measure to each one. But when he's done
it and fit us together, we have the measure we need as a body. So that we can't do without each
other. That's so. Now this is when you'll
know God's really united you with his body. You can't be without
God's people. Because you need them. Because
you need the gospel. That's such wisdom for him to
do that. That's when you know you've been
fiddly framed in the body. If you can take it or leave it,
he never fiddly framed you in the body. But when he fitly frames
you, he compacts you in that body and he does it. You know,
this one over here may have a full measure of, I'm just using an
example, but maybe this one has a full measure of love, but doesn't
have quite as the measure of faith. So he's always doing for
brethren and helping brethren, but any slight little trouble
comes and he's just shook out of his britches. He can't even,
because he don't have much faith. Well, this one over here might
not have the measure of love, but got a lot more faith. So
he's able, when this one shook, he's able to comfort this one
and remind him to look to the Lord. While this one that had
more love is able to comfort him and say, hey, let's go do
this for this brother and encourage him to love more. It's just like
your body, every member has something to do and it's necessary. That's
how Christ's body is. And it pleased him to put the
members in the body as he would. That's what pleased Him. Now,
look at what we've seen so far. Have you seen anything in this
that is of the sinner? God does as He pleases. Salvation's
of the Lord. Our God's in heaven. He does
what He pleases. And then seventh, God ordained
good works that His children shall perform. And God's going
to work the good works that he's pleased with. Go to Hebrews 13,
we'll see this. You see, no believer just does
good works. God's ordained them. That's what
Ephesians tells us, Ephesians 2. Where his workmanship ordained
unto good works, which he's ordained that we shall walk in, Faith
is one of them, that's what he just mentioned. Faith is not
of yourself, it's a gift of God. That's one of them. Nothing will
be well pleasing to God unless faith, you gotta have faith,
you gotta start with faith. Everything's gotta be done in
faith to Him. Because without that, every work's being done
to indebt God. It's just an idol work, an idol
work, worshiping an idol, worshiping self. But when He gives you faith,
now the works are done in faith to Him, because you want to.
Verse 16, Hebrews 13, 16. To do good and to communicate,
forget not. For with such sacrifices, God
is well pleased. Well, how will a believer do
so? Verse 20. Now the God of peace that brought
again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working
in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ,
to whom be all the glory forever and ever. We're gonna be able
to boast in our good works. Not hardly. Not hardly. The world
puts all the emphasis on a sinner. God's messengers put all the
emphasis on our God doing what pleases Him. When I first came
here, I remember hearing commonly that where you were, you never,
you heard the emphasis put on you and put on sinners. And dissertations
read like it was you in a professor's classroom. and the gospel wasn't
preached. That's what I heard. That's what
the world does. Puts the emphasis on the sinner. That's not what the gospel is.
We are made by God to be zealous of good works, and we are zealous
of good works. But if you'll read Titus, Titus
3, Paul reminds us we were dead
in sins, completely. And it wasn't by works of righteousness
we had done, it was by the washing of regeneration, renewing of
the Holy Ghost, which was shed on us abundantly by Christ Jesus,
because He had justified us, because we should be made heirs
according to the hope of promise. He had redeemed us. And after
that He says, now these things I will that thou affirm constantly.
This is a faithful saving. Preach this constantly that they
might maintain good works. Preach what constantly? The Gospel
of Christ. But it's not by your works, it's
by what Christ has done. You were just a dead sinner and
He called you. That's what makes God's people
zealous to do good works. Look over Philippians 2. We get sideways and we're going
to fix it. We're going to fix it. Be careful. Be careful. We're not the head
of the church. We're not the master. Who is? What do we need to do then? Verse
12. Philippians 2.12, wherefore my beloved, and I'd encourage
you to go back and read everything he said up to this, let nothing
be done through strife or vainglory in the lowliness of mind, let
each one serve the other, having the mind of Christ who made himself
a servant. and went to the cross and died.
He said, wherefore, my beloved, as you've always obeyed, not
as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling. You know what
that means, simply put? Everything that you need to do
in the church, if you need to put an air conditioner in, work
that out with fear and trembling. If you need to, whatever it is
you need to do in the church, work it all out with fear and
trembling. Don't murmur and dispute. Remember
who's in your midst, bringing it to pass. Verse 13. Here's
why he says don't do it with fear and trembling. Do it with
fear and trembling. Don't dispute. For it's God which worketh in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. You see that? You see that? You can't, we can't
make anybody do anything. We have to wait on God. that
the thing to do is preach what God is doing, and God will make
His people do it. 2 Thessalonians 1.11, Paul said,
Also we pray always for you, that our God would count you
worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His
goodness, and the work of faith with power, that the name of
our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according
to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes,
after a while, an idol worshiper will hear this message, and after
a while, they get sick of it. Remember the Egyptians, the Israelites,
came out of Egypt, and they were out there a little while, and
they were getting manna from heaven. God was feeding them
every morning. And it didn't take long, and
they said, we're sick of this light bread. That's what they
called it. We're sick of this light bread. That bread pictured
Christ. We're sick of this. You know what they pine for?
We want the leeks and the garlics we had when we was in Egypt.
We want to go back to Egypt. What's it going on? How are you
going to continue in these good works of faith and love and mercy
and grace and all that God works in His people? How are you going
to continue in it? God working in you, that which pleases Him. That's how. This is not like
the world's idols. Now, every so often in religion,
they have a slogan. They'll wear one out for a while,
they'll sell the merchandise to make money off of it, then
they'll switch to a different one. You hang around a while. You that's my age or older, you've
seen it, you've heard it. If you go down to the Bible Belt
where I grew up, you'll find it everywhere. Kelsey knows what
I'm talking about. What would Jesus do? Everybody
had a WWJD bracelet and shirt and everything else. John 316,
you know, got John 316. Just crazy slogans. Here's one of the favorites.
I heard this all through the 80s. They probably still use
it, but this I heard all through the 80s. God has no hands but
your hands. God has no feet but your feet.
If it's going to get done, you're going to have to do it. God's
going to have to do it through you. He's done everything He
can do. He's depending on you to help
Him. He has no hands but your hands.
He has no feet but your feet. That was all you heard. That's God's description of the
heathen's idol. Look there in our text, Psalm
115, 4. Their idols are silver and gold, the works of men's
hands. They have mouths, but they speak not. They have eyes,
have they, but they see not. They have ears, but they hear
not. Noses, have they, but they smell not. They have hands, but
they handle not. Feet, have they, but they walk
not. Neither speak they through their throat. That's the description,
God says, of the heathen's idol. He has no hands but your hands.
That idol can't go anywhere but where you carry it. You've heard
the story of the little boy who The Lord had saved him. A young
man, the Lord had saved him. And his dad had a bunch of idols,
a bunch of little statues. And he tried to tell his dad,
Dad, those statues ain't gonna save you. God saves. He does
as he will. He saves. And his dad just wouldn't
hear it. He just would not hear the gospel.
So one day the boy come in. He took a hammer. The father
wasn't home. He came in. He took a hammer
and he smashed every one of those idols except one. And he set
the hammer down by it. And his daddy got home and he
said, Boy, did you smash my idols?" He said, no sir, that idol did
it. And the father said, son, that idol didn't do that. He
can't do anything. That's what I've been trying
to tell you. He can't do anything. He can't save. This is the God
we're talking about who's in the heavens, who does whatsoever
he pleases. And he does it in salvation. Everything that is done is of
him. You see the difference? And in this and this why we say
unto him not unto us not unto us but to thy name be glory for
thy mercy and our true sake That's the difference We believe God's
God We believe God's God We saw last time That in the end, it
pleased God to gather all His elect in Christ. We saw this
just Thursday night. I won't even have you turn there,
but Ephesians 1 says, He's revealed this mystery to us, and here's
the mystery. In the dispensation of the fullness
of time, He'll gather all things in Christ, both which are in
heaven, even in Him. Because this is what pleased
Him. It says, Having predestinated
us in working all things according to the purpose of Him, we work
with all things after the counsel of His own will. This is what
pleased Him. This was His good pleasure, it
says. He gonna gather all His people
in Christ. Now, if this is the God you believe, if this is the
God you trust, and I trust it is, You that believe, I trust
this is the God, this is all our hope right here. This is
the one where hope anchors in. Well then here's what else pleases
Him. He said in Luke 12, 32. Now listen, fear not little flock. There's a lot of things in this
world to fear. He says don't fear. Do not fear. Don't sanctify, don't exalt those
things by fearing them. Fear God. Don't fear. No matter
how badly you mess up and how badly you fall, don't fear. Look
to God to save you. And no matter what goes on in
the trials and the troubles, don't fear it. Fear Him and look
to Him and trust Him. Why? For it is your Father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom. And that's what he's
going to do. He's going to keep you. He's
going to give you the kingdom. So what does the Spirit of God
tell us to do in our psalm? This is what pleases him. What
does the psalm say then? After all of this, what does
our psalm tell us to do? Verse 9, O Israel, trust thou
in the Lord. That's what he tells us to do.
He's your help and your shield. Trust in the Lord. He's your
help and your shield. You that fear the Lord, trust
in the Lord. He's your help and your shield. The Lord will be
mindful of us. That's God's promise. And He
does as He pleases. Amen. All right, Brother Greg.