Now, if you take your Bibles
now and turn them to Psalm 50. Psalm 50. And we'll be looking at the first
six verses this evening. And we'll title this message, The
Lord Has Spoken. The Lord Has Spoken. The psalmist says, The mighty
God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and hath called the earth from
the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. Now this
is where he speaks, out of Zion. Out of Zion, the perfection of
beauty hath God shined. Not only has He spoken, but He
has shined. manifest Himself out of Zion. Our God, and this is the message
that is shined out of Zion, in verse 3, Our God shall come and
shall not keep silence. A fire shall devour before Him,
and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call
to the heavens from above and to the earth, that he may judge
his people. Gather my saints together unto
me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. The heavens
shall declare his righteousness, for God is judge himself." And
here the psalmist declares a wonderful thing, a very glorious truth,
God the Almighty, Jehovah has spoken. God has spoken. And here He calls men everywhere. He had called men throughout
all the world to hear His Word. So no matter who you are, no
matter what you're doing, listen. God is speaking. Let the world
keep silence before Him. God has spoken. God has spoken. I was talking
to a woman this last week, this week actually, and she was very
troubled. And I began to tell her about
the gospel, and she said, well, I think this. Well, it doesn't
matter what you think. It doesn't matter about your
opinion. Matter of fact, what I'm speaking
to you tonight is not my opinion. But rather this, it only matters,
thus saith the Lord. What does God say? Everybody has an opinion. Ask
them. They'll give you an opinion about
anything. But what good is their opinion? It's as good as your
opinion. It's as good as my opinion. The
only thing that matters is what does God say. Without, thus saith
the Lord, we have no authority. Your authority is just as good
as my authority is just as good as anybody else's. So tonight,
I don't want you to hear me. If you just hear what the preacher
is saying and you take it on my authority, you're in trouble.
This isn't my word. This is God's word. Thus saith
the Lord. Nothing else matters. Nothing
else has any weight or authority behind it. What does God say? I want you to hear what God says. The Keeper and Sustainer and
Creator of your life has spoken. The Judge of all the earth has
spoken. Now what does He say? It's important
that we should listen and hear what God hath said. Now, I want
you to see that God has spoken in different ways. There are
different ways God has spoken to man. First of all, God spoke
in creation. God has spoken in creation. Listen to what Psalm 19 says. The heavens declare the glory
of God. The firmament showeth his handiwork.
Listen to this. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech
nor language where this voice is not heard. So no matter where you go, no
matter what language you speak, no matter where you were born
in this world, creation speaks. The Lion has gone out into all
the world, and God's creation speaks to man. It speaks to man
wherever he is. The sun's like a bridegroom.
It begins out of here, and it runs its course like a strong
man, and nobody's exempt from the heat of the sun. Nobody's
exempt from the light of the sun. So when that light, that
knowledge goes out, God is speaking. I'll show you this in the New
Testament. Go to Romans chapter 1. Go to Romans chapter 1. Look at verse 18. Paul said this
about creation. He said, For the wrath of God
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Where is this revealed, Paul? Because that which may be known
of God is manifest to them. For God has showed it unto them. Where has He showed it, Paul?
For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His eternal power and Godhead." His power is shown in creation. And His authority is shown in
creation. Listen, whoever made this world
has power. That's not plain, that's simple.
I mean, look at these little 3D printers, and I've seen people
make little things on these 3D printers, and I'm like, wow,
you made a little toy on a little printer. God made the world by
speaking. Let there be light. There was
light. God made the heavens and the earth. He spoke them into
existence. Friends, that's power. The mighty
God has spoken. The mighty God hath spoken in
creation, and there's nowhere where this isn't seen, His power
and His authority. Yet what do men do with this
knowledge? All men have this understanding.
What do they do with this knowledge? Look at verse 21. Because that
when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were
thankful, but became vain in their imagination, their foolish
heart was darkened. They professed themselves to
be wise. But what? They became fools and changed
the glory of the uncorruptible God into the image made likened
to corruptible man, birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping
things. In other words, this creation
speaks, but nobody is ever saved by creation. No one. In fact, the knowledge of creation,
because of man's total absolute gravity, because of man's darkened
nature, the only thing he gets is this. He creates a God out
of nature. He takes the thing that God made
and makes it a God. He takes a tree. Who made the
tree? God made the tree. And yet man carves out a God.
God made man and man thinks that he is God. Psalm 50 said, Thou thoughtest
that I was altogether such in one as thyself. And so though the voice of creation
speaks throughout all the world and no one is exempt from its
voice, we must understand that this language of creation, no
one is saved by this language. No one is saved by this language.
The second way God is spoken is by law. The law. Now there is a law of God That
was from the beginning, ever since Adam fell, written into
the hearts of man. Look at chapter 2 of Romans now.
Paul covers this area of God's speech. Romans 2 and verse 14. He says this, for when the Gentiles,
which have not the law... In other words, the Gentiles,
they never heard of the law of Moses. Most of them never even...
They were not there. They didn't have any understanding
of it. So these Gentiles, they didn't have the law of Moses,
but yet, listen, do by nature the things that contained in
that law of Moses. These having not the law are
a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law, what? Written on their hearts, their conscience bearing witness. Their thoughts, meanwhile, accusing
or else excusing one another. See, God has spoken in this. He has written His law on the
hearts of men. What's the evidence of that?
Conscience. Conscience. The conscience of men revealed
this. We all know it is wrong to kill. No matter where you were born.
No matter where you were brought up. We know it is evil in our
conscience. We know that it is wrong to covet,
to commit adultery, fornication, homosexuality. These things are
in our conscience. They're written in our hearts. And what do we do with that?
What do we do with that speech? Well, we either accuse or excuse
whichever is best for us. Whatever makes me feel better.
Whatever eases my conscience. If you and I are doing something
wrong, what we'll do is we'll just excuse one another and make
ourselves feel better about it. Now, if we don't like somebody,
we're going to what? We're going to accuse them because of something
that they did to us. They excuse or accuse one another. You can't read our laws and not
see that we understand these things. And the gymnastics that
people have to do to sear their conscience. It is the Word of God, the natural
man, he despises this. Why do you think the homosexual
group is so militant? Because their conscience, when
you tell them they're wrong, they're upset. You know why? Because their conscience testifies
that you're right. When you tell them it's wrong
to kill an innocent child in the womb, they're mad. Why? Because
their conscience, they know it is evil, they know it is wrong. You don't have to write a law
in the book in Washington. It's written in their hearts.
And they know it's evil. What do they do? Over time, they
begin to sear their conscience. You ever had a scar, a wound? And when you feel that on top
of the scar, there's no feeling in the skin. That's exactly what
they do with their conscience. They sear it constantly over
and over again. You know what God does to those
people? He gives them over to a reprobate mind. Those who are
successful and able to sear their conscience, you know what God
does? Leaves them alone. Leaves them alone. And they run
off into hell. But there's another law that
God has spoken, not just the law of our nature and on our
hearts, but He also spoke a law at Mount Sinai. God gave a more
clear understanding of His law than the one written on the heart
of man. He gave one at Sinai. The law of God was given to that
nation, Israel. Now, Paul says this in Romans,
I think, chapter... Actually, in this chapter 3,
I think he says, you know, what advantage does a Jew have over
a Gentile? Much. He has much, because he
has a law that is clearer than the law of man written on the
conscience. He has God literally coming down and writing His law. He wrote that law. But even this law, the law of
Moses, just like the law of conscience, cannot save anyone. It was never intended. Matter
of fact, these laws were intended to do one thing, reveal sin. That's all they could do. They reveal sin. They expose
sin. Paul reveals the vanity of trying
to obey the law of God. Look at chapter 2 and verse 12. He says this, For as many as
have sinned without the law shall also perish without the law.
And as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the
law. So what's the difference? What's
the difference between the Jew and the Gentile? One perishes
without the law, and one is judged by the law. They're both condemned. Both condemned. Look at chapter
3 and verse 9. What then? He said, Are we Jews
better than they are? No. No way. No wise. For we have before proved, both
Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin. Now, this
is why the law can do nothing for you. It can only condemn
you because you are all under sin. We are all under sin. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They're together become unprofitable.
There is none that doeth good. No, not one. Verse 20 of chapter
3 of Romans, by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified
in His sight. Therefore, O man, listen to this,
listen to thus saith the Lord. All of these things, did I give
you any opinion? Is any of this opinionated? Or is this what
God says in His Word? No matter who we are, no matter
what time we've lived in, Jew or Greek, bond or free, male
or female, Since God has spoken by creation, He has spoken by
His law. Listen, we are all without excuse. We are all without excuse. Because
in whatever way God spoke to us, we rejected it. We despised it and went our own
way. That doesn't mean, doesn't matter,
for man's born in a jungle and he looks at creation and sees
the glory of God, and yet what does he do? He worships God as
a creature. So with what knowledge he had,
he defiled himself. His heart spoke in the law that
was written there. He defiled himself by disobeying
his own conscience. And those who had the law of
God, We all have abandoned and forsaken that law. There's no
way we could ever be saved by this law. We rebelled against
what He has spoken. So then, all are without excuse,
and all will be judged by God and condemned by this voice. But I want you to go back to
your text now. Now you see that God has spoken creation, He has
spoken by His law. But in this text, the Word of God spoken
to all men in this text is not creation, nor is it the law.
But God here speaks of something greater, something more glorious,
something very beneficial to man. And it is this, God speaks
here of His salvation. God speaks a message of salvation. Like I said, the other voices
that God speaks, no one is saved by them. But this is God is speaking
in grace here. God is speaking in mercy so that
men, sinners might have hope, might have hope. God is rich
in mercy. And he has purpose to speak to
us of a greater and better things than that of creation and the
law. Here, in this text, God will speak to us of His perfect
and powerful salvation that comes to men only by one way, by Jesus
Christ. By Jesus Christ. That's what
God is going to speak in our text. As opposed to the word
of creation and law, Paul sets forth another word. Another word. that is greater
and able to save, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Go back to Romans, just for a
second. Look at Romans, because Paul begins here, really. He
begins in Romans 1, and he says in verse 16, For I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ. This is the message God speaks
concerning salvation, is the gospel of Christ. It is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. The Jew first,
and also to the Greek, for therein, in the gospel, is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
just shall live by faith. Hear, hear this. All men should
hear this. It is my desire that all men
should hear this message. Because it's not a message of
a man, it's the message of the Almighty. It is the Gospel. Here God has spoken of righteousness. Here in this message is righteousness
revealed. Now listen, what you and I need,
and even your conscience testifies of this, we need righteousness.
Righteousness cannot be obtained by law, it cannot be obtained
by looking at creation, but it is revealed in the gospel. It is revealed to us in the gospel
that God speaks concerning His Son. The gospel of Christ testifies
that He who is the Son of God should become a man, that He
should fulfill the righteousness of God by His own obedience. And the gospel of God declares
to us that Jesus Christ, by one sacrifice, has forever removed
the sins of all His people. This is the gospel. It is the
gospel of Christ. Let me ask you this. Are there
any sinners in need of righteous? Because that's who this message
is spoken to. Jesus said, I came not to call the righteous, but
who? Sinners to repentance. Are there any sinners? Because
the gospel is directly, God speaks directly to sinners. Are there any sinners in need
of a sacrifice, an offering that is acceptable unto God? Are there any that need an offering
that is pleasing to God that they cannot provide for themselves? Have you ever realized that your
sacrifices, that all your sacrifices, all of your works put together
are tainted with sin? That all we do is sin? All our works are stained with
guilt and unrighteousness. Have you come to understand that? Do you need someone to obtain
righteousness for you? Do you need someone to offer
an acceptable sacrifice? Well, then I want you to hear
what God says, because God, through His gospel of Christ, He speaks
of Him who has made both righteousness and an offering for sin. And it's the only means that
God conveys this message. By the Holy Spirit, He conveys
it only out of one place. Again, I'm going to talk to you
about salvation. I want you to keep that in mind.
God speaks in this text. And what is it about? It's about
salvation. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ
that He's going to speak. Go back to your text. Now, look
where God speaks. Verse 2, He says, Almighty God,
even the Lord has spoken, and He called the earth from the
rising of the sun to the going down. In other words, He's calling
out to all men. Now notice where He calls out
of. Out of Zion. Out of Zion. Where is this Gospel to be proclaimed? Where has God placed His Word
in the world? It is out of Zion. Now, when this text was written,
Zion was the only place on earth where God manifested His presence. God came down at Tabernacle. In the nation of Israel, there
was a place called Zion. That was where the offerings
were made, the atonement was made, was in Zion. You remember old
Jeroboam, King Jeroboam, he was given the kingdoms of ten tribes
of the north. And remember, God says, my word,
my worship is going to take place in Jerusalem. But Jeroboam was
afraid. He said if everybody started
going back to Jerusalem, to Zion to worship God, then surely they
would kill him, and he was afraid they'd all reunite. So what did
he do? He made tabernacles all over
the north. He made, he said, instead of,
you don't need to go all the way down. That's just inconvenient.
That's just, let me put something real close to you over here and
you go worship there and we're going to make some calves and
out of gold and you go worship in that place. You know, that's called the sin
of Jeroboam. It was an abomination unto God because God manifest
his worship in only one place, in Zion. In only one place he
manifests his mercy toward sinners. In only one place he made an
offering acceptable to God. But you know that that place,
Zion, Jerusalem, where those offerings were made, that that
was only a type. It was only a picture of what? The church. The church. Paul says of those sacrifices
and that tabernacle, he said that was a figure, a picture
of a time then present both in offerings and sacrifices that
could not make the worshipers perfect, but only stood in meats
and drinks and ordinances imposed on them until Christ should come. Paul said a law having a shadow
of good things to come, but not the very image. the things so
Zion real Zion that was in Jerusalem and those offerings and that
tabernacle that was only a picture it was only a picture they were
only to picture Christ and his one offering for sin but notice again this Word of
God that spoken it is out of Zion and Zion is is only a picture
of His people, His church. Like the offerings, they were
a type, a picture of God's true Israel. So tonight, listen to
me, you who are believers in Christ, have you been born again
of the Spirit of God? Have you been quickened to understand
your depravity and need of Christ? Have you found Christ to be all-sufficient? Have you found Him to be the
fulfillment of all of those types and pictures and shadows? The
only acceptable offering? You, my friend, are a citizen
of Zion. So when God says, I speak, where
do you speak? I speak out of Zion. He's talking about his church.
He's talking about you and me. Let me ask you this, where did
you hear the gospel? Where did you hear the gospel?
Did you hear it in creation? Did you hear it by the law of
conscience? Did you just, were you walking along in creation
and all of a sudden, Christ, of course! No. You heard it through
His church. Listen, God has spoken and He
has only spoken in one place, in His church, among His people. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1.
1 Corinthians chapter 1. Look at verse 17. For Christ
sent me not to baptize, but to what? Preach the gospel. Not with the wisdom of words
lest the cross of Christ be made none effect. For the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto
us which are saved... What is it? What is preaching
to you? It is the power of God. It is the power of God. For as
it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring
to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the
wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of the
world? Hath the Lord God not made foolish the wisdom of the
world? For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom
knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. That's exactly what
our text is telling us. God says, I have ordained that
my gospel, my word, should come out of Zion. It should come out
of my church. You see the true nature of this
generation who has no need of preaching. Now, I stand corrected. They have no need of preaching
the gospel. You find a lot of preachers. But this generation
has no need to preach the gospel. They say, well, everybody knows
about Jesus Christ. Everybody knows he was crucified.
Everybody knows he's risen again. Everybody knows he's in heaven.
He died for everybody. What more do we need to talk
about? Kind of like a teenager. Teenager watching a YouTube video
on brain surgery and then saying, give me a scalpel. I know all
there is to know about brain surgery now. I've heard it once. Paul says the preaching of the
gospel is to them that perish, what? Foolishness. But to us, to the church, it
is much more. It is the very Word of God. It is the very power of God.
Behold, friends, God has spoken, and only one place He has spoken
is out of Zion. The light has shined out of darkness. He said, out of Zion. The perfection
of beauty hath God shined. Not only has God spoken, He has
manifest Himself through the preaching of the gospel. The preaching of the gospel through
His people. As a matter of fact, I think
it's important for us to remember the commission that our Lord
gave us. In Matthew chapter 28 and verse
19, He said, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost, teaching them to deserve all things whatsoever I have
commanded you. Lo, I am with you always. Should that not give us boldness?
Should that not give us boldness to know this, that we are the
bearers of light in this world? That we are to go forth teaching
what? Whatsoever things he has told us, commanded us. In Mark chapter 16, it's the
same thing. Mark chapter 16 and verse 15,
he said unto them, go you into all the world and what? Preach
the gospel. to every creature. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. What a commission we've been
given. If God has spoken and He speaks of salvation, it is
only out of Zion He speaks. He speaks out of Zion only one
message. What is it? The Gospel. The Gospel
is the only message worth preaching. And I want you to see this. Notice
what he calls you. The perfection of beauty. Go ahead, let that sink in. You
who are his people. God has spoken. And God says,
you are the perfection of beauty. Now, only Zion can know how that
is possible. We know that we are the perfection
of beauty only by the Gospel. Only by Jesus Christ. We who are citizens of Zion,
God has by Jesus Christ made us perfect. He has made us righteous. You know, I like that hymn that
Joseph Hart wrote many years ago. He said that we... with thy holy
garments on. I am as holy as the Holy One. And so all of Zion knows that
we by ourselves have no righteousness, in ourselves is no righteousness,
we know we are sinners, but by grace through the gospel we know
this also, that God was not willing to impute our sins to us. but
rather charged our sins to Christ, our substitute, and he bare them
in his own body on the tree. It is by this that Zion has been
reconciled. You who are believers in Christ,
you have been reconciled to God. Reconciled. Paul says in 2 Corinthians
5, 18, But all things are of God, who hath reconciled us unto
himself. And after He reconciled, what
did He do? He gave us the ministry of reconciliation. To which God
was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing
their trespasses to them, and had committed to us, those who
are reconciled, He had committed to us the word of reconciliation. And we are what? Ambassadors.
We are now ambassadors. As though God did beseech you
by us. What is God beseeching you? Be
ye reconciled to God, and here's the grounds, for God hath made
Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. So now then, look at the next
verse, and I want you to see now, He begins, go back to your
text, we see God speaks, He speaks out of His church, who is the
beauty of perfection, God has manifest Himself. Now in verse
3, this is our message, this is the light that has shined
out of Zion. Verse 3, the first thing that
is manifest is this, Our God shall come. I want you to understand that
is speaking of Christ. Our God shall come. This was the same promise that
was given to Adam and Eve. The seed of the woman shall crush
the head of the serpent and thou shall bruise his heel. God testifies to them that Christ
should come into the world to abolish sin and death. How? By the offering of Himself. By the offering of Himself. In that passage in Genesis, God,
after He gave them that commandment, you remember He gave them that
picture. He killed those animals and clothed the nakedness of
our parents. It's a picture of how He would
bruise His heel. He should, by His death, cover
our sins. Now, before His coming, He said
He should come into the world. He that is God, very God, should
come into the world in human flesh in order to save His people. Our God shall come. Our God shall
come. Notice what He says, He shall
not keep silent. He shall not keep silent. When
He comes, you'll know it. You'll know it. Now, before His
coming, God was silent to most of the world. You realize that
only that little nation of Israel had the pictures of the gospel. For the most part, God was silent
to everyone. Yes, He spoke in creation. Yes, He spoke in that
law in their hearts, but He was only to that small nation was
He revealing Himself. But when God should come into
the world, He was not going to be silent. God caused, when Christ
came into the world, a light shined out of darkness. The world was mostly dark, but
Christ came into the world and light shone out. God manifest
Himself. In Isaiah 9, verse 2, it says,
The people walked in darkness, have seen a great light. When He comes into the world,
He's going to manifest Himself so no one could mistake who He
was. In Isaiah chapter 9 and verse
6, it clarifies the great light. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His
shoulders. The child born speaks of the
humanity of Christ. The son given speaks of the deity
of Christ. And His work is this, the government,
the kingdom of heaven should be upon His shoulders. Salvation
should be His responsibility. And listen, when Christ came
into the world, He was not silent about who He was. Those Pharisees
said this, If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He says, I've
already told you. Who else was born of a virgin
but me? Is there anyone else born of the seed of the woman?
Is that not plain that Jesus is the Christ? He was born in
Bethlehem, just as the Word of God predicted He would. He said, Which of you convinced
Me of sin? He was the sinless Son of God,
manifest to all. came into the world to offer
Himself as a sacrifice, this thing was not hid in a corner.
This thing was manifest. And look at this, fire shall
devour around about Him. He said, You will not keep silent,
a fire shall devour before Him. The fire of His Word consumed
all doubt that He was the Christ, that He was sent to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Oh, how His word was like a fire
in the hearts of men, tearing down false religion and exposing
their sin. But what happened? Instead of
honoring Him as the Christ, it was very tempestuous around about
Him. Do you not see that about Christ
when He came into the world, that it was tempestuous and everywhere
He went there was anger? and confusion and trouble. It was all around him. They despised
the Lord of glory. They hated the God of heaven. And what did they do? They crucified
the Prince of life. But let us be assured of this.
This was ordained of God. This was purposed of God. Even
our text tells us about this tempestuous storm round about
him. Why? Because this is how God
should save His people, even by Jesus Christ. In Matthew 1.21,
it says, Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall do what? Save His people from their sins. He shall save His people. Jesus
said Himself, I am the Good Shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. And when Jesus had accomplished
salvation, how did He do that? He did that by enduring the wrath
of God. Look at verse 4. And He shall
call to the heavens from above and to the earth, that He may
judge His people. Won't you see, believer? Was
it not at Calvary did Christ not call down the judgment of
God? Our Lord Jesus Christ, bearing
our sins in His own body, knew the judgment of God would fall
upon Him. In order to save us, the judgment
of God, He called down from the heavens above and to the earth,
what? That He may judge His people.
Listen, believer, where were you judged? You were judged in
Christ. When Christ bore your sins, the
judgment of God was called down from heaven. Awake, O sword,
and smite the shepherd, the man that is My fellow. Why? That I may gather little
ones for Myself. God called down judgment from
heaven to judge His people in Christ. Go to Hebrews chapter
10. Hebrews chapter 10, look at verse
7. Jesus said, This, lo, I come.
In the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will,
O God. Above, when He said, Sacrifice
and offering, and burnt offering, and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not need that pleasure therein which were offered by the law.
Then said He, then said the mighty God, Lo, I come to do thy will,
O God. He taketh away the first, and
he may establish the second, by the which will, by the will
of God, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. Every priest standeth daily ministering,
oftentimes the same sacrifice that can never take away sin.
But this man, But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sin, sat down. He finished the work. This is
the message out of Zion. It is a message of a finished
work. Christ has finished the work. He has called down the judgment
of God upon himself and has finished the work. satisfied the justice
of God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified now listen this is the message that goes
out of Zion God is satisfied with the offering of his son God is satisfied with the offering
of His Son. So satisfied was God, He raised
Christ from the dead and sat Him down on the throne of glory,
ruling over all things. This is the message out of Zion.
This is the message God has spoke. Look to Christ and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth. Believe on Christ. Trust in Christ. And notice what He'll do because
of what He's done. Go back to your text. Look at
this. Because of the perfection of Christ, because of the perfect
offering of Christ, because judgment has been satisfied, therefore,
what does Christ say? Gather my saints together unto
me, those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. Listen, God has made an eternal
covenant of grace with His Son. Jesus Christ was the surety for
all of His elect, and because of His victory, none of them
shall be lost, but God makes a decree here. Listen to what
the Lord God, the mighty God, hath said, Gather my people,
gather my saints. Notice the character of the people
that are gathered. They're holy. Gather my holy
ones. Those who have been made holy
by Jesus Christ, what is He going to do? He's going to gather them.
As Zion preaches the gospel, as the word goes out of Zion,
what is our word? Our word is come to Christ. Hear the word of God. Forsake
your own thoughts. your own ways, and hear what
God says. What does God say? I'm satisfied
with the offering and righteousness of my Son alone. Now, it doesn't matter how men feel
about this. It doesn't matter what men think
about this. Let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord.
And what? He shall have abundant mercy. He shall pardon. He shall
pardon him. Our Lord Jesus Christ, right
now, what is He doing? He is gathering His people. Through
the preaching of His gospel, He is gathering His saints. Now,
who are His saints? They are the ones that have made
covenant with Him by sacrifice. In other words, those are the
ones who, by faith, receive Christ. Remember, faith is the evidence
of our election and redemption. How do you know you're elect?
How do you know you were redeemed by the blood of Christ? Well,
it's simply this. Do you believe? Do you believe on the Son of
God? Now, our faith doesn't redeem us. Our faith doesn't justify
us. Our faith is the evidence of
our justification. It is the evidence of our spiritual
life. Do you believe? And truly, if
you believe, have you not made this covenant that Christ is
all? Christ is all. Christ is all our righteousness,
Christ is all our wisdom, Christ is all our sanctification, and
His sacrifice is all my hope and standing before God. And the heavens shall declare
His righteousness, for God Himself is judge. If you're a believer in Christ
and you have been given the righteousness of Christ, if you have been justified
by God, who is the judge of all, who then shall unjustify you? He said, I'll declare my righteousness.
I will declare my righteousness. His righteousness is where? It's
in Christ. And those of you who are in Christ,
you are made the righteousness of God in him. And the judge of all the earth,
who shall disannul what he hath said? Listen, I know that things in
this life are constantly in opposition to the promises of God. The things
you and I experience in this world seem to be in opposition
to the promises of God. Well, if God loves me so much
that He gave His only begotten Son, why then do I suffer? Why am I in trouble? Friends, don't look to your feelings
or experiences. These things are constantly changing. What doesn't change? What's the
constant? Thus saith the Lord. What does God say? Isn't that
the only thing that matters? Where do you find God's Word?
Out of Zion, the beauty of perfection. That's where you find God's Word.
You find it in His church, among His people. You who are His people
are His witnesses. We speak this gospel, this message,
and what is this message? God came down in human flesh
and offered Himself a sacrifice for sin. God came down. The God of all the earth came
down and offered Himself and His offering, His offering has
forever accomplished all our salvation, all His righteousness
and blood, accomplished the salvation of His people. And listen, those
who are partakers of this believe on Christ. Do you believe God's Word concerning
His Son? Is it all your hope? And I pray God would comfort
you with this, that His righteousness is declared. The judge of all
the earth hath declared his people that he gathers to himself that
they are righteous. They are acceptable. not based
on anything they have done, but based solely upon what Christ
has done for us. That is God's Word. I pray God
to give us grace to believe it and rejoice in it. Our gracious
Father, I pray you dismiss us with your blessing. I pray you
pour out your Spirit upon us. Forgive us our many sins. Lead
us and guide us and help us to be salt and light in this earth,
Father, that we should continually preach the Word of God, preach
the Gospel of Christ to others. And Father, I know this, You
will gather Your people, You will call them in by our Gospel. I pray You would do it according
to Your own glory and grace. In Jesus' name, Amen.