The title of the message this
evening is, The Praise of God in the Face of False Deities. The praise of God in the face
of false deities. The psalmist here, David, said,
I will praise Thee with my whole heart. Before the gods will I
sing praise unto Thee. Here in the beginning of this
psalm, David sets forth his determination. The determination of his heart
is, I will praise Thee. I will praise the Lord. And this
is the determination of every true believer in Christ. It is our determination. It is
our heart's desire to praise God, to worship Him. Whereas we only desired before
to worship self, to serve sin, and to serve the God of our own
making, now Jehovah is the object of our praise. He is the object
of immortal praise, essentially supreme. I will praise Thee,
David said, and Thee only, and he says, I will do it even in
the face of other gods, in the very face of false religion. I will sing. This is my determination. This is because every born-again
sinner is made keenly aware of our sin. We are made to know
the depravity of our nature, and our helpless estate. We know
that man at his best state is altogether vanity. Vanity. But God, by His exceeding great
power, has made us to us where it has given us life from the
dead. He's given us life by the power of His Spirit and His Word. He has given us a new heart,
a new nature. And this was given us in Christ
Jesus by His free grace. The Scripture tells us that He
hath quickened us together with Christ and made us to sit in heavenly
places in Christ. Therefore, we praise God. We
desire to praise God and declare even before the face of other
gods, even in the face of false religion, even in the face that
we are surrounded by false deities. Now this is not something new.
David was surrounded. That little nation had the only
place to worship God and every nation in the known world, every
nation in the world had not God. God was only in that little place. And there were very few outside
of Israel that believed in the coming Messiah. The believer in Christ, we declare,
even though I'm surrounded by false gods and false religion,
even though I be alone in this, I will stand and praise God. I will sing His praises to the
only true and living God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent,
even in the face of false religion. Believer in Christ, understand
this truth. I want you to know this. We will
always be in the minority. We have always been in the minority. Now I know this, that there will
be, I do believe this, that there will be more in heaven than there
are lost. But I tell you, most of them,
I believe, are the infants that have passed at birth, those that
God has chosen and redeemed and then taken immediately. But for
the most part, the Christians have never been in the majority. We've always been in the minority.
We live in such a time where these few who believe in the
sovereign Lord God of Holy Scriptures, there are few who have faith
in a victorious Christ. As in this day of David, so now. There are many who take the name
of Christ, who claim the Word of God. But God says of false
prophets, He said, they have stolen My Word. They steal My
Words. And He is against them. They
take the name of Jesus Christ. They even call themselves things
like Jehovah's Witnesses. They call themselves the Church
of Christ. They call themselves the Holy
Catholic Church. There are many names by which
they rob and steal from God and His Church. They are the false
church. They are the harlot. And yet when their priests and
their ministers, their preachers preach, It's then we understand
what they are. They can claim all of these things.
But what determines, what makes the difference between a true
church, a true believer like David and these false gods? What makes the difference is
their message. The message they declare, the
God that they declare to serve. That makes a difference. And
listen, the God of this generation, they may give Him the name of
Jehovah, but He no more represents or is like to Jehovah as a flickering
candle to the noonday sun. Their God no more resembles the
God of Scripture. And so even in the midst of such
false religious age, we are not ashamed of this glorious gospel of Christ. We are not ashamed of God and
His Christ, therefore we declare the truth of God's Word, and
as Paul said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for
it, the gospel of Christ, and it alone is the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believe it. This gospel and this
gospel alone, the free and sovereign grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Salvation by Him alone. And listen, this gospel we preach,
there is only one gospel. There are not many gospels. Peter said, we are born of incorruptible
seed. Incorruptible. You realize that
this Gospel is incorruptible? No matter how many false prophets
tried to corrupt this Word, they cannot corrupt this Word. It
is incorruptible. And this is the Word by which
we are born again. By the incorruptible seed of
the Word of God that liveth and abideth forever. This Word is
forever because the Word speaks of the eternal living God. It is His Word. And Paul says,
of another gospel, he said, let them that preach another gospel,
which is not another, because there is no other, he said, let
them be accursed. That's strong language. Let them
go to hell. That's what it means. Let them
be accursed. Christ said, let the blind lead
the blind. They'll both fall in the ditch. Leave them alone.
Let them alone. What other horrific and blasphemous
and hell-deserving gospel are they preaching in Galatia? And that's where Paul said that.
He said there's not another gospel. They're preaching another gospel
which is not another. What horrible thing required Paul to write
such words as to let them be accursed? This is it. It was a gospel that mixed the
works of the flesh with the work of Christ. That was the horrific
gospel. That was the gospel that was
not another. It was one that mixed the works
and fleshly works of man with the work of Christ. And Paul
said, it's a curse. The salvation by which He alone
has accomplished and obtained, which He gives to His elect people,
is the only true gospel. And let us never be then afraid
of these liars. Let us never be afraid of them.
who make salvation of Jesus Christ a common thing. Isn't that what
Paul said in Hebrews? He said, they count the blood
of Christ as an unholy thing. That word means a common thing. A common thing. Therefore, cursed
is everyone that preaches universal atonement. You see what they've
done? They made the blood of Christ
a common thing. He just died for everyone. It's
common. It's just common. That's how they preach. That's
what they preach. The Christ who died for all men,
but did not obtain eternal redemption is not Christ. Scripture plainly declares that
in Hebrews chapter 9, that He entered into the very presence
of God with His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. Now that's Christ. Any Christ
that did not obtain eternal redemption is not Christ. Therefore, I will
praise the Lord with my whole heart for the true Jesus Christ
who has obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 10.14 says that the Lord
hath perfected forever. Do you get that? Forever. How long? Forever. them that
are sanctified, them that are made holy. Now, not sanctified
by their own self-sanctification, as false teachers preach, not
by the sanctification of their free will, not by their sanctified obedience
to the law. As a matter of fact, that whole
book of Hebrews, it sets these two things in opposition. The
excellency of Christ and the new covenant versus the old covenant
and the law of Moses. He sets them in comparison and
he shows the excellency of Christ and His perfect covenant of grace
versus the law. These two are not mixed. They
cannot be mixed. Jesus Christ is the only high
priest and mediator between God and men of the better covenant
of grace. Therefore, we praise God who
from the beginning chosen, elected a people to salvation. This is the gospel. Not universal
atonement, but sovereign election and eternal redemption of Christ. Go to Romans chapter 9. Romans
9. Verse 11, for the children, speaking
of these two children in the same womb of the same mother
by the same father, these children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. It is said
unto her, The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." In 2 Thessalonians, go there, 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2, in verse 13, But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you. For what purpose? What purpose
is this election? To salvation. through sanctification, not of
yourself, but sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Not another gospel, the gospel. And so therefore, cursed is every
God that is subject then to the will of man. If a man's God is
subject to the will of man, that God should be condemned and cursed. curses every religion whose God
has made salvation possible and left it to the will of man to
accomplish. Why? Because no such God exists
in Holy Writ. No such God exists in Scripture. Therefore, we pray, we will praise,
the sovereign God who says of His own will. He said, I am God. There is none like Me. Declaring
the end. When? From the beginning. and from ancient times the things
that were not yet done saying, My counsel shall stand and I
will do all whose pleasure? My pleasure. I'll do all My pleasure. My counsel shall stand and I'll
do all My pleasure. The true and living God whom
we praise, He was declaring the end from the beginning. At the
beginning, He declared the end of all things. Therefore, whatsoever our God
hath pleased, purposed, and willed from eternity to do, it's exactly
what He has done, is doing, and will do. You got that? Everything
God has determined to do, He has done, is doing, and will
do. I like this. He had no idea what
he was saying, but it was the truth anyway. Sometimes they
just slip up on it. They don't even know it. William
Shakespeare slipped up on it and he said, the world is a stage. And all the men and women of
the world are just players. They're just playing out. And that's a true statement.
Listen, the whole world is a stage, and the play is God's election
and redemption of His people. The glory of His grace is the
name of this play, and everything is moving toward that purpose.
Everything. So what God hath purposed, what
God from eternity has willed, He will accomplish. Who then can thwart it? You see, a false God you can
thwart. A false God you can manipulate. A false God you can put behind
a shelf. A false God you can lift up,
hide Him, and so He can't see anything. That's a false God. A false God is subject to your
will. The true God, you are subject
to His will. That's the true God. You are
subject to His will. And in that same place in Isaiah,
what did He say He had purposed? He says this. I've got it written
down in verse 13 of Isaiah chapter 46. He says, "...I will bring
near My righteousness. It shall not be far off, and
My salvation shall not tarry, and I will..." Here it is. will place salvation in Zion. Zion. What does that mean? Isn't that where the temple was?
Isn't that where the worship was? Isn't that where the sacrifices
were? That all pictured the Lord Jesus
Christ. Where is God's salvation? Where
has God willed His salvation? In Christ. That's where He's
willed it. He's willed that salvation come
through Christ. For, I like this, for Israel. You see, salvation in Christ
for who? Israel, His chosen people. And that's not that little nation
over there. Paul says that in Romans 9. He
says that not all those that are of the physical seed are
the children of promise. That's not the children of God,
that physical nation, but a spiritual Israel, which is pictured by
Jacob, where he says, "...for Jacob have I loved." That's a
picture of all His elect, all those that the Father chose,
all those that the Father loved. He loved from eternity and purposed,
decreed that they should be saved. And what was His purpose? Why? Why has He chosen a people to
save? Paul says it how many times in
Ephesians 1? According to the praise of the
glory of His grace. What is this all for? It's for His own glory. God does
everything for His own glory. His own glory. And he says, of
these elect people, I have set my love upon you. When? I have
loved you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31, verse 3. Therefore I will praise thee.
I will praise thee, the sovereign God, the God of electing love. And cursed is every God whose
love is mutable. Cursed is every God whose love
is changeable, whose love is not eternal. Cursed is every God whose love
is dependent upon the will and actions of man. Our God says
this how many times? Not for your sakes. In Jeremiah,
I believe it's Ezekiel 36, He says, I give this covenant to
you not for your sakes do I this, but for mine own namesake. Why is it that He loved and elect
people? Because of His own namesake, for His own glory. Cursed is the God whose love
is beyond His power to save. Cursed is every God whose love
exceeds His power. Isn't that the God of the modern
generation that loves everyone, but His power is too short? He
cannot break the will of man, but must bow to it. That is no
God. God is to be condemned. That
is not the God of this book. God of this generation who loves
all men and wants so desperately to save them but has no power
over their will. But we praise no such God. Matter
of fact, I praise my God in the very face of them. Why? Because their God is no God.
God is no God. We praise no such God. For our
Father has love, and our Father's love is changeless and immutable
as His nature. God says in Malachi 3.9, I change
not. Therefore, listen, you sons of
Jacob are not consumed. How is it that there's anyone
saved? Because God says, I change not. And if God ever changed,
we would have no hope at all. But that's not the God of this
book. The God of this book is immutable. He's unchangeable.
Whatsoever He had purpose to do, that's what He's doing. He's purpose to save a people.
He's purpose to save them by His Son. He set His love on them. And
our Savior, Jesus Christ, who is God, manifest in the flesh,
is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And all that the
Father hath loved, He hath put in Christ, into union with Christ. God purposed to make these elect
holy and without blame. Our God has declared, decreed
their adoption. And all this was done. not by
any works or merit of themselves, but by Jesus Christ, the eternal
Son of God. Therefore we praise our God,
who has by His grace made salvation effectual to us by His Spirit." Now look back at your text. So
we see that David here is praising God even in the face of all false
gods, and that is what we're to do. We're to praise our God
in the face of them, in spite of them. We praise God
even if it means we are alone. We praise the God of Scripture,
the Lord, the sovereign God who has from eternity loved, chosen
a people, Now then, I want you to see His promise. This is the
God we worship, and look at His promise. Go to verse 8. This is the promise of the sovereign
Lord God that we praise. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. This promise of God, which is
the perfection of all of His elect, only finds its fulfillment
in one place, in one person, Jesus Christ. The fulfillment
of this promise, that God will perfect all that concerns me,
is only found in Christ. He is the righteousness of God
that was decreed to be brought near. He is the salvation that
is in Zion. Now David in the opening of this
praise to the Lord, he says this, I will worship. Verse 2, I will
worship toward thy holy temple. I will worship toward thy holy
temple. And praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy
truth, for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."
The temple was the only place where God would meet with sinners.
At this time, when David wrote this, there was only one place
in all the world God would meet with sinners, in atoning mercy,
and that was at the temple. The temple. That was the place
where the Ark of the Covenant was. That's the place where the
mercy seat was. That was the place where the
sacrifices were offered. And all of that whole dispensation,
all of that economy of the sacrifices only pictured the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal
Son of God. You remember, he says in Scripture,
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee. The Lord said
unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, till I make Thine
enemies Thy footstool. This Son of God, who was given
an elect people by God, was made a surety, a guarantee of a new
covenant, a better covenant than the law. And so in love, equal to the
Father and Spirit, the blessed Lord Jesus Christ purposed to
redeem all that God had given Him. And this shows us the need of
the elect, doesn't it? The promise is, the Lord will
perfect that which concerns me. Obviously, if there's a need
of perfection, then there's a lack of perfection. All of the elect people are not
by nature holy. They're not by nature perfect. I tell you, the only perfection
we can claim is this, the perfect fall. That's it. Man could only claim one perfection. He fell perfectly, absolutely. It was a perfect fall. By nature, man is at perfect
enmity against God. By nature, man is wholly wicked
and depraved. Sin is deep-rooted in his soul. His love is set wholly on the
pleasures of this world. We are perfectly bound to sin
and our whole man is corrupt. The heart is deceitful and desperately
wicked. The mind is so full of wicked
thoughts and envies and murders which proceed from the heart. Therefore, all of the imagination
of our hearts are continually, perpetually, perfectly evil. That's all we've got. That's all man is. Our will is perfectly bound.
so that we cannot and will not come to God by Jesus Christ. Man would rather believe in aliens
than come to God by Christ. That is how perfectly depraved
man is. Man will invent a God out of
thin air and bow to Him rather than come to God through Jesus
Christ. Perfect the fall is perfect complete
Will is enslaved perfectly enslaved Jesus said therefore no man can
come unto me That's what the God of heaven said no man can
well. I can't know you can't Know not
by your own power and strength you won't ever come And see how he would draw his
elect is even by the preaching of this gospel. The preaching
of this gospel that is despised and rejected of man. That Jesus Christ, who was purposed
to come, has come and made a perfect atonement for a perfect sinner. That's what he's got. The elect
were perfectly sinners as all other men, yet Christ came on
purpose to save them perfectly. This word perfect in our text,
you know what that word means? Accomplish. That's what it means. Read it like that, the Lord will
accomplish that which concerns me. Accomplish. Behold what perfectly
fallen, depraved sinners could not and would not do, Christ
has accomplished. Finished. All praise the glory
of God's grace that hath given unto us Christ Jesus. And Jesus, who is our representative
man, has accomplished what we could never do. Paul in Romans 5 says that man
by one man, sin entered into the world and death by sin, so
death passed upon all men for all have sinned. Therefore, by the disobedience
of one, many were made sinners. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, many. are made righteous by the obedience
of one, by the representative man, Jesus. And I'll tell you this, the law
had no effect on that promise, did it? That law had no effect
on the promise of grace because the promise of grace was before
the law. What was the purpose of the law?
Only that sin may abound. Therefore, where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. Therefore, we praise the Lord
who has accomplished salvation. In the face of every other deity,
we praise Christ. And by His Word that He has magnified
above His name, He has chosen to show proof. How do we know
this is so? You have it right there in your
hands. The Word of God. Do you not realize that God has
put this Word above His name? God has stamped His signature
on this book. You know, God is only as good
as His Word. And Christ, who is the incarnate
Word of God, said this, This is the will of Him that sent
me, that of all He hath given me I should lose nothing, but
raise it up again at the last day. This is the Word. This is
the Word. After He had put away our sins
by the sacrifice of Himself, He said, it is finished. I, the Lord, will perfect that
which concerneth Me. And upon that tree 2,000 years
ago, God did perfect that which concerned everyone of His elect. He put away our sin forever.
Put it away. Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered
in the stead of His people. And He said, it's accomplished,
it's finished. And God testified before every
man of His perfect offering when He raised Him from the dead.
Well, how do you know that He did it? How do you know His death
was satisfactory? Because God raised Him from the
dead. There's no man in the tomb. He
is out. He is risen. And He's ascended. And God didn't leave Himself
without witnesses. Oh, how many men have tried to
disprove that? But every one of them has fallen
on their face. seeing then the promise of this
perfect salvation for the elect Jesus, having accomplished it. Therefore, He must reveal it
to everyone He redeemed. He must! He must reveal it to His elect.
How will He do it? How will He reveal it to His
elect? His purpose, the means by which He should do this, the
preaching of this Gospel. Even in the face of false religion,
we preach this Gospel. Why? Because God has a people. Because God has a people and
Christ redeemed those people and those people must hear this
Word and they shall come. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Isn't that assuring? That's just so. That's what God
says. And the Holy Spirit takes this
Word and He applies it to the heart. He said, My sheep hear
My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And David, when
he praised God for this promise, it was because it was personal. You know, speaking about the
elect, that's one thing. Are you His elect? David was praising God because
he knew he was. He said, He will perfect that
which concerneth not the elect. Me! Me! That's what I want to know. Is
He perfected for me? David, how can you be so confident?
How can you know your election and redemption? Because it was
revealed by the experience of grace to him. It was revealed. David said this in verse 3, he
said, In the day when I cried to Thee, He did what? He answered
me, and He strengthened me with strength in where? My soul. Where was He strengthened? In
His soul. What is that? That's the resurrection
of the dead. That's to be born again of the
Spirit of God. When he cried, He answered. He
was born again of the Spirit of God. Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. What is this new birth? What is proof of this new birth?
How can I know He had perfected that which concerneth me? Dost
thou believe on the Son of God? Faith, friends, is the only evidence of your election and redemption. Faith in what? In the God, in the Christ of
this book. Faith in Jesus Christ. See, this is no common thing. I know sometimes we think it
common because we believe. Why doesn't everybody believe,
we say? This is so rich! Sin is gone! My debt is paid! Heaven awaits! Why won't everybody
believe this? They can't. Jesus said, this is the work
of God, John 6, 29, that you believe on Him whom He has sent. Hebrews 11.1, faith is the substance
of things. Hope for evidence. Evidence of
what things not seen. I didn't see you write my name
in the book, did you? I didn't see Christ die on the
tree, did you? No, faith is the evidence of
things not seen. I know He did it. I know my name
is written there. I know that Christ died on that
tree and my sins are forever remitted. They're ever gone by
His blood. How do I know? Faith. But preacher, I still
feel the imperfections. I feel so unrighteous and imperfect. And you will. So long as you
live in this body, you will. Why? That which is born of flesh
is flesh. It will not change. in my flesh dwelleth no good
thing." That's why you don't feel the perfection, because
the old man is not perfect. The old man is unchanged. But
that which is born of spirit is spirit, the new man. And he
is perfect. I read to you 1 John 5 and verse
18 says, We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not. You
hear that? Whosoever is born of God sinneth
not. I've got a bunch of fools running around thinking that
they don't sin at all. You see? Who's born of God doesn't
sin. This is speaking about my new
nature. This is speaking about that which is created of God
in me. The workmanship of God created
in us. That's my new nature that is
made partaker of the divine nature. And therefore, there is a conflict
in our bosom that remains. The war rages in us, yet herein
is our hope, not based on our feeling, not based on our circumstances
or even our experiences. But our faith rests in this,
that He has accomplished our salvation, that He has applied
that perfect salvation in us, and He will not stop until it's
fully experienced by us. He that hath begun a good work
in you will..." There's that word again. I love it. When you
speak of God's will, you know it's sure. He will perform it. unto the day of Jesus Christ. So this promise has been fulfilled,
it is being fulfilled, and it will be fulfilled. What? The
Lord hath promised. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. And look at this comfort he gives.
What's the cause of this? Here it is, the cause of this
is thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever. When did this salvation begin?
It began in eternity, in the covenant
promises of God. He had mercy. In time, He came
and died for our sins. Out of what? Mercy. He came to
us in our sins, quickened us, gave us such faith and love and
desire for Him. Out of what? Mercy. And you know why you'll continue?
You know why you will continue in faith? Mercy. His mercy, that word endureth
is actually in italics, thy mercy forever. Forever. This is a comfort of His promise,
that this promise is not something changeable, it's not something
that is a whim, it is from the mercy of God that doesn't change. Therefore, we praise the God
of infinite mercy. And David here, he gives this
last part right here as a plea. He knows the Lord will accomplish
his salvation. He knows it's because of the
mercy of God. But yet, he cries out at the
last part here, he said, this plea, forsake not the works of
thine own hand. David wrote this psalm when he
was in trouble. In verse 7 he said, though I
walk in the midst of trouble. Believer, are you in trouble?
Are you in trouble? then you should remember God's
cause of saving grace, His mercy. Even in our troubles, let us
understand this, the God who purposed to save us has also
purposed our troubles. Why was David in trouble? So
he could write this psalm to give you comfort. You now see
that? David was in trouble for a reason,
that he should write this for you by his Spirit. And listen, all your troubles
are ordained of God for your good, for your good, that you
should grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. Say you to the righteous, it
shall be well with him. And so long as we live upon this
earth, believer, let us see that every trouble and every goodness
is of the mercy of God. And listen, He will never leave
thee nor forsake thee. Our God who purposed to save
you sent His Son to do exactly what He purposed. Christ did
exactly what He purposed. The Spirit of God was sent for
the express purpose of quickening you and giving you faith, and
He is in you, dwelling in you to keep you, and yet though you
feel, God forsakes you. Who doesn't? Am I the only one?
I must be the only one, I guess, that feels this way. No, actually,
I read earlier today in Psalm 77, you read it yourself, David
asks that question, Lord, will You forsake me? Lord, will You
cast me off forever? We all have this fear. Lord, don't forsake us. What is the remedy for such fear?
The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Remember His covenant. Remember His covenant. Remember
His promises, I will never, no never, no never, no never leave
thee, nor forsake thee. I know this, I cannot keep my
soul alive. But also know this, He will never
kill my soul. He's quickened it. How shall He not accomplish what
He started? Therefore, on the grounds of
Jesus Christ, the mercy of God sent to us, His blood offering,
we should rejoice in this, He will not leave us. And therefore,
believer, we gladly praise such a God, even in the face of other
deities, even in the face of so-called deities, which are
no gods, no gods at all. May God give us strength May we worship Him with undaunted
faces and fall into His merciful arms, and He will embrace you. Why? For Christ's sake. For Christ's
sake. Because He had finished. He had
perfected that which concerned you. His mercy is forever. Lord, please don't forsake me.
Okay, he says, I won't. I pray God blesses to your heart. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.