If you will turn your Bibles
with me to the book of Psalms, Psalm chapter 45, Psalm chapter
45. We have been studying in this
Psalm now for several weeks. And the more I look at this Psalm,
the more I am blessed, the more full it becomes. And I just hope
that you have been as I have to study it. I hope
that it's a blessing to your heart to hear the things concerning
Christ in this psalm. Psalm chapter 45, and tonight
we'll be looking at verses 6 and 7. Let's read this together. The scripture says, Thy throne,
O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is
a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness and
hatest wickedness. Therefore, God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. The title of the message tonight
is Christ's Throne of Assurance. Christ's Throne of Assurance. And the first thing we see in
this text of Scripture is a throne. Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. This is none other than the throne
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, after Christ, the appointed
King, the chosen King of God, as we have read in this text,
has girded on His sword, and in great majesty has triumphed
over all the enemies of God and His people. After he had come
into this world and suffered in obedience to God on the cross
as a substitute for sinners, after Christ had shed His own
blood for the remission of sins, he was buried in a borrowed tomb. And three days he lay in this
tomb, and on the third day, According to the Word of God, according
to the Scriptures, He was raised again for our justification. He was raised from the dead. He was raised from the grave.
You see, Christ had conquered death by death. He had conquered death and in
death had put away all the sins, all the sins of all of His people
forever. Forever. Jesus by His one offering, the
Scripture says, hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. And because He has accomplished
this, because of His great success on the cross, because of His
great success in righteousness, God raised Him from the dead. And not only raised Him from
the dead, but also ascended Him up to the throne of God where
He sits right now. He sits on the throne of God. The Scripture tells us in Philippians
2 that God hath exalted Him and given Him a name that is above
every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Where? In things in heaven, in
things in earth, and things under the earth. and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. For what purpose? To the glory of God the Father. Friends, God has set Jesus Christ
on the throne of heaven. And He is above every creature
and His power and authority His rule is sovereign over all things. All things. Friends, there is not one creature
that moves upon the face of this earth without the will and permission
of God Almighty. Without the permission of Christ,
nothing happens. This world would cease to move. Does it not move by the will
of Christ? It moves according to His good
pleasure. Jesus has come to His rightful
throne and now sits in all the glory of God, having accomplished
His salvation for all His people, so that no one whom God has given
Him shall perish. Not one. Not one. Every one of God's elect shall
come to faith and repentance in Christ. How do I know that? Because He's on the throne. He's on the throne. This should be a great assurance
to everyone who has believed on Christ. This should be a great
assurance to you. That your Savior lives. Your Savior not only lives, but
reigns. Reigns supreme. Reigns sovereign
over all things. Nothing is outside of His control. And we that believe We have this
testimony in our hearts. When the Spirit of God came and
quickened us and regenerated our souls and gave us faith in
Christ, He also gave us a testimony of the new nature in every one
of us who have believed. A testimony to this. Jesus Christ
reigneth in our hearts. And His throne is set up there
in our hearts. He is Lord and Master. We know that He is seated at
the right hand of God and ever liveth to make intercession
for us. Do you know that? Do you have
that testimony of the Spirit in your heart? Have you bowed
to the Lord Jesus Christ? We that have bowed down recognize
Him as our Savior, our Lord, and our God. Thy throne, O God. O God. But all who will not bend the
knee to Christ, all who will not come to Him alone as all
their salvation, but in depravity desire some
way that they can share in the glory of God. Friends, they shall
be judged by this throne. They shall be judged by this
man on the throne of God. And these that will not bow before
his throne, they will not bow and submit
themselves to his righteousness, but would rather look to something
they've done. Some law that they think they
can obey or some decision that they've made. Paul says to the Jews who tried
to obey the law for their righteousness, he said, they being ignorant
of the righteousness of God, went about to establish their
own righteousness, and have not submitted themselves
to the righteousness of God in Christ. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness. To who? To everyone that believeth. Believeth what? Believeth on
Christ alone. Without any works which we have
done. I like that song. Not what my
hands have done could save my guilty soul. Not all my toils
and prayers and tears could avail to save me. And friends, one day those who
will not confess Christ as Lord, Savior, and God, they will confess
Him. They will confess Him in hell,
but never to their salvation. But we who have bowed the knee
and submitted to Christ by faith, we who have bowed and submitted
by faith to Him who is seated on the throne of God, we have
believed and because He is seated on the throne of God, we have
a very good hope. We have a hope. We have a good
hope. The Scripture tells us in Revelation
22, Jesus said to John, don't seal up the book, John. Don't
seal it up, the prophecies of this book, for the time is at
hand. He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still, and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still.
If a man dies without submitting to Christ, without bowing to
Christ and believing on Christ, he is unjust, and when he dies,
he will be unjust still. But everyone who has submitted
to Christ, he that is righteous. That you and me who have believed
in Christ, we are in Him righteous before God. Let Him be righteous
still. Forever we shall be righteous
and holy. Friends, today is the day of
salvation. Today. The book is not sealed. It's
not finished. Time is not yet no more. There is still hope. There is
still time. Believe. Bow to Christ and be
saved. And God has sent forth His preachers
to testify of this. That Jesus Christ liveth. and was dead, and now lives forevermore,
having both the keys of death and hell. Behold, believers, our Savior
has subdued all the powers of death and hell and set us free. That's what the throne means.
That Christ has now power over all our enemies. He has conquered
all that would stand between us and God. He has conquered
it all. We who have believed should take
great comfort in our Redeemer that liveth. And that God has set him over
all things, over all flesh, and nothing will ever remove us from
His love for salvation. You know, a kingdom is only as
good as its king. Isn't that right? If you have a weak effeminate
king, you're going to have a weak effeminate kingdom. But friends, we do not have a
weak king. Our King is God. And nothing shall ever move us
from His Kingdom. Nothing. The Scripture says, Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword Paul says, I am persuaded of
this, that neither height, nor depth, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor power, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other
creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which
is in Christ. Why? Because Christ has ascended
to the throne. Our Savior is King and nothing
stands in His way. Nothing. Second of all, in our text, I
see the person of Christ. Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. In these two verses, verses 6
and 7, we have both the deity of Christ and the humanity of
Christ. You can see that in verse 6.
Thy throne, O God. Now look at verse 7. Thou that
lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness, Therefore God, thy
God, hath anointed thee with the oil
of gladness above thy fellows. He who is God also has a God. How's that? What does that mean?
Well, this is just speaking of the dual nature of Christ, the
humanity of Christ and the deity of Christ in one man. First of all, the deity of Christ.
Thy throne, O God. Remember that the testimony of
the king here in this chapter is the testimony of God. It is
the testimony of God. This is God's heart. This is
God's heart. Remember, this is a psalm of
loves. of loves, God's love for His
people, God's love for His King. Believers, we have before us,
therefore, a more sure word of prophecy than if we have been
there ourselves. If you would have been there
when Christ was alive, if you would have actually seen Him
on the cross, if you would have actually heard the voice of God,
Peter says, we have a more sure word of prophecy right here in
your hands. The Word of God. This is more
sure than if you had seen it with your eyes. Why? Because
faith doesn't come by sight. Faith cometh by hearing. And hearing by what? The Word
of God. The Word of God. And this sure word of prophecy
tells us that Jesus Christ is Himself God. God. Believer, this is the root and
foundation of our faith. This is the root and foundation
of our faith. It is our assurance and the greatest
hope of our souls that Jesus Christ is God, a very God. That He is one with the Father
in will and one with the Spirit and the Father in will, purpose,
power and wisdom. That He was from all eternity
and to all eternity. Go to John chapter 1. John makes
this point at the very beginning of his gospel. The scripture says, in the beginning,
in verse 1, in the beginning was the Word. You read John all
the way through the book of John here, and the epistles of John,
he always refers to Christ as the Word. In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by Him. Who? By the Word. Him, a person. And without Him was not anything
made that was made. Thy throne, O God, is forever
and ever. What throne could be forever
and ever unless it's God's throne? There is no other throne forever
and ever. unless the one that sits on it
is eternal. Eternal. Therefore, Jesus Christ is above
all creation because He is the creator and sustainer of all
creation. Paul says this in Colossians
1.16, For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and
that are in earth, Visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones
or dominions or principalities or powers. Listen to this. All
things were created by Him and for Him. For Him. All things were created by Him
and for His pleasure. They were created by Him and
for His glory. And even Jesus testifies of His
deity when He told those Pharisees before Abraham was, I am. And they knew exactly what He
meant because that's exactly what God said at the burning
bush when He spoke to Moses. He said, tell them that I am
hath sent thee. And the Pharisees picked up stones
ready to kill Him because He made Himself equal with God.
There was no robbery there. He was equal with God because
He is God. He is the eternal Son of God. You see, friends, this is most
necessary to faith. In order to believe in Christ
for our salvation, we must believe in the person and know the person
of Christ. You see, the person of Christ
has to do with his deity. There is no salvation apart from
knowing this, that Christ himself is the eternal, ever-living Son
of God. There is no salvation apart from
that. Salvation is rooted in this. No man can be a saved apart from
confessing the deity of Christ. Even the thief on the cross confessed
the deity of Christ. He said, dost thou not fear God? And he was speaking to this man
right next to him, dying. He's speaking about Christ. For a person to be saved, he
must believe and confess that Jesus Christ is God manifest
in the flesh. And as this was the testimony
of God the Father, so it is the testimony of God the Holy Spirit
in Scripture. Who is the author of Scripture? The Scriptures themselves say
that holy men of old were moved by the Spirit of God to write
the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit testifies of
Christ's deity, and we confess with Thomas. What was Thomas'
confession when he saw the Lord? He said, My Lord and my God. That's my confession. Therefore, we have a great hope
who have believed in Christ, who is the only Savior and God. We have a great hope because
only God could perfectly execute salvation. Only God could do
it right. Only God could do it right. Only
God could have purposed and accomplished salvation if Christ had failed
To save anyone whom he purposed to save, he is not God. Because God cannot fail. God cannot fail. Isaiah 46.10
says, My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Was it God's pleasure to save
us who believed? If you believe in Christ, was
it not God's purpose to save you? Was it not God's purpose
to send His own Son into this world to save His people from
their sins? You bet it was. Did He accomplish
it? You bet He did. How do I know
He accomplished it? Because He's God and He cannot
fail. That's my hope. My hope is that
He is God. My hope and faith rest in this.
Also, secondly, I see His humanity. Look at that in our text, in
the second verse there, in verse 7. Psalm 45, verse 7. Thou lovest righteousness and
hatest wickedness, therefore God thy God. This also is the root of our
faith and hope of salvation, is that Jesus Christ is man of
very man. That He is God and that He is also man. This is
necessary for our salvation to know that God was manifest in
the flesh. Paul said in 1 Timothy 3.16,
this is without controversy, without argument, without debate. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. In the flesh. How did sin come into this world? The scripture says, for as by
one, what? Man. One man. A representative man. Adam, your
father. Adam, my father. Brought sin
into this world. And death by sin. So death passed upon all men. For all have sinned. Our father,
our father Adam, represented all of the human race. The scripture
says, for by one man, many were made sinners. You see, I don't have to ask
if you're a sinner. I know that you're born one.
Because I was born one. And my father was born one. And
his father, and so on, and so on, all the way back to the very
first man, Adam. And because of Adam, we have
a carnal mind by nature. Romans 8, 6, to be carnally minded
is death. But to be spiritually minded
is life and peace. Why is it death? Because the
carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the
law of God, neither can it be. Do you not sometimes get frustrated
with folks concerning the gospel? You see it so plainly and they
can't see it at all. Why is it that you see it and
they can't? Because God has given you a spiritual
mind that they do not have. All they have is the carnal mind
and it's enmity with God. It's hatred against God. The
carnal mind is not subject to the law of God. Neither indeed
can be. That's will and ability. Man will not and man cannot be
subject to God. I put this in the bulletin last
week, but the natural man thinks the law is something physical,
doesn't it? Something you can do. that if
he just covers up the outside and does well on the outside,
it doesn't matter what he feels on the inside or what he does
in his mind or his heart. But that's not what the Word
of God says. Christ said that the law has to do with the thoughts
and intents of the heart. You ever been angry? Christ said
you've committed murder. You ever lusted? You've committed
adultery already in your heart. So the law is not just physical
actions, it's thoughts and motives. Man, natural man, thinks the
law is something by which he can obtain righteousness, that
if he just does his best, God will accept him. But that's not
what the Word of God says. God's Word said, Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things. Written in the book of the law
to do that. The natural man thinks the law
is a means of salvation. God's law is perfect, it is right,
but it never can save anyone. Why? You're already guilty. You're already guilty. The law only condemns. Therefore
by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his
sight. The only hope then for man is
that another man come and represent us. This is the only hope for
us. Man brought sin. Man cannot recover
himself. Therefore, God must send another
Adam, another man, to represent us. And Christ, who is God, came
and represented His people as a man. Jesus Christ, the second Adam,
has come to make atonement for His people. How? by the shedding
of blood. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sin. No remission of sin. Man who is guilty must die, but
our death is of no value to God. Why do you think hell is eternal? Because you can never pay God
back for your sins. Ever. Our death is of no value. Man cannot not sin. Man cannot not sin. All he does is sin. All we do
is sin. But God cannot sin. Man must die, but God cannot
die unless God become man. unless God become a man. Then we have the best of both
worlds. Sinlessness. Sinless righteous perfection
and an atonement. An atonement for sin. Jesus came to represent all of
the elect of God and die under the wrath of God for their sins. He became bone of our bone and
flesh of our flesh so that He became subject Himself to God. Wrap your mind around this. God
became subject to God. How did that happen? He became
a man. He united Himself with our nature. And being found in fashion as
a man, what did Christ do? He humbled Himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. When Christ was about to ascend
to the Father, He Himself said this, I ascend unto my Father
and your Father, unto my God, and your God. Number three, we see the Christ's
love of righteousness and hatred for sin. Look at your text. Thou
lovest righteousness and hatest iniquity. As the God-man mediator
and representative of God's elect, Jesus is the only righteous man. He was holy, harmless, and undefiled,
and obeyed God perfectly. His birth was not of Adam's seed,
but the seed of the woman. In his childhood, he taught the
doctors of the law. But yet, when rebuked, he submitted
himself to his parents. In his ministry of life and death,
they were in righteousness. He said, which of you convinces
me of sin? He said, the prince of this world
hath found nothing in me. Jesus was the only sinless righteous
man and therefore the only proper substitute for sinners. The only
substitute for sinners. And having loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. He has brought in an everlasting
righteousness that we could not provide for ourselves. He did
it. He brought it in. How? By His
submission and obedience to God. And Jesus, as the sinless man,
not only merited righteousness, but died in the stead of sinners. What was his cry when he was
about to be made sin for us? He said this, Father, if it be
possible, let this cup pass from me. Why did he say that? Because
he was righteous. He hated iniquity. But yet in
subjection, he said, not my will be done, but thy will be done.
And God took our sins. and charged them to Christ so
much so they became His. And He bore our guilt. He bore the guilt of all our
sins. And He pleased God by His death. It pleased the Lord, the Scripture
says, to bruise Him. It pleased the Lord. And all who believe in Christ,
hear me, God has raised Him up to sit on the throne of God.
And there He sits, and that is a testimony to every one of us
that God is pleased with us. God is pleased with us. God loves
His people, and there's nothing that could ever separate us from
His love. I like this. Someone once said
this, If Christ has redeemed you, you
can never be unredeemed. If God has chosen you, you can
never be unchosen. If Christ has sanctified you,
You can never be unsanctified. If Christ has saved you, you
can never be unsaved. You see, my salvation never depended
on anything that I've ever done. It was totally by the grace of
God. So what then can I do that would
remove God's love for me? Nothing. Nothing I do and nothing
I don't do will ever separate us from God. I'll tell you what,
there are people who profess faith in Christ and go away. But if you go away, That only
makes it evident that you weren't of us. John says they went out
from us because they were not of us. If they were of us, they
would have no doubt continued with us. Why was he so sure of
that? Because everyone that Christ
saves is saved. Everyone that God loves is loved. And you can be sure of it because
Christ sits on the throne of God. Praise God that our Redeemer,
our Savior and King is seated on the throne of God. That God
has exalted Him and He by His grace has yielded His scepter
of righteousness to us. I'll close with this. In Esther,
Chapter 4, you remember that the Jews were being targeted
by that wicked man Haman. And he had put out a decree in
the king's name to destroy the Jews. And Mordecai came to Esther
and he said, you need to go before the king and take this before
him. And she said, there is a law that if anyone that is not called
to the court of the king, they'll die. And he said to her, he said,
this is why who knows if this is why you were put in this position
that you might save the Jews. And so she went into that court. Without being called. You see,
she had a need. She had a need. And when she
came into that court. She didn't know whether she was
going to die or not. And that king loved her. And
he put out his scepter. And what that meant was, come
and welcome. I love you, come and welcome
and ask anything you want of me. He said, ask anything you
want to the half of my kingdom, it's yours. Every guilty sinner
that comes before Christ, I tell you when I came to Christ, I
didn't know what he'd do with me. I know what I deserved. But when I came to Christ as
a guilty sinner, he yielded his righteous scepter of mercy to
me and said, come and welcome. He says, I love you and all I
have is yours. All I have is yours. Have you come to Christ? Have you bowed before the king? If you have, you have a great
hope, because your Savior is also your God. And He sits on
the throne doing whatsoever He pleases, and what He pleases
is to save you and bring you to Himself. That's His main purpose
in everything He does. I pray that God bless this to
your hearts. Let's stand and we'll be dismissed in prayer.