The Praise of Christ

Q: What does the Bible say about praising God?

The Bible encourages believers to extol and celebrate God's holiness, particularly in light of His merciful acts, such as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The act of praising God is a recurrent theme in Scripture, as demonstrated throughout the book of Psalms. In Psalm 30, David expresses a determined exaltation by stating, 'I will extol Thee, O Lord,' which signifies a commitment to lift God's name high in gratitude. This is echoed in the Christian tradition, where believers celebrate God's mercy and deliverance, especially in light of Christ's resurrection, which brings joy after sorrow. Praise is not only a response to God's past works but also a continual expression of thanksgiving for His ongoing grace in the lives of believers.

Q: How do we know Jesus' resurrection is true?

The truth of Jesus' resurrection is affirmed through scriptural prophecy, eyewitness accounts, and the transformative impact it has on believers' lives. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a pivotal truth in Christian theology, supported by numerous scriptural references and events surrounding it. The New Testament illustrates various encounters where Jesus appeared to His disciples after rising, providing undeniable testimony to His victory over death. Moreover, Old Testament prophecies, such as those found in Psalm 16, speak of God's Holy One not seeing corruption, further confirming the truth of the resurrection. Ultimately, the profound impact of the resurrection on believers, resulting in a transformed lives and hope, serves as powerful evidence of its truth.

Q: Why is the resurrection of Jesus important for Christians?

The resurrection is crucial for Christians as it signifies victory over sin and death, provides hope for eternal life, and confirms Christ's divinity. The resurrection of Jesus Christ stands as the cornerstone of the Christian faith, symbolizing the triumph over sin and death. According to Scripture, Christ's resurrection validates His identity as the Son of God and His power over death, offering believers assurance of their own future resurrection. The Apostle Paul highlights this significance by stating that if Christ has not been raised, then Christian faith is futile (1 Corinthians 15:17). Furthermore, the resurrection confirms the promises of salvation, encouraging believers to find strength and hope in every aspect of life. It serves as a reminder that just as Christ was raised, so will believers be raised to eternal life, free from the penalty of sin.

Q: What does it mean to extol God?

To extol God means to praise Him enthusiastically and to celebrate His greatness and holiness. Extolling God involves an active expression of reverence and admiration for His divine qualities. In Psalm 30, David proclaims, 'I will extol Thee, O Lord,' indicating a deliberate intention to honor and exalt God for His mercy and deliverance. This act of praise is not passive; it requires engagement from the believer's heart and mind. Extolling God encompasses remembering His past acts of kindness, recognizing His holiness, and expressing gratitude for redemption through Christ. As believers, extolling God can be demonstrated through worship, testimony, and a life lived in accordance with His will, reflecting His truth and love in our daily interactions.

Psalm chapter 30. Psalm chapter
30, and we'll be looking at this psalm in its entirety tonight. Psalm chapter 30, and the title
of the message tonight is, The Praise of Christ and of His Saints. The praise of Jesus Christ and
of His saints. Now, the occasion for this psalm,
it says at the very top there, if you read up there below chapter
30, psalm 30, it says, "...a psalm and song at the dedication
of the house of David." I want to first give us the occasion
of this psalm. This psalm is kind of deceptive
in our translation here. But David is giving the dedication
not of his own home, Not of his own house that God hath raised
up, but he is giving a dedication to the house or the temple of
God. And we know this by the occasion
of this psalm, because David, at this time, he had numbered
Israel. And you remember, that was a
sin. That was a sin for the king to number the people. And David
numbered those people out of his own pride, out of his own
arrogance. And Joab, his captain, warned
him. He said, David, don't do it.
Don't number the people. And he said, you go and you number
the people. And he did. And God came to him
by that prophet Gad. And Gad said to him, David, God
has given you three things. You choose which one of these
three things that you want to happen. There was either three
years of famine, Or there would be three months of his enemies
coming in and destroying his people. Or he would have three
days of pestilence. And David said this, he said
to Gath, let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for there
is mercy with the Lord and not with men. David said, don't give
me the three years of famine, don't give me the tax of this
nation against us, but Lord, let's just fall into Your hands
and You choose. You choose. And so, the angel of the Lord
stood over Jerusalem and David saw the angel of the Lord with
his sword drawn as though he was about to destroy Jerusalem. And God sent His angel and said,
that's enough, and sent His angel to this place that was the threshing
floor of this man Ornan. Now Ornan, he was just a common
fellow. But God sent His angel to that
threshing floor because that's where He would place His temple. And David went there, and Ornan
met him, and he said to the king, he said, whatever I have is yours.
And David said, no, I'll buy the threshing floor from you
and I'll pay for the sacrifices. And David offered a sacrifice
unto the Lord that day and the plague was stayed. The nation
of Israel, the nation of Judah was saved. because of the sacrifice
that David had offered in dedication to the house of God. Now, David wasn't allowed to
build that house, but he did buy the land. He did buy the
threshing floor. And by faith, he saw it. He saw
the house of God. Now, friends, this easily pictures
our Lord Jesus Christ. This easily pictures Christ.
Just as David purchased the threshing floor of the temple, even so
Christ purchased God's elect. He purchased God's salvation. He purchased us from the plague
of sin. And I like this, in 1 Chronicles
21, 24, David says, I'll pay full price. That's exactly what
the Lord Jesus Christ did. He did not jip God. He paid the price in full. And even as David offered that
sacrifice, so Christ offered the sacrifice of Himself. And
God said it was enough. It was enough. And after David offered that
sacrifice, he sits down and he writes this psalm. He writes
this psalm. After the work had been completed. After the plague had been stayed.
God had been satisfied. Even so did the Lord Jesus Christ
offer Himself for our sins, and when He was finished, God raised
Him from the dead. He raised Him from the dead. And this psalm tonight is The
Lord Jesus Christ giving praise to God for the resurrection.
That's what you, when you read this psalm with me tonight, you'll
see. You'll see that the Lord Jesus Christ here is speaking. And not only is He speaking,
being our head, we are His body, and this psalm could be said
of us as well. I like that about the psalms.
When you see a psalm that speaks particularly of Christ, I can
also relate that to me because He's my head and I'm His body. You see, we're so in union together
that His psalms are my psalms. His psalms are your psalms if
you're a believer in Christ. So we both extol God. We both praise God for the resurrection
of Jesus Christ, don't we? Jesus praised God for the resurrection
and we praise God for the resurrection. Now, in this psalm tonight, I
want us to break this down. This can be broken down into
four parts. Four parts. And this will be the division
of the message tonight. The first part is found in verses
1 through 3. A determined exaltation. The
Scripture says, I will extol Thee. This is something David
determined. This is something that Christ
determined. And this is something we determined
to do. We determined, He determined
to praise God. Number 2, verses 4 and 5, a call
to celebration. Number 3, a confession of sin,
verses 6 and 7. And number 4, verses 8 through
12, a reflection on prayer and deliverance. First of all, a determined exaltation. I will extol Thee, O Lord. What is it to extol? What does
that mean? I will exalt. I will lift up
on high. I will praise the Lord. That's what the determination
is. To praise God. To praise God. When David was
delivered by the offering, his heart was set to praise God. Well, even so, the Lord Jesus
Christ exalted God for His deliverance. Look at verses 2 and 3. Let's
read verse 1. I will extol Thee, O Lord, for
Thou hast lifted me up. Lifted me up. And hast not made
my foes to rejoice over me, O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and
Thou hast healed me. O Lord, Thou hast brought up
my soul from the grave. Thou hast kept me alive, that
I should not go down to the pit." If this is the extolment of David,
how much more is it the praise of the Lord Jesus Christ for
being lifted up from the grave? The Lord Jesus Christ. as man
exalted the Lord God of heaven, when God made His soul an offering
for sin, and Christ had finished the work of redemption, He saw
His seed, He saw His deliverance of the Lord, and His seed was
saved by His offering. So He cried, It is finished.
And when God saw that it was finished, when God saw that Christ
completed the work, He raised Him up from the grave. He raised Him up. He lifted Him
up from the grave and prolonged His days. The Lord Jesus Christ
was lifted up on the cross and He was lifted up from the grave. And God hath exalted Him and
given Him a name which is above every name. Jesus Christ tonight
has a name that is above every name. His name is exalted, His
name is lifted up on high because He has praised God to the foolish
measure. He has praised God to the foolish
measure. God raised Him from the grave
that He should not go down forever into the pit of death. But on
the third day, He was risen. And here is his desire and determination
to exalt God. I will extol God. Can you not
see that in Christ extolling God for raising Him from the
dead? Well, this also speaks to us. This is the heart not only of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but it is also the heart of every
saint. I will extol Thee, O Lord. As Christ is our head and we
are His body, He extols God that lifted the Lord up, and we extol
God who has raised up Christ from the dead. Our enemies of
sin, Satan, the world, and the flesh have been conquered. Thou
hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. Friends, if you're a
believer in Christ, God, by raising Christ up, has destroyed all
your enemies. He has conquered all your enemies. And they shall not rejoice over
us. Why? Because our Lord is risen
from the dead. Our Lord is risen from the grave.
And because of His death and resurrection, the Scripture says
in Colossians 2, verse 14, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us. What was that? Our sin. Our sin against God. That's what
was against us. We've broken God's law. We've
sinned against a holy God. And that was against us. But
it's not now. It's not now. Why? He has nailed
it to His cross. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them openly triumphing in it.
The Lord has put off, He's put off in His flesh death. He spoiled our enemies. He openly
triumphed over them in His death and is now seated at the throne
of God to make intercession for us continually, momently. Every second of every day, the
Lord Jesus Christ is seated on the throne to intercede for me,
for you, if you are in Christ. Is that not reason to extol our
God? Is that not reason to praise
our God that our Savior liveth? Friends, Mohammed is dead. He's dead. Buddha is dead. Confucius is
dead. You see, these men were worshipped
by other men, but they died. Our Savior died, but He's risen. He's risen from the dead. And
He rules all things by His power. All things. He blotted out the
ordinances that was against us. Our Lord has put off our enemies.
He by His stripes has healed us. And He by His Spirit has
given us life and keeps us alive through faith. And He will ultimately
deliver us from the grave, body, soul, and spirit. And one day
we shall ever give God the praise that we want to now. I want to
give God praise But I know this, I am restrained from all the
praise that I desire to give Him. But one day I won't be restrained
anymore, because Christ will come and take me home to be with
Him. We extol our God. It is our determination
as it was Christ to extol our God. Number two, a call to celebration. Look at verses 4 and 5. Seeing unto the Lord, O ye saints
of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
For His anger endureth but for a moment, in His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning." Jesus Christ celebrates and rejoices
in His God. Jesus Christ said, I go unto
My God, My Father and Your Father, unto My God and Your God. Jesus Christ rejoices in God. He celebrates in God. Our Lord
Jesus Christ Do you remember that night in the Garden of Gethsemane
where He prayed like no man had ever prayed before? The Scripture
says He was in such agony in the midst of that night that
He sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. Why was He in agony? Because He knew the time had
come for Him to be made sin for us. He knew His time had come
in which the Father would forsake Him. Our sins would be laid on
Him. And He grieved over this. And if you remember on the cross,
it was night at noonday, right? The sun was darkened, the Scripture
says, from noon until three o'clock. There was no light. There was
no light. It was like that darkness in
Egypt. It was a darkness that could be felt. And in that darkness, the Lord
mourned over our sins. In that darkness, He was overcome
and overwhelmed by the wrath of God. But yet he knew this,
the wrath of God was only to be short-lived. Look at that
in the text. Verse 5, for his anger endureth
but a moment, and his favor is life, weeping endureth for a
night. There it is. For a night, but
joy cometh in the morning. Joy cometh in the morning. And
I like reading this in Matthew chapter 28, the day, the third
day when the Lord Jesus Christ was to be raised from the dead.
It says this, in the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn. As it began to dawn, joy comes
in the morning. In the morning of what? The morning
of His resurrection. That was the joy! The Lord Jesus
Christ endured the night of our sin, the night of God's wrath,
and then joy came in the morning when God raised Him from the
dead. And the angel spoke these words,
He is risen, as He said. He done told you? That's southern
talk. He done told you. Just like He
done told you, He's risen from the dead. Come see the place
where He lay. The Lord Jesus Christ rejoiced
to see God's salvation. He rejoiced to see the joy of
the morning. Even so now does He call us who
are believers in Christ to celebrate His resurrection. He calls us
to sing. Singing is a very wonderful thing,
isn't it? It's an amazing thing. Music
has something in it that just brings us back to a place or
a time. And I know that there's some
songs that we can sing that would bring us to a moment in time. And we would feel like we were
there. That's what we sing for before we begin the service.
We're not just warming up. We're singing to the Lord. I'm not singing to you. You don't
want to hear me. I'm singing to Him. He desires
to hear me. In matter of fact, He commands
it. Sing. Sing. Rejoice. Rejoice and give thanks in the
remembrance of His holiness. Remember. Remember. How do we remember things? I
have to rehearse it. Don't you? If I'm trying to remember
something, I need to rehearse it over and over, like this message. I have to rehearse this in my
mind over and over again. I have to become very familiar
with the text. I have to become very familiar
with my messages and my notes. I have to become very familiar
with these things. And I do that by rehearsing these
things. Even so, the Lord says, sing, rejoice, give thanks. How? By remembering His holiness. In the remembrance of His holiness.
That's His gospel. in the rehearsal of His Gospel. We repeat this Gospel constantly
for a reason. We're all like broken cisterns.
We take a little water, we take a little of the Gospel, and pretty
soon by the end of the day, where did it go? It's gone. And the only way to keep that
is to rehearse it, to remember. To remember His gospel. To constantly
be reminded, Jesus paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin had left
a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. I want to remember that. I want
to rehearse that. That's something to sing about.
And this we are to do continually. Paul says to the church at Philippi,
he says, it's not grievous to me to say the same things to
you. I want you to know this, when I preach Christ, it's not
grievous to me to preach Christ again. It's not. Why? I know you didn't remember,
because I hardly remember. I said it. And I have trouble. I need this daily. I need this
constantly, just like you do. And it doesn't grieve us to hear.
It doesn't grieve you to hear Christ over and over again. Some
people come in, they say, well, man, he preaches the same thing
over and over again. That's all I got. That's all
God gives. This book is about Christ. This is God's Word concerning
His Son. And this is the only message
God gives that saves sinners. It's Christ. It doesn't grieve
me to preach message again and again. But it is a joy. And we should give thanks. You
know it's hard to complain when you're thankful. Isn't it? If you're thankful, how can we
complain? We can't. Not if we're truly thankful.
And we should be thankful constantly and praise God constantly for
our Redeemer who is risen from the dead. And in the sorrow of
our darkness, the darkness of our sorrows, He turns to joy. Believer, we will many times
in this life have darkness of sorrows. God will chasten His children. That's a promise. That is a promise. If we are God's children, we
can expect chastisement. We can expect it. Scripture says
in Hebrews chapter 12, it says that if you are without chastisement,
then are you bastards and not sons. But it says this, also, whom
the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son. Let us even in the midst of dark
providences celebrate and remember God's holiness in Christ. That
God has accomplished all that is necessary, and He is doing
all that is necessary for our good. Number 3, a confession of sin,
verses 6 and 7. The Scripture says, And in my
prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. Lord, by Thy favor
Thou hast made my mountain to stand strong. Here David is confessing
what has started the plague. You remember, he numbered the
people of Israel. Why did he do that? Pride. In
my prosperity I said. I said, I will not be moved. I will not be moved. He said he was in a time of prosperity
when he numbered those people and even the good counsel of
Joab was not heard but ignored. And this was the same heart of
Nebuchadnezzar, if you remember. He stood on that balcony of his
kingdom and he looked out and Nebuchadnezzar said, is not this
great Babylon that I have built? And what did God do to him? He
said, this night this kingdom is taken from you and I'm going
to send you out and you'll eat grass like a beast. And then
when you are done, I'll give it back to you. And he did. And he learned this,
that God rules over all things. And friends, this is a lesson
that natural men cannot learn without the power of the Spirit
of God. Man by nature is proud and boastful. Man sees his own power as a mountain,
strong and steadfast, but you can know this, his works will
not stand before the judgment of God. If you go to God with
what you've done, if you say, well, God, I did this, well,
God, I did this, you'll go to hell. That's what will happen.
If you go to God with your good works, God will send you to hell.
Why? It's what you deserve. It's what
I deserve. If I go to God with my good works
and say, look God, I'm a strong mountain, God will kill me. And He's right
to do so. Because in my flesh dwelleth
no good thing. There is none righteous, no,
not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all together become
unprofitable. Isn't it the most arrogant thing
in the world to think you and I could add one thing to God? God doesn't need us. I need God. I need Him. In order for God to be just,
friends, He will punish those who are guilty. Even the elect
must be righteous. There is an elect, but they must
be righteous. And their sins must be redeemed. They must be paid for. Therefore, God imputed all the
sins of His elect to Christ and He became guilty. He became guilty. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21, you
know it well. "...For He..." Who? God. God the Father. "...hath made
Him..." Who? Christ. "...to be sin for us
who knew no sin." Friend, Jesus Christ knew no sin. He was born of the seed of the
woman. He was born of the Spirit of
God. And He was holy. He was holy and without sin,
without His thoughts and actions and intents of His heart were
absolutely perfect. Even on the cross, He did no
sin. He did no sin. He still believed in God on the
cross. He was made sin. God in great grace imputed our
sins to Him. John Gill says this, the sins
of all His people were transferred to Him, laid upon Him, and He
bore their sins. Being chargeable and answerable
to them, He was treated by the justice of God as a mass of sin. but only by imputation. And none
may conclude from hence that he was really or actually a sinner
in and of himself, or it is said that because it was said, he
was made sin. He did not become sin or a sinner
through any sinful actions of his own, but by the Father's
imputation. He was made sin. He became guilty
for our sins because God the Father made Him so. He made Him
guilty. Christ was not guilty in and
of Himself. But God made our sins to meet
on Him. And He offered Himself as a sin
sacrifice. Why? So that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. Remember, God cannot accept you
unless you're righteous. How are we made righteous? By
Christ's offering. He took our sins and He gave
us His righteousness. That's the best trade I've ever
heard of in my entire life. That's a good trade. That's a
good trade. And so then our sins He bore
as His own. And number four, a reflection
of prayer and deliverance, verses 8 through 12. I cried unto Thee,
O Lord, and unto the Lord I made supplication. What profit is
there in my blood when I go down into the pit? Shall the dust
praise Thee? Shall it declare Thy truth? Hear,
O Lord, and have mercy upon me. Lord, be Thou my helper. Thou
hast turned for me my mourning into dancing. Thou hast put off
my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. To the end that my
glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent. O Lord my
God, I will give thanks unto Thee forever." Here, the psalmist
is reflecting of his cry, of his cry for mercy. He said to that prophet, Gad,
let us fall into the hands of the Lord. Even so, the Lord Jesus
Christ cried unto God, let me fall into your hands. He was
surrounded by the men who claimed Him to be a sinner. And He said,
I'll fall into your hands and I'll plead for your mercy. And
notice the argument that He uses. I like this. Verse 9, What profit
is there in My blood when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust
praise Thee? Shall it declare Thy truth? In
other words, Christ is saying this, God, if you don't save
me, what good is my death? If I go down with the sins of
my people and you don't save me, what good is my death? It wouldn't be any good, would
it? But God has turned His mourning
into dancing. God did save him. And His blood
was efficacious. His blood was powerful. It did
save. The blood of Christ declares
the truth of God. For mercy and truth have kissed
each other, have met together, and righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Believers, let us remember, therefore,
and reflect the Lord's prayers. That He who was the sinless Son
of God prayed, how much more should we pray? We should pray
for God's deliverance in the midst of our troubles. We should
seek God's face in the midst of our trials. Why? Because God
always will turn our mourning into dancing. Always. He will
never leave us in a condition of mourning. He will always turn
our mourning into dancing by seeing Christ. By seeing Christ. we can rejoice
and praise God. It was to this end that Christ
be glorified. He said, my joy, to this end,
that my joy, the joy of Christ, the glory of Christ, and friends,
His people should give Him glory. Why? He died for our sins and
He has risen from the dead. This should give us the most
comfort and joy of anything in this life. I pray that God will
bless this to your heart. We'll stand and be dismissed.

The Praise of Christ

What does the Bible say about praising God?

How do we know Jesus' resurrection is true?

Why is the resurrection of Jesus important for Christians?

What does it mean to extol God?

Sermon Transcript

About Fred Evans

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The Praise of Christ

What does the Bible say about praising God?

How do we know Jesus' resurrection is true?

Why is the resurrection of Jesus important for Christians?

What does it mean to extol God?

Sermon Transcript

About Fred Evans

Comments

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