Two Wednesday nights ago, we
were here in First Chronicles 16, and one verse in particular
made me want to come to this chapter in the first place. But
I ended up writing out and finishing the message, and I never made
it to that verse. I got hung up on the story before
the story, and such on and so forth. And I thought we could
come back and look at it tonight. The verse that I'm talking about
is verse 35. Verse Chronicle 16, verse 35
says, and say ye, save us, O God of our salvation. and gather
us together and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give
thanks to thy holy name and glory in thy praise. David said, say
ye, say this, not just with lip service, but with heart service. In the heart, out loud, yes,
but let it come from the sincerity of the heart. Cry this in sincere
prayer. Save us, oh God, of our salvation. And gather us together. and deliver
us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name
and glory in thy praise." David said, Lord, if you will, we shall. You will, and we shall. If you will save us, if you'll
do all the saving, I mean all the saving, And if you will gather us, if
you'll do all the gathering. Don't you want to be gathered
with God's people? And if you will deliver us, if
you'll save us, if you'll gather us, if you'll deliver us, if
you'll do all the delivering. Then this will be our role in
the matter. This will be our response to all that. We will
give you thanks. And we will glory in what you
have done. We will give you the glory for
everything that you've done for us. Everything that you've done
for us. David wrote this psalm. That's what this is. This is
a psalm. He wrote it declaring God's ability
to do this for us. He declared God's greatness and
his glory and his sovereignty and his majesty. And I love it
when that's declared. I love scriptures that that speak
of him so highly and so sovereignly and so powerfully. And that's
what David wrote. Look at verse 23. He said, Sing
unto the Lord, all the earth. Show forth from day to day his
salvation. You know, our Lord's. Temporal. Physical goodness is extended
to this entire world. This temporary temporal goodness, if it were not for
his son, and not for his reign, and not for his heir, if it were
not for his heir, this world couldn't survive one day. We're
saved every day, day by day, just by his sustaining goodness. His eternal spiritual goodness,
that's extended to his elect people. But all the world ought
to thank him for everything that he provides physically day by
day. We take it for granted, don't
we? Take it. So just starting with air. Have you thanked the
Lord for your air yet today? Verse 23 says, Sing unto the
Lord all the earth. Show forth from day to day his
salvation. Declare his glory among the heathen. I'm going to ask you this question
because it's in my notes, but after I wrote these notes, I
really started thinking about this. All right, here's the question.
What is his glory? Declare his glory to the heathen. What is his glory? Moses said,
Lord, show me your glory. What did the Lord say his glory
was? Now, I really started thinking about this. This is amazing. This is amazing. If we could
ever enter into the fact that God does not need us. God does
not need our praise. He does not need our worship.
He is self-sustaining, self-sufficient, self-content. But the fact that he would do
this, it would have been so, it would have, by the standards
of judgment and holiness, if it were not for the compassion
in his heart. Just by the standards of judgment
and holiness and right and wrong, he could have just gone, done,
all of us, done. But what is his glory? He told
Moses, I will be gracious to whom I'll be gracious. And I
will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. That's glory. David said, declare his sovereignty. I'll be gracious to whom I'll
be gracious. I'll show mercy on whom I'll
show mercy. That's his sovereignty. Declare
his sovereignty in salvation to the heathen. Declare his will
in salvation to the heathen. I've never paid this much attention
to it before because it's so common to us, but we were driving
up to Wheelersburg. And Brother Christoph was taken
every time he saw a building that said free will on it. And
he kept pointing them out. And I was like, well, yeah, normally
I would have just kept on driving. There it was, free will, free
will, free will, free will. I finally told him, you know,
really, if it's not this word right here, they're all free
will. It doesn't matter if they write it on the building or not. But David said, declare His will
to mankind. His will. The end of verse 24 says, His
marvelous works among the nations. Salvation is not our work. It's
His work. Well, David, are we supposed
to declare his work and then attach our work to the end of
it? No. Declare his work. Declare his
work. We're not saved by our works.
We're saved by his works. Titus 3 verse 5 says, not by
works of righteousness, which we have done. He did it. According
to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration and
renewing of the Holy Ghost. We lost God's spirit in the garden.
We became defiled and filthy with sin, and he washed us in
bringing life to us again and in renewing his Holy Spirit in
us again. Second Timothy 1.9 says, he saved
us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. That's glorious.
Verse 24 says, declare his glory among the heathen, his marvelous
works among all nations. For great is the Lord and greatly
to be praised. Worthy is the Lord. He's so worthy
to be praised. He's so worthy. Psalm 18 verse
three says, I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be
praised. You know why we're here right
now, really? You know, the first reason why
we're here, you say, well, it's because I need to be fed. That
is a reason, but that's not the first reason. I hope everyone
here is spiritually fed tonight. You know why we're here? Because
he is worthy to be praised. He is worthy for me to show up
and bow down and say, you're my God, and I thank you for it. Praise you for everything you've
done. He's worthy to be praised. That's why we're here. Revelation
4 verse 11 says, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and
honor and power, for thou hast created all things And for thy
pleasure they are and were created. Thy pleasure. Hold your place right here and
go over to Revelation 5. Revelation five, verse one, and
I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne, a book
written within and on the backside sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof." That book has the names of all of God's
elect people written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation
of the world. This is election. God the Father
had a book. All right? Sealed. Sealed. Those names were sealed. before
the foundation of the world. Verse two, I saw a strong angel
proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book
and to loose the seals thereof? Who's worthy to open it and see
which names were written in the book? Verse three, and no man
in heaven nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to
open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much because
no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither
to look thereon. Let's make no mistake about it.
We are not worthy. We are not worthy. Not unto us,
O Lord, not unto us. Verse four, John said, I wept
much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the
book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto
me, weep not. Behold. the lion of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David hath prevailed to open the book and
to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld in low in the midst
of the throne and of the four beasts and in the midst of the
elders stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns
and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth
into all the earth. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And
when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and 20 elders
fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden
vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they
sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book and
to open the seals thereof, For thou wast slain, and hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests
and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne and the beast and
the elders and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000
and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is
the lamb that was slain. To receive power and riches and
wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing and every
creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth
and such as are in the sea and all that are in them heard I
saying blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that
sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And
the four beasts said, amen. And the four and 20 elders fell
down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever. Worthy is the
lamb. Worthy is the lamb. Are you looking
forward to hearing all of heaven cry together, worthy is the lamb? Worthy is a lamb, great is that
lamb, and greatly to be praised. Our entire salvation is due to
the fact that of God's own will, he provided a lamb, a great and
worthy lamb to be slain for the sin of his people. That lamb
is Christ. John the Baptist He preached sin and preached
sin and they confessed sins and confessed sins, and he kept telling
everybody, I'm I'm baptizing you in water, but somebody's
coming. He's going to immerse you into
his Holy Spirit. I'm not worthy to unloose his
shoes. And he was standing there preaching
one day and here here walks up the Lord, can you imagine his
happiness? Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. Behold the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. Thank God he said the world. Thank God, not the whole world,
but a particular people in the world. Scattered throughout the
world. If you want to really understand
what he meant in saying the world right there, this is all you
have to do. Just take out those two words and stick your name
in its place. That's all you have to do. If you want to understand what
he meant. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of Gabe Stoniker. Behold the Lamb of God. which taketh away the sin of this Gentile right here. Christ paid your debt, set you
free. Behold. Go back to 1 Chronicles
16. Verse 23 says, Sing unto the
Lord. All the earth show forth from
day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the heathen,
his marvelous works among all nations. For great is the Lord
and greatly to be praised. He also is to be feared above
all gods. Why? Verse 26 says, For all the
gods of the people are idols. But the Lord made the heavens. That means he's the only God
that there really is. He's the only true and living
God. He's the only just God. Verse 27 says glory and honor
are in his presence. Strength and gladness are in
his place. Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds
of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Acknowledge it. Ascribe it to
whom it's due. All glory goes to Him. If any
man glory, glory in Him. Why? All strength is His. All power is His. All power over
all flesh belongs to Him, to destroy or to deliver, to condemn
or to set free, it's all in His hands. Verse 25 says, for great is the
Lord and greatly to be praised. He also is to be feared above
all gods, for all the gods of the people are idols, but the
Lord made the heavens. Glory and honor are in His presence. Strength and gladness are in
His place. Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds
of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory
due unto his name. What is his name? Savior. What is his name? God with us. What is his name? Wonderful,
counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince
of peace, the word, alpha, omega, the beginning, the end, I am. And I thought about getting sidetracked
for a little while on Jehovah Nisi, Jehovah Sidkenu, Jehovah
Ra, Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace, the Lord our righteousness, the Lord our healer. Verse 29 says, give unto the
Lord the glory due unto his name. Bring an offering. What can we
offer him? Did everybody bring your offering
tonight? If you brought money, that's
already his. What can we really offer him?
Praise and thanks. Worship. Worship, that's it. We worship him. We worship Him. Verse 29 says, Give unto the
Lord the glory due unto His name. Bring an offering and come before
Him. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. I love the description of that.
The beauty of holiness. Hold your place and go over to
Psalm 27. Psalm 27 verse four, David said,
one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after. And everyone here ought to do
some soul searching, really dig down to the deep bottom of your
heart and see if you can say this with David. Like if you
cut to the chase, if you got to the root of the matter, you
know, we like to say where the rubber meets the road, One thing, if you had one thing,
could we say this with David? One thing have I desired of the
Lord that will I seek after that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple. The beauty of the Lord. When
our Lord, I believe you'll enjoy hearing this. When our Lord came
to this earth, he disguised himself. He veiled himself. Isaiah 53 says, he made himself
to have no form nor comeliness. So that when men and women saw
him, There was no beauty that they should desire him. Now that's
how he was. All right. That's how he was
for us in our place as our substitute while he walked this earth. He
was that way because that's how we are. Unlovely. without beauty. Our Lord made
himself to be that for us while he was on this earth. But he's
not that way anymore. He's not that way any longer.
Hold your place right here and go over to Song of Solomon 5. Song of Solomon chapter 5. Listen to this with your spiritual
ears. Listen with your spiritual heart,
your holy heart. This is the spiritual bride's
description of her husband, who is Christ. Verse 10, Song of Solomon 5 verse
10, she says, My beloved is white. That means dazzling, sunny, bright. My beloved is white and ruddy. That means manly red. He is the chiefest among 10,000. His head is as the most fine
gold. His locks, that's his hair, are
bushy, they're curled and black as a raven. His eyes are as the
eyes of doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk and
fitly set. His cheeks are as a bed of spices
and sweet as sweet flowers. His lips like lilies dropping
sweet smelling myrrh. His hands are as gold rings set
with the barrel. His belly is as bright ivory
overlaid with sapphires. His legs are as pillars of marble
set upon sockets of fine gold. His countenance is as Lebanon,
excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet. Yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved and this is
my friend. O daughters of Jerusalem. What do you think, ladies? He
sounds pretty beautiful, doesn't he? Amen. May all the beauty go to
Him. May all the beauty go to Him. He is beautiful. His features
are beautiful. His character is beautiful. His
cross is beautiful. His sacrifice is beautiful. His
love that He had for His own is beautiful. His mercy is beautiful. His grace is beautiful. He is
altogether Lovely. And 1 Peter 1 says, Whom having
not seen, you're in love with him. Whom having not seen, you
love. Just wait till you see him. Wait
till you see him. Wait till the moment that your
eyes Physically behold him. Wait till that moment that you
lay eyes on him. The moment we physically lay
eyes on his beauty, from that moment on, we're never gonna
be able to look away. I believe we'll talk to each
other while we're looking at him. Have you seen him? Yeah, I've
seen him. You see those golden streets? Not yet. What about
those pearly gates? I haven't got to that yet. How
long have you been here? 10,000 years. You won't be able to take your
eyes off of it. All together lovely. That's how
beautiful he is. I'm finished. Go back to 1 Chronicles
16. I'm finished. Verse 29. Give unto the Lord the glory
due unto his name. Bring an offering and come before
him. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. Fear before him all the earth. The world also shall be stable
that it be not moved. Let the heavens be glad and let
the earth rejoice. And let men say among the nations,
the Lord reigneth. Let that be declared in all the
earth. That is the very reason why we
named this congregation Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church. We're
trying to let this whole community know that the Lord our God sovereignly
reigns over everything. Verse 32, let the sea roar and
the fullness thereof. Let the fields rejoice and all
that is therein. Then shall the trees of the woods
sing out at the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge
the earth. I love how Isaiah 55 says that
when the Lord comes for his people to take them home, as they're
being carried up to meet the Lord in the air, it says the
mountains and the hills Shall. And I don't believe you know,
there are some things that were said in the Old Testament that
you if the New Testament times hadn't come yet, you would have
thought, well, that's only spiritual. And then it really happened,
a virgin really did conceive. And because this says shall,
I believe in my heart, this is what we're going to witness.
It says, as God's people are being carried out, the mountains
and the hills shall break forth before them into singing, and
all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. If the world won't glorify Him,
the earth will. If the people won't, the creation
will. Glorify him, praise him. Verse
32, let the sea roar in the fullness thereof. Let the fields rejoice
in all that is therein. Then shall the trees of the woods
sing out at the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge
the earth. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. And say ye,
save us, oh God, of our salvation. and gather us together and deliver
us from the heathen, deliver me from me, that we may give
thanks to thy holy name and glory in thy praise. Blessed be the
Lord God of Israel forever and ever. And two weeks ago, I told
you that David was so excited for the Ark of the Covenant coming
back to Jerusalem, he wrote this song. And he delivered it into
the hands of Asaph, the song leader, and told Asaph, you sing
this for the people and teach them how it goes. And this is
Asaph singing it to the people. And he got to the end of the
psalm, verse 36, it says, blessed be the Lord God of Israel forever
and ever. That's where David stopped. And
when Asaph stopped reading, he goes on to say all the people
said amen. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Amen.