All right, turn with me first
to 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11. 2 Corinthians 11 verse 3. I want to read this one verse
of scripture before we go to our text. This is so good. It says, But I fear, lest by
any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so
your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. The simplicity that is in Christ. Don't you love that? Don't you
love the simplicity that is in Christ? I want us to just, for
a few minutes, enter into the simplicity. Just the simplicity
of Christ and of the gospel. Just enjoy the simplicity of
it. Now go with me to the text, first, I'm sorry, Psalm 126. Psalm 126. And the simplicity of the gospel,
we know that the gospel, we're all here to declare and hear
the gospel. We know that the gospel is not
an invitation. It's not an invitation. Everybody's going to get to the
end, give their invitation. It's not an invitation, is it?
It is a declaration. That's what the gospel is. It's
a declaration. The gospel is a declaration of
the truth about the salvation of sinners. That's what it is.
That's all it is, the declaration of the truth. The gospel is not
something up for debate. People love to debate. It's not
up for debate. It is not something that can be altered. Not at all. As preachers of the gospel, our
calling is not to set forth our opinion on it. Our calling is not to open up
a discussion about it. I was talking to a man one time
and he told me basically what we do in our church is we open
up a discussion. Pastor will bring up a topic
and then we spend our time in a discussion. What that means
is the pastor doesn't have to study the word of God. But it's
not our calling to open up a discussion on it. Stand up here and give
our opinion on it. Our calling is to repeat the
declaration. If you want to know if a man
is preaching the truth, all you have to do is see, is he repeating
God's declaration? That's all we do. That's all
we do. We just repeat the declaration. And here it is. Psalm 126 verse
3. This is our text. Psalm 126 verse
3. hath done great things for us,
whereof we are glad." That's it. The Lord hath done great
things for us, whereof we're glad. That's the gospel. That's it. Really, it's that
simple? Yes. That's the gospel. That's it. That's all that the
gospel is. The gospel begins with the Lord. That's where it starts. Well,
and I tell you what, if you're going to be saved, you're going
to have to. That's not where it starts. The gospel begins
with the Lord. There's a God in heaven. seated
on his throne, doing as he will with whom he will. Isn't that
right? Look with me over at Daniel chapter 4. It's after Ezekiel. Daniel chapter 4. This is talking about a king
named Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel 4, look at verse 30. The
king spake and said, now this king right here represents every
man and woman on this earth. This is the heart of man right
here. The king spake and said, is not this great Babylon that
I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of
my power, and for the honor of my majesty." A few too many my's
in that verse. Too many I's and too many my's.
Verse 31, while the word was in the king's mouth, there fell
a voice from heaven saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is
spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive
thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beast of the
field. They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven
times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High
ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he
will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled
upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men. And did eat
grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till
his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like
birds' claws." God took his mind from him. You know, if we have
a mind that functions, it's the sustaining grace of God. He just
took his mind. He went out into a field, and
he got down, and his fingers grew out like claws, birds' claws,
and his hair grew out like feathers. Verse 34 says, At the end of
the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven,
and mine understanding returned unto me. God gave it back to
me. And I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him
that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. And
his kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing." Just before this, that was not
his song, was it? Oh, I, my, me, mine. Now he's saying all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what are
you doing? Nobody can stop him. Nobody can
question him. You know who he's talking about?
The Lord. He's talking about the Lord,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 36, at the same time, my
reason returned unto me and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor
and brightness returned unto me. My counselors, my Lord, sought
unto me. I was established in my kingdom
and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise and extol and honor the King of heaven. You know who
the King of heaven is? The Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ. We just sang, the Lord is king. And bow to him we must, great
is he, great is he. Those wise men, they came from
a far country. And they came before him bowing
down saying, we came to see the one who was born king. Christ
the Lord. Verse 37, Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works
are truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride
he is able to abase. He said, let me tell you all
from experience, those who walk in pride, he is able to abase. Thank God. Thank God He is able
to abase. Now let me show you the first
time the two words the Lord are mentioned in the scripture. The
very first time. Go with me to Genesis chapter
2. Genesis 2, look at verse 4. These are the generations of
the heavens and of the earth when they were created in the
day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. The first
time the Lord is mentioned in scripture. It says, the Lord
God, God. John 1, John chapter 1 tells
us that Jesus Christ made the earth and the heavens. It says,
and without him was not anything made that was made. Jesus Christ,
the one who was born 2,000 years ago, is the one who created everything
that exists, the earth, the heavens. In the beginning was the Word,
Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ was with God
because Jesus Christ was God, is God, the Lord God. He said, I am the Lord. I change
not. The Lord of the Old Testament,
the Lord Moses said, who should I tell him sent me? He said,
you tell him I am sent you. The Lord God hasn't changed. The God, the Lord of the Old
Testament is the Lord of the New Testament. Same Lord. Same Lord. Jesus Christ was made
flesh and dwelt among us. Same Lord. And then He walked
this earth for 33 and a half years and somewhere around the
year 33 A.D. He ascended back up to His Father
in heaven. And the same Lord of 33 A.D. is the same Lord of 2016. He
has not changed. The Lord. The Lord God. And this Lord has said He's coming
back again. That's what he said. And this
time, he will come back in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them
that know not God and that obey not the gospel. The declaration
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Moses said the Lord is a man
of war. He's a man of war. He's worthy
to be feared, isn't he? The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. But do you know what our text
says? It says the Lord hath done great
things for us. That's amazing. Who has done
this? Who did this? The Lord Himself. God. The Lord Jehovah God of
heaven. The one who is going to come
back in vengeance and flaming fire. He has done great things
for us. Great things. Go with me over
to Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43, and look with me at verse 1. Isaiah 43, 1. But now thus saith
the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not. For I have redeemed thee, I have
called thee by thy name, thou art mine." Isn't that wonderful? Fear not. This Lord is so worthy
to be feared. It's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God, I'll tell you that. It's
a fearful thing. But he says right here, fear
not. For I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name,
and thou art mine. What does that mean? It means
the Lord has done great things for us. Great, great things. Every work of the Lord for his
people is a finished work. Every work, it's a finished work.
He hath done. The Lord hath done. I'm so thankful
Psalm 126, verse three does not say the Lord will do. He is not trying to do anything. People stand up and say, boy,
he wants to save you, I can say with all confidence, no, he doesn't. I can stand up and say, God does
not want to save you. He does not want to save you. He's not trying to save you.
He has no hope to save you, he's not hoping to save you. Our Lord, the Lord, is not working
towards anything. The Lord hath done. The Lord
hath done. Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning of the world. As soon as they were purposed
in his heart, they were done. I mean, they were done. The Lord
has not left one unfinished work. There are no loose ends with
him. No loose ends. Even though he has yet to return. He has not come back yet. He
has yet to return. and gather his elect unto himself. But even though he has yet to
return, Ephesians 2 says they're already seated in heavenly places
in him already. Seated with him. Turn with me
over to Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 29 says, for whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. That's past tense, isn't it? Past tense. Verse 30 says, moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called and whom He called,
them He also justified, and whom He justified, them He also glorified."
Every bit of that is past tense. It's all past tense. One of these
days, He's going to glorify us. He's already glorified us. In
Christ. When Christ was glorified, all
of His people were glorified. Already. Great things. Great, great things. He's done such great things for
such unworthy people. I am an unworthy recipient of
God's grace. I am what I am by the grace of
God. Such backbiting, gang saying,
unthankful, rebellious people. That's what we are. David kept
saying throughout the Psalms, the Lord is good. Man, the Lord is good. He is
so good. For his mercy endureth forever. Look with me over at Matthew
11. Matthew 11 verse 1 says, And
it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his
twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach
in their cities. Now when John had heard in the
prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and
said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for
another? Jesus answered and said unto
them, Go and show John again those things which you do hear
and see. The blind receive their sight. Those who could not see God.
I mean, could not see God. Man by nature cannot see God. Cannot see God. We see God, don't
we? We see God. Man by nature cannot
see himself for what he is. We see it. Not to the fullness,
if we saw it to the fullness, we we just couldn't go on, but. Those who could not see totally
blind. By the hand of the Lord, they've
received the eyes of faith. I once was blind, now I see.
I see God, I see man, I see Christ, I see. Verse five, the Lord said,
you go tell John again, the lame walk. Those who could not come
to Christ, they've been made able to walk straight up to the
throne of grace. Don't you love that? Don't you love that? You
are able to walk with the legs of your heart and the legs of
your prayer. straight up to the throne of
God's grace. And you will find mercy to help
you in time of need. That's wonderful. That is just
so wonderful. That's a great thing. That's
what it is. It's a great thing. Verse five, he said, you go tell
John, remind him that the lepers are cleansed. Those with rotting,
defiled flesh, they've been made white as snow. We don't see it
in our flesh, do we? We don't see it. We see all this
spot and all this blemish. In Christ, we are spotless. We're as spotless as Christ.
Absolutely spotless. How? The Lord did it. The Lord
did it. He washed them in his own blood. Verse five says the death here. They hear they hear the most
beautiful sound that could ever enter into the heart, the ear
of the heart. The voice of the Lord Jesus Christ, what does
he say? What does he say when God gives
a sinner's when God gives a sinner ears in his heart, he says, Fear
not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name.
Thou art mine. That's a great thing. Verse five,
he said, you go tell John that the dead are raised up. I mean, raised up to eternal
life. He said, whoever believes in
me will never die. Eternal life with Jesus Christ. And verse five, he said, the
poor have this gospel, this declaration, this beautiful, wonderful declaration
preached to them. They have it preached to them.
Great things. The Lord hath done great, great
things for us. For us. Well, wait a minute.
Are you saying that he did not do it for everybody? What do
you mean for us? He didn't do it for everybody?
No, he did not. No, he did not. He did it for
us. He did this for his chosen, didn't
he? The ones that he said his affection
on, the ones that were given to him by his father. He said,
I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
me. David in our text said us, us. Do you ever, does that ever
scare you at all? Does that ever scare you at all?
I wonder if I'm not one of the us. You ever think about that? What if I'm not one of the us?
David did this for us. Who are the us? Wouldn't you
love to know that? Who are the us? How can I know
if I am an us? Go with me to Romans 5. This is the greatest thing I have
to say all morning. Romans 5. How can I know if I'm
in us? Would you like to know if you're
in us? How can I know if I'm in us?
I need to be in us. Romans 5 verse 7 says. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die. Yet Peradventure for a good man,
some would even dare to die. But God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. How can I know if I'm an us?
Who are the us? God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. In order to be an us, you have
to be a sinner. In order to be an us, you have
to be a sinner. It's the only requirement to
be an us. That's it. Christ came to save
sinners. He came to save sinners. A sinner
is so hard to find. I mean an out and out, crown
of my head, sole of my foot, nothing good in me. Sinner. So hard to find. But the Apostle
Paul said, I'm the chief, didn't he? What he was saying is there's
not one good thing in, are you a good person? 99.99999999 times out of a hundred. Man will
say, yeah, I'm a good person. Sure. I mean, yeah. The apostle Paul cried, I am
completely, totally outside of Christ. ruined. I mean, plum
ruined. I deserve hell. God ought to
put, I'm shocked God hadn't put me in hell yet. I'm just shocked.
Everybody else deserves to go to glory before me. I'm the worst
sinner I know. Every sinner who sees, who's
been given eyes to see that that's who Christ came to save. He came
to save sinners. Every soul who gets those eyes,
Christ, saved me. I know Paul said that, but that's
the only thing I've ever disagreed with the Apostle Paul on. I'm
the chief, not him. I'm the chief. If you're not
a sinner, you're not a nun. But every sinner who has been
given ears to hear the fact that Christ came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance, they cry, call me. Call me, save me,
I'm just the greatest sinner I've ever known. Well, every
sinner who is here this morning, there are some, I'm so thankful
to the Lord that we got some sinners here this morning. Do
you have some good folks show up? Not outside of Christ. Nope. Had a big pile of sinners.
Every sinner who is here this morning, this is the only gospel
I have to declare. The Lord hath done great things
for us. Great, great things for us. Go with me very quickly over
to 1 Samuel 12. 1 Samuel chapter 12. 1 Samuel 12 verse 20, And Samuel
said unto the people, Fear not, you have done all this wickedness. What he's saying is you're all
sinners. But he said, Fear not, you have
done all this wickedness. Yet turn not aside from following
the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And turn
ye not aside, for then should you go after vain things which
cannot profit nor deliver, for they are vain. For the Lord will
not forsake his people for his great name's sake, because it
hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. He said, you're all so wicked,
you're all just sinners. But he said, don't don't fear.
Because just for his namesake. It has pleased the Lord to make
you his people. That's that's glorious. That's
just glorious. How do we respond to it? How
do we respond? Go back with me to our text and
we'll close. Psalm 126, verse three says. The Lord hath done great things
for us, whereof we are glad. We are glad. The declaration
of the gospel makes sinners glad. Glad. It does not make them want
to sin more. Well, if I believed that, I'd
just go do what I wanted to do then. I'd just go live like I
wanted to do. If I heard about being freed from the law, set
free by the blood of Christ, absolutely free, I just, that's
not what it causes God's people to do. Not at all. It doesn't
make them want to go sin more. It does not make God's people
lawless. Not at all. It makes them glad.
It makes them glad hearing about everything Christ has done. All he accomplished by himself. The Lord hath done. That does
not produce pride in a sinner like religion does. Religion
walks around in such pride. They're so proud of themselves
for everything that they have done. They ought to get them
a bunch of shirts made that says, I have done great things for
myself. But the truth of the gospel,
it doesn't produce pride. How can it if Christ did it all?
If Christ did it all, how can it produce pride in me? What
do I have to be proud of? Seeing what we are by nature,
truly, truly are, it will not produce self-righteousness. It
will not. It produces humility. It produces
thankfulness. It produces happiness. And it
makes us all want to run and tell everybody else the good
news. It makes us want to go declare
it. Just go declare it. Repeat the
declaration. Verse 3 says, The Lord hath done
great things for us, whereof we are glad. And we are, aren't
we? That whole psalm, we just heard the whole psalm read to
us, and that's what the whole thing's about. He said in verse
1, When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we're
like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with
laughter, our tongue was singing. Then said they among the heathen,
the Lord has done great things for them. All the heathen said
that. Boy, the Lord's done great things for them. Verse three
says, the Lord hath done great things for us. And we're so glad.
Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the south.
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth
and weepeth bearing precious seed, the seed of Christ, the
seed of the word, the seed of his gospel, shall doubtless come
again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. He's going
to bless it. He's going to make it grow. Just repeat that declaration. And God's sinners are going to
be called out. God's sheep are going to be known. They're going
to believe it. And they're all going to say, man, we're so glad.
I'm just so, so glad. May the Lord bless that to our
hearts. Let's all stand together.