Now, Psalm 97, I'm entitling
the message from the words found in verse 12. In verse 12 of Psalm
97, let's read verse 12 one more time. Rejoice in the Lord, ye
righteous, and he's talking to believers, made righteous in
Christ Jesus, and give thanks. Rejoice and give thanks at the
remembrance of his person, at the remembrance of who he is,
holy, at the remembrance of his holiness. The Lord our God is
holy, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. We do give thanks
We are instructed to give thanks. You remember back at Psalm 92,
look at verse one. It's a good thing, Psalm 92,
verse one. It's a good thing to give thanks
unto the Lord, to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High. It's a good thing. It is a good
thing to give thanks unto the Lord. The Apostle Paul, when
he writes to the church, In Thessalonica, he says, in everything give thanks. Wait a minute now, Paul. No,
no exclusion. In everything give thanks. For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. God's people are thankful people. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenly, in Christ Jesus, according as He
has shown us in Him before the foundation of the world. How
can we not be but thankful? thankful at the remembrance of
his person. Thankful at the remembrance of
his mercy. In Habakkuk chapter 3, there's
a prayer there of the prophet of God. And he says, Lord in
wrath, remember mercy. Remember mercy. And he will. Covenant mercies. All believers
are thankful. Especially thankful when remembering
the person who we worship and his holy character. God is holy. That's one word that sums up
his character. And if you would choose one word
that would sum up the character of the God of the Bible, I'm
not talking about the God of this generation, but the God
of the Bible, what one word would you choose? Our God is holy. God, the scriptures Do declare
that God is love, but let us never forget it's holy love. God is merciful, but let us not
forget it's holy mercy. You see, at the center of God's
character is his holiness. And I look at those attributes
or characteristics of God as the spokes that come out from
the center of His character. His love, His mercy, His grace,
His long-suffering, His patience, all have to be in harmony with
the center of His character. God is holy. God is holy. This is the true God. who we
delight to worship as He's revealed in His Holy Word. The Lord our
God is sovereign. He's holy in all of His doings. And this includes Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ as He's
manifest in the flesh as a God-man mediator. What can we say of
Him? He's holy. He's holy. He's high. He lifted up. Such
a high priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and
totally separated from sin. He had no sin, knew no sin, and
did no sin. This is the one to whom we worship. God Almighty, who is holy, and
the one in whom accomplished our salvation by Himself purging
our sins, He is the holy, spotless Lamb of God. Had to be without
blemish, didn't He? To be the Lamb of God. And He
had no sin, knew no sin, did no sin. He was manifested to
take away our sin. Peter says in 1st Peter 2, who
did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Now it is true with Calvary,
he was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made
of every righteousness of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. That
is the good news of the gospel of God's grace in Christ Jesus. Now, Psalm 97, and I'm convinced
that all 150 psalms are all gospel psalms. They all contain the
good news of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't they? Absolutely. Absolutely they do. Now look at verse one. I love the way this starts. The
Lord reigns. Jehovah, God our Savior. Whenever you see capital L-O-R-D,
it's referring to Jehovah, God our Savior. He reigns. He reigns. He reigneth. Let the earth rejoice. Let the multitudes of all distant
places, that I'll let them be glad. Our God does reign forever
and ever. Look back to Psalm 90. Psalm
90, verse 2. He reigns forever. Before the
mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hast formed the
earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou
art God. And He ever reigns. Ever reigns. We've seen this statement before.
The Lord reigneth. He reigneth. You remember back
in Psalm 93 verse 1? Turn back there. The Lord reigneth. He is clothed with majesty. The
Lord is clothed, arrayed with strength. Wherewith he girded
himself, the world is established, and it cannot be moved." Why?
God reigns. God reigns. Again in Psalm 96. We looked at this last time we
studied the Psalm. Psalm 96, verse 10. Among the
heathen, what should we say? What should we say among those
who are ungodly, rebels against God? What should we say? Smile,
God loves you. Oh no. Look what it says in verse
10. Say among the heathen, what?
The Lord reigneth. The Lord reigneth. The world
also shall be established that it shall not be moved. He shall
judge righteously. The Lord does reign. And we're
going to see this truth again. Look at Psalm 99 verse 1. The Lord reigneth. Let the people
tremble. He sitteth between the cherubims,
let the earth be moved. The Lord does reign. The Scriptures know nothing of
a penitent God who wants to and can't, who has tried to and failed. The God we read of in Holy Scripture
is the absolute sovereign of the universe. There is nothing
in God's universe that the Lord does not completely, totally,
absolutely reign over. In heaven, And in earth, he does
according to his will in the army of heaven, among the habitants
of this earth, and none can stay his hand. Why? He reigns. None
can say unto him or question him, Lord God Almighty, what
are you doing? God reigns. He does according
to his will. Not according to our will. His
will. He taught us to pray. Our Father,
which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done. You reckon it will be? You reckon
there's any puny, sinful creature that can change the Almighty,
determine, decree, will of God Almighty? He said, I've spoken
it, I've purposed it, I'll bring it to pass, I'll do it. That
sounds to me like the God of Scripture reigns and rules. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. He reigns in creation, sovereignly
created all things by the word of His power. He reigns in what
we call providence. The things that unfold in time
are the things that God has from all eternity decreed and purposed. God is sovereign in providence.
He reigns over providence. This scripture in Romans 11,
you remember? Of him, through him, and to him
are all things, wait a minute now, some things, no. Of him,
and through him, and to him are all things, to whom be glory
both now and forever. Remember the last word of that
verse? Amen. And his people say amen. Aren't
you thankful that the Lord reigneth? Believers rejoice that he reigns
in providence, reigns in creation, and he reigns in salvation. He
reigns in salvation. He will have mercy on whom he
will have mercy, and whom he will, he will hearten. Our Lord
prayed in John 17, Father, you've given me power over all flesh
that I should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
to me. Believers do rejoice in this
truth. Believers are glad that the Lord
our God does reign supreme, absolute, total, universal, and He reigns
everlastingly. The government is upon His shoulders. The government is upon his shoulders. The king's heart in the hand
of the Lord. And he turns it whithersoever
he will. The government is upon his shoulders. All things are controlled by
almighty God. You know, this is the message
of the gospel. Turn over here to Isaiah 52,
seven. 52, seven. The message of the gospel is
not God wants to and can't because you won't let him. That's not
good news. The message of the gospel is
that Jesus Christ is Lord. Not gonna be Lord. He is Lord. Isaiah 52 7, how beautiful upon
the mountains. or the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings, that publish peace, peace, that's the gospel. We have peace with God through
Christ Jesus, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publish
salvation. We declare salvation to the Lord,
that saith unto Zion, what? Thy God reigneth. That's our
message. He's Lord. He's Lord. Every knee's
gonna bow. Every tongue's gonna confess
that he's Lord to the glory of God the Father. This is a gospel message that
we find great delight and comfort in. Now, comfort. Think about
this. At the Lord our God, God our
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is not almighty to save. He has
not all power to save. Then there's no hope for this
sinner. There's no hope for this sinner. being born in sin, being shapen
in iniquity, being dead spiritually, if God's not almighty to save
and mighty to save, I have no hope of salvation. If He doesn't
reign, I'm gone. I have no hope of mercy. But
thank God that the scriptures teach he's able to save to the
uttermost all that come to God, and they come to God only by
him. They come to God by him. Now,
the Lord reigneth, so let us rejoice. Let us be glad. And we do. I rejoice. I rejoice that our God is God. Many times in Isaiah, the Lord
declares, I am God beside me. There is no other. There is none
else. I am God. I am God. Now look at verse two. Clouds
and darkness are round about him. Righteousness and judgment
are the habitation or the establishment of His throne. It is a holy throne. Justice and judgment, Psalm 89,
14, are the habitation of God's throne. Now, what is this clouds
and darkness round about Him? Many times, from our vantage
point, dark clouds of our own unbelief seem to obscure His
sovereign throne, His sovereign mercy. Let me illustrate it this
way. The sun is shining brightly,
noonday sun, and all of a sudden, the sun is darkened and blotted
out by thick storm clouds that come across and they blot out
the sunshine. Now, from our vantage point,
it appears that the sun's not shining. But now, is it still
shining? Sure it is. It's just blotted
out by these clouds and darkness. We can be assured that the Lord
still reigns in righteousness and holy justice. The Lord is
still upon His sovereign throne, working all things after the
counsel of His own sovereign will. His throne is a throne
of justice and judgment, but to the believer in Christ Jesus,
His throne is a throne of sovereign mercy. Matter of fact, he says
to us, come boldly unto the throne of mercy. Find grace to help
in time of need, a throne of mercy. Therefore, the believer,
in his heart, in his experience, wades through the times of darkness,
doubt, unbelief, and despair, because we know the Lord still
reigns supreme. The Lord still reigns supreme. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. Now let me tell you a story. All of you are familiar with
the song we sing so often, there is a fountain filled with blood,
drawn from Emmanuel's vein, William Cowper. William Cowper. He was a dear friend of John
Newton. And they were close, close friends.
And Cowper was a noted poet over in England back in the 1700s. And he wrote the words of that
song, There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Emmanuel's
veins. William Cowper was one, by his
own testimony, who was given to great times of doubt and despair. times of great despair and depression. So much so that one day, back
in the time in which he lived, he ordered for a horse and buggy
to come and pick him up and take him down to the riverside. He
had determined in his heart, in his mind, that there was no
salvation for him, that there was no forgiveness for him. And
in despair, he determined to end his life by taking his own
life. Suicide. Well, the horse and
buggy came to the house, and William Cowper got in the buggy.
and started out toward, he told the driver where to go, take
me down to the river, didn't tell the driver why, take me
down to the river. Well, by his own testimony, here's
what happened. There was such a thick fog that
moved in that the man driving the buggy in despair said, I
cannot find the river. And he turned around after he
tried several times, turned around, took the man back home. He said,
you're just going to have to wait until this fog is gone.
After William Cowper got back in his house, He penned the word
to this song right here. God moves in mysterious ways.
You ever heard it? But it was written after that
experience of great depression and despair. Let me give you
a few verses of it. God moves in mysterious ways,
his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the
sea and rides upon the storm. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage,
take to cloud you so much dread, are big with mercy and will break
with blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides his smiling face. His purpose will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour, the bud may have a bitter taste, but
sweet will be the flower. Now sometimes we, from our vantage
point, we see just darkness, gloom, and despair. But now the
Lord still reigns. The Lord is still sovereign.
The Lord is still on the throne. He still reigns supreme. Now
look at verse 3, a fire, Psalm 97 verse 3. A fire, a fire goeth
before him, and burneth up his enemies round
about. fire of His holiness, the fire
of His justice. Can any enemy of God stand before
His holy justice? The very being of God is almighty
power. consuming all opposition, absolute,
sovereign, omnipotent power. He's a devouring flame which
burns up the enemies. One day, Nadab in Abihu offered
up strange fire before the Lord. And God sent a consuming fire
and burned them up. One day, God was determined to
destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, enemies of God. He delivered Lot and
burned the cities to the ground. A fire goeth before him and burneth
up his enemies round about. And we can make that application
But I want to make another more personal application to our own
heart, even now. where the gospel is preached
and where the gospel is blessed in the power of the Holy Spirit.
It burns its own way into our heart, destroying, irresistibly
destroying falsehood, superstition, unbelief, sin and indifference
and hardness of heart. His word is like a fire, like
a hammer that breaks the rock in His word is a consuming fire. I tell you a scripture here that
I would like for us to read together. I believe it's 2 Corinthians
chapter 10. If you want to turn over there.
2 Corinthians chapter 10. The weapons of our warfare are
not carnal, verse 4. We do not, for though we walk
in the flesh, we do not war. after the flesh. We do not carry
on our ministry which is a warfare. We don't carry on our ministry
after the devices of men, after the carnal devices of the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God, pulling down strongholds,
casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted
itself against the knowledge of God. And bringeth in captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ. That's the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look back at the text again.
Verse 4, Psalm 97, verse 4. His lightnings. His lightnings. Enlightened the world the earth
saw and tremble the Lord is sovereign over the lightnings the lightning
of the sky But again, if we consider this verse in the revelation
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ He commands a gospel light
to shine in our own darkened hearts He brings us out of the
kingdom of darkness, translates us into the kingdom of God's
dear Son. God who commands the light to shine in our heart,
shine in our light out of darkness, to shine in our heart, to give
us the light and the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of Christ lights up
our soul with the blaze of truth, And we see His glory. We see His glory. Turn to another
scripture over here and let's find Ephesians chapter 1. He sends the lightening of the
gospel, the light of the gospel, and it enlightens us as to who
we are, as to who He is, as to what the Lord Jesus Christ has
accomplished for us. In Ephesians chapter 1, look
at verse 18. The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened. He turns on the light. That's
what He does. He turns on the light. He causes
the light to shine in our hearts. the eyes of our understanding
being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of His
calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power
to us who believe." Now I love this right here. We believe,
we do believe, and we believe according to the working of His
mighty power. And it's the same power that in verse 20 of Ephesians
1, the same power that was used to raise the dead body of the
Lord Jesus Christ, which He brought in Christ when He raised Him
from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly
places. That's the power that it takes to raise us up from
the dead and to give us life in Christ Jesus. His lightning,
back to the text, enlightened us and we do see by His light. Verse 5. And the hills melted
like wax at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the
Lord of the whole earth. At his presence, at his command,
at his will, hills melt like wax. Now we've seen that literally,
haven't we? These volcano mountains, remember
Mount St. Helens, that exploded and melted
a mountain? The hills melted like wax at
the presence of the Lord, at His will. And my friend, let's
make another gospel application. Doesn't He do that exactly when
He works grace in our heart? He makes our hard heart to melt
like wax in His presence. He gives us a new heart. He said,
I'll take away that stony heart and I'll give you a heart of
flesh. God is the King. The hills melted like wax at
the presence of the Lord. The presence of the Lord of the
whole earth. God is King of all the earth.
He's King of kings and Lord of lords. He melts away when He does that
work of grace. God who has begun a good work
in you, He will finish it. With reference to that work of
grace in our heart, the Lord melts away all idolatry, all
vain worship, all vain thoughts of God, and teaches us the truth
of God. He turns our hearts from dead
idols unto the living God. Another old songwriter wrote
this, The dearest idol I have known, whatever idol that may
be, Lord, tear it from my heart and let me worship only Thee. He causes the hills of hardness,
prejudice, unbelief to melt at His presence. The presence of
the Lord. He's the sovereign Lord. He's
Lord everywhere. He's Lord of all the earth. King
of kings and Lord of lords. Look at verse 6. The heavens
declare, The heavens declare the glory of God. The heavens
declare His righteousness. And all those who have seen by
His grace, His righteousness, and all the people, we see His
glory. The glory of God. The heavens
declare His glory. Psalm 19. The glory of His creation. but they also declare His righteousness. The Lord is well pleased for
His righteousness sake, Isaiah 42. The righteousness of God,
and this is the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel.
Certainly those messengers sent from the God of heaven declare
only a justifying righteousness revealed in the gospel, accomplished
by Christ, established by Christ, and revealed in the Lord Jesus
Christ. You remember Romans 1.16 where
Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the
power of God and the salvation to everyone that believe it,
Jew and Gentile. You remember the next part, verse
17, for therein, therein is the righteousness of God revealed
in faith to faith. And then again in Romans 10,
let's turn over there and read that one more time. Romans 10
one more time. Let's see about this righteousness
of God That is declared in the gospel that declares the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ in the righteousness that's established
in the gospel in Christ Jesus Romans 10 little verse 1 brethren
My heart's desire prayer to God for Israel. I is that they might
be saved. They need salvation. They're
religious, but they're lost. They need salvation. For I bear
them record. They have a zeal, but not according
to knowledge. Ignorant. Being ignorant of God's
righteousness. Ignorant of the holy character
of God. And therefore, because of that
ignorance and the blindness, the deadness of their heart,
they're going about to establish a righteousness of their own.
having not submitted themselves, bowed themselves unto the righteousness
of God. Now here we see two things, God's
righteous character, and then we see the righteousness that's
of God, the righteousness that's established of God in the gospel. Look at verse four, for Christ
is the end of the law, the goal, the fulfillment of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believeth. All through the book
of Romans, it declares this righteousness of God in the gospel. Blessed
is the man whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works. The heavens declare the righteousness
of God revealed in Christ, and all his people see his glory. Now look at verse 7. Look at
verse 7. Psalm 97. Verse 7, confounded the all they
that serve graven images that boast themselves of idols. The command of God is to worship
Him. Worship Him. Worship Him. Now, there is great confusion
in idolatry. God is not the author of confusion. But there is great comfort in
worshiping the true and living God, especially when we're brought
from the bondage of idolatry by the power of God in the gospel
to serve the true and living God. Now, I want you to look
at this scripture here again. Let's turn to one other scripture. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Confounded be all they that serve
graven images, that boast themselves of their idolatry. Isaiah 45, look at verse 16. Isaiah 45, 16. Verse 15 says,
Verily thou art a God that hideth thyself, must be revealed, O
God of Israel, thy Savior. They shall be ashamed, also confounded. All of them, they shall go to
confusion together that are makers of idols. But Israel, shall be
saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed. You shall not be confounded. World without end. They will
be ashamed, those who are makers of idols. There is great confusion
in idolatry. You think about that on the day
of judgment, when those who say, Lord, We preached in your name. We have cast out demons in your
name. We have done many wonderful works,
and we did it in your name. And he will say to them in that
day, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Boy, they'll be confounded in
that day. Wait a minute, now wait a minute. That's not fair.
Yeah, you're getting exactly what you deserve. Those who trust
what they have done will certainly be confounded and ashamed in
that day. But believers won't, not at all. Look at the next verse, verse
8, Psalm 97. Zion heard. Zion heard. We've been given ears to hear
the gospel. Our Lord said, blessed are your ears for they hear,
and your eyes for they see. Zion has heard God reign. Zion has heard righteousness
established. Zion has heard God will destroy
all enemies. Zion has heard thy God reigneth. And was glad. Was glad. The daughters of Judah, and this
again referring to believers, they rejoiced. They rejoiced
because because of the judgment of the Lord. And this judgment
of the Lord includes all of His Word, His precept, His will. We rejoice in His Word. David said in Psalm 119, I rejoice
at Thy Word as one who has found a great treasure. We rejoice
at His Word. Zion heard His Word. Zion was
glad, and we rejoice in the Word of the Lord. His Word is a light
and a lamp under our feet. Verse 9. There is gladness and good news
in the Gospel. Grace for the guilty, mercy for
the miserable, hope for the hopeless, salvation for sinners in Christ
Jesus. We've heard. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners. We've heard. And we're glad,
look at verse nine. For thou, Lord, art high above
all the earth, exalted high above the earth. Thou art exalted above
all that would be called an idol, a mere god. Let me ask you a
question. Can you exalt the Lord too high? Can you give the Lord God Almighty
too much glory, too much honor? Can you worship Him too often? Can you preach Him too high?
Can you say too much about Him and all of His person and all
of His work, how He accomplished salvation for us? For thou, Lord,
art high above all. God hath highly exalted Him. the Lord Jesus, and giving Him
a name which is above every name, that at that name every knee
will bow, every tongue will confess that He is Lord. Thou art high
above all the earth. He reigns. He reigns supreme. Now look at verse 10. Ye that love the Lord. I like
what John Newton said. I do love the Lord. Not like I ought to, not like
I should. Not like I will one day. But by His grace, we do
love Him. And we love Him only because
He first loved us. Ye that love the Lord hate evil. He preserves the soul of His
saints. Love Him. Love the Lord. He preserves our
soul. We're kept by the power of God. He's able to keep us
from falling. He had delivered us out of the hand of the wicked.
He delivered us with His mighty hand. He saved us with His mighty
hand, His mighty arm. Love the Lord. And we do. We do love Him. But watch this. A rule here is given for us to
judge our love. If I love the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Scripture said if any man loved not the Lord Jesus Christ,
let him be cursed of God. Anathema maranatha. If I love
the Lord Jesus Christ, I shall love his people. He said this
in John 13, by this shall all men know that you're my disciples,
that you love one another. If I love him, I love what he
loves and hate what he hates. Let me show you another scripture
over here a few pages. Psalm 119. This statement is
made twice in Psalm 119. Psalm 119, verse 104. Look, verse 103, Psalm 119. How sweet are thy words unto
my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through thy precepts
I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. Flip one page. Psalm 119 verse
128. Verse 127 says, I love thy commandments
above gold, yea, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem all thy precepts
concerning all things to be right. Therefore I hate every false
way. I hate that which is contrary
to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I despise it. I despise
it, I really do. That which is contrary to His
glory, that which would give the creature any merit or glory,
I despise that. I love what He loves. What does
God love? This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. Hear Him. Any man love not the
Lord Jesus, let him be cursed. Let love be without dissimilation. Abhor that which is evil and
cleave to that which is good. Romans 12, verse 9. The Lord
is our preserver. He's preserved us by His grace,
sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of redemption.
The Lord has delivered us. You see that? He's our deliverer. He is the Savior who really saves.
He's a Redeemer who really redeems and He is a Deliverer. It says
over there in the Book of Romans, He shall deliver all Israel.
Not one sheep of Christ will be lost. He is our Deliverer. He delivereth them out of the
hand of the wicked. Verse 11. Light is sown. Light is risen. The gospel light
is risen and revealed righteousness unto us. And again, this is that
righteousness that David rejoiced in, that Paul quotes in Romans
chapter 4, blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputed righteousness
without works and gladness. Light is risen in our heart. Day dawn and day
star has arisen in our heart first Peter chapter 1 and gladness
for the upright in heart Again he's made us upright by
his grace now verse 12 rejoice rejoice in the Lord Rejoice in
the Lord and here's this word again. I It's such a key word
to the Gospel, isn't it? Righteousness. Righteousness. Righteousness. How God can be
a just God and Savior. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous,
who were made righteous in Christ Jesus. I like what the Apostle
Paul writes when he writes to those there in Philippians chapter
3. where he says, I count all things
but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but done, that I may win Christ and be found in Him,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faithfulness, the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Rejoice in the Lord always, and
again I say rejoice. We've been made righteous. in
Christ Jesus and give thanks. We give thanks
at the remembrance of His holiness. Now think about this. God is a just God and Savior. He saves us in such a way in
which He does not compromise in the least bit His holy character,
and yet He establishes righteousness, saves us in a just and holy way,
not compromising His holy character, and yet magnifying His mercy.
a just God and a justifier. Just and the justifier of those
in Christ Jesus. You see, an unholy gospel is
no gospel at all. The glory of God in Christ, the
glory of the gospel of Christ is that Almighty God can remain
holy, not compromising His holy character, and yet justify the
ungodly. give thanks at the remembrance
of His holiness. God saves us in such a way as
to magnify His justice and magnify His mercy in Christ Jesus. I've got one other reference
written down here, and I know it's about Let me just read it to you, Isaiah
61 10. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God. He hath clothed me
with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments,
as a bride adorneth herself with jewels." We greatly rejoice in
Christ Jesus and we do give thanks. We do give thanks at the remembrance
of His holy