What a blessing it is to... I fear often we take it for granted,
but what a blessing it is to have a place to gather together
to worship, to have a faithful man to stand and week after week
proclaim the gospel of God's grace. I'd ask you to open your
Bible to Psalm 111. Psalm 111, verse 9. When I come out to California,
I often think my grandpa was out here somewhere, I think maybe
closer to San Francisco, 80 years ago. During World War II, he
come out in the Navy and served. There was a point when, shortly
before he passed away, we were taking turns staying with him
and my grandma, and one night I started looking through his
Bible. I just found that interesting, and in that whole book, from
Genesis to Revelation, there wasn't one mark, not a note,
not a mark on any scripture, with the exception of Psalm 111
verse 9. Let me read it. It says, "...He sent redemption
unto His people. He hath commanded His covenant
forever. Holy and Reverend is His name." He Think where we begin with
that verse. He. That's Almighty God. He. You know all things, all
things begin with God? All the way back in Creation,
Genesis 1-1. In the beginning, what? In the
beginning, who? God. God created the heavens
and air. Just listen to a few of these
Scriptures. Scripture says this, all things were made by Him. and without Him was not anything
made that was made." All things are of God. That doesn't say some things,
does it? It doesn't even say most things. All things, all
things are of God. In Colossians 1.16, by Him were
all things created. We often refer to this book as
a hymn book. And there's a reason for that.
It's all about Him. It's written by Him. It's declared
by Him. It reveals Him. He is revealed
in His Word. It's all about Him. And our text
begins with He. Let's go back to the verse 1. I just want us to go through
this passage here this morning. Let's begin with verse 1. It
says, Praise ye the Lord. I will praise the Lord with my
whole heart in the assembly. That means sitting together.
Sitting together, talking with friends in the assembly. I'll
praise Him with my whole heart. in the assembly of the upright
and in the congregation. That appointed meeting, just
as we've gathered here this morning, I will praise Him. Praise ye the Lord. And if you have a margin in your
Bible, you'll see that another way to say that is, Hallelujah!
Hallelujah! Praise Him. Praise Him who is
worthy of praise. He's worthy of all praise. David said this, I will extol
Thee, my God, O King, I will bless Thy name forever and ever. You know I fear, I believe I
know, I know that we have let organized religion rob us of
this Word. Hallelujah! I'm almost afraid to say it sometimes,
just for being taken as those who just use it in such a trivial
manner. You know, I remember working
with a guy that coffee was made on time one morning, and he shouted,
Hallelujah! I enjoy a good cup of coffee
as much as anybody else, but listen, That's not how we use
that word. We use it to praise Him who's
worthy of all praise. Not in a flippant use, no, but
in truth and in sincerity. May God give us a true heart
to indeed praise Him who is worthy of all praise. Him who liveth
forever endeavor. Well, let's read on here. Verse
1, we see He who is worthy of praise. Verse 2, He whose works
are great. All the works of the Lord are
great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. Consider
His works. His works in creation. Look back
at Psalm 19 verse 1. Just turn back a few pages. Psalm
19 and verse 1. Here we read, "...the heavens
declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork."
It's such a beautiful creation. We rarely take time to truly
behold it, but think about all that the Lord hath created. We
were flying out here this week. And just up in that plain and
from a far distance just looking down at the clouds and the sky
and the land beneath, isn't this a beautiful creation that God
has created and given us to enjoy? The God who in creation commanded
light to shine out of darkness. This world was nothing but darkness
and God spoke and He said, let there be light. And we know what
happened then. There was light. His works in providence. He's sovereign in creation. He's
sovereign in providence. Romans 8, 28. We were talking
about this yesterday. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to His purpose. And it says, He worketh all things. That's what Scripture says. Not
just some things, not just a few things. He worketh all things
after the counsel of His own will. Many times, and I trust
you do the same. I doubt I'm alone in this. Many
times I ask, why did this happen? Why did that happen? You know
whether we understand it or not, We know. We know all things work
together for good. It's just what He does. It's
just what He does is right. And it's for His glory and the
eternal good of His people. Noah saw the world destroyed,
yet God was pleased to save him and his family. Job lost his
children. He lost all of his possessions. And yet, at the end of Job, he
says this, I know that thou canst do everything. No thought can
be hidden from thee. Abraham was willing to sacrifice
his son Isaac, just as God had commanded him. I don't understand
that. There was a count there in John
where there was a woman taken in the very act of adultery. That's what Scripture says. And
the Pharisees, the scribes and the Pharisees, they were worshiping
just like we are here this morning. Imagine that! Imagine if a group
of fellas drug in a woman and threw her down on the floor here
and said she was taken in the very act of adultery. How would
we react to that? How would we respond to that?
They said, the law says, stone her. It did. It said stone her and it said
stone the man. He was nowhere to be seen in
that, but the law says that. What did our Lord say? He didn't
say nothing at first, did He? Rode on the ground, they continued
talking and asking, what do we do? I can't imagine the fear
that went through this woman as she's being drugged from wherever
before the Lord by these men and the whole time saying the
law says stone her. And our Lord looked at them and
He said, He that is without sin, let him cast the first stone.
What happened? They all walked out from the
oldest to the youngest. And then He looked at her. He
looked at her in mercy. And he said, Where are those
thine accusers? They were gone, weren't they?
And the judge of the earth, Almighty God who sees all things, stands
before her. Shall not the king of the earth
do right? And he said, What? Neither do
I condemn thee. Oh, what joy filled her soul.
Go and sin no more. I don't understand that. We'd
look at that and say, what good? But you know what? Those scribes
and Pharisees, they learned something that day, didn't they? And that
woman was shown mercy. The Lord Jesus Christ showed
her mercy. God had told Abraham, even though
he said, sacrifice him. He told Abraham, Isaac thy seed
shall be caught. And Abraham, this is what was
said of him, Abraham believed God. God's sovereign. He does as he will, when he will,
with whom he will. In Nehemiah, just a few books
over from Job, listen to the words of Nehemiah, "...thou,
even thou art Lord alone, thou hast made heaven the heaven of
heavens, with all their hosts, the earth, and all things that
are therein, and thou preservest them all." He preserves the heavens. He
preserves their hosts. He preserves the earth. People
run around, what are we going to do about this? The Lord preserves
the earth. You saw those trees out there
a few days ago out in California. Said they're 2,000 years old.
They're still standing, aren't they? He preserves them all. And the host of heaven worshipeth
Thee." We're to worship Him. He does according to His will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, What doest Thou? He's sovereign. He's almighty. And then verse 3, We read here again in Psalm 111. We still read of He. We read
of... Verse 2, we read of His works.
But here in verse 3, we read of His work. His work. That's singular, isn't
it? It says it's honorable. It's glorious. And His righteousness
endureth forever. His work. In John 17, verse 4,
I won't have you turn there, but He said this, speaking to
the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ said, I have glorified Thee on
earth. And then He said this, I have
finished Thee work. I have finished the work that
Thou gavest Me to do. What was that work? What was
that thing that He accomplished? the salvation of His people. His death on the cross, the work,
the work of salvation. Mike, that's not your work, is
it? It's not my work. Whose work is it? It's His work. He accomplished salvation. That's
what He said on the cross. He said, It is finished. There's nothing left. If something's
finished, there's nothing left to do, is there? He finished
it. Philippians 1.6, Paul writing
to the Philippians, he said, "...being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you..." will do
what? "...will perform it until the
day of Jesus Christ." His work. His work is honorable. His righteousness, His salvation. What's He say? It endureth forever. It's an eternal salvation. If
God saves a man, he is saved eternally. eternal salvation. It endures forever. An everlasting,
eternal, effectual salvation. Isaiah 45, verse 7. Israel shall
be saved in the Lord with an everlasting, everlasting salvation. Back to
Psalm 111. Look at verse 4. He hath made His wonderful works
to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and full
of compassion. He's gracious. That's how He
saves. He's saved by His grace. Verse 5, He hath given meat unto
them that fear Him, he will be ever mindful of his covenant. He hath showed his people the
power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the
heathen." Consider the children of Israel. Consider what they
saw with regard to God's power, His deliverance. He said this
of Pharaoh in Exodus 9,16. He said, Pharaoh, this is the
only reason I raised you up, Pharaoh, For this reason have
I raised thee up to show in thee my power, my power, and that
my name may be declared throughout all the earth." Think about just a few of those
things. Remember that? He turned water into blood. He sent those frogs, He sent
lice, and He sent flies, and the murrain of cattle, that disease
that fell on them, boils, hail that destroyed everything. He
sent locusts, He sent darkness, darkness that could be felt, but not to His children. He preserved
them, He kept them. And finally, that death, Death
of the firstborn. They woke up that morning and
there was a cry that went out like it no doubt had never went
out before. But not in Goshen. Not for those
who were under the blood. Can you imagine how they rejoiced? They went out that day before
and they slayed that lamb. And they put that blood out there
on the door. And I know they went to bed that night. I wonder
if they got up during the night, just so many minutes to go in
and just check on the firstborn. They woke up that next morning
and they were all safe. How? Under the blood. He said,
when I see the blood, I will pass. I'll leap over you. And though the children of Israel
continually doubted Him and murmured and complained, He delivered
them. He delivered the children of
Israel. Let's go on here, verse 7. The
works of His hands are verity and judgment, all His commandments
are sure. Verity and judgment, truth and
justice, all His ways. He's faithful. He is faithful
to His people. All His commandments, all His
commandments are sure. Paul writing to Timothy, he said,
nevertheless, the foundation of God stand assure having this
seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His. All that He has appointed,
all that He has decreed shall stand. His purpose shall stand
eternally. Verse 8, they stand fast forever
and ever and are done in truth and uprightness. Verse 9, this
is where I've been wanting to get to. Four points here. The first is
this. He sent redemption. You see that? He sent redemption. He didn't
just send one to deliver. He sent the Deliverer. He didn't
just send a Redeemer. He sent full redemption to His
people. In Luke 1, 68, Scripture declares
this, "...Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited,
and he hath redeemed his people." Not he's trying to. Not he wants
to. He hath redeemed his people. False religion would try to convince
us that he tried to redeem, or that he would maybe help to redeem,
maybe even make a down payment. I think about that, and I believed
that at one time. How silly is that? A down payment? God who created all things, How could He ever be dependent
on me for anything? Even if I had the opportunity
to weigh the balance, where would I get it from? Our best works,
our best works are filthy rags in His sight. Scripture says this, we've been
weighed in the balance and found wanting. We've all sinned and
come short of the glory of God. But God's Word declares an accomplished,
effectual, complete redemption. Redeemed from sin, redeemed from
Satan, redeemed from the law. Galatians 3.13, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. It's written. Cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. The payment. The payment. I hear mention of wages in God's
Word. The wages of sin is death. The sentence of death and condemnation
is upon us. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ was
made sin for us." He paid. He paid the redemption price
in full. How? With His own blood. He did it. He bore the wrath
of His Father. There as He hung on the tree,
God poured out His wrath upon His Son. Why? For sins he had committed? No!
For the sins of his people. He paid the sin debt. He paid
the purchase price. He bore the wrath of Almighty
God in his body as he hung there on that tree. He drank damnation
dry. Not a drop. Not a drop left. Nothing left. Had to be that
way. We couldn't pay it. We could
not pay it. He paid it in full. He drank
it all. He endured it all. He suffered
it all. And every bit of that is what we, his people, should
have suffered. What's the result? What's the
grand and glorious result of it? His people. His people go
free. Go free. Peter, 1 Peter 1, he
said you weren't redeemed with corruptible things. That's what
the religion of this world pushes. Now, don't get me wrong. To have
a faithful pastor and a place to worship, we should give. We
should give of ourselves and we should give to support the
ministry. There's nothing greater that
we can do than to support the preaching of God's Word. But we weren't saved by building
buildings, by building gyms or donating to this or donating
to that. Gold and silver is valuable, but it'll never pay the redemption
price. Oh, it's much, much higher. He
said you weren't redeemed from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers. Not by a religious show. Not
by an outward appearance of self-righteousness. No. No. Men do put on a good
show, don't we? I mean, we can all dress up and
we can look nice, can't we? We're not saved by doing this
and doing that. Remember David when he had that
sin with Bathsheba? And God sent Nathan the prophet
and told him that story about that man who had all these lambs,
this rich man. He took the poor man's lamb and
he slain it and he gave it to the wealthy visitor. And David
was furious. Where is he? Nathan looked at
him. He said, that's you. Thou art,
thou art the man. Well, you know David wasn't.
David was relieved when he heard this, though, wasn't he? Huh?
Thy sin. That's you, David. But thy sin
hath been put away. Oh, by the deeds of the law.
All have sinned, right? That's what Scripture says. All
have sinned and come short. By the deeds of the law there
shall be no flesh justified in His sight. Might be justified
before men, but that don't really mean much, does it? and they're
going to be justified in His sight. But the believer is justified
by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. The redemption price,
we read in our text, He sent redemption to His people, redeemed
with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without splot or
blemish. That blood shed at Calvary. That blood revealed throughout
the Scriptures. You know when Adam sinned, what'd
God do? He slew an animal and he made coats to cover them. That high priest, he went into
the Holy of Holies, how? With blood. He'd slay a lamb. The Passover lamb, what happened?
That blood was shed and put upon the outside of the door there.
All these things pointing, pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. and it's only His precious blood. Not by the blood of animals,
not by my blood, but by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
sin-atoning blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's all that
will do His redemption. We read of His people Who did
He do this for? The redemption that God sent
is for His people. That's clear in the Scriptures.
We just look at Psalm 119. He sent redemption to who? Unto
His people. Who are His people? Well, it's
a peculiar people. That's what Scripture says. It's
a particular people. It's a nation, a kindred, a people. Over in Revelation 5-9 we read,
"...thou hast redeemed us to God out of every kindred, nation,
people, and tongue." His people, His flock, His sheep. It's a
people for which He died and for whom He saved. Matthew 1.21
says this, Thou shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name Jesus. For he, what? Shall. Not wants to, not has tried to,
not will if you let him, he shall save his people from their sin. His people, his sheep. Our Lord
said, I lay down my life for whom? For the sheep. A people
were purchased people. Purchased with His own blood. Keep watch over yourselves and
the flock which the Holy Spirit hath made you overseers. Be shepherds
of the church of God which is bought with His own blood. A people His from all eternity. He chose us, that's what Scripture
says, He chose us in Christ from before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. His people by choice. Do you hear that? His choice. John 15-16, our Lord said this,
You have not chosen Me. but I have chosen you." Listen to the words of this hymn.
"'Tis not that I did choose thee, for Lord, that could not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, hadst thou not done what? Chosen me." We were a people gone astray.
We've turned each of us, how? To His own way. And the Lord
hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. How far had we gone?
How far had we strayed? Scripture said we wandered far.
We wandered far from the fold. Scriptures declare this, we were
dead. Dead in trespasses and sin. Yet, listen, we're a kept,
a kept people. How? How are we kept? How can someone so prone to wonder,
so prone to leave the God I love, how is that, that we're kept?
Kept by the power of God. A redeemed people. We just read that. He sent redemption. Now, if I send something, It
may get there and it may not. But my friends, if He sent redemption
to His people, rest assured, He's going to redeem them. His people shall be redeemed. He loved us. He loved us and
gave Himself for us. A people called by the Spirit
of God. He said, My sheep hear My voice. He speaks to us through His Word. Speaks to us through the power
of His Spirit. A people known by name. He calls
them by name. His church, His bride, His people.
Think about it, He knows our name. Remember He looked at Zacchaeus,
climbed up that tree. What did our Lord do? He said
He came to the place and He looked up and He said, Hey you. No, He
said, Zacchaeus, come down. He knew his name, didn't He?
That's Brady. How do I know him? He's mine. I call him by name. Zacchaeus,
come down. How about this? Lazarus? Lazarus
lay there in the grave. What did he say? Lazarus, come
forth. And he that was dead came forth. He caught Saul there on the road
to Damascus. What did he say? Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? A people eternally he is. Our
Lord said, I give them eternal life and they shall never perish
and neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. His redemption,
His people. The Word speaks also of His covenant.
He hath commanded His covenant forever. What is that? His promise,
His covenant of grace. David wrote there in 2 Samuel,
he said, Although my house be not so with God, yet He hath
made with me an everlasting covenant, an eternal covenant, ordered
in all things and sure. For this is all my salvation,
and all my desire, although he make it not to grow." An eternal
covenant made with Christ from the beginning. Our surety, our
sanctification. He's the mediator of a better
covenant. All those, all those given Him
by the Father. Our Lord said this, "...all that
the Father hath given me shall come to me, and him that cometh
to me Rest assured, if you come to Christ, it's because He drew
you. And rest assured, if you come
to Christ, He'll receive you. That's what it says. All that
the Father hath given me shall come to me, and him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out. All that he chose, all that
he purchased, all that the Spirit of God calls to Himself, His
covenant, shall stand forever." And then fourth, I've got to
finish, His name. His name. Look at Psalm 111 verse
9. Holy and Reverend is His name. There's no other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. What else does Scripture
say about His name? "...whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord..." What? "...shall be saved." There's
no doubt. There's no question in that,
is there? "...shall be saved." That name
which is above every name. That name in which every knee
is going to bow. That name which every man is
going to confess. the Lord Jesus Christ." The Ethiopian
eunuch, he'd been to whatever that religious meeting was, he
was coming back from Jerusalem, sitting in the chariot, reading
Isaiah the Prophet. He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter, like a lamb done before his shearer, so opening not his
mouth in his humiliation. What humiliation? The humiliation
of being made sin. The humiliation of being hung
on the cross, of being separated from the Father, the humiliation
of bearing the sins of His people, His judgment was taken away.
Who shall declare His generation? For His life was taken from the
earth. When sin was found on the Lord Jesus Christ, God slew
Him. Sin must be punished. And the eunuch asked Philip,
he said, he said, is this man talking about himself or somebody
else here? What does Scripture say? Philip
began at that same verse of Scripture. And what did he do? He preached
Christ. He preached the Lord Jesus Christ
to him. And at some point that eunuch,
he stopped the chariot. He said, here's water. What does
hinder me from being baptized? What was Philip's question? Can
you repeat everything I've said to you? Can you recite these
things? Can you say the sinner's prayer? What did he say? Do you believe? Do you believe? I believe that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God. The One. This eunuch here, he
was one for whom redemption was sin. He was one of God's people. He was one of His elect, one
of His children. He was one resting in that covenant,
that eternal covenant. And He's one who called upon
His name. Let me ask you, who gets the
glory in that? God. To God be the glory. Verse 10,
and I'll finish here. Fear the Lord. The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all
they that do His commandments. His praise. Who gets the glory?
His praise endureth forever. His praise. And you know what? We can just go from there and
we can go back to verse 1, couldn't we? Praise ye, praise ye the
Lord. Praise ye the Lord.