if you would, Psalm 135, that
portion that our brother read to us just a bit ago. Psalm 135. We're so thankful for all the blessings
that God gives to His people. And all of us are thankful for
the mercies that he gives to everyone. All of the creatures
of God are recipients of his daily mercies, and all of his
people are recipients of his grace in the Lord Jesus. And
amongst all the blessings God can give, I think, and there's
certainly no question about this, the greatest honor God can bestow
on any son or daughter of Adam is just to save them by His grace. Oh, I tell you, if you're saved
this morning, delivered, rescued from that awful thing called
sin, and all of its deadly consequences. Oh, how blessed you are. Let us never think that we lack
for anything if God has given us His salvation. There's nothing
greater to be had. There's nothing greater that
God Almighty can bestow upon you than to just save your poor soul
by His grace through the doing and the dying of the Lord Jesus. Salvation is of our great God. David says here in Psalm 135
and verse 5, I know that the Lord is great. The one who has saved us is indeed
great. And this salvation that we have,
the Bible calls it a great salvation. Hebrews, the second chapter,
how shall we escape if we neglect? So great salvation, great salvation,
purposed by our great God. devised in his great wisdom,
brought about in his great, great counsel. Our Lord Jesus, that
great shepherd of the sheep, he came as the good shepherd
and he laid down his life for the sheep. This salvation, your
salvation, It was designed for God's great glory. Yes, you're
the recipient of the grace of God. You're indeed the beneficiary
of the goodness of God, the forgiveness of God, the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. But make no mistake about it,
to God goes all the glory. We read in the book of Ephesians
chapter 1 of the work of the Father and the Son and the Holy
Spirit in our salvation. And after each one of them that
some things have been said about their work in this salvation,
it is always followed by this, to the praise of His glory. to
the praise of His glory. There is one who is deserving
of all the glory for your salvation and for my salvation, and it
is our God Himself. This is a great salvation, devised
in great wisdom by God. It is based upon great grace. Great Grace. Merit has no part in this. Works has no part in this. Your efforts, your labors are
not to be spoken of in the same sentence as that salvation which
is of God. God is the one who saved you.
God did it for His glory. God did it through His infinite
wisdom through the death of a suitable substitute, Christ Jesus our
Lord. Our great high priest did business
with God for us. We can't do business with God.
God, the Bible says, is a consuming fire. And we're just, well, dead
sticks, like was said of Joshua, as we read in the book of Zechariah
chapter three last week. God's a great fire. We're dead,
dried up sticks. How can we do business with God? How can you, you a creature,
a creature, you drink iniquity, the Bible says, like water, how
can you do business with a holy God? The Bible says he charges
his angels with folly. The Bible says the heavens aren't
even pure in his sight. Now you say you're gonna do business
with God? You say you're going to make
your peace with God? That is absolutely absurd. Our God is so great. And you
and myself as well. We're so undone. We're unworthy. We're unfit. We have no ability to even approach
God. But this great salvation, you
see, is through a great high priest. He's great. We have one who stands between
us and God, and it is the Lord Jesus. We have a mediator. We have an advocate, Jesus Christ
the righteous. We have one who extends his hands
toward God and says, what do you demand? Christ as a man said,
what do you demand? And God told him and our Lord
fulfilled everything to the letter. God demanded perfection by a
man. Our Lord Jesus rendered that.
Our God demanded punishment for all the violations of His people
against His holy law. Our Lord Jesus bore all the penalty
of a broken law. What do you demand? God said,
perfection, and I demand a sacrifice. And our Lord Jesus satisfied
God as our great high priest. Well, what does God demand of
us? He demands repentance and faith. Oh, our Lord Jesus then turns
toward us and he gives us repentance toward God and faith in himself. You see, this is a salvation
that is altogether of God. I say again, the greatest honor
God can bestow upon any son or daughter of Adam is to save them
by his grace. It is no little thing. We read Peter says the righteous
are saved with difficulty, with difficulty. There's the difficulty
of the justice of God. That had to be appeased. There's
the difficulty of our own mountain of sin. That had to be removed. There's the difficulty of we've
got to be, by God, pronounced to be righteous. Our Lord Jesus,
he took care of the justice of God. He removed the mountain
of our sins and he brought in everlasting righteousness by
his substitutionary death upon the cross of Calvary. This is
a great salvation. And I say it is the greatest
honor in this world to be saved by the grace of God. It's amazing
how flippant people can speak of this salvation. I've had people come up to me
and they begin to tell me of their salvation experience somewhere
else. And they'll say, I got saved
today. I got saved today. And then they go on about their
business. Let me tell you something, salvation, it is experienced,
but it isn't a one-time experience. We're being saved. We're being
delivered. We're being rescued. It isn't
a matter of, well, I made my decision for Jesus, I'm saved,
my salvation is all wrapped up in a pretty little box, and I
put a bow on top of it, I don't ever have to worry about that
again, and I'll just set that box of salvation aside, and then
upon my deathbed, and when I meet God, I'll say, now wait, I made
my decision for you years ago, and I got saved. It's more than
that. It's more than that. It's knowing
somebody. You see, salvation, it is based
upon a great devised purpose and plan. of God. But it's more than that. It's
in somebody. Salvation is somebody. It is
somebody. It's knowing Him. Knowing Him. That's what Simeon looked into
the face of the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus was just a few
days old, and He said, He said, Lord, I'm ready to depart in
peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation. Well now, wait
a minute. He hadn't even died yet. He's
just a teeny-weeny baby. What do you mean you've seen
God's salvation? I've seen Him who is the Savior. I've seen Him myself. I've been brought to worship
Him and believe Him and adore Him. I tell you, it's the greatest
privilege in this world to be saved by the grace of God. Don't ever take that lightly,
and I know you don't. And don't ever just flippantly
say, well, I'm saved. Saved. Rescued. You mean God Almighty made bare
His mighty arm of grace and He reached down in the miry clay
and pulled you up and washed you in the blood of His Son and
robed you in His righteousness? That's no little thing. That's a work only God can do. This psalm is about praising
the Lord. And for those of us who are the
saved of God, we do praise Him. Like all of the psalms, they're
very precious to the people of God, and the psalms have often
brought great comfort to the Lord's children. This is a psalm
that begins, praise ye the Lord. And it ends, praise ye the Lord.
And that's just a Hebrew rendering of one word, which is hallelujah. This is a hallelujah psalm. He begins, praise ye the Lord. That's what he tells us to do.
Praise ye the Lord. Not praise yourself. Not praise
somebody else. Praise ye. You praise. Jehovah. You see, LORD is in
all capital letters. God who saves. You, you who are
saved. You who are delivered. You who are rescued from the
awfulness of sin. You praise the Lord. You praise Him at the beginning
and you praise Him at the end. And you praise Him all through.
This psalm is a psalm of praise to the Lord. It's a hallelujah
psalm. It's so delightful. I'll give
you an outline of this Psalm very quickly. Verses one through 14, here's
an exhortation to praise Jehovah for his goodness. Verse three,
for his electing love. And verse four, for his greatness. And verse five, for his sovereignty. And verse six, For his authority
over creation, verse seven. For his judgments upon the enemies
of his people, verses eight through 12. And then David praises, he
praises the Lord for his unchanging character, verse 13. For the
redemption of his people, verse 14. And then he follows that
with a condemnation of idols, verses 15 through 18. And then he follows that with
another exhortation to bless the name of God, verses 19 through
21. This is a song full of life,
full of praise, full of devotion by those who have been saved. This is a psalm unto our God
who is the Savior. So I say again, I begin with
this statement, the greatest honor God can bestow upon any
son or daughter of Adam is to save them by his grace. Now let
me tell you something else. Here's the second thing I want
to say. The second greatest honor that God can bestow upon anyone
is to be chosen as a minister of the gospel, one who declares
the greatness of God. What's my business today? What's
the preacher all about? Well, I ain't tell you what the
preacher's all about. I ain't tell you what the preacher's job is,
the preacher's responsibility. It is to declare the greatness
of God. This is what David is doing in
this psalm, Psalm 135. This is what Isaiah does in Isaiah
chapter 40 in verse nine, and you need not turn there, but
it says, O Zion, thou that bringest good tidings, get thee up into
a high mountain, O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift
up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid, say unto
the cities of Judah, behold your God. Behold your God. This is my great honor this morning. Number one, to be saved by the
grace of God. And then my second greatest honor
is to tell you, behold your God. I get to tell you about God.
I can't, other than this salvation, I can't think of any honor that
God would bestow or could bestow upon anybody of Adam's fallen
race than to, as I said, save them by His grace and then put
this task, give this task to a man. You tell people about
me, God said. It's the greatest honor God can
give short of saving a sinner by His grace. It's both my honor and my duty to tell you about
the God of the Bible in the fullness of His character and all the
persons of the Trinity. God is triunity. His Father,
Son, and the Holy Spirit. There's no one who can be compared
to our God. All illustrations about the Trinity
break down somewhere. You're a fool to try to define
it or describe it or set it forth. Our God is Trinity. Our God is
triunity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is no comparison
to our God. Isaiah says, Isaiah 46 in verse
5, God says, to whom will you liken me and make me equal? And compare me that we may be
like. Oh, the immensity of God. God fills all space. God fills all time. God is everywhere. God is omniscient. That just
simply means He knows everything. Whatever thought might be going
through your mind right now, He knows what it is. In fact,
He knew it before you ever thought it. Now, you can't comprehend
a God like that. A preacher, I can't wrap my mind
around such a God. No, you can't. No, you can't,
and you're a fool to endeavor to do it. What do you do before
a God like this? A God who does all of His pleasure,
a God who has all power, all might, all knowledge, who fills
all of space, all of time, who is Himself eternal. What do you
do before a God who has no beginning? He had no beginning. He'll have
no end. The God who's in heaven, the
God who's in earth, the God who's under the earth, the God who
rules all things. What do you do before such a
God? You fall down in worship, that's what you do. And you realize
you're nothing and he's everything. You render honor and glory to
him. God is holy, wise, and good. And you know, there are a lot
of religions who say some good things about God. There are people this morning
who are singing, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, just
as we sing it quite often. God is good. God is wise. Lots of people believe that.
God is true. God cannot lie. God's faithful
to his promises. He's faithful to his threats.
God is love. God is gracious. God is merciful. God is long-suffering. God is
forgiving. Many religious people believe
those things to an extent. Lots of people in their church
services today are going to bow their heads together and say
what they commonly call the Lord's Prayer. And they'll say, forgive
us our debts as we forgive our debtors. But of all the things that are
spoken about God, there's one other characteristic
that we must not omit, for if we do, we have not set forth
God in the fullness of his character. Without this attribute, God would
not be God. It is this attribute that separates
God from all pretenders to his throne. It is this attribute
that sets him apart from the false gods that men worship today. It is the universal reign of
God or his sovereignty. His sovereignty. The God who does as he pleases. The God who does when he pleases. The God who does and deals with
whom He pleases and how He pleases. David says this here in Psalm
135 and verse 6. Remember, here's a hallelujah
Psalm. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did He. In heaven, and in earth, and
in the seas, and all deep places." Later in the psalm, and I'm sure
you noted as our brother read this psalm to us, he talked about
the idols of the heathen. The idols of the false gods of
the heathen, they had a God for heaven, a God who ruled in heaven,
a God who rules on earth, a God who rules in the waters, a God
who rules in hell, a God, the fire God, the sun God, the moon
God. They had a God for everything.
And David just wiped some all out and he says, there's one
God. One God and He does whatever He's pleased to do in heaven
because He rules there. He's God there. And He does whatever
He wants to do in the earth because He's God down here. He's governing
all things. And whatever happens in the seas,
He rules there. Well, you mean He rules the fish
and the whales and the turtles? Why, absolutely. He rules in
the seas. He rules in all deep places.
He rules in hell. Who do you think maintains hell? It's not the devil's hell, it's
God's hell. He made it for the devil and
his angels and all who are disobedient to Him. Our God rules over all. There's nowhere in the vastness
of God's creation where God does not rule. That's what the Bible
teaches. He rules everywhere. He's doing
whatever He's pleased to do. When you watch the news in the
evening, Somebody's telling you if they're
accurately recording the news and not interpreting it. But
if they're accurately recording the news, they're just telling
you what God had willed to be done. You mean God's will, God's
purpose is being fulfilled in all things? Absolutely! The world hadn't been turned
loose from God's control to run on its own. And the devil is not governing
things in this world. Our God does his pleasure in
heaven, earth, seas, all deep places. He governs all things. He's the king. I bring this charge against most
of the pulpits of this country. They preach a God who's not God
at all. He's pathetic. He's a poor imitation
of God. He's weak. He's helpless. He's
effeminate. He's frustrated. And I realize
there are many sincere and dedicated, nice people who worship that
sort of God. But I'm telling you, they may
as well be bowing down to a rock or a tree or an animal as to
believe and render worship to a God who wants to do something,
but man won't let him do it. That means God has been dethroned
and man has been enthroned. That's what that means. It's
an awful charge against God to say He can't do what He wants
to do. What kind of God is it who wants to but can't? What
kind of God do you have whose will is checkmated by man? God makes a move, and then man
makes a move, and then God makes a move, and man makes a move,
and man says, I got you checkmated now. You can't fulfill your will.
And you got a frustrated God. Well, that's foolish. You know
that. That's just stupid talk. What do you mean when you say
God is sovereign? We mean God is God. We mean God
does what he wants to do. Everywhere with everybody. And
the greatest illustration of that is in the death of the Lord
Jesus. When, and this was in our son's
school lesson this morning in Acts chapter four. When the disciples,
Peter and John, had been accosted by the Sanhedrin and threatened
and said, don't you preach anymore in this name, the scripture says
they went to their own company. And then they sought the face
of God. They had a wonderful prayer meeting.
And then they acknowledged that it was Herod and Pontius Pilate
with the Jews and the Gentiles, they all gathered together to
do that which God had ordained. That which God had purposed,
the most horrible deed ever committed, the most wretched, wicked, sinful
thing that's ever happened in this world is when God came down
here. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh
and men laid their hands on Him and killed Him. That's a horrible
thing. But that was purposed by God. God brought it to pass. Now men
did what they wanted to do, but you want to talk about the greatness
of God? He used men who did exactly what
they wanted to do. He used them to fulfill his purpose
and they did exactly what he willed to be done. And yet his
own hands are unsoiled by their sinfulness. That's our God. Don't you ever have low thoughts
of God? Don't you ever feel sorry for
God? Don't you ever think that God's
not up to the task? God's not up to the work? Don't
you ever think that He will fail? He can't fail! God failed! Why, He spoke all of this into
being with His Word! Word of His power. He said, like
me, and the sun started shining in her brilliance. Are you gonna
hinder that God from doing something? God said, stars and moon, there
you go, start shining. And they all started glittering
in the night. That's our God? And God said,
animals come into being, and He just spoke them all into being.
Here's all little ones and big ones and everything in between.
He made them all by the Word of His power. That's our God. And God said, I'm going to save
a people to the glory of My name, and He sent His Son into this
world to save them by His death upon the cross of Calvary, and
then He arose again. and he used wicked men, he even
used the devil to bring it all to pass. Because you see, it
says in John chapter 13 that the devil entered into the heart
of Judas to betray him. And the devil said, I've got
him now. I'll get rid of him. And all
the while, God in the heavens upon his throne, he's executing
his holy council. Using the devil, he told Pharaoh through Moses,
he said, for this same purpose, I raised you up. What are you
talking about? What are you talking about? I'm
Pharaoh because I inherited from my daddy. You could have died
in your mother's womb. You could have died from all
those accidents that you avoided during your young years. But
God caused you to grow up and grow strong. And God gave you
whatever mental acuity you had. Whatever strength you had, God
gave it to you. God said, I raised you up, Pharaoh. You mean God raised up a wicked
old king? He sure did. Put him on the throne. He said, for this same purpose
I raised you up that I might make known my power in bringing
you down. God raised him up, God used him,
and then God drowned him in the Red Sea and he died and went
to hell. That's our God. Oh, I can't worship
a God like that. You'll worship him or you'll
perish right alongside a Pharaoh. You'll bow before him. This is
the God of the Bible. David says whatsoever he's pleased
to do, that's what he does. That's what he does. Turn to Isaiah 52. Isaiah chapter 52. Let me just
give you a couple of more thoughts here, and I'm gonna get you to
turn with me to one more reference. Isaiah 52. I wish I could tell
everybody this. And I say it's my, other than
being saved by the grace of God, this is the greatest honor God
could give me, to tell people who He is. Just get up and brag
on God. That's a wonderful job to have,
isn't it? I know some of you, you deal with cantankerous people
in your jobs and so forth. Well, of course I do too. May
have to rethink that statement. But the one I answer to is the
one I'm delighted to sit for. My great God. Look at Isaiah
chapter 52, verse seven. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace. We preach the gospel. We preach
Jesus Christ and him crucified for sinners, buried, risen again,
ascended. interceding for sinners, that
bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that
saith unto Zion, who in the world is Zion? That's the people of
God. So to you who are the people
of God, This is what I have to say to you this morning. Thy
God reigneth, exclamation mark. That's what it says. Thy God
reigneth. Preacher, you just don't know
what I'm going through. No, I don't, but he does. And I'll tell you what the scripture
says. Thy God reigneth. Well, is he reigning over that
situation in which you find yourself? You mean he only reigns on the,
he only governs on the sunny days? Is that the only time he
reigns? Or when the storms of life gather
round you, the dark clouds of trouble and trial? And that thunder crashes and
you're just full of fear. Is he raining then? I tell you, he rains when the
weather is nice and when the weather is bad. And he rains
when you feel good and you got no aches and pains, if you're
ever in that kind of condition. Some of us never know what it
means not to have an ache or a pain somewhere, but he rains
if you feel good and he rains if you feel bad. He reigns in flu season. He reigns in sicknesses that
start in China and make their way over here. He reigns in that
too. There's nothing he doesn't reign
over. You mean it's God's will for me to be sick? Well, are
you sick? Yes, I am. Well, it's God's will then. Just
like it's God's will if you're well. This is what I'm supposed to
say to Zion. And this is to comfort you. This is for your good. Thy God
reigneth. That ought to help you. If you're
one of the Lord's people, you're saved by God's grace. That ought
to help you. I don't even need to say any
more. Thy God reigneth. And if that
doesn't help you, you need to go home and get on your face
before God and say, Lord, teach me the truth of what He just
said. Thine God reigns. He reigns everywhere. And He
reigns over everybody. Me and you and your situation,
your troubles, your sickness, We got people of our congregation,
some of them getting feeble, some of them sick, some of them
had lingering sicknesses. I don't understand, Jim, how
God's reigning in this. Well, I don't either. I don't
have all the answers. But I can tell you what the Bible
says. Thy God reigneth. I can tell you that. And you
can rejoice in Him. knowing that He does all things
well. Trust Him. God help us to trust Him.