If you would, please turn to
Psalms 89. Psalms 89. I'm gonna begin reading
in verse 33. I'm just gonna read these two
verses, 33 and 34. But verse 33 starts with one
of my favorite words now. Nevertheless, nevertheless, my
loving kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my
faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. I'm gonna stop right there. Now,
of course, you understand we probably will have to back up
a couple of verses to see what that nevertheless is about, but. I read something in one of those
bulletins Matt gave me from Tim James's church. It was just a
couple of lines from Henry Mayhem. It was really good. Because to me, and I hope to
you, I find it extremely comforting to know two things. A, that there is a sovereign
God over this universe and everything in it. And B, the second thing,
I know this sovereign God. Specifically, I know the sovereign
son of the sovereign God. And that is a great comfort to
me. I told you a little bit when I
was coming up here, I was listening to a preacher preach and he mentioned something when he
told them the name of his church and sovereign's in the name.
He said, people still don't know what sovereign means. They don't. They don't. They
don't. They don't understand, they don't
want a sovereign God. When you explain to them what
a sovereign God actually is, they don't like you either. But I get comforted by knowing
there is a sovereign God, and I know that sovereign God, that
one who is in charge of everything in this universe, by him all
things consist, that comforts me. I mean, does that seem weird? It does to the world. And you
know, if it doesn't seem weird to you, it's because you're weird
too. That's right. Because the majority is always
sane, that's what they say. Yeah, but it doesn't mean they're
always right. The world thinks that religious
people love the idea of a God over all. And maybe they do as
a vague concept. But when you start getting into
specifics, that's when they run into trouble. The world thinks we need a crutch
for when times get tough. Okay? Here's the point. The world
don't understand, when you know the world the way it really is,
times are always tough. Now physically, they can get
a lot tougher than what they are now. But mentally, it's the
same thing. We deal with the same hatred
of this same sovereign God that the prophets did, what Paul read. Be glad when they persecute you,
because they did that to the prophets. Man has never listened
to God, not naturally. What the world doesn't know is
that religious people hate the sovereign God more than they
do. And they hate the sovereign son
of God, the true and the living Christ, and they hate him because
he is sovereign. Because in what aspect, in what
aspect did they reject Jesus when he was here? They rejected
him as Lord. They were fine with a teacher,
they were fine with a miracle, some of them, others maybe not
so much, but here's the whole thing. When you make yourself
equal with God, which he did, I and my Father are one. Jesus
never said he was the son of God. No, he said, I and my father
are one. And they took up stones to stone
him. That's the character, that's who they rejected was the son
of God, the one who is equal with God. Under what title did
they crucify him? King of the Jews, king, king. They rejected him as Lord, they
rejected him as king. What did Jesus Christ say in
a parable to these men? He said, their response is, we
will not have this man, to what? To reign over us. They reject the sovereignty of
God, they reject the sovereign God, and they reject the sovereign
son of God. The religious will love a partially
sovereign God, a sort of sovereign God, maybe even a mostly sovereign
God, as long as you leave room for their free will. That'll
be fine. That'll be fine. But guess what? That's not a sovereign God. Partially,
mostly, somewhat is not a sovereign God. They will not have a truly,
completely, totally sovereign God who works his own will, his
own will, his own will, with no regard for yours. In heaven
and in earth. And they will not have it. Because
it was the religious that wanted him dead. And you can take that
to the bank. Pilate was ready to let him go.
This guy didn't mean nothing to me. But the religious wouldn't
have it because they will not have this man to reign over them.
And no man will have this man to reign over them unless this
man does something for them. The sovereign God, the sovereign
Christ, the sovereign spirit is declared throughout the scriptures,
Old Testament and New. And he is in the heavens doing
all he please. Doing all his good pleasure and
all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them that are called according to his purpose. Why? Because
he is sovereign. He is a comfort to his people. The people of God. And he is
a vexation to those that hate him. And that means those that don't
know him. It's the same thing. It's the
same thing. Now, I thought of a strange thing
this morning while I was looking at my notes here. Because this
is the title, Paul. What God won't do. What God won't
do. Because I'm about to preach a
message about what God will not do. Usually you try to preach
what God does and what God is doing and what God will do and
what God has done for us. But it just sounds odd to say
it out loud, I'm gonna preach what God won't do, but this is
what we have in the scriptures. He's sovereign in what he won't
do also. He's sovereign in what he does,
he's sovereign in what he won't do. Anyhow, it starts with that
word, mine, there's my word again. Nevertheless, nevertheless, my
loving kindness, I will not utterly take from him. Now there's always
a word, a reason, excuse me, for that word nevertheless to
be there. There always is. It's like the word therefore.
You look back to see why it's there. Well, there's a reason
it says nevertheless. Well, you look back at verse
30, Now this is speaking about David and now David's children. Verse 30 says, if his children
forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they break my
statutes and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression
with a rod and their iniquity with stripes. So usually before
the word nevertheless, there's rebellion here. If they don't
keep the law, they transgress. Nevertheless, nevertheless, nevertheless, my loving kindness will I not
utterly take from, wait for it, him, from him. All the bad things that we do,
Any bad thing that we have done is not going to stop God from
doing something for us or from not doing something to us. You understand? Nevertheless,
my loving kindness, I will not take from him. You and I don't have any loving
kindness, but God does. God does. And what God is saying
here is his loving kindness is forever. Understand, God's not
like we are. We can love you one day and hate
you the next. Our Lord is not fickle. He's
sovereign. He's not fickle. And he never
makes a mistake. He doesn't have to do a take
back. He never does do a take back. If his loving kindness
is upon you, his loving kindness will always be upon you. But notice very carefully, it
doesn't say them. Nevertheless, my loving kindness
I will not utterly take from them. No, no, it's talking about
the seed of David here. And King David was a type of
Christ, a man after God's own heart. That's what he's talking
about. My loving kindness is in my son. And my loving kindness, I will
never take from my son. Oh, and here's the thing. If
you're in him, you're in the son. And his loving kindness,
he will never take from you because he'll never take it, what? From
him. That's where it is. Everything is in what? The sovereign
God. It's in Christ. And God won't
take one thing from the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's from
the meanest sinner he ever saved. Doesn't matter. Nevertheless,
my loving kindness, I will not take from him. Because to take
one of his people would be to take from his son. And he's not
going to do that. God won't do that. That's one
of the things God won't do. Why? It says it right here in
his word. Gabe said a real good thing this
morning. I was listening. It was something he said a couple
of weeks ago. But here's the thing. Somebody comes up to you
and you say, All things work together for good to them that
love God. I don't believe baptism saves
you. And they say, well, what about this verse? Well, what
about it? I believe that verse too. Here's
what I believe. Every verse of scripture. All
verses of scripture. You can't take one and try and
forget another. You can't take one and try to
play it off against another. All of the scripture is true
and this is true. God will never take his loving
kindness from his son. And therefore, nevertheless,
he will never take his loving kindness from you if you are
in his son. God's loving kindness is forever
and God's loving kindness is in a person. the person, his
son, his beloved son, Jesus Christ. Because God's loving kindness
is not in everyone. I know there are those that talk
like it is, but it's not. It's not. God's loving kindness
comes from his love. You have scripture for that?
Well, of course we do. I have loved thee. with an everlasting
love. What? It doesn't stop there.
Therefore, because of the love that I loved you with an everlasting
love, therefore, that's not a nevertheless. That's a because of. Therefore,
with loving kindness have I drawn thee. I like that. And his loving kindness Forever
just exactly like his love And it's any son. It's in him and
it's always in him. It will never not be in him and
God's loving kindness. He will not take from him And
it says this nor suffer my what faithfulness to fail I My faithfulness. Whose faithfulness? God's faithfulness. God's faithfulness. It's not yours. It's not mine. God's faithfulness will never
fail. Never fail. Why? It's just as
perfect as God is. It's as perfect as the Lord from
heaven. My faithfulness, thank God, is
not at issue here. Because my personal faithfulness
comes and it goes. Usually with my circumstances. But here's the point. Whose faith
is it? Who's the author? Who's the finisher? God is. Our Lord Jesus Christ
is. The one in whom his faithfulness
shall not fail. The one in whom his loving kindness
he will not take from him. It's my faithfulness. Why? He is faithful. Or if you want to put it this
way, faithful is he. And he is faithful to those he
loves. His loving kindness won't fail
to Him. He is faithful to all that are
in His beloved. Faithful is He. Faithful is He. Our faithfulness in truth is
totally dependent upon His faithfulness. What little faith we have. Great faith, little faith. Any
faith comes from God. It's not something you work up.
It's not something you can keep up. Our faithfulness is dependent
upon his faithfulness and his faithfulness will never fail. It won't fail because if his
faithfulness ceases or is false, our faithfulness is gone. but don't be alarmed, don't be
dismayed. He is faithful. He is faithful. He will not suffer
his faithfulness to fail. He's not God, the father is not
going to disappoint God, the son. He's not gonna work against
God, the spirit. And it's his spirit that's in
you now. Why? Because he's faithful. He's faithful. The third thing he won't do,
my covenant will I not break. My covenant I will not break. Okay, any questions as to whose
covenant it is? Whose loving kindness is it?
His. Whose faithfulness is it? His. Whose covenant is it? It's
his. Because the covenant the psalmist
is writing of here is not with us. It's with his son. My loving kindness will I not
take from him. That's the subject. My covenant
is with him. It's a covenant between the father
and the son and the spirit. It's a covenant of God. Any covenant
made with man has been broken. The law was broke for Moses got
down off the hill with it. That's how depraved we are. We
can't keep anything. And he knows we can't keep anything.
But my covenant, what will I not break? It ain't up to you to
break it. You can't break his covenant. Not if it's his. Rejoice therefore and again,
I say unto you rejoice. His covenant is a covenant between
equals. I And my father are one the father
the son and the spirit what these three are one That's whose covenant
it is You're just in it because of him My covenant I will not break
will I not break I like that, I do, I can't help
it. Because every covenant set up
with man, I said it, it's broken and it's still being broken.
But not this covenant. All the promises given in the
Old Testament are in the Son. All the promises were made to
what? The seed of Abraham. The seed of woman. Young's literal
translation actually translates it this way, I profane not my
covenant. Because that's what it means
to break a covenant, is to profane it. And there is no agreement,
no covenant, no contract between the Father, the Son, and the
Spirit that will ever be considered or even looked at as profane. It won't happen. That's what it means to break
a covenant is to profane the agreement and nothing profane
Proceeds down from the father of lights His covenant his covenant he
will not break Now the fourth thing here that
God won't do is nor alter the thing that is gone out of, what? My lips. My lips. Nothing that God has ever said,
nothing that Christ Jesus has ever said will ever change. And that goes for his preaching,
that goes for his teaching, hey, that goes for his scripture. What do you believe? All the
scripture. How do you do that? Not very well. I try. I do the best I can. I try to
believe it even when I don't understand it. And I ask God
for the understanding of it. Because this is a book of Christ.
This is a book of the sovereign son of God. The sovereign God
that I want to know. Who's a comfort to me. and everything
in it, what? That has gone out of his lips.
I will not alter. And what's that mean by alter?
That means change. Now, how does it mean change?
Anyway. You understand? He's not going
to change the meaning of this. He's not going to change what
he said. He's not going to take back anything he said. Now, how in the world is that
possible? I asked Debbie this question.
How is it possible that I will alter nothing that comes out
of my lips? Well, it's easy if you're the sovereign God. All
you have to do is to never say anything except for the absolute
truth. All you have to do is to never
be wrong about anything. You understand? This has nothing
to do with us. This scripture has nothing to
do with us except for the results of it. All you have to be is all powerful.
All you have to do is to make the universe under your command.
So that when you say something, it happens. That's Jesus Christ. He's the
voice of God. He's the one that said, let there
be light and there was light. Mason, before there ever was
a sun or a moon, before there was a light in the sky, there
was light in the Lord. All you have to do is from the
beginning, declare the end. It's easy if you're the sovereign
God. It's easy if you're God manifest
in the flesh. With man, it's impossible. With God, it is certain. You can't, I can't, no one can,
except for the only begotten, well-beloved Son of God, Jesus
Christ. His word will not return unto
him void. I just said it a minute ago,
he's the voice of God. You mean this stuff Jesus said
in the New Testament? None of it ever returned unto
him void. Well, didn't they kill him? None
of it returned unto him void. Didn't they try to stone him,
run him out of town? None of his words returned unto
him void. It accomplished exactly what
he had wanted it to accomplish. I was reading in Mark where Jesus
says that he came to preach. And he preached, believe the
gospel. Believe the good news of the
kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is at hand.
And we see some of the results that came from his preaching.
One leper came to him at one time. That was it. That's all
we're told. There may have been others, but
it doesn't matter. One leper came to him and said, if thou
wilt, Thou canst make me whole. Thou canst make me clean. And
he did. He said, I will be thou cleansed. Thou art cleansed. Those words went out of his mouth
to enrage some and to bring others. The very same words. How is that possible? He's sovereign
God. He's sovereign God. And not a
word he uttered will ever be altered in purpose or in scope,
in reach, or anything, any way. It shall return to him. And it
shall not return to him void. It'll accomplish For which I
sent it and that's acceptance. That's rejection. That's whatever Now be very very clear it has
to be his word coming from his lips I Am to preach his word I Am to preach from his book
I His words. Why? Because those are His rules. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. It pleased God, not by the preaching
of foolishness, but by the foolishness of preaching. To save them what? That belief. Why? His faithfulness. His faithfulness will never end. Who's in control here? Who commands
and reigns throughout all the scripture? Old Testament and
new. Who does as he will in heaven
and among all the inhabitants of the earth? It ain't you and
it's not me. God does. Jesus Christ does. The father has put everything
and everyone in the hands of the only begotten son. David
said this, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me. Follow
who? Me. This is personal. All the days of my life. What? Even days when you don't recognize
it. Even days when you don't acknowledge
it. His goodness and his mercy is forever. His grace and his mercy is forever. But I'll be gracious to whom
I will be gracious. I'll be merciful to whom I will
be merciful. Who gets to choose? Oh, he's
already chose. He's already chose. Before we
ever got here, before we were ever thought of on this planet,
he's already chose. And he put us in his son. And
what? My loving kindness will I not
take from Him. And if you're in Him, you're
in place. And His loving kindness will
never come from you. Never. My loving kindness results in
my faithfulness. My faithfulness guides my covenant. And my words, my covenant is expounded and
sworn to by my words. And my words reveal my loving
kindness to him. Everything is to him. My loving
kindness is in Him. My faithfulness is in Him. My
covenant is in Him. And my words are in Him. Everything revolves around the
source. And we are not the source. He
is the source. The source is God Himself. The
source is God Himself manifest in the flesh. And His love for
His people results in His loving kindness. will I not utterly
take from Him. Take heart in that. Take comfort
in a sovereign God. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again for this day and this time. Be with Walter as he comes to
speak here to give us the words needful to be heard and help
us to learn to hear and to learn to understand and to learn to
see your glory as we go forth in this world. In Christ's name,
amen.