Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. I'd like to welcome you to our
program today. I'm glad you could join us. If
you'd like to follow along in your Bibles, I'll be preaching
from the 89th Psalm, Psalm 89. And this is a Psalm of David
in which he basically was just simply singing praises unto the
Lord God of salvation. And I won't be reading the whole
Psalm, but I want to just focus in on a few verses surrounding
verse 15. concerning this subject, the
joyful sound. Over in verse 15 of Psalm 89,
it reads, blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of thy countenance. And of course, that joyful sound
is the gospel. It's the good news that brings
God's people joy when the Holy Spirit has prepared them to receive
it joyfully. And it's the good news of salvation
by the grace of God for sinners who cannot save themselves. That's
our plight, having fallen in Adam and being born dead in trespasses
and sins, and having no desire for the salvation that God has
provided through His Son, The Holy Spirit has to convict us
of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. We must be born
again, the Lord himself said in John chapter 3, else we cannot
see or enter the kingdom of heaven. But when the Holy Spirit has
prepared the people of God to hear the gospel message, the
good news, it is truly a joyful sound. But by nature, it's anything
but joy. The Bible tells us in John chapter
3 and verses 19 and 18, verses 19 and 20 rather, that the light
has come into the world and that light is Christ and it's the
gospel that reveals Christ in the glory of his person, in the
power and the glory of his finished work of righteousness for his
people, his blood shed for their sins. And so that light is coming
to the world. But if left to ourselves, the
scripture says there in John 3, 19, but men loved darkness
and hated the light because their deeds were evil. And what that's
talking about is how the light of the gospel, the light of Christ
and Him crucified and risen from the dead, the light of His righteousness,
which is revealed in the gospel, serves to expose what people by nature, as we're
naturally born, love and rest in and admire and what we think
will recommend us unto God. You know, the Bible says that
salvation is not by works, but men and women by nature love
their works and they cannot understand how their works cannot be good
enough to make them righteous in God's sight and to get them
saved or into heaven. But the gospel light, the good
news, the joyful sound says otherwise. It excludes everything that we
by nature, naturally, think recommends us unto God, even what we call
the good things. people's works and trying to
be good. Salvation is by grace. It's a
free gift. We don't earn it, we don't deserve
it. It's based totally upon the work of Christ, his merits, his
righteousness alone. And our best efforts to keep
the law, our best efforts to be good, our best efforts to
be moral, to be kind, to be sincere, cannot and will not make us righteous
in God's sight. We all sin and come short. We miss the mark. And that's
why we need Christ. He is my only righteousness.
But that's the joyful sound to those who have been brought by
the Holy Spirit to see their sinfulness, their depravity. The Bible says there is joy and
peace in believing. Believing what? believing God's
Word. It says here back in Psalm 89
and verse 15, blessed is the people that know the joyful sound.
They shall walk, O Lord, in the light. Now that's the same light
that man by nature hates because it exposes and does away with
his false refuge. Think about it this way. Do you
have any assurance of salvation? And if you say yes, and most
people do, I would ask you now, what is your assurance of salvation
based on? What is the ground of your assurance?
Now, the only ground of assurance that the Bible tells us in the
gospel, that joyful sound, is the grace of God based upon the
obedience unto death, the blood, the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ alone, nothing added. If your ground of assurance is
your profession, some profession that you made back years ago
and that you were baptized, if your profession is that you've
lived a good life or tried to, If your ground of assurance is
your sincerity, I'm here to tell you, it's no good. It's a false
refuge. The Bible tells God's people
to live life, run the race of grace, walk the walk of faith,
looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. We don't look to ourselves or
anything we've done, or to anything the Holy Spirit's done in us,
because if the Holy Spirit has done a work in us, what will
we be doing? will be walking, he says, they
shall walk in the light of thy countenance. They'll walk by
God's word and they'll walk looking to Christ. So that's the issue
here in the joyful sound. But look up at verse 13. Let's look at a few verses surrounding
that here in this Psalm. And remember what David is doing
here is he's praising the God of salvation, the God of grace. Now David, King David, He knew
that he did not have anything by which he had done to earn
or deserve the salvation that God gives, the grace of God. It was all mercy, undeserved. And he says in verse 13, he says,
thou hast a mighty arm. Now that's talking about the
power of God. God doesn't literally have an
arm. God is spirit. God is invisible. But whenever the Bible talks
about the arm of God, it's talking about his power. God is powerful. In fact, if you read the scriptures,
you'll understand that God is what we call omnipotent, omnipotent,
omnipotent. That means all powerful. God
cannot be defeated. God can do everything that he
has promised to do. And the power of God that David,
this mighty arm that he's talking about is salvation by God's grace
in and by the Lord Jesus Christ who himself as God manifest in
the flesh, God-man Fully God and fully man without sin. He
himself is the power of God. Isaiah asked that question in
Isaiah 53. To whom is the arm of the Lord
revealed? Who is Christ revealed to? That's
what he's asking. God's power to save is in and
by the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1.16
says, for I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for that
gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth,
to the Jew first and to the Greek also, or the Gentile, that's
what that means. Verse 17 says, for therein, in
that gospel, in that joyful sound, you might say, in that good news,
is the righteousness of God revealed, from faith to faith, as it is
written, the just or the justified, the righteous shall live by faith. Now, who is the righteousness
of God? It's Christ. Jeremiah called
Him the Lord, our righteousness. So when he says here in verse
13, thou hast a mighty arm, it's talking about God's power to
save. He says, strong is thy hand. Again, just elaborating. on the power of God. And then
he said, and high is thy right hand. That's the hand of justice.
That's the hand of justice, the hand of right. It's the hand
of fellowship. And what he's saying in those
words is that God's justice is satisfied by Christ for his people,
Christ as our surety, as our substitute, as our redeemer,
and sinners are brought into fellowship with God by Christ. God's right hand. He's seated
at the right hand of God, ever living to make intercession for
his people. Not all without exception, but
for his people. And who are they? Well, they
are those who have heard the joyful sound. When you hear the
gospel, the true gospel, from the word of God, is it a joy
to you? Is it joy and peace in believing?
Does it make you happy? Does it give you joy and peace
and comfort? Or does it grate against your
grain? Does it rub you the wrong way? Does it bring out your dissent
and your unbelief? Even your hatred? Think about
that. If what I'm telling you is the
word of God and you need to check me out, You need to know that
what I'm saying is the Word of God. So go to the Word of God
and find out if I'm telling you the truth. If what I'm telling
you rubbed you the wrong way, then it's not a joyful sound,
is it? Well, I pray that the Holy Spirit will prepare you.
He'll give you life, show you your sin, show you who God is.
That's what He does. He shows us the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ, that God, He is a God of love. You hear a lot about that today,
and that's okay if you hear it in the right context. God is
a God of love. God is a God of mercy. God is
a God of grace. And that's all true. But God
is also, at the same time, a God of justice, a God of wrath, who
must punish sin. He's a God who hates those whose
sin is imputed to, charged to. The Bible says that. And so the
issue of the joyful sound then comes to be how can God be both
a just God, a righteous judge, as well as a savior, a loving
father. And the next verse, look at verse
14 of Psalm 89. Listen to this. Here's how. Justice
and judgment are the habitation or the establishment of thy throne,
God's throne. God is a merciful God, but he's
not going to show mercy without justice. God is a gracious God,
but he's not going to show grace, he's not going to be gracious
apart from righteousness. God is a God of love. but his
love is consistent with his truth. And his love is in Christ and
it says here in verse 14, mercy and truth shall go before thy
face. Now here are two things that
in essence, when you consider them as they are truly portrayed
in the scripture, they're opposites. Here's a sinner, for example.
And that sinner, we fell in Adam, we talked about that, we're born
dead in trespasses and sin, and we've all sinned and come short
of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death. That's
what we earn, that's what we deserve. Now it goes on to say
the gift of God is eternal life, but it doesn't stop there, does
it? It says through Jesus Christ our Lord. So there is eternal
life for sinners, who deserve and have earned eternal death.
How is that possible? Over in the book of Job, this
question is posed several times. How can a sinner be justified
with God? And how can God be just and save,
have mercy, love, be gracious, justify a sinner? Does God pervert
His justice and say, well now, because I'm so loving, I'm just
not gonna give you what you deserve and we'll just suspend justice?
Is that what God does? And the answer is no, not if
you read the Bible. And so there's the question of
questions. How can I, a sinner, who deserves nothing but death
and eternal perishing, how can I be justified in a holy God's
sight, a God who must punish sin? That's the issue. And that's
what must be solved. Now man has no answer for that. There's no religion of man. There's
no philosophy of man. There's no political statement
or position that man can have that will solve that problem. In fact, the religions of man
really don't even consider that issue. It's just that most people
today in what they call Christianity, they say, well, we're sinners,
we can't save ourselves. So basically God felt sorry for
us and sent his son to die to make us savable if we would do
our part. But the Bible does not teach
that. Listen, if the Holy Spirit has prepared you to hear the
gospel by showing you your sin, That false message is not gonna
be a joyful sound to you. It'll be a condemnation, is what
it'll be. Because the Holy Spirit has shown
you who you are. Show me who I am, the natural
man. Receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God, neither can he know them. It's not by works
of righteousness, which we have done. It's not even by our will,
the scripture says. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. I
believe that's Romans 9, 16. You see salvations of the Lord.
And so the joyful sound. So what I'm telling you is that
verse 14, David, he talks about the mighty power of God in Christ. And then he says that God's throne
God's sovereign throne in the salvation of his people is established,
the habitation of justice and judgment, and it happens this
way, mercy and truth shall go before God's face. Now God's
face is that which identifies and distinguishes him from idols. This is how God reveals himself.
And over in the book of Isaiah chapter 45, He revealed Himself
as a just God and a Savior. How can He be both? How can God
show me mercy and still honor His justice? And the answer is
the joyful sound, blessed. Verse 15, now think about it.
Do you know? Do you know that? Do you know
the answer? As I said, man's religion, man's philosophies
cannot answer that question. There's no religion of man, including
false Christianity, that can answer that question. And so
he says in verse 15, blessed is the people that know the joyful
sound. Now that joyful sound is the
answer to the question, how can a sinner be justified before
a holy God? It's found in the answer. How
can God be just and honor his justice, his truth, his righteousness,
and still be merciful and loving and gracious to sinners? The
joyful sound is the answer. And he says, those who know that
shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. Look at verse
16. It says, in thy name shall they
rejoice all the day, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. That's the answer, it's in God's
righteousness. Now remember what I said about
Romans 1, 16 and 17. The gospel is the power of God
and the salvation, the gospel of Christ. for therein is the
righteousness of God revealed." And that's the issue, that's
the answer. And what is the righteousness
of God? It is the entire merit, value, worth or worthiness of
the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ as the surety,
substitute and redeemer of His people. That's it. Christ was made the surety of
God's chosen people before the foundation of the world. Their
sins, the sins of God's chosen people were accounted, reckoned,
imputed to Christ. He took upon Himself before the
world began in the covenant of grace to be the surety of all
whom the Father had given Him. And in doing that, he agreed
willingly to the glory of the Father and the salvation of his
people to come to earth and take into union with himself a sinless
humanity. God in human flesh, the Word
made flesh dwelling among us, to obey the law perfectly unto
the death of the cross to pay the penalty, the justice of God
for their sins. And on that cross, he drank damnation
dry. He took the cup of God's wrath
upon him, suffered, bled, and died on that cross. And he said,
it's finished. What was finished? The law was
satisfied, sins were put away so that God's people are forgiven
of all their sins by the blood of Christ. What can wash away
my sins? You see, our faith does not put
away our sins. Our repentance does not put away
our sins. Our confession does not put away
our sins. And our baptism in water, the
confession, the ordinance, does not put away our sins. It's the
blood of Christ alone. Now, how does that affect you? Is that a joyful sound to you?
Or is it grating upon your ears? Oh no, preacher, it's gotta be
more than that. It's gotta be something else.
You gotta be baptized. Listen, the commandment of baptism
is not for the washing away of sins. It's for a confession that
Christ's blood has already washed away my sins. What is it to be
justified? It's to be forgiven of all my
sins, past sins, present sins, future sin, by the blood of Christ. What is it to be justified? It's
to be declared righteous in God's sight, based upon Christ's righteousness
imputed, charged, accounted to me. My sins were accounted to
him so that they cannot be laid to my charge. Romans 8 33, who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that
justify it. I cannot be condemned, because
it's Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, and seated
at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for me. That's
Romans 8, 34. You see, that's what it is to
be justified. And so, walking in that truth, by God-given faith,
is what the psalmist here, David, describes in verse 15, as walking,
O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. His countenance. that the glorious
truths that identify Him and distinguish Him, the glory of
God, His countenances. The Bible says that we see the
glory of God by the power of the Spirit in the face of Jesus
Christ, His person, His work. And so read verse 16 again, in
thy name. Do you know His name? I'm not
talking about His title. You know, you can know somebody's
name and not know them. But here, knowing His name is
knowing Him by the revelation of the Spirit through Christ,
knowing Him intimately. And it says, in thy name shall
they rejoice all the day, and in thy righteousness, God's righteousness,
Christ's righteousness imputed, shall they be exalted. That's
what lifts me up. That's the joyful sound. That's
the answer to the great question of the ages, the riddle of all
riddles, how can God be just and save a sinner like me? How
can a sinner like me be forgiven and God remain just? Here it
is, in His righteousness shall I be exalted, lifted up to God. It's all by grace, it's not by
my work, it's not by my decision, not by my will. Look at verse
17 of Psalm 89. for thou art the glory of their
strength. In other words, it's not my own
strength, it's his strength, he's my glory, and in thy favor,
our horn, that's power, shall be exalted. The power that I
have is the power of God unto salvation. It's the power of
Christ by the Holy Spirit in his word, and he says in verse
18, for the Lord is our defense, he's our shield. and the Holy
One of Israel is our King. That's Christ. He's our shield. Now think about it. If I stand
before God based upon the righteousness of Christ imputed to me, no charge
that Satan, no charge that the world, and no charge that I myself
in the flesh can bring against me will stick. That's a joyful
sound, isn't it? My sins cannot be charged against
me in the court of God's justice. Now, I'm not talking about our
life here on earth. If I go out and break the law,
I'll get charged and go to jail or pay a fine or whatever. But
we're talking about a sinner's relationship to God in salvation
by grace. Again, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? David wrote in Psalm 32, blessed
is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. Paul wrote about
it in Romans 4, 6. He said the blessedness of the
man to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works. And so when Satan charges me,
when the world charges me concerning my salvation, I'm not concerning
how fast I'm driving. You understand that now, I'm
saying that, I'm not being facetious. I mean, if you go out here and
break the law of the land, you get fined or you get jailed or
whatever, you pay the penalty. That's life here on earth. But
when it comes to salvation and a right relationship with God,
when Satan charges me, when the world charges me, and when I
myself in my conscience charge myself, No charge will stick. God says this, here's a joyful
sound. He says, their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more. What does that mean? That means he will not charge
them. He will not bring them up. He
will not keep a record of them. So that when I stand before God
in the last day at the judgment, I'll stand in Christ, having
his righteousness charged to me. and God will say, no charge. That's the joyful sound of the
gospel wherein the righteousness of God is revealed. And I hope
it's joyful to you, I pray so. If it's not, I pray that the
Lord will send his spirit to show you the truth. Hope you'll
join us next week for another message from God's word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. 317-07, contact us by
phone at 229-432-6969 or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.