Open your Bibles, if you would,
to 1 Chronicles, Chapter 28. Our text will be in Chapter 29,
but I want to read a verse in Chapter 28, so that we get the
setting of what is occurring in Chapter 29. The name of the
message is Master Over All. Have you ever been perplexed
by the things that go on in this world? Have you ever been perplexed
sometimes by the things that go on in our own lives? For the believer, we have great
comfort in knowing that our God is in control. Knowing that he
is the master over whatever situation we find ourselves in. And for the believer in Christ,
that brings us great comfort. Because sometimes when we're
in certain situations, we wonder, oh my, what's going to happen?
But the Lord is ever in control. We as believers, we who are the
born-again, blood-bought people of God, need to remind ourselves
of this. I remember one preacher saying,
why must we constantly hear the gospel? Because we soon forget
things. It's true. It's true. And this is why we must have
the gospel preached and proclaimed to us, myself included, all the
time. All the time. To remember the
mercies that our great God has given us and shown to us in and
through Christ Jesus our Lord. Let's read 1 Chronicles 28 verse
1 to get the setting of what's going to occur chapter 29. And David assembled all the princes
of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the
companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains
over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and stewards
over all the substance and possessions of the king, and of his sons
with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the
valiant men unto Jerusalem. Now David brings all of Israel
before him here, the mighty men, not all of Israel, but the mighty
men and those who had been officers and mighty men of valor before
him. Time of his death is drawing
near. Time of his death, the time of him going to be with
his fathers is coming near. He therefore wishes to see them
all once more, and leave them with his love and his blessing, before he receives the Lord's
promotion to go and be with the Lord. Now let's turn to chapter
29, and we'll read verses 10 to 22. Wherefore David blessed the Lord
before all the congregation, David said, Blessed be Thou,
Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness
and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for
all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. Thine
is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of
Thee, and Thou reignest over all. And in Thy hand is power
and might, and in Thy hand is to make great and to give strength
unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank
Thee and praise Thy glorious name. But who am I? And what is my people that we
should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things
come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. For we are
strangers before thee, and sojourners where all our fathers, our days
on the earth are as a shadow, and there is nothing abiding.
O Lord our God, all the store that we have prepared to build,
thee and house, for thine holy name cometh of thine hand, and
is all in thine own. I know also, my God, that thou
hast tried the hard and has pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in
the uprightness of my heart, I have willingly offered all
these things And now I have seen with joy thy people, which are
present here, to offer willingly unto thee. O Lord God of Abraham,
Isaac, and of Israel, our fathers, keep this forever in the imagination
of the thoughts of the heart of thy people, and prepare their
heart unto thee. And give unto Solomon, my son,
a perfect heart to keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, thy statutes,
and do all these things, and to build the palace for which
I have made provision. And David said to all the congregation,
now bless the Lord, your God. And all the congregation blessed
the Lord, God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads and
worshiped the Lord and the king. And they sacrificed sacrifices
unto the Lord and offered burnt offerings unto the Lord. on the
morrow after that day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and
a thousand lambs with their drink offerings and sacrifices in abundance
for all Israel. And did eat and drink before
the Lord on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon
the son of David king the second time and anointed him unto the
Lord to be chief governor and Zodack to be priest. Now, beloved of God, we live
in an age of man-centered religion. We do. It's all around us. All around us. And you don't
have to go very far to find it, too. It's all around us. In verses like verse 10 and 11
here in our text, are ignored by these folks, or
they do not go over well with them. Man-centered religion promotes
defeated God. A Savior who wants to save but
cannot, unless you allow him. Unless you allow him. Therefore,
God is regulated to wanting to save, but not being able to unless
the sinner allows him to be saved, allows himself to be saved. What does it do, beloved? What
does it do? It makes man sovereign and makes
God at man's beck and call. That's exactly what it does.
That's exactly what it does. Now you will search the scriptures,
but never find that God. That's not the God of the Bible. That is not the God of the Bible. That God is being promoted all
over the place, all over this land, all over this world. But
that is not the God of the Bible. That is the God of man-centered
religion. The Bible knows nothing of a
defeated God. The God of the Bible has all
power. Has all power. He is called the
Almighty God. The Almighty God. And this is
proclaimed in Genesis 17, verse 1, where the Scriptures declare,
And when Abraham was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared
to Abraham and said unto him, I am the Almighty God. Walk before Me and be thou perfect. What a declaration by our own
God, by Jehovah Himself. He declares Himself to be the
Almighty God. Not a weak, defeated God who
can't do anything, unless the sinner allows Him to do that.
No, He declares Himself to be the Almighty God. The God of the Bible, beloved,
possesses all power. All power. Both in heaven and
in earth. All power. And there is nothing,
nothing that is impossible for Him to do or too hard for Him
to do. What He wills, in the armies of heaven, and among the
inhabitants of the earth comes to pass. And there is absolutely
no one, not one of us in this room, not one who will listen
to this message, not one in the world who can ever thwart his
hand. That is the God of the Bible. That's the God of the Bible.
The one who declares himself to be the Almighty One. The Almighty God. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
18, verse 13. Today we're going to look at who our God is. He
is the Eternal One, the Immortal One, the Sovereign God of the
universe, the Master of this world. Master over all things
visible and invisible. The God of the Bible is Jehovah,
the Self-existent One. The Supreme Being of all the
universe. And that's my savior. Is it yours? That's why this brings such good
hope and great hope to God's people, because the almighty
one, the word of God became flesh and dwelt among us and redeemed
his people from their sins. Oh, it's wonderful. Look at Psalm
18, verse 13. It says, the Lord also thundered
in the heavens and the highest gave his voice hailstones and
coals of fire. Now turn to Luke chapter one,
Luke chapter one, and then we'll go to Luke chapter six. It said
there, I'll read it again. The Lord also thundered in the
heavens and the highest gave his voice, hail stones and coals
of fire. Now look at Luke 1.35 and then
we'll go to Luke 6.35. Luke 1.65. for 135, I'm sorry, and the angel
answered and said unto her, the holy ghost shall come upon thee
and the power of the highest again shall overwhelm thee. Therefore,
also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called
the son of God. Now go over to Luke 635. But love ye your enemies, and
do good, and lend hoping for nothing again, and your reward
shall be great. And ye shall be children of the
highest, for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
Now in the Greek there, the highest means most elevated, loftiest. This in place, He is the highest.
He dwells in the highest regions in heaven. He dwells far above
us. Also of rank, He is the most
high God. The one true God. He is the highest. The supreme God. The true God. That's what the Greek says about
that word right there. So marvel in this, you who are
redeemed. You who are redeemed of the Lord. You are saved. You are redeemed. You are kept
by the One that the Scriptures proclaim is the Highest One.
That's our Savior. That's our Redeemer. Turn, if
you would, to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46. It is He who is the
Lord over all. And all things are in submission
to Him. The God of the Bible has no rivals, no equals. Just as Isaiah penned these words
by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, Isaiah 46, verses 5 to
13. To whom will ye liken me? Well,
there's no one who compares to our God, is there? There's no
one who compares to us. And that's what he's saying,
whom will you liken me to? No one. No one. He's the highest. He's the highest, beloved. And
make me equal. He has no equals. He has no rivals. And compare me that we may be
like. He has no equals, no rivals.
He's the highest. He's the highest. Declaring the
end from the beginning. He already knows what's gonna
happen. This verse makes me marvel here
in verse 10. Declaring the end from the beginning.
We know things from our beginning to our end, don't we? But he
knows things from the end to the beginning. Oh my, this is
our God, beloved. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done. Look at that. He chose a people
in eternity, didn't he? And it came to pass. He chose
us in Christ, and Christ redeemed us, and the Lord, He's still
drawing in His people, isn't He? He's still drawing in His
sheep. Oh, my. The things that are not
yet done, saying, look at this, my counsel shall stand. It doesn't
say, well, it'll stand if man lets it stand. It doesn't say
that, does it? My counsel shall stand. There's no doubt. Those little
hinge words there, shall, they're just incredible words. Shall
stand. And I will do all my pleasure.
God does whatever he's pleased to do. Wow. That's our God. Calling a ravenous
bird from the east, the man that executed my counsel from a far
country, yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it, I will also do it. Think of that in light of our
salvation. He said one day He's going to present His people blameless
before His throne. Oh, hallelujah. It's Him that
keeps me. It's Him. He promised that He's
going to do it. Because it says right here, I have purposed it,
I will also do it. Each believer can take that and
just cling to that, can't we? Just cling to that. Hearken unto
Me, ye stout-hearted that are far from righteousness. You who
are in self-righteousness, The Lord says, hearken unto me. Hearken unto me. I bring near my righteousness,
it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry,
and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory. He
has placed salvation in Zion, hasn't he? That's the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Zion is His people. That's Israel. And it's all for
His glory. It's all for His glory. That
which He has purposed comes to pass. Oh, what a great God. So think of how absurd it is
to compare God with any creature. Think of how absurd it is to
compare God to any creature. God is infinitely above the noblest
creature, far above all His creation, far above it all. Let's go back
to our text in 1 Chronicles chapter 29 were considered verses 11
and 13 and where we see a magnificent description of the perfection
and greatness, perfections and greatness of our God. And note
how David speaks with reverence in these verses too. Look at
this. We'll read verses 11 to 13 and
then we'll look at each verse here. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness
and the power and the glory in the victory, in the majesty,
for all that is in heaven and in the earth is Thine. Thine
is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all."
1 Chronicles 29, 12. Both riches and honor come of
Thee, and Thou reignest over all, and in Thy hand is power
and might, and in Thy hand is to make great and to give strength
unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank
Thee and praise Thy glorious name. Look at verse 11. What a wonderful
verse this is. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness,
and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty,
for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. Thine
is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all.
Take note that David first brings forth in this prayer the greatness
of God. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness. He brings forth the greatness
of our God. Now, the greatness of God is
incomprehensible. We will never totally understand
it all. But we get little glimpses, don't
we? As the Holy Spirit teaches us and guides us and reveals
the Scripture to us, we get little glimpses and we get excited.
Because our God is so great. He's incomprehensible to all
angels and men, which are absolutely nothing in comparison to Him.
And all that we know about Him, and all that we know about the
greatness of Him, He's revealed to us. He's revealed to us. It's absolutely wonderful. Greatness
there in the Hebrew speaks of His greatness in His mighty axe. His greatness in who He is, it
speaks of His majesty. It speaks of His Majesty and
His unmatched greatness. His greatness is unmatched. No
one compares to Him. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 40.
Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah again brings us forth
in chapter 40 through verses 12 to 18. Verses 12 to 18. in meditating upon the greatness
of God. Isaiah 40 verses 12 to 16. Who hath measured the waters
in the hollow of his hands? Think all the waters in this
world. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust
of the earth in the measure, and weighed the mountains and
scales and hills in a balance. Who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord, or who hath been his counselor? Who hath taught
him? Has anybody taught or anyone or anything taught God anything?
No. He has no counselors. He needs
no counselors. I've mentioned many times in
the pulpit, rulers and presidents need counselors and advisors
and people around them. God needs none. He doesn't need
none. He's all-knowing. This is what
the Bible declares about Him. With whom took He counsel, and
who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment,
and taught Him knowledge, and showed to Him the way of understanding? No one. No one. Behold, the nations are as a
drop of a bucket. Think of how great the land mass
of our nation is. Think of how great the land mass
of Asia is. Think of the continents, beloved.
They're like a drop in a bucket to the Lord. You ever drop something
in a bucket? A piece of dirt, just a little
piece of dirt. When we were kids, we used to
carry buckets around collecting ants. But we just put them, you
know, drop a little piece of dirt in there, just a little
drop. Insignificant, isn't it? That's what the nations are to
the Lord. Just drop in the bucket. Just
drop in a bucket. Counted as a small dust to the
balance. That's the dust. Remember when they used to do
used to go and they did weigh your your your stuff, and that's
just that dust that they don't even bother blowing off. Because
it it's insignificant. Dust to the balance. Behold he
taken up the isles is a very little thing. My islands that are huge dust,
just a little speck of dust. Just a little speck of dust. And Lebanon is not sufficient
to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. And then look at verse 17 to
18. And think of this next verse
in comparison to the greatness of our God. All nations before
Him are as nothing. Nothing. They are accounted to
Him less than nothing in vanity. To whom, now then, the question
comes. To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare
unto Him? There's no comparison, is there? It's amazing. This is our God. This is our
Redeemer. He left heaven to come to this
earth. To become a man. To be despised and rejected of
men. To redeem us from all our sins. Oh how great is our God. How
great is our God. He's amazing. Now let's go back
to our text and note the second thing that David brings forth
is the power of our God. So he brings forth the greatness
of our God and now he brings forth the power of our God. We
did a study in Sunday school on the power of God and it's
absolutely incredible. Absolutely incredible. Unmatched. We know that power belongs to
our God, our God is Almighty. Great is the Lord and of great
power, Psalm 147.5 says. Turn, if you would, to Exodus
chapter 9. Exodus chapter 9. Job proclaims touching the Almighty,
we cannot find Him. He is excellent in power. That's
what Job talks about when he proclaims, when he speaks of
our Lord, touching the Almighty, we cannot find Him out. He is
excellent in power, Job 37.23. The power of God is almighty
and irresistible. People talk like they can resist
God. I'll tell you what, when God
calls one of his sheep, when they're born again in the Spirit,
they will not resist. Thy people shall be made willing
in the day of thy power. If you've been made willing,
praise God. Give him all the glory. Give
Him all the glory. We who have been drawn to Christ
know that His power is irresistible, don't we? We know it, because
we were shaking our fists at God before He saved us. And when
He called us, we ran. We ran to Christ. Oh, it's irresistible
power. And think of this, too. All things
are dependent upon Him. Every one of us in this room,
saved or lost, we're dependent upon the Lord. He gives us the very breath we
breathe. Everyone. Look at this in Exodus
9, verses 13 to 15. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and
say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let
my people go, that they may serve me. For I will at this time send
all my plagues upon thine heart, upon thy servants and upon thy
people, that thou mayest know that there is none like me in
all the earth. For now will I stretch out my
hand, that I might smite thee and thy people with pestilence,
and thou shalt be cut off from the earth." God is going to exercise
His power, and He did, didn't He? He delivered the Israelites
from the Egyptians, all by His almighty power. There may look
at that in verse verse 14, but thou mayest know that there is
none like me and all the earth See men have power, but we only
have a little bit of power. Don't we? We don't have much Everyone has
power in their lives certain things you do certain things,
but it ain't much And we're it all comes anything
we have comes from the Lord comes from the Lord and And you who
are redeemed of the Lord, does it not cause you to rejoice knowing
that God does whatever He pleases or wills? Does it not cause you to rejoice
knowing that His counsels always stand? And that He ever does His good
pleasure? Otherwise He would not be almighty,
would He? If He could be thwarted in any plans or purposes or His
will could be thwarted, He wouldn't be the Almighty One. Do you see
how foolish man-centered religion is? Lift up your eyes and behold
who has created these things that brings out their hosts by
number. He calls them all by their names
by the greatness of His might for that He is strong in power
Not one fails, Isaiah 40, 26. He's strong and powerful. Let's go back to our text and
note the third declaration by David about our great God. He
mentions the glory of God. The glory of God. Thine, O Lord,
is the greatness and the power and the glory. The glory. The Lord is high above all nations
and His glory is above the heavens. The Bible declares His glory
is great in Psalm 21-5. His glory extends above all the
earth in Psalm 108-5 and all the heavens. His glory never
changes. Psalm 104-31 says the glory of
the Lord shall endure forever. Forever. And all the glory we
can give Him with our hearts and lips come infinitely short
of what is due him. What is due him? He's the only
one who is worthy of the glory and praise of God's people for
what he's done for us. Who has saved us? God. Who has
redeemed us? God. Who's in glory mediating for
us? God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is God incarnate in the flesh. He's the only one worthy of all
the praise. Now David, note here too, David
begins his prayer in the same manner as the Lord finishes what
is a model prayer. The Lord in teaching us to pray
brings forth at the end of Matthew 6, 13, For Thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever. Amen. So the prayer of the saint is
the same in the Old Testament and in the New. Because we're all one in Christ. And we all ascribe power and
glory to our great God alone. Next we see David bring forth
that the Lord always has the victory. He always has the victory. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness
and the power and the glory and the victory. Let us never forget
that our God, Jehovah, transcends and surpasses all. He is above
all and over all. He is the highest one. He is therefore able to conquer
and subdue all things unto himself. You talk about a conquering king. You talk about a soldier's leader.
He is the victorious one. He is the victorious one. He's able to conquer and subdue
all things unto himself. And his victories are incontestable. No one will ever defeat him. No one. That's our king. That's the one
we bow our knee to. Remember, God's people are soldiers,
aren't we? He's our king. He's our leader. We rally under
his banner. In the days of the Romans, when
a rout was occurring, the king or the general would rally the
troops by placing a banner and they would rally around the general.
He'd lead them right back forth into battle. My, we rally around our king,
don't we? The great one, who always gets
the victory. Always gets the victory. Think
upon this, the enemies of God through all through time have
rose up against him and they've all perished, haven't they? People raise their fist at God,
say all this stuff and they perish and where's our God? He's still
on the throne. Think of this too. Empires and
nations have come and gone. Great empires. The Greek Empire.
The Roman Empire. The Persians and the Medes. Great
empires. Risen up and perished. And our God is still upon the
throne. He's still on the throne. When human history has ended, God will still have the victory.
Eternity will demonstrate and will show him as the mighty conqueror
and the master of the world. That's the God of the Bible.
That's the God of the Bible. That's our God. The believer
can say, that's my Redeemer. That's my Lord. That's my Savior. Which means rescuer. That's him. That's who keeps
me. Next, we see reference made to
the majesty of our great God. I know Lord is the greatness
and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty.
And here we have bought before us the absolute sovereignty of
God. One little verse with so much
in it. The sovereignty of God bought here before us. The absolute
sovereignty of our great God. He alone has all power and authority.
He alone is master of the world. He alone is the master over all
things visible and invisible. The majesty of the Most High
is inexpressible and inconceivable. Every created thing, visible
or invisible, is at His disposal. Everything. Turn with us to Psalm 103.19.
Psalm 103.19. He rules in majesty, beloved. He rules in majesty. Now, you can understand why I
get mad at people when they say that a believer can lose their
salvation while they don't really know what salvation is. Because
the God we're looking at today is the one who keeps me. He's
the one who keeps me. He's the one who my salvation
is in. And if you're a believer, it's so for you too. Oh my. This is wonderful. He has all authority. Look at
this in Psalm 103 verse 19. The Lord has prepared His throne
in the heavens and His kingdom rules over what? That one little
word there. All. A-L-L. All. Whether you believe it or not.
He rules over you. Look at that. The Lord has prepared
His throne in the heavens and His kingdom rules over all. Since
God is God, there is no one above Him. Again, He has no rivals.
He does whatever He pleases, only as He pleases. He is in one mind, and who can
turn Him? What His soul desires, even that
He does. Job 23.13. But our God is in the heaven. He had done whatsoever He pleased,
Psalm 115, 3. And in Isaiah 46, 10, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all My pleasure. That's the God of the Bible. All men, rich or poor, great
or small, all things visible and invisible belong to Him.
Belong to Him. And He does what He pleases. and all creatures are under his
power and authority. The scripture proclaims, for
all are your servants. I ask you, does this sound like a God who
wants to save but can't, unless you let him? No. No. The one who we've been looking
at today is the God of the Bible, beloved. the God of the Bible. This is the God who saves his
people from their sins. And this is the God that men
will face in wrath if they die in their sins. Sinner friend, turn from your
wicked ways. Turn from your wicked ways and beg for mercy. Beg for mercy, for this is the
God of the Bible. This is the God of the Bible,
and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God. Dead in trespasses and sins and
clothed in your own self-righteousness. Beg for mercy. David continues and brings forth,
continuing his prayer, in the fact that our God is master over
all. Let's read verses 11 and 12 together. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness
and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for
all that is in heaven and in the earth is Thine. Thine is
the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come of
Thee, and Thou reignest over all. And in thy hand is power
and might, and in thy hand is to make great and to give strength
unto all. What a blessing it is for the
born-again blood-bought believer to know that all things are under
God's control. Nothing exists unless God created,
and therefore nothing can continue to exist unless God wills it
for His glory. Turn, if you would, to Colossians
chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. Verses 16 and 17 in light of
these verses. And this is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ. For by Him All things were created,
verse 16, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or rulers or authorities,
all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is
before all things and in Him all things consist. They're all in Him. All in Him. All in Him. Oh my. What a great God. And by Him all things consist.
Have you ever wondered and meditated upon the wonderful fact that
it is God who removes kings and sets up kings? What peace it
can bring the struggling people of God to know that the Most
High rules in the Kingdom of Man and He does whatever He's
pleased to do. He does whatever He's pleased
to do. And He watches over every single
one of His sheep. Every one of His sheep. To know that the One who is the
Savior of my soul is the Keeper of my soul. is the one who said,
I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the
ground by my great power and by my outstretched hand and have
given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. He raises up whomever
he wills, beloved. He raises up whomever he wills.
Look at that scripture again in Colossians. Chapter 1, For
by Him were all things created that are in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him
and for Him. And He is before all things, and by Him all things
consist. He is ruler over all, beloved.
And what a wondrous gift He has given to His people, salvation
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. Faith to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, all by the great mercy of God. Repentance before God. What a
gift. Acceptance before God. It all
comes from His hand. Acceptance before God. How? By
being clothed in the righteousness of Christ. It's Him that puts
that righteousness on us. It's God who does this. And who
has He given this to? In undeserving people, eh? My, what mercy. What grace. What mercy and grace we've received,
beloved. Can we not say, we who are born
again, that truly our Lord is great in power, majesty, glory,
grace, and mercy? Let us think upon we who are
the people of God and ponder and awe and wonder and behold
the rise and fall of nations is all done by a just God who
reigns in righteousness as the sovereign God, King of kings
and Lord of lords. Let us rejoice that our God who
is master over all rules the nations and has determined the
times before appointed in the bounds of their habitation. Therefore, the godless nations
of the world will go no further than God allows them to go. Alleluia. The Lord God Omnipotent
reigns. He reigns. He reigns. Look at verse 13. Now therefore,
our God, we thank Thee and praise Thy glorious name. Verse 13,
back in our text, 1 Chronicles 29, 13. Now therefore, our God,
we thank Thee and praise Thy glorious name. Who do we give praise to? Our
great God. Our great God. We thank Him and
Him alone for the mercy which we have received, for the grace
which we have received in and through Christ alone. And let
us always remember that nothing catches our great God by surprise, even the fall of man. The eternal
purpose which God purposed in Himself before time began was
perfect and comprehensive enough to include all that could possibly
transpire in time and eternity. Remember, God did not go to Plan
B when Adam fell. The Father did not just decide
to send Christ into the world just before the crucifixion. And the death of Christ was no
accident. No, it all occurred according to the determined counsel
and foreknowledge of God, beloved. Christ is the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Turn, if you would, to 1 Peter,
chapter 1. 1 Peter, chapter 1. The Scriptures
proclaim this wondrous truth, beloved. 1 Peter 1, verses 18-21. For as much as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers.
Look at verse 18 there. You cannot buy your way to heaven. Tradition won't get you into
heaven. But with the precious blood of
Christ. Verse 19. That's what the believer
is redeemed by. The precious blood of Christ. As of a lamb without blemish
and without spot. He's perfect, spotless, sinless.
Look at this, who verily was foreordained, when? Before the
foundation of the world. He's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, beloved. God purposed and planned that
he would be the redeemer of his people. And we looked at the
faithfulness of God in Sunday school, and God is faithful,
isn't he? That what He promised came to pass. Who verily was
foreordained before the foundational world, but was manifest in these
last times for you. That speaks of His incarnation.
He was manifest. We're looking at that in 1 John
right now. The apostles saw and heard Him. He was manifest. He was a human. But yet fully
God and fully man. manifest in these last times
for you, who by Him do believe in God, that raised Him up from
the dead and give Him glory, and that your faith and hope
might be in God. And our faith and hope is in
God, isn't it? The Lord Jesus Christ, who was God incarnate
in flesh. Beloved, before there was ever
a sinner, there was a Savior. You ever think of that? God chose
His people in Christ before the foundation of the world. Christ
is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Let us close with this wonderful
thought, the fact that God has ordained the salvation of His
people. We are told in the book of Ephesians,
in chapter 1, verse 4, that God chose a people in Christ before
the foundation of the world. That's in eternity. And we know
that He did this according to the good pleasure of His will.
Turn, if you would, to Titus. Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter
1. Paul wrote of this truth. Paul
wrote of this truth. And think of this wondrous truth
in light of God we thank Thee and praise Thy glorious name.
What David proclaimed over there in 1 Chronicles 29. Titus chapter 1 verses 1 to 3,
Paul the servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ according
to the faith of God's elect, in the acknowledging of truth
which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life which God
that cannot lie promised before when the world began. Oh my. And remember we looked at the
faithfulness of God, what he promises comes to pass, doesn't
it? We looked at that in Sunday school. But hath in these two
times here it is again manifested in his word through preaching
what is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our
Savior. We proclaim Christ is the only way to the Father. Christ
is the only Redeemer of sinners. Is it any wonder then that the
Son of God proclaims with David, God, we thank thee and praise
thy glorious name. The salvation of God's people
is wholly owing to God's appointment in Christ's atonement. Just as
the scriptures proclaim, for God hath not appointed us to
wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Let
that verse sink in, beloved. 1 Thessalonians 5, 9. For God
hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our
Lord Jesus Christ. If you're saved, that speaks
of you. God will call, justify, and glorify
all whom he foreknew and predestinated. And this is the cause for great
rejoicing for God's people to know that we are of that number.
To know that we are of that number. To know that God has had mercy
upon us. To know that it is God who has saved us and has redeemed
us. How? By the shedding of His own precious
blood, the Lord Jesus Christ. God incarnate in the flesh. And
it's He who has done it all, beloved. Is it any wonder then
that, like David says, God, we thank Thee and praise Thy glorious
name. Any wonder we thank and praise Him? It's no wonder, is
it? That's all we can do. That's
all we can do. And these wondrous truths which
we've looked at today, what do they do? They exalt God to the
rightful place. Sovereign. Master. Ruler. The one with all power. And it puts man in our rightful
place, right? Into dust. There's nothing. Oh my. And then he has mercy
on us. Just think of that. The nations
are like a drop in the bucket to him. What are we? Little animated
pieces of dust. And yet he has mercy on us. And
yet he has mercy on us. Oh, puts us in our rightful place
in the dust. Pleading and begging for mercy
from the great and glorious God who is truly master over all. Heavenly Father, we thank thee
for your mercy and grace. As we look today at the scriptures
and we see that how powerful thou art and that you are overall,
you are the highest one. You have no rivals, no competition,
nothing. You are the great, true, sovereign
God of the universe. And we who are your born-again
people, we who are blood-bought by the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we are just so thankful that you are ever
mindful of us, O Lord, that you chose us in Christ before the
foundation of the world. I think it's something we'll
never get over, Lord. We'll continue to glorify Thy
name and praise Thee, and we thank Thee for Your goodness
and mercy and grace, just as David did, to us continuously. In Jesus' name, amen.