Wonderful song. Our Almighty King. Turn, if you
would, to Psalm 115. Psalm 115. Psalm 115, we'll read verses
1-10. 1-10. Not unto us, O Lord, not
unto us, but unto Thy name give glory for Thy mercy and for Thy
true sake. Wherefore should the heathens
say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens,
He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. Their idols are silver
and gold, the work of man's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have hands, but they handle
not. Feet have they, but they walk
not. Neither speak they through their
throat. They that make them are like
unto them. So is everyone that trusteth
in them. What a statement. O Israel, trust
thou in the Lord. He is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their
shield. My, what a portion of Scripture. The name of the message is, Where
is our God? Where is our God? Here before us in the text, the
nations about Israel and all around them, and we could say
this today of the nations of the world, or of the Gentiles
in any age, they're asking here the Israelites, where's God? Where's God? And believers are asked this
in many different ways. Folks like to mock our God and
our Lord, but the ironic thing about those who do this is that
they bow down before their own dumb idols. Back then it was different gods.
Today we still have folks who will try to find refuge in anything
but Christ, in anything but God. Folks worship themselves, They
worship money or collecting things. Materialism is a thing that folks
just strive for. And this occurs even today when
people mock the gospel and yet bow down to idols of their own
imagination. Have you ever met those who mock
what we believe and yet bow down before an idol? I have. Maybe it's a cross that they
bow down to, a crucifix that they have sitting in their house.
Maybe it's a picture of Wild Bill Hickok, who they call Jesus,
but that's not Jesus. Maybe they bow down to a statue
of Mary. Or maybe they bow down to a statue
of angels. Or maybe just some trinket they
wear. to show everyone that they're
a supposed Christian. Folks bow down to all kinds. You can go to different nations
and they bow down to all kinds of things that are made by man's
hands, either out of wood or stone or clay, and they bow down
before these things. I've told you the story of my
own mom who went to a dollar store and bought a statue of
Mary and said, oh, this one will hear my prayers so well. I was
so mad. And I told her, Mom, it's just
a, it's a piece of, it's a piece of ceramic. It can't answer your prayers. It's a dumb idol. She's just
blinded to it. And you know what? So was I,
though. See, I'm not being condescending because that's what the Lord
saved me out of. There used to be crucifixes all
over our house, everywhere. Now the Lord's name was often
used in vain, but you know, got these things all over the place. My goodness. So folks bow down
to all kinds of carvings of different gods, and these are gods of man's
imagination. That's all they are. Gods of
man's imagination. Or they bow down and Like I said, statues of Mary,
statues of angels. Things manufactured by the idle
factories of our minds. And our hearts are idle factories
too. They just pump out God after God, but not the God of the Bible. Even in religion, it pumps out
a God who wants to, but can't. That's a God of people's imaginations. That's not the God of this Bible,
of this book. Brother Matt bought out the God's
sovereignty. Brother Tim bought that out a few weeks ago, too. When Elijah said, well, where's
your God? Is he on vacation? So the Baal worshipers. The God of this Bible. is not
like anything we think. He's almighty. He's all-powerful. And folks that mock Him, and
folks that mock His people, let me tell you, because I was one
of them, and if the Lord don't save you, and young folks, if
you're around people who mock God, do not partake in that.
Do not. Stay away from that. Do not partake
in that at all. Warn them! Because I'll tell you, folks
that mock God, one day, they're going to die in their sins if
God doesn't save them. And they're going to perish.
And they're going to stand in front of that God, and I'll get
to that later at the end of the message. And they're going to
tremble. They're going to tremble, man. I'll tell you. The God of
the Bible is no one to be trifled with. Not at all. God of the Bible's not like people
think. He's whirling and reigning right
now in majesty and in power. And He's sitting upon a throne.
A throne. The throne of the universe. The
throne of everything visible and invisible. And He reigns
as a King of Spring. And that's who came down and
redeemed his people from their sins. What condescension, right? It's amazing. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
King of glory right now. And he reigns. He reigns. As I said, folks mock God today
just as they have in days gone by. But it does not change the
truth of verse 3. Look at verse 3. But our God,
is in the heavens. He is. Whether people mock Him,
whether animated deaths like me, like Brother Matt, Brother
Nothings. I remember Scott Richardson said,
we're all a bunch of nothings until the One is put before us. And that's Christ. And it's true. And this is what the Scripture
declares. But our God, our God, The King,
the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings is in the heavens. This
is not up for debate. Whether people believe it or
not, He is in the heavens. And look at this, and He had
done whatsoever He had pleased. Well, it pleased Him to have
mercy on the sin of that man. And those of you who are saved
here can say the same thing. And that's the thing. Our God
has mercy on sinners. In Christ. In Christ. He'd done whatever He pleased.
And look at verse 1. Not unto us, O Lord. Not unto
us. No merit. No merit. No merit. No merit.
Right? Not unto us, O Lord. Not unto
us. But unto Thy name give glory.
God will not share His glory with anyone. No one. For Thy mercy and for Thy truth's
sake. So the believer knows that we have no merit of our own.
No merit in our prayers, no merit in our praises. We just glorify
God because of what He's done for us. But we have no merit
in anything we do. Our merit's in Christ and what
He's done. What He's done. The believer
knows that any good that we do, and we never know when we do
that, we don't know when we do that, is by the power of the
grace of God in Christ. And all that we have, think of
it, all that we have, everything, our families, our children, our
salvation, friends, all of it, is a gift of His mercy. His mercy. And our salvation is a pure gift
from God. It's a gift out of His free and
sovereign grace to do whatsoever He pleases. Whatever He pleases. If you're saved, please God to
save you. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that incredible? We know
what we are. We know who we are. Please God
to save us. We who believe. It's incredible. It's incredible. But it pleased
him. It pleased him. And here before in our text,
we see the folly of those who worship idols. Of those who worship
false idols. The gods of people's imaginations
in the past, and even those today, are senseless, dumb idols. Worthless things which can do
nothing. Blocks of stone, clay, glass,
wood, or whatever they're made of. They're just dumb idols.
That's what they are. Look at verse 4. It tells us
that those who worship these idols, these things made by man's
hands, fashioned in gold and silver, and formed into whatever
they are, Whatever they want the idol to be. Look at verse
4. Their idols are silver and gold.
The work of man's hands. So we know from other scripture
that man goes out, cuts a tree down, chops it all up, and uses
some for firewood, uses some for firewood, and then uses some
to cook with. And then he fashions an idol.
And he bows down before that very piece of wood. Who can't
do anything? Who can't do anything? He's cooked
with the wood. He's maybe even built something
with the wood. Oh, I've got to make my little
idol. And then he bows down before the god of his imagination. Isn't
that incredible? And I know all of you here, we
all say, well, there go I, but for the grace of God. I know,
I know we do too. I'm not bringing this up to seem
condescending because if it weren't for the grace of God, we'd be
doing the same thing. Might not be a piece of wood,
but it might be something else. So, look at this. And this craft still goes on
today. As I say, if you walk into a dollar store, You'll see
statues of Mary or other religious things that just drives me crazy.
I'll go into these places and you see these things and just...
But here, they're made in far countries. They're fashioned
by man's hands. They're painted up and all decked
out. And then people buy them and
they put them on their mantle and they might bow before them
or they might... They might say a prayer to them,
or they might just be like, oh, my house is more holy because
I got this. Trust me, they think that way. I used to have one
of them stupid medals of a dead saint, or well, they called him
a saint, a dead person. And I thought, well, if I wear
this, I'm going to have good luck. I'm going to be like protected
by this. by this thing. Meanwhile, God
in his provenient grace and in my ignorance is protecting me
from all these things that are occurring. You see, grace before
grace with his people. Oh my, my. So they're made in far countries
and people bow down to them and the very matter which these idols
are made of is dug from the earth. Either if it's clay or stone
or a piece of wood. And these are dumb idols which
can't do anything. Nothing at all. They're just
dumb idols. They're a piece of stone. And
look at verse 5. But they speak not. Eyes have
they, but they see not. Now think of this, contrast this
too. Our Lord speaks to us through his word, doesn't he? Through
the gospel. These cannot speak at all. They
can't see. Our God sees everything. He sees
everything. But these dumb idols don't see
anything. They're mute, dumb pieces of stone or wood or clay.
Turn if you would to 1 Kings. We'll look at that scripture
that Brother Tim brought out a couple of weeks ago. 1 Kings 18. They have no ability to see.
Why? Because they're stone or wood. They're nothing but dumb
idols. What a picture of this we have
over in the Old Testament in 1 Kings 18. These worshipers, are crying out for these gods
who they've carved out of their imagination. Look at this. 1 Kings 18, verse 25. And Elijah said unto the prophets
of Baal, Choose ye one bullock for yourself, and dress it. For
ye are many, and call on the name of your gods. Now, multiple
gods they had. But put no fire under. And they
took the block which was given them, and they dressed it and
called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying,
O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any
that answered. And they leaped upon the altar
which was made, and it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked
them, and said, Cry aloud! For He is a God. Either He's
talking or He's pursuing or He's on a journey. He might be on
a vacation. Or peradventure, He sleepeth and must be awakened.
And they cried aloud and cut themselves out of the manor with
knives and lances till the blood gushed out upon them. Their idols
proved to be nothing but dumb idols. Gods of their imaginations. And we know what Elijah did.
He called down fire from heaven, and man, it just burned that
right up after they had doused it with water, remember? Our God's alive. He's in heaven. And He does whatever He pleases.
Let's continue to examine the description of these dumb idols. Look at Psalm 115, verse 6. They
have ears. But they hear not. Well, our
God hears the prayers of all his people. Noses have they,
but they smell not. So we've seen that they are mute
and blind, and our scripture has added now that they cannot
hear and they cannot smell. So they're mute, blind, deaf, and they can't smell anything. Sounds like a dumb idol. And folks bow down to these things. And they pray to these things. But the scriptures just told
us that they cannot speak, and they cannot hear, and they cannot
smell. They're dumb idols. What does the scripture say next?
Look at verse 7. They have hands, but they handle
not. Feet have they, But they walk
not, neither speak they through their throats. These idols, which
people bow down to, the scripture declares, added on to the list
of things which we've looked at, here proclaims that they
have hands which handle not. They can't do anything. They
can't do anything. You ever see them? They got their
hands stretched out. They can't do nothing. Nothing at all. Feet have they, but they cannot
walk. You put them on the shelf and
they don't move unless you move them. They can't move themselves. They can't travel. Sounds like a piece of stone
or a piece of wood. So they have feet, and the scripture
proclaims they can't walk. Scripture goes on to declare,
neither speak they through their throat. I don't know about you
guys, but if a statue spoke to me, man, I'd be making dust. Man. What says they can't speak? They can't speak. They're dumb idols, which can
do nothing. Yet man in his natural mind,
and remember, there go I but for the grace of God, right?
That's what the believer says, because we know what we were,
we know who we are, and if it wasn't for the grace of God,
we'd be right there. These dumb idols, which can do
nothing, man in his natural state loves to worship idols, loves
to bow down before anything but God. Anything other than the King
of Glory. But what do we who are saved?
We want to bow down before the King of Glory. We want to worship
the King of Glory because he's the King. He's the King. And think of this, there's really
nothing different from those who bow down before an idol today
and those who did it in the times of the writing of this psalm.
There's really no difference. None at all. Because look what
the next verse says. They that make them are like
unto them. So is everyone that trusteth
in them. Blind. Folks that bow down to these
things have about as much sense as the blocks of wood and stone
that they're made of. That's what Scripture says. Isaiah 44.9 says this. They that
make a graven image are all of them vanity. And their delectable
things shall not profit. And they are their own witnesses.
They see not nor know that they may be ashamed. They have no
clue. They have no clue. And we were
there. I was there. I did not know who God was. I had a God formed from my imagination.
But when God revealed himself through that precious word, my
oh my, Lord have mercy upon me. And that's what happens to the
believer. Everyone who trusts down and
bows down before an idol are blind. They're by nature, and
by nature when we were born, we were born dead and dead spiritually,
and folks who bow down to anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ
are making idols out of their own self-righteousness and exalting themselves rather
than exalting the King of Glory. But they're blind to Him. Let's go back to verse 2 and
3. And we'll answer tonight the
question, where is our God? Look at this. Psalm 115, 2. Wherefore should the heathens
say, where is now their God? So the question was posed by
the heathens, the idol worshipers, where is now their God? The nations about Israel. And
as I said, the nations of the world and the Gentiles in all
ages, all other religions, even ones who claim Christ, but we
know that they don't have any idea who Christ is. They bow down before dumb idols
and they ask, where is now their God? Where's your God? Where is He who they put their trust and
confidence in? And this is language which is
used by the enemies of God. The enemy of God's people. When the people of God are in
distress, they use this. When they're going through trials
and tribulations, they will use this. When a calamity occurs, they'll
use this. As with a sword in my bones,
mine enemies reproach me, while they say daily unto me, where
is thy God? Psalm 42, 10. This was often asked of David
in the Israelites. And David pens the answer in
the next verse by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. Look
at this in verse 3. But our God is in the heavens.
He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. So let us look at some
points answering the question of where is our God. Number one.
Number one, our God is in the heavens. He's in the heavens. Our God My God is in the heavens
and He rules supreme, absolutely supreme. He is an absolute sovereign
King, absolute. No one questions Him, no one
counsels Him. He is an absolute sovereign upon
the throne. All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing. And He doeth according to His
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, What doest
Thou? None. None. None. Even the mockers? None. Right now, at this second,
the Lord Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father
and rules in complete, absolute sovereignty. And all the universe,
visible and invisible, and all that we see and don't see is
under His domain. He is actually a good answer
to this question of where is my God is, where isn't my God? Where isn't He? He rules over all and nothing,
even them mockers mocking Him, nothing escapes His watchful
eye. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing at all. He is everywhere
and owns everything and does whatever He wills with His creation.
Our God, beloved, is sovereign. He's sovereign in creation. In
the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou
hast created all things and for Thy pleasure they are and were
created. Revelation 4.11 The worlds were
spoken into existence by the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? For His glory and for His pleasure. God is sovereign, period. He's absolutely sovereign. Be
not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty
to utter anything before God, for God is in heaven and thou
upon earth, Therefore, let Thy words be fulfilled." God is in heaven, and we're here
upon the earth. He reigns, and we are but dust. He is sovereign in creation.
He's sovereign in providence. And, beloved, He's absolutely
sovereign in salvation. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
135. Oh, He's sovereign. So where is my God? Where is
not my God? He is everywhere. He rules and
reigns. Sovereign King in majesty upon
His throne in glory. What a great God. And this is
my Savior. Is He yours? This is mine. The
believer says, amen. This is my Savior. This is my
Savior. Psalm 135, verses 5 and 6. For I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the Lord please,
that did He in heaven, and in earth, and in the seas, and all
deep places. God does whatever He pleases. So where's my God? He's in the
heavens. And being in the heavens, beloved,
He is almighty, sovereign, and majestic. He's a King of Kings,
and He's the Lord of Lords. So we answer, our God is in the
heavens. And this speaks of His omnipresence,
too. As our God is everywhere. Turn, if you would, to Psalm
139. He's everywhere, beloved. Everywhere. The eyes of the Lord
are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Our God is in the heavens. He's
sovereign, almighty, omnipresent. Look at Psalm 139, verses 7 to
10. Whither shall I go from thy spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? Where can I go,
God, where you're not? That's what it's been. David's
pronouncing. If I ascend up into heaven, thou
art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy hand
shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. The hand
of the Almighty God keeps His people. You see why we don't
believe in saved and then lost and then saved and then lost?
This is the God who keeps me. And if you're a believer, this
is the God who keeps you. Sovereign. Almighty. Isaiah had
a glimpse of his holiness. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
6. He had a glimpse of his holiness. Brother Matt brought this up
today, too. He had a glimpse of the holiness of God. Our God is in the heavens. Look
at Isaiah 6, verses 1 to 7. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord. Where is he? Sitting upon a throne. This is the Lord Jesus Christ,
he sees. high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Remember, I've mentioned before
that the longer the king's train means, the more power and dominion
he has, majesty. His train fills the temple. Oh, what a king. What a king. Above it stood the seraphims.
Each one had six wings, and with twain..." Now think of this.
These are holy angels. Holy angels. And what do they
do in the presence of He who sits upon the throne? And as
I said, this is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my King, pre-incarnate,
before He came to this earth. This is the One who redeemed
my soul. And if you're a believer, He redeemed your soul too. It's
incredible. This is Him. Above it stood the
seraphims. Each one had six wings. With
twain, He covered His face. He covered His face in the presence,
a holy angel, in the presence of the Almighty One who sits
upon the throne. He covered His face and with
twain He covered His feet. And with twain he did fly, and
one cried unto another, and said of the one who sits upon the
throne, Holy, holy, holy, thrice holy, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
thrice holy, is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of His
glory. And the posts of the door moved
at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with
smoke." And here's Isaiah, the one who was a couple chapters
back. Woe is them, and woe is them, and woe is them, right?
Now he's got a glimpse of the Lord of glory, and look what
he says. Then said I, woe is me. God's revealed Himself to
him. His holiness, His majesty, His
righteousness. Where is me? For I am undone. Why? Because I am a man of unclean
lips. Now look, he sees the depravity
of all of mankind. Look at what he says. And I dwell
in the midst of a people of unclean lips. So he sees his own sinfulness
and the sinfulness of all those around him. For mine eyes have
seen the King. Mine eyes have seen the King. The Lord of Hosts. I love that
song. Gird on your sword. This is a king. King of glory. These angels, they have to cover
themselves in His presence. Do you see how far the Lord condescended
to save us from our sins? Man spit on Him and mocked Him. Beat Him. And this is the one. This is the one in His glory
and in His holiness. And remember He said He prayed
to the Father that He would have the glory that He had. This is Him. See, is this one to be mocked? You better beg for mercy. Oh,
that God would give you grace if you don't know Him, to beg
for mercy. Because one day, everyone's going
to face this king. Now we who are saved are covered
in the precious blood of Christ. But look at this. Then said I,
woe is me, for I am done, because I am a man of unclean lips, and
I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For mine eyes
have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Then flew one of the
seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had
taken from the tongs from off the altar. and laid it upon my
mouth." And this picture is the precious blood of Christ, beloved.
And the seraphims represent Gospel preachers preaching the Word
of God. "...and laid it upon my mouth and said, Lo, this hath
touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is..." What? "...taken away." We are washed clean by the precious
blood of Christ. Washed clean. And thy sin is purged. Purged. And their sins and iniquities
I'll remember no more. What a God. Our God is holy and
righteous. And therefore, all that flows
from Him is holy. His mercy, His love, His justice,
His wrath, His righteousness, His salvation. And God's Spirit
is called the Holy Spirit. And His Word is called the Holy
Bible. The angels are called holy angels. The priest used to enter into
the holy of holies. And on the high priest's meter
it said, holiness to the Lord. So where is my God? My God is in the heavens and
is absolutely sovereign and absolutely holy and absolutely righteous. He's almighty, omnipresent, all-knowing. Our God is holy and our God is
in the heavens. Turn to Isaiah chapter 40 if
you would. Isaiah chapter 40. Our God is in the heavens. You know, back in the old days,
they used to think the world was flat, right? And they found
out it's a circle. Well, will you see what's in
this chapter? Isaiah 40, verse 18. To whom
then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare
unto Him? His thoughts are so far above
us. His ways are so far above ours. The workman mounteth a
graven image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold,
and casteth silver chains. He that is so impoverished that
he hath no ovulation chooseth a tree that will not rot. He seeketh unto him a cunning
workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. Now
remember earlier I talked about how they went to go out and cut
a piece of wood down Crafted into whatever they want. Have
ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not been told you from
the beginning? Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
Look at this. It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth. And the inhabitants thereof are
as grasshoppers that stretcheth out the heavens
as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. that
bringeth the princes to nothing. He maketh the judges of the earth
as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted. Yea, they shall not be sown. Yea, their stalks shall not take
root in the earth. And he shall blow upon them,
and they shall wither. And the whirlwind shall take
them away as stubble." What a God! To whom then will you liken me?
Or who shall I be equal? Well, the answer is none, isn't
it? Saith the Holy One. Let me say this in closing words.
That those who mock our great God and King, those who sit around
and mock about our worship or about our sovereign God, will
one day, if God does not show them mercy, stand before this
God They will stand before this God,
this holy and righteous and sovereign God, and they will cry out, wishing
the mountains would fall upon them. But it will be too late. in their face this God that we
have looked at tonight and we'll hear the words which scripture
pronounce that they will be said to, that will be said to them,
I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. These shall go away into everlasting
punishment, but the righteous, unto life eternal. Why? Because
all our sins have been judged at Calvary's cross. All of them. Remember? Our sins are purged. What good news. Good news for
sinners. And God's people, turn if you
would to Matthew 25, God's people, undeserving sinners that we are,
We have found mercy, mercy in the eyes of our Lord, and have
fled to Christ, the sinner's Savior. And one day we'll hear
these precious words. One day? Matthew 25, 34. Then shall the king say unto
them, Matthew 25, 34. Look at these precious Precious
words that God's people will hear. Undeserving sinners saved
by the mercy of God in Christ. Then shall the king say unto
them on his right hand, Come ye blessed of my Father. Inherit
the kingdom, look at this, prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. And God's people say, Praise
his mighty name. Praise His mighty name. Heavenly
Father, oh, we stand amazed, we who are saved, we who are
redeemed by Your precious blood that You have revealed Yourself
to us. That you've done whatever you
please, and you still do, but that it pleased you to reveal
your Son to us. We pray that you'd use this message
and the other messages that are preached tonight from Gospel
preaching pulpits, oh Lord, use them for your glory. Draw your
sheep in, we pray. We know, though, that you're
going to do whatever you please, Lord. Thou art King. Thou art a King Almighty and
Sovereign, and we bow before you, and we praise you and glorify
you that you've had mercy upon we who believe in Christ. In Jesus' name, amen.