Thine Is The Greatness

Let's turn back to the book of First Chronicles that our brother read. Let me say that it is a joy to be here with you. I always, when I see Gabe's name come up on my phone, Always rejoice to come to Kingsport. The Lord has blessed you all so tremendously. And I know I say this every time I'm here, but so many of the churches that I know of and go and preach to sometimes or visit, and including ours, are diminishing in numbers. And it's so encouraging to see a work like this growing. Seems like every time I come, there's a few more people. I love your pastor, I think the world of him, and I know you do too. The Lord has greatly blessed you all by sending him here.

In 1 Chronicles, out of these 20 verses that were read, I want to focus primarily on three verses today. And I hope that the Lord will enable me to exalt his name the way it deserves to be exalted and the way I desire to exalt it. I think every time I step into the pulpit, those words of brethren we have met to worship, all is vain unless the spirit of the Holy One comes down. We've wasted our gas coming here if the Lord doesn't visit us today. So I want to focus on three verses here, verses 11, 12, and 13.

I've titled this message, Thine is the Greatness. And in verse 10, we read this. Wherefore, David blessed the Lord before all the congregation, and David said, blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel, our father forever and ever. Then in verse 11, we read, and this is where we'll spend the bulk of our time in verse 11. We read this, 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 the earth is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. David now begins to list the attributes of the mighty God whom we worship. First, he says this, thine is the greatness There is not another that compares to our God. Moses and the children of Israel sang about this greatness in Exodus 15 after the Lord had destroyed Pharaoh and his army in the depths of the Red Sea. They said, the Lord is my strength and my song.

He has become my salvation. The Lord is a man of war. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath become glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy. And in the greatness of thine excellency, thou hast overthrown them that rose up against thee. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praise, and doing wonders? And when I read that, That line caught my eye, it says, thou has overthrown them that rose up against thee.

Now, reading the text in Exodus, you would say the Egyptians didn't rise up against the Lord, they rose up against the Israelis, the Israelites. But we have to understand that when men attack the children of God, they attack God himself. God takes that personally. Because we're one with him, we are in him. What did our Lord Jesus say in Matthew 25, 40?

In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. When Nathan the prophet went to David after he had sinned with Bathsheba, after he had put Uriah her husband on the front lines to be killed, Nathan the prophet came to David and confronted him. And David was told by Nathan, thou art the man. And David said this to Nathan.

He said, I have sinned against the Lord. He didn't say, I've sinned against Uriah, which he certainly did. He didn't say, I've sinned against Bathsheba, which he certainly did. He said, I have sinned against the Lord. And later he wrote in the Psalms, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.

Our God excels in greatness like no other God of man's imagination, which is why these children of Israel sang and asked the question, who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Micah asked much the same question in Micah 17. I love these few verses. I quote them often, but they declare the greatness of our God in showing mercy to undeserving millions upon millions. It says this, Micah asks this question, who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? And here's the good news, he retaineth not his anger forever because he delighteth in mercy. delighteth in mercy." And it goes on to say, he will turn again.

He will have compassion upon us and he will subdue our iniquities and now shall cast all their sins into the depth of the sea, the depth of that sea of the blood of Christ, which covers forever all our sins. In verse 11 continues, thine O Lord is the greatness and the power. Now where do we even begin to describe, to try to describe the power of our God?

It's impossible to be understood or comprehended. A being that can merely think and it comes to pass. A being that spoke this universe, which the scientists tell us is 93 billion light years across. They've still not found the edge and never will. But he spoke this universe into being.

This guy was so much power that he can bring the dead back to life, that he can cure leprosy with merely a word, that he can make a man who's lame from birth to leap up, like we read in Acts chapter three, to leap up and run around the temple courtyard where Peter raised him from his lameness. This God is incomprehensible. But there is one thing he did above all others. He gave himself, as I said in the Bible study hour, he gave himself for our sins and then he rose back to life. Of which he said, I have power to lay it down, speaking of his life, And I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my father. But the greatest demonstration of God's power is how he can take sinners, depraved sinners who are black as coal with sin, and make them white as snow.

Incomprehensible to those that know a little bit, and I do mean a little bit, about the depth of our depravity. Our God does the impossible. He forgives the unforgivable. He sets aside that punishment that would do our sins. But he doesn't do away with it, as I said. He set it aside until he set it upon his son.

And to bring home prodigal sons and daughters to himself and make them join heirs with Christ, it takes the power of God. And to make us partakers of his resurrection. And lastly, amazingly, to present us faultless before his presence with exceeding joy. And in our verse 11 continues in our text, Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory. God's glory is shown one way, in His sovereign choice of those who are given faith to believe on His Son.

We read of this in Exodus 33, starting in verse 18. Now this is Moses speaking to God. And he asked God, and he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And he, God, said to Moses, I will make all my goodness to pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.

This is how the glory of our God is seen. It is seen in the almighty choice to elect certain sinners to salvation and to leave others. In Exodus 34, 14, we read, for thou shalt worship no other God For the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

And we're told in Isaiah 42.8 that our God is jealous of his glory.

He says this, I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, nor my praise to graven images. This is a warning to all the self-righteous hypocrites In the religious world, all those good Baptists out there that think that they somehow have a hand in their salvation. Now these words, graven images, they certainly apply to the idols that men set up in their temples and have through the ages, but they most certainly apply to the idol that men have in their minds of a pathetic little God who needs their help to bring about their salvation. And this God, this jealous God, will assuredly cast off all who proclaim such a lie. Jonah had it right when he said this, salvation is of the Lord and our God will not He will not allow any infringement of his glory from sinners claiming to have a hand in their salvation. He will most certainly proclaim to them in the day of judgment that which we read of in Matthew 7, 23, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. It is a work of iniquity for men to claim to have a hand in their salvation when that salvation is 100% the choice of a sovereign God. Then verse 11 of our text continues with these words.

Oh Lord, thine is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory. The victory of our Lord in all things is certain. He cannot fail. It is an impossibility. This word victory, it means the achievement of mastery over an enemy or an antagonist. But how does our God achieve this victory?

We're told plainly in Psalm 98.1, O sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvelous things.

His right hand and his holy arm hath gotten him the victory. And nine chapters before this, we read about that same mighty arm and right hand. In Psalm 89, 13, it says, thou hast a mighty arm, strong is thy hand and high is thy right hand. And we just read a few minutes ago, much of the same thing in Exodus 15. Throughout the scriptures, we read of the mighty hand, the mighty right hand of our God accomplishing his victory for both himself and his chosen people. 1 Corinthians 15 25 speaks of this very thing.

He must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. Now, when our precious savior rose from the grave, he proved to all the world that he hath all power, even the power over death. This is how Paul could write of that last enemy that shall be destroyed.

Death is swallowed up in victory. Paul asks the question, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Death has no victory over the believer, none whatsoever. Because Paul told the Corinthians, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory How? Through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who overcame that last enemy, both for himself and for his chosen people. And going back to that verse in Psalm 98, 1, which we just read, it says, oh, sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvelous things. And I got to thinking about that.

Very few people that have ever lived on this earth could be considered to have done anything marvelous. Most things we do, we go to work, we raise a family, but most things we do are mediocre at best. Very few men through history could ever be said to have done marvelous things.

But only our God could be considered to have done anything marvelous. Everything that our God does from Genesis 1-1 of creating this vast universe to Revelation 22-20, surely I come quickly, should all be and can all be considered to be marvelous. I dare anyone to find one act, a single act of our God that could not be considered marvelous, that brings about wonderment in all. But there is one thing marvelous that our God did which stands above every one of his other accomplishes, that being his death upon a Roman tree, that which he accomplished outside Jerusalem on a hill called Golgotha. Only our God could imagine such a thing, such a way to redeem fallen sinners. He became that ultimate Passover lamb that takes away the sin of the world, we're told in the scriptures. Of all the acts of our God, this is by far the most marvelous, the most astonishing.

Then verse 11 continues with this, Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. I looked up this word majesty in the dictionary. I was a little surprised at the definition that I found there. It says, sovereign power or authority, a royal bearing, greatness or splendor of character, which is a perfect description of the God that we worship.

He holds all sovereign power over all things everywhere. What was said about Solomon in this 29th chapter of 1 Chronicles in verse 25 can certainly be applied to our Lord. It says, And the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not been seen on any king before him in Israel. And no king has ever possessed such majesty as that of our Lord Jesus Christ. God the Father had bestowed upon his son such majesty as never been seen before or since.

And because of God's willingness to humble himself and die the death of the cross, we're told in Philippians 2.9 that God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Never has there been a king like this king. Certainly through the ages, men have bowed their knees to certain kings, but never has every knee bowed to any king, as will one day take place.

And every mouth will confess that he is indeed lord and sovereign of all things, and all men, and it is only fitting that one day he should be acknowledged as such. Our mind cannot begin, our grandest imaginations cannot begin to imagine the majesty of our glorified Savior, which we will one day see with glorified eyes and glorified hearts.

Then continuing to read in this 11th verse of our text, it says, for all that is in heaven and earth is thine. Psalm 24 one says much the same thing. It says, the earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. And Ezekiel 18 four tells us, behold, all souls are mine as the soul of the father. So also the soul of the son is mine. And our God tells us in Psalm 50, starting in verse 10, for every beast of the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains and the wild beasts of the fields are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee for the world is mine and the fullness thereof.

And then next in verse 11, we read thine is a kingdom, O Lord. Now these words certainly refer to the natural kingdoms of men whom kings and potentates think that they rule over. But this one whom we worship is called the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is the sovereign ruler of all. Our God puts men in power.

We sometimes get stressed out over what we see. I have a neighbor, a friend of mine, I think the world of him, but this guy is gonna have a heart attack one of these days worrying about what's happening in this world. And he claims to worship God, but He doesn't worship the same God we do. There's no wringing of our hands. Yeah, we get a little frustrated when we see what happens, but we know how this thing's gonna end.

Our God puts men in power, and as I said, when he's done with them, they're gone. I think of Ronald Reagan sometimes, arguably at his time, maybe the most powerful man on earth, and God struck him with Alzheimer's where he didn't even know who he was. That's the vanity of this life. Now God gives to men the illusion of power, but they truly have none except what is given them by the God of heaven and earth. What did our Savior say when he stood before Pilate? And he gave no answer to Pilate's question. In John 19, starting in verse 10 of that chapter, we read this. Then saith Pilate unto him, speakest thou not unto me?

Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee and have power to release thee? Now I can just imagine Pilate sitting in his judgment hall, and they bring in this troublesome Jew. The Romans despised the Jews. They were constantly a source of anxiety for the Romans. And they bring in this Jew who Pilate doesn't know. And we have to remember, at this time, our Lord's face was beaten beyond recognition. His back was a mass of torn flesh. No doubt he trailed bloody footsteps as he came in to Pilate's judgment hall. And Pilate, in all his haughtiness, he asked the Lord, do you know who I am?

That's the way men of self-importance, or if somebody doesn't acknowledge who they might be, they like to say that. Do you know who I am? Do you know how rich I am? I just read yesterday, I think it was, that Elon Musk has now become the world's first trillionaire. I guess they sold some stocks in SpaceX or something, but the world's first trillionaire, and I thought, What good is that going to do that man when it comes time to die?

But like Pilate, many so-called rulers learned this lesson the hard way over time. Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and Herod all come to mind. And our Lord more or less said to Pilate, the one you are talking down to The one who you claim to have power over is the one giving you that power to have me crucified because this is the reason that I came to this sin-cursed earth to die for my people's sins. And I'm giving you power to send me to that cross. What did the Lord say to Pharaoh? He said, even for this same cause have I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. He told Pharaoh, I put you on the throne of Egypt so that I could one day drown you and your army in the Red Sea and it would be spoken of throughout the ages.

I love the opening verses of Psalm 2. Whenever you get distressed, read these first four verses of Psalm 2. Verse two says, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together, saying against, together, against the Lord and his anointed, saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast their cords away from us. Now, what reaction does this have from God Almighty?

Does he start pacing the floor and wringing his hands? No, because we read in verse four, he that setteth into heaven shall laugh. There's very few places in scripture that you find that God laughs, and most all of them are concerning judgment of unbelieving men. He that saith unto heaven shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure.

And verse 11 concludes with these words, and thou art exalted as head above all. Our God declares, that he will be exalted when we read in Psalm 46, 10. Here we find this one who cannot fail, whose purpose cannot be frustrated, saying, be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. We just read in Philippians 2, 9, how the God the Father has highly exalted God the Son and given him a name which is above every name. And he will be exalted above all gods because he is above all gods. He says this, I am the Lord and there is none like me.

He is high above all and is exalted as head above all. Then we come to verse 12 of our text. We read this, both riches and honor come of thee and thou reignest over all and in thy hand is power and might. And in thy hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now, one of the meanings of this riches and honor spoken here certainly refer to the physical riches that God gives to men.

But God also warns of the deceitfulness of riches. And we read in Proverbs 11, 4, riches profit not in the day of wrath. What do you think Elon Musk would give for his soul when it comes time to die? Men think of that, sadly, far too late. And Christ warned of this in Luke 18, 24, when he said, how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God. And that wasn't a question. That was a statement.

But the true riches of God, we already looked at in the Sunday school hour, they cannot be taken away. Those riches found in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wrote of those riches, he wrote of the riches of the glory on the vessels of mercy, which he hath before prepared unto glory. When Paul wrote of the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God, when he wrote about how that we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. When Paul wrote of how in the ages to come, our God will show us the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. And then we read in verse 12, and thou reignest. Now, when this verse says, thou reignest over all, it means exactly that.

This God directs everything and every person on earth. He directs the path of that little invisible virus that if you inhale it, it would take your life. He sees over every path of every insect, every little annoying net that's flying in your face. Our God directs all of that. Every speck of dust flying around in our house is directed by our God. If he is not in control of everything, he is not in control of anything.

And he most certainly directs and dictates the steps and thoughts of men and women to achieve exactly what he has purposed before the foundation of this world. The verse continues, verse 12, and in thy hand is power and might. Now, we've already looked at the power of our God, so I won't belabor the point, but the verse continues. And in thy hand is to make great.

Now there is no greater blessing to be had in this life than that which is to become, to be made a child of our God. This is the ultimate level. You want to achieve greatness in this world? This is the ultimate level of greatness that any human being can achieve, to be made an heir of God, to be made a joiner heir with Christ. We do not become joint heirs with Christ by what we do, we are made to become that as the scriptures tell us, through his mercy and his grace bestowed upon us in Christ.

And then verse 12 concludes with the words, and to give strength to all. Now, the only strength that we have is that which is found in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. In him is life, we're told. I sometimes see these little weeds growing out of concrete. And I think there's life in that and that life is in Christ.

The Lord is our strength, we're told. Psalm 28, verse 7, David said, the Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore, my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song will I praise him. The Lord is their strength, we're told, and he is a saving strength of his anointed.

Save thy people and bless thine inheritance. Feed them also and lift them up forever. which is exactly what our God will one day do. He will lift us up to a position that we cannot begin to imagine. Lifted up to be among that number that cannot be numbered.

To be allowed what David wrote of here to praise him with our song, that new song that we read of in Revelation 5. They sing, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the lamb forever and ever. And then lastly in our text, we read this. Now therefore our God, we thank thee and praise thy glorious name.

David asked a question in Psalm 116, verse 12. He said, what shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people. The only thing that we have to offer our God is praise. And that praise is tainted with sin, but our God enables us. He gives us strength to praise him.

Knowing. Dear friend. Knowing that you could have been born in Esau. I was recently in Detroit last weekend visiting relatives. That's where I was born and raised. Moved to Kentucky when I was 22. And I went and visited my mother and father's grave. And my dad was born in Esau.

Had a horrible life. Was an alcoholic. I wasn't much of a father, but the man tried his best to get right with God. He would get religious for a while, and then he would begin drinking heavily again. And I thought as I stood over his grave, this man, it could have been me. He could have saved my father and left me to perish.

So I hope that these words in this text will enable us to leave here rejoicing in the greatness of our God and his goodness toward us in Christ. We have so much to be thankful for. Many times we aren't, but at those times when the Lord enables us to rejoice in his goodness toward us, it is just a tiny, tiny microscopic sliver of heaven And I wonder, at those times, what will it be to see Him as He is and worship Him as we are? I hope the Lord will bless you.

Thine Is The Greatness

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Thine Is The Greatness

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