Well, good evening. If you would
open your Bibles with me to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. In case you haven't heard, as
I pulled up in the parking lot this evening, got a text from
Michelle Simpson. She said that, well, she told
me earlier that Aaron was out of surgery and doing well. And
when we pulled into the parking lot, she said that they were
taking him to a room and he'll have a pain pump, and she gets
to spend the night with him, which may help him as much as
the pain pump. So thankful for that, and pray
the Lord to continue blessings upon him. Alright, Psalm 139. Let's begin
our reading in verse 17. How precious also are thy thoughts
unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, They are more in number than the sand.
When I awake, I am still with thee. Surely that won't slay
the wicked, O God. Depart from me, therefore, ye
bloody men, for they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies
take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that
hate thee? And am not I grieved with those
that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred.
I count them mine enemies. Search me, O God, and know my
heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked
way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Thank God for
his word. Let's bow together. Our Father, we bow in your presence
this evening. We bow with awe and reverence
and fear knowing that we come before the God of all the earth. And Father, yet we're thankful
to be able to come before your throne of grace boldly in the
person of our Lord Jesus Christ, find grace to help in time of
need. Father, we're thankful for our
Lord Jesus Christ. We're thankful for a Savior who
completely saves his people from their sin. We're thankful that
you've given us the gospel to declare our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you've given us faith to believe, to believe him, to cling
to him. Father, I pray that this evening
you'd give us an hour of true worship, that you'd enable the
gospel of your free and sovereign grace to run well in this place
tonight. Father, I pray you'd be with
me as I attempt to preach the message that you've laid upon
my heart, to open your word to your people, Father, I pray for
your people who are here that you might give a hearing ear. Father, we're completely dependent
upon thee. We pray you'd meet with us and
give us a word from thee. We've gathered together out of
a world that is a dry and barren land. Father, we pray you'd give
us a refreshing here in the middle of the week, refreshing from
your word, something that we can cling to and take home with
us and take back out into the world tomorrow. Father, we pray
for your people who are in a time of trouble. We think this evening
especially of our brother Aaron that you'd undertake on his behalf
in a mighty way. Father, we're thankful for the
good report we have so far. Father, pray your continued hand
of healing and blessing be upon him. Be with him in a special
way. Be with Michelle. is going to be his primary caregiver
and his whole family. Father, comfort our hearts with
your presence. All these things we ask in that
name which is above every name, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It's for his sake and his glory we pray. Amen. Redeemed, how I love to proclaim
it. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. Redeemed through His infinite
mercy. His child and forever I am. Redeemed, redeemed. Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. Redeemed, redeemed. His child and forever I am. Redeemed and so happy in Jesus,
No language my rapture can tell. I know that the light of His
presence With me doth continually dwell. Redeemed, redeemed, Redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed, redeemed His child
and forever I am I think of my blessed Redeemer I think of Him
all the day long I sing for I cannot be silent His love is the theme
of my song Redeemed, redeemed Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb Redeemed, redeemed His child and forever I am I know I shall
see in His beauty The King in whose law I delight Who lovingly
guardeth my footsteps and giveth me songs in the night. Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed
by the blood of the Lamb. Redeemed, redeemed, His child
and forever I am. That was great. Thank you, Brady.
Alright, if you would, now let's open our Bibles again to Psalm
139. I've titled the message this evening,
God's Precious Thoughts. Our text begins in verse 17,
where the psalmist says, how precious also are thy thoughts
unto me, O God. How great is the sum of them.
And you know, it's a miracle that the eternal God, whom the
heavens cannot contain, would even bother to know the name
of any of His insignificant creatures of the dust. It's just a miracle
that the Creator, who is Spirit, would ever bother to even think
on His creatures. What a miracle! What an absolute
wonder that the Holy God would ever think on any sinful creature
in mercy and grace. I could understand God in His
infinite capacity to be able to think about one individual
creature out of billions and think of His justice and His
wrath toward the sin of that person. But what a miracle that
the Holy God would ever think on any sinful creature in mercy
and grace. God, knowing that His people
would be fallen in Adam, that they'd be born dead in trespasses
and sins, He thought on His people, and He found a ransom for their
sin. Now what a miracle that the Father would think on His
people, and then He'd provide the ransom. He'd provide His
own Son as the ransom for their sin. Now that's a precious thought. Oh, how precious are God's thoughts
of mercy and grace to us who believe. And the sum of the value,
just add up all the value of God's thoughts of mercy and His
grace to His people, You can't calculate them. The value of
them is too high for the human mind to be able to comprehend
because they're such precious thoughts. And I want us to look
at these thoughts tonight in five different ways to drive
home this point how precious God's thoughts to His people
really are. And like we do in all the Psalms, I want to look
first at these words in verse 17 as the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He says, how precious also are
thy thoughts unto me, O God. Number one, the Father's thoughts
of the Son are precious. The Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit have a very special relationship. They're three persons,
but one God. There isn't another relationship
like it anywhere. That's why we can't explain it.
There's nothing to compare it to. There's an only relationship
like this. Three persons. but one God. The only thing we can do with
the Trinity by God's grace is believe it. Now something that
is rare, something that is one-of-a-kind or precious, if it's one-of-a-kind,
that's what makes it precious. That's what makes it valuable.
An item that's one-of-a-kind. There's not another one like
it in the world. That's what makes it precious. That's why
it goes for such a high price at auction because there isn't
another one like it. the Son and the Holy Spirit have
a rare relationship. They have union with each other. They're one. There's not another
relationship like it. And they only think loving, trusting,
pleasant thoughts of each other. Now that's precious. That's good
doctrine. That's a truth of the Trinity,
but that's precious. Because the only way sinners
like us can be saved is if all three persons of the Godhead
are in union. And each one of them does what
they promised to do in the covenant of grace. And their thoughts
and their goals are in perfect agreement because they're one.
The Father chose a people to redeem. The Son came into flesh
and He redeemed those people. The Spirit comes and He calls
those people. He gives them faith in Christ.
He gives them spiritual life so that they know and trust Christ.
That's the only way sinners like us could ever be saved. Somebody
else had to do the work for us and in us. But here's an important
question. That's the Trinity. That's how
the work of the Godhead works together to save God's people.
Here's an important question. How does the Father think of
His Son in the flesh? We know how the Father thinks
of His Son in His deity. But how does the Father think
of His Son in the flesh? in absolute pleasure. The Father
spoke audibly from heaven and said, this is my beloved son,
in whom I'm well pleased, hear ye him. And you know, the Father
was right to say, I'm well pleased in him. He was absolutely right
because the Lord Jesus was perfect. And you know, there was never
a doubt. There was never a doubt about it. The Father always knew
he'd be pleased with his son. He always knew that his thoughts
about his son would be perfect. Isaiah prophesied of it. Isaiah
chapter 42, verse 21. The Lord is well pleased for
His righteousness sake. For the righteousness sake of
the Redeemer who's coming. And here's why. He'll magnify
the law and make it honorable. The Father always... This is
a prophecy 700 years before Christ came in the flesh. He knew, of
course the Father is pleased with His Son. And thinks pleasant
thoughts of His Son. The Father thinks pleasant thoughts.
of the obedience of Christ. Of course He does. His obedience
produced a perfect righteousness that pleased the Father. The
Father thinks pleasant thoughts of the sacrifice of Christ. Of
course He does. His sacrifice, the sacrifice
of Christ, satisfied God's justice and paid for the sin of all of
God's elect, those people that God set His love upon. The sacrifice
of Christ put their sin away. And the Father thinks precious
thoughts of Him. The Father thinks precious thoughts
of the whole person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He thinks precious
thoughts of Him and He accepts Him and loves Him perfectly.
Now let me tell you why those thoughts are precious to those
of us who believe. Because however it is that the
Father thinks of the Son, however it is that the Father thinks
of the Lord Jesus Christ, He thinks the exact same way of
his people who are in Christ. The Father, he thinks precious
thoughts of the righteousness of Christ because it's perfect.
He thinks the same thing of you who believe. The Father thinks
precious thoughts of you because you're righteous, because Christ
is your righteousness. The father thinks precious thoughts
of his son. He is so pleased with the sacrifice
of Christ because his justice is satisfied. There'll never
again be another sacrifice for sin because there's no need for
it. The father will never have to
punish his son again because all of the sin of all of God's
elect was charged to Christ and he put all of it away. He paid for every last bit of
it. He washed all of it white as snow with his precious blood.
And the father thinks the exact same thing of you who believe. He looks at you and says, your
sin is gone. My justice is satisfied. There's
no wrath in me. There's no sin. And the father
will never condemn you. Never. Oh, we'll go through trials,
tribulations, and troubles, deep ones, but it's never God punishing
his child. Ever. Ever. because all your
sin has already been punished in the person of your substitute.
The father is satisfied because he's already condemned your substitute
and he thinks precious thoughts of you. Precious thoughts. The
father thinks loving thoughts of his son, accepts him into
glory. And the father thinks the same
thing of you who believe. One day you're going to wake
in glory in the presence of Christ in perfection. Because that's
what Christ makes you. And the Father will be glad you're
there. You'll be not just grudgingly
accepted, but glad you're there. Those are precious thoughts.
Precious thoughts. All right, now look at Genesis
chapter 6. Here's the second thing. God's thoughts unto His
people are precious. And they're especially precious
when you consider man's thoughts of God by nature. Genesis chapter 6. Verse 5, And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now human nature has not changed.
There's a lot of change since the time of Noah before the flood.
But this one thing hasn't changed, man's nature. Man's nature hasn't
changed one bit. The natural man thinks evil thoughts
continually. without a break, just a continuous
flow. I was channel surfing last night
and came across this show on ESPN about the Buffalo Bills. And if you're old enough, you
know the name Jim Kelly. And they were interviewing Jim
Kelly. He still lives, I guess, in Buffalo. And the place they
chose to interview him was Niagara Falls. And right behind him is
Niagara Falls. I mean, unbelievable amount of
water just continually going over those falls. And I completely
lost track of what Jim Kelly was saying because I thought,
that's our mind. That's our natural mind. Just
a deluge of sinful thoughts, evil thoughts, continually. A continual flow. Every single
thought of the natural man is wicked and evil. because those
thoughts come from a heart, from a nature that's nothing but wicked
and evil. Man by nature cannot think up
a way to save himself because all of his thoughts are sinful
ways, not ways of salvation, not ways of righteousness. Man
can't think up a way to make himself clean and righteous because
all his thoughts are evil and filthy. Man by nature cannot
think up a way to come back to God because all of our thoughts
are away from God, against God, away from holiness, not toward
God, not toward holiness and righteousness. Look at 2 Kings
5. So man's thoughts are only evil
continually. But here's another thing about
human beings. Human beings are religious. And man's thoughts
of religion, man's thoughts about who God is, how God should be
worshipped, how we should go about this matter of religion,
how it is that God saves sinners, all of those thoughts are wrong
because they're evil. 2 Kings 5 verse 8, this is the
trouble that Naaman had. He had come to Israel because
he heard he may be cleansed of his leprosy. In verse 8, And it was so when Elisha, the
man of God, had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes,
that he said to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy
clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there
is a prophet in Israel. So Naaman came with his horses
and with his chariot." I mean, this is a procession, right?
Come to the humble abode of this prophet. He came there and he
stood at the door of the house of Elisha, and Elisha didn't
even go see him. Elisha didn't even come to the
door. He sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan
seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou
shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth and went away." This messenger
came to him, gave him the thing to do to be cleansed of leprosy. Nobody can be cleansed of leprosy.
He told him how he could be cleansed. Instead of being happy, he's
mad. Oh, he was wroth. And he went away. And here's
why he was mad. Because I thought. There's your first problem. Because
I thought. I thought he will surely come
out to me and stand and call the name of the Lord his God
and strike his hand over the place and recover the leper.
Are not Abana and Farfar rivers of Damascus better than all the
rivers of Israel? May I not wash in them and be
clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants
came near and spake unto him and said, My father, If the prophet
had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it?
How much rather then, when he said to thee, Wash and be clean. Something so simple. Then went
he down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to
the saying of the man of God, and his flesh came again like
the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Now here is
Naaman's problem, but all this matter of religion, all this
matter of cleansing, he thought. He thought evil thoughts. He
thought he would get some recognition because he's somebody in the
world. Naaman may have been the second
most powerful man in the world at that time. He thought because
he's somebody, he would get some recognition in this thing. Before
we work too hard on Naaman, let me ask you this. Isn't that what
we think about ourselves? Huh? We all think we're something. We all think of ourselves higher
than we ought to think. And it's wrong. It's wrong. We're
nothing. Absolutely nothing. You put us
all together. Add us all up together. And put
us on the scale. Put us on the balance. And we're
all together. Lighter than vanity. All of us
together. Wouldn't even move the scale.
Because we're nothing. Name and thought. This is what
he thought about religion. He thought religion was in a
ceremony. He thought religion was in a show. Name and thought
that salvation and cleansing was in a ceremony. that honored
the flesh. Well, again, isn't that what
we all think? Now man is religious, and what is man impressed with?
A show of religion. Man, natural man, is never, ever
impressed with a simple preaching of the gospel. Ever. If the simple
preaching of the gospel impresses you, helps your soul, helps your
heart, means something to you, Give thanks. Because that's not
the natural man thinking that way. The natural man's impressed
with the show of religion and thinks there's something to it.
And it's wrong. We're wrong. Salvation is a hard
work that's done by God. And all this that Naaman thought
was wrong. So when was Naaman cleansed?
Naaman was cleansed when he humbled himself. He stripped himself
naked in front of all his entourage. And when he did that, you know
what he had to do? He had to show everybody This is who I
am. This is what I am. I'm a helpless
sinner. And I am condemned to die unless
God has mercy on me. Unless I am cleansed God's way,
this is who I am and this is how I'm going to die. You reckon
when all those servants saw him, they went... We'd do far worse if we ever
saw ourselves by nature. how diseased we are with sin.
Our thoughts are only evil continually. And none of us will be saved.
Now God's in the business of saving sinners now, but none
of us will ever be saved until spiritually we're brought to
the exact same place that Naaman was. We've got to admit we're
nothing. We've got to be naked so there's
no covering. that this is who and what I am.
I am a sinner. I am undone. I am filthy. I have nothing. I can produce
nothing. That's the way. Then and only
then will sinners be made whole. They'll be made whole in the
blood of Christ. Not by what they do, but by God's
grace to them. Look at Isaiah chapter 55. Naaman
thought that his way was better than God's way. He thought surely
there's some better waters than these from what I understand
about Jordan. It's a muddy river. Naaman thought
surely there's some nice, clear, crystal blue rivers back home
where I come from. He thought there's got to be
some better waters than these. But Naaman was not cleansed until
he learned otherwise. He's got to go God's way. This thing of salvation has got
to be God's way. And you and I won't be cleansed.
You and I won't be saved until we learn this. It's not what
we think. It's what God says. And we better
be bound to what God says. We better be changing our thinking
and bow to what God says. Look here at Isaiah 55 verse
6. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call ye upon him while he's near, begging for mercy.
Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man, his
thoughts. Get rid of your thoughts. Get
rid of that stinking thinking and let him return unto the Lord.
And he'll have mercy on him. Our God, for He will abundantly
pardon. Four, here's why you've got to
get rid of your thoughts. Here's why you've got to come
to God begging for mercy. Four, my thoughts are not your
thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts than your thoughts. Name and thought. Name and thought. He thought he had a good way.
This is what he had to learn. God's ways are much higher than
our ways. Our thoughts are not God's thoughts.
God's thoughts are so much higher than ours. They're so much better
than ours. Aren't you thankful God's thoughts
are not our thoughts? I am. Because our thoughts are
sinful thoughts. God is holy. He thinks holy thoughts. Our thoughts are enmity. Our
thoughts are war against God. God's thoughts are peace. Our
thoughts are the filth of iniquity and damnation. God's thoughts
toward his people are thoughts of redemption in Christ Jesus. Aren't you thankful our thoughts
are not God's thoughts? See, and this is the other thing
about our thoughts. We'll be damned unless God overrides our
thoughts and gives us a new mind and changes our thinking. In
Genesis 50, verse 20, Joseph is talking to his brethren, but
this applies to, you know, Joseph is a picture of Christ. He tells
his brothers, but as for you, you thought evil against me.
That's what you thought. You thought evil against me.
But God meant it under good to bring to pass as it is this day
to save much people alive. Our thoughts are evil thoughts. They're evil towards God. They're
evil towards other men. They're evil towards ourselves.
They're evil thoughts. But God's redeeming thoughts
to his people are precious thoughts. Precious. Made all the more precious
by how iniquity-filled our thoughts are. And I point out about man's
depraved thoughts here. Because that makes God's thoughts
to his people all the more precious. So here's the third thing. God's
thoughts to his people are precious, precious thoughts. And we just
read in Isaiah 55, my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither
are your ways my ways. And again, I say, I'm thankful. I'm thankful. I'm thankful God's
thoughts are not my thoughts. Aren't you? You know, I say this reverently and carefully.
But if we were God, we wouldn't save us, would we? We wouldn't save people like
us, would we? I'm glad God's thoughts are not my thoughts.
By nature, we don't want to think about God. We don't even like
to think about God. Paul said in Romans 1.28, this
is the way, this is the proof of man's wicked nature. The wicked,
Paul said, do not like to retain God in their knowledge. They
just don't want to think about it. They just won't think about
God and what they hear they won't retain. That's us by nature. But God's thoughts are not our
thoughts. Our thoughts are pushed God as
far away from our mind as we can. We might like to think on
the God we made up, but not the true and living God. We just
want to push those thoughts from our mind as far as we can. But
God's thoughts are not our thoughts. Now there is only one God. And you and I, by nature, can't
find it in our mind to think upon Him. But God thinks upon
His people. Now you think about that. How
many billions of people have lived? I mean, how many are alive
now? Billions of people. And God can
think on His people individually, personally, and on purpose. And when he thinks on his people,
he thinks on his people in grace. He thinks on them, not thinking
I'm going to give them what they deserve, but he thinks on his
people in grace. When he thinks on them, you know
what he sees? You know what he thinks? He sees
the perfection of Christ. He thinks on the perfection of
Christ and he thinks upon those people in love. Now, if you're
an insignificant sinner, that's a precious thought. Almighty
God thinks on you in mercy and grace. Our thoughts, especially
our religious thoughts, are thoughts of our works. Well, I'm thankful
God's thoughts are not our thoughts. His thoughts are mercy and grace
toward his people in Christ Jesus. By His grace. By His grace. Salvation
not by works, but by grace. Not by works, but by faith in
His Son. Now someone might say, but my
sin is too great. Well, let me tell you this. God's
thoughts of grace are more than you can ever count. You think
you can count up your sins and you... God's grace is greater. God's
thoughts of grace are greater. Verse 18. Let's look back here
at our text. We'll get to this verse 18 in
just a minute. Psalm 139. The psalmist says, if I should
count them, they are more in number than the sand. More in
number than the sand. You know, when I think about
the sand, I think about, Jan, I like to go to the beach. We
sit there on that beach looking out at the ocean. As far down
south and as far north as I can see, there's beach. They're sand. And I always think about this,
the sand. That's a lot of sand. And how many sands are there
in the world? And for some reason, I don't
know, I never really thought about this, but yeah, that's
not the only sand in the earth. What about the deserts? What
about all the dust of the earth? You reckon you can count all
that up? God's thoughts of mercy and grace to His people are more
than all that sand. More than you could ever begin
to count. As great as we think our sin
is, I promise you it's worse. I promise you it is. If the Lord
ever showed us our sin, if we could see ourselves as we are,
as God sees us, every one of us would go stark raving mad.
We could not stay in the sight of it. God gives us just enough
sight of it that we appreciate His grace. And if you're a sinner,
with such a great, great sin debt. It's worse than what we
think. Let me tell you this. God's grace
is always greater than we think, too. Our sin is greater than
we think, and God's grace is greater than we think. His thoughts
of grace are greater than what we think. Look over at Jeremiah
chapter 29. Our thoughts against God are
enmity. They're enmity against God. But
God's thoughts to His people, His thoughts are not our thoughts.
God's thoughts to his people are thoughts of love and peace
in Christ Jesus. Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11. For I know the thoughts that
I think towards you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace, not
of evil, to give you an expected end. Now that's a precious thought
to a dead unlovable sinner that God's thoughts toward His people
are thoughts of peace. They're not thoughts of evil.
They're not thoughts of judgment. They're thoughts of peace because
Christ made peace for us by the blood of His cross. And He says,
because of that, I'm going to give you an expected end. I'm going to give you the end
that I predestined, that I purposed for you in eternity. That's a
precious thought to a dead, unlovable sinner. Our thoughts our thoughts
of death. By nature, there's no life in
any of our thoughts. But God's thoughts are not our
thoughts. God's thoughts are life-giving thoughts to his people,
giving them life in Christ because of Christ. Our thoughts are thoughts
of eternal death, of hell. Look back in our text again,
Psalm 139. But God's thoughts, our thoughts
are thoughts of damnation, hell, eternal death. But God's thoughts
are resurrecting thoughts for His people to bring them to glory.
He says in verse 18, if I should count them, there are more in
number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with Thee. That's
true every morning. We sleep, and when we're asleep,
we don't think about God, do we? And we wake up in the morning,
come out of your days, and we're still with God. Here we've been
asleep, we hope, for about eight hours. We didn't think about
God any at all during that time, but God didn't forget us. God
didn't forsake us while we slept. That's a precious thought, isn't
it? But the psalmist here mostly is talking about sleeping and
death. You know, when the body of a believer dies, our body
is asleep. No moral can wake us up. We're
asleep. But the believer's not dead.
We're not dead. The body's dead. But the believer's
not dead. It's not like when the believer
dies, it ceased to exist until Christ returns, like soul sleep
or something like that. No, the believer's a whole lot
more than this body. Aren't you glad of that? The
believer's a whole lot more than this body of dead flesh. The
believer's also spirit. He's a new man who has eternal
life, and the very moment this body sleeps in death, long before
we put this body down to ground, the moment this body sleeps in
death, the new man awakes and opens his eyes in glory. And
you know what he finds? He's still with Christ. He's
still with the Lord. He's always been with Him by
faith. And now, he's with Him in person. He opens His eyes
and He sees the face, the smiling face of the Redeemer who loved
us and gave Himself for us. And hears Him say, well done,
my good and faithful servant. And we'll think, I can't remember
one good thing I ever did. It's all in Christ. Now that's
a precious thought. For a hell-deserving sinner,
that's a precious thought. Look at Isaiah chapter 14. Our
thoughts. You kind of have gathered, I
guess, by this point what I did is I just went through my concordance
looking at the word thought and thoughts. Our thoughts, by nature,
now this is true, our thoughts are thoughts of doubts and fears. Everybody here tonight knows
there is not one reason for the believer to ever doubt and ever
fear. Ever. And while you're sitting
here listening to the gospel, you probably really do feel that
way. I have no reason to doubt or fear. And the slightest thing
goes wrong with us, and we're filled with doubts and fears. What the Lord said to His disciples,
He could say to us, oh, ye little faint. Why are you so afraid? Why are you so full of fears?
Our thoughts are full of doubts and fears. Aren't you thankful
God's thoughts are not our thoughts? God's thoughts are thoughts of
complete confidence. Utter confidence and complete
victory. Isaiah 14, verse 24. The Lord of hosts hath sworn,
saying, Surely as I have thought, whatever it is I have thought,
so shall it come to pass. And as I have purposed, So shall
it stand. Now, there's no doubt. Let me
tell you one more time. There is absolutely no doubt
that God's thoughts, His thoughts toward His people are thoughts
of salvation, thoughts of mercy and grace. There is no doubt
that God's thoughts of His people will come to pass. God's people
will have everything He ever purposed for them and nothing
can stop it. Now that's a precious thought
to a doubting saint. We shouldn't doubt, but we do.
So let's just be honest, and let's just be honest with each
other. Next time you're doubting, you hang on to this promise.
The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, surely as I have thought,
so shall it come to pass. As I have purposed, so shall
it stand. What a precious thought to a
doubting saint. Alright, number four. I don't
want to spend much time on this, but it's something we have to
deal with. Look here again in our text, Psalm 139. God's thoughts
to the wicked make God's thoughts to his people all the more precious.
And we've been talking about how precious God's thoughts are
to his people. And those are true things, that's
true. But don't think that that's the way that God thinks about
every son of Adam. Because it's not. Look here at
verse 19. If it was, everybody would be
saved. We wouldn't have to be talking about hell, would we?
No. Verse 19. Surely thou wilt slay the wicked,
O God. Depart from me therefore, ye
bloody men. That's what the Savior is going to say to them in the
judgment. Depart from me. For they speak
against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And am not I grieved
with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect
hatred. I count them mine enemies." God's
thoughts to them, the Savior's thoughts to them are not thoughts
of mercy and grace. They're thoughts of wrath and
justice. He said, I count them mine enemies. Now, God hates the workers of
iniquity. Now, what just went through your
mind when I said the workers of iniquity? Well, the workers
of iniquity certainly any son of Adam, our thoughts are only
evil continually. But here, the people that are
identified as the workers of iniquity are not people out there
in the bars and the brothels and all the dens of iniquity
that we think about. This is talking about religious
people. They take the name of God, Christ, Jesus. They take these names on their
lips. They go through all these religious
ceremonies. They speak to people about the
things of the Lord. They speak to people about salvation
and righteousness and holiness and heaven and hell. And the Savior says when they
do that, they speak against thee wickedly. I mean, it's not like,
well, you know, there's some good in what they say. No, sir.
They speak against God wickedly. And when they do this and they
speak about God that way, they take his name in vain. They're
lying on God. They're taking His name in vain. And God hates them. They want
to trust in the fact that they're better than the average bear.
So they think, well, that means God will accept me. That's their
thoughts. And God thinks thoughts of wrath
of those people. He thinks of them as their enemy
and He'll condemn every last one of them in justice and He
won't feel bad about it. Because it's justice. They'll
be getting what their sin deserves. They'll be getting what their
self-righteousness deserves. And that makes me all the more,
as Forrest Gump would say, that's all I've got to say about that.
I just can't bring myself to dwell on that. Can you just,
the thought of hell and having the Savior say, depart from me,
I never knew you. Oh. But I tell you what, it makes
me thankful. God's thoughts to His people are thoughts of grace
and mercy. Well, that brings me to the last
thing. The thoughts of the redeemed toward our God are precious.
Now, when God saves a sinner, that sinner repents. He has a
change of mind. He turns. He turns from what
he used to trust in and turns to trust in Christ. See, we used
to think. We used to think, I'm pretty
good. Probably good enough to stand
before God. As long as my good outweighs my bad, I'm good enough
to stand before God. That's what he used to think.
Now the believer has to change of mind. And the believer knows,
knows. I stand in Christ accepted. Verse 23. Search me, O God, and
know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts,
and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting. Now how in the world can a sinner
make such a statement as this? To the all-seeing eye of God,
search me. Search my heart. Know me. How
can a sinner say that? See if there's any sin in me.
All I am is sin. Of course God's going to see
sin if He searches my heart. You're not going to have to look
real hard. All I am is sin. Not if I'm in Christ, I'm not.
If God sees me in Christ, He's not going to see any sin. All
He sees is perfection. See, the believer who can make
this statement has had a change of thinking. He's had a change
of mind. Now I know I'm sinless. I'm perfect
in Christ because that's what Christ made me in reality. And so that's the way God sees
me. And that's a precious thought. That's a precious thought to
know I stand before God in Christ. When he sees me, he sees his
son. That's a precious thought and nobody can think it. unless
God's given him a new mind. That's what makes it so precious
and valuable. What a precious thought to a
stumbling saint who fails every test. I hope none of us are thinking,
well, I'd like God to test me so I can show my faith. We'll
fail every test, every single test, so that we can say with
Peter, Lord, you know all things. It didn't look like it on the
outside, but you know all things. You know I love you. You know
that I trust you. Lord, you know all things. You
know that I'm sinless. You know that I'm innocent because
you're the one that put me in Christ. You're the one that washed
me in the blood of Christ. So Lord, accept me for Christ's
sake. Now you can make that prayer
with all confidence if you believe Christ. A couple more scriptures. I want you to turn to these.
Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 10. This is the thought, the way
a believer thinks. 2 Corinthians 10 verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh,
we do not war after the flesh. We're not fighting the flesh.
We're not fighting people, you know, trying to make people clean
up the flesh and make the flesh look better. We're not war after
the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds,
casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity. every thought to the obedience
of Christ. Everyone God saves has their
thoughts brought into captivity so that we can't think any other
way. A believer can only think that
we're righteous in Christ through the obedience of Christ because
He's my representative. I don't make myself righteous
through my obedience to the law or my morality or my good Christian
living. Christ made me righteous. His
obedience to the law for me made me righteous. His obedience is
my obedience. And that's the way you think
of God has saved you. Because He's brought your mind, your
thinking into captivity to the obedience of Christ. You just
can't help it. You can't think any other way
than Christ is my righteousness. His obedience is my obedience.
Now what a precious thought for a sinner who can't do anything
but sin. to think Christ is my righteousness
and I can't think any other way. God doesn't leave it up to me.
He brings my mind, my thoughts into captivity so I can't think
any other way. I can't trust any other one except
Christ the Savior. Now, one more scripture. Look
at Matthew chapter 6. In closing, I want to bring all of this together. All of this, everything I've
said so far, brings this all together. This lets the believer
think thoughts of comfort, thoughts of peace, and that's precious. If you've ever needed peace in
your heart, peace of conscience, if you've ever needed comfort
for your troubled soul, this is a precious thought. Matthew
6, verse 25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought. Take no anxious
thought for your life, what you should eat or what you should
drink, nor yet for your body, what you should put on. Is not
the life more than meat and the body than raiment? Behold the
fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor
gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feedeth
them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? Why take ye thought for raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not,
neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even
Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of those
flowers. Wherefore, if God so clothed
the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast
in the oven, should he not much more clothe you, O ye of little
faith? Therefore take no thought, no
anxious thought, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we
drink? Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these
things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth
ye have need of all these things, but seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for
the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof. Now take no anxious thought,
no anxious thought. That doesn't mean don't think
about your life. Now, put some thought into your career. Brady,
when you're studying tomorrow, put some thought into this thing.
Get in your education. It's going to matter. Help you
get a good job. Put some thought into this thing. Put some thought
into raising your family. Put some thought in how you're
going to live, how you're going to induct yourself in this world.
Put some thought into these things. But the Lord says, take no anxious
thought. No anxious thought. Now, get
up in the morning and go to work. Do a good job so you can earn
some money to pay for your house and feed your family and clothe
your family. And do that to the absolute best
of your ability. Do it to all the ability and
strength that God's given you. Because that's what God's commanded
us to do. Now do those things. Trusting in the Lord to provide.
Don't trust your ability to work. Don't trust your ability to get
straight A's. Don't trust your smarts and your ability to save
and invest and that's what's going to take care of you. No.
Put some thought in how you live your life. But trust Jehovah
Jireh. Trust the Lord to provide. And
don't think these anxious thoughts of worry and doubt and fear. Because God who's on the throne
thinks of you. Every morning I get up, I stumble
in the kitchen, I'm making my coffee. And this time of year,
the birds are out there, and they're just singing. They're
just singing. I just thought of this while
I was preaching. Those birds up there singing, they're sitting
on the, I look at them, they're sitting on the electric wires.
I guess you don't have telephone wires, they must be all electric
wires. And there they are, they're sitting there singing. I look
at those birds, those birds don't have a basket full of food. What are they going to eat? I
mean, I guess they have little teeny tiny nests somewhere. Aren't
they worried it's going to get knocked down? I mean, how fragile
is that? You'd think they're just as worried
as can be. And what are they doing? Sitting there singing.
Take no anxious thought. God thinks on those birds. And
they're just up there singing. God thinks on you. God thinks
on you. He provides for those birds.
He provides for you. I love those birds, doesn't he?
Those birds are going to die and fall down to the ground,
and that's going to be it. They're going to weigh like half
an ounce. I just find dead birds sometimes in the yard thinking,
this thing was nothing. But God thinks on you to provide
you eternal life. God thinks on you. You who believe,
God thinks on you to provide His Son as a sacrifice for your
sins. Oh, God, help us. Don't ever,
ever again think any anxious thought. God who's on the throne
thinks of you to provide for you everything that you need. Not everything we want now, but
everything we need. God help us to rest in Him who
thinks on us. That's a precious thought, isn't
it? For those who believe in and trust Christ, that's a precious
thought. All right. God bless you. Let's bow together. Our Father, how can we begin
to thank you for your precious thoughts to your people? Oh,
how precious they are. Father, we're thankful. Thankful
for your mercy and your grace. Completely undeserved on our
part, but it's all because you think upon your people. You think
to provide mercy and grace and life for us. Father, we're thankful.
Father, I pray you'd take your word as it's been preached tonight
Cause it to take root in the hearts of your people that we
might see and believe the glory of Christ our Savior and to rest
in Him. And to think thoughts of Him.
To bring our minds, our thoughts into captivity to the obedience
of Christ that He is our all. Father, we ask Your blessing.
We ask Your blessing on Your Word as it's preached. And bless
us now as we go back home and prepare to go back out into the
world tomorrow. Father, bless. Watch over and
keep your people and bring us back again when it's time to
have another refreshing from your word. Of course, in the
name of Christ our Savior, we pray and give thanks. Amen. All
right, you're dismissed.