Alright, let's open our Bibles
and begin our service to Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17. We begin reading in verse 22 of
Acts chapter 17. Then Paul stood in the midst
of Mars Hill and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in
all things you're too superstitious. For as I passed by and beheld
your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription to the
unknown God, whom therefore you ignorantly worship. Him declare
I unto you. God that made the world and all
things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth,
dwells not in temples made with hands, neither is worshiped with
men's hands, as though he needed anything. seeing he giveth to
all life and breath and all things, and hath made of one blood all
nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth, and hath
determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation,
that they should seek the Lord, if happily they might feel after
him and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.
For in him we live and move and have our being, as certain also
of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring.
For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not
to think that the Godhead is likened to gold or silver or
stone, graven by art and man's device. In the times of this
ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere
to repent because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath
raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection
of the dead, some mocked, and others said, we will hear thee
again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them,
howbeit certain men claimed unto him and believed. Among the witch
was Diocenes the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and
others with them. Thank God for his word. All right. Let's turn our first song to
475. We'll sing it to the tune that's
in the book, the old tune, I'll call it. We always say new tune,
old tune. This one in the book is the old
tune. Redeem how I love to proclaim
it Redeem 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 Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps,
And giveth me songs in the night. redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb, redeemed, redeemed, His child and forever I am. Now let's turn back a few pages
to 442. 442. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer! Sing, O earth, His wonderful
love proclaim. Hail Him, hail Him, highest archangels
in glory. Strength and honor give to His
holy name. Jesus will guard His children
in His arms, He carries them all day long. Praise Him, praise Him, tell
of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever
in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus
our blessed Redeemer. For our sins He suffered and
bled and died He, our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation Hail
Him, hail Him, Jesus the Crucified Sound His praises Jesus, who
bore our sorrows, love unbounded, wonderful, deep, and strong. Praise Him, praise Him, tell
of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever
in joyful song. Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessed Redeemer,
Heavenly portals loud with hosannas ring. He's our Savior, reigneth
forever and ever. Crown Him, crown Him, prophet
and priest and King. Christ is coming over the world
victorious. Power and glory unto the Lord
belong. Praise Him, praise Him, tell
of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever
in joyful song. Our scripture reading this evening
will be taken from Psalm 115. Psalm 115. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Wherefore should the heathen 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 men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but
they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell
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. 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. Ye that fear the Lord, trust
in the Lord. He is their help and their shield.
The Lord hath been mindful of us. He will bless us. He will
bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless them that fear the Lord, both small and great. The Lord shall increase you more
and more, you and your children. You are blessed of the Lord which
made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens
are the Lord's, but the earth hath he given to the children
of men. The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down
into silence. But we will bless the Lord, this
time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord. Let's bow together
in prayer. Our Father, how we thank you
for this another opportunity that you've given us to meet
together and to worship your holy name. Father, I pray that
you would never let us take this blessed privilege for granted.
The blessing of being able to gather together with your people
and to worship you, have your word read, to sing the songs
of praise, and to have the gospel of your dear son preached. Father,
how we thank you. How we thank you for preserving
and protecting your message here in our town for so many, many,
many years. How we thank you that you've
honored your word as it's been preached, that you caused it
to go forth in power, to bring glory to your name, to call out
your sheep, to feed and to comfort and edify your sheep, Father,
we're thankful. Father, we pray that you would
continue to bless us, continue to bless your word. For your
great namesake, Father, we pray you'd bless your word, continue
to call out your sheep, continue to feed your sheep, continue
to bless your people through the preaching of your word, we
pray. We pray that you would bless the word as it goes forth
from this pulpit many different forms that you have been pleased
to allow to go forth, to call out your sheep. Father, bring
in your sheep and save them by your grace, we pray. Father,
tonight I pray that you'd bless us. We've gathered together out
of this world with one heartfelt need to hear your Word preached,
to one more time hear of Christ the Savior. Father, I pray you'd
bless each heart with the preaching of your Word this evening. able
us to go back out into the world refreshed, strengthened, having
been able by your grace to feed upon our Lord Jesus Christ. And
Father, we thank you for the many blessings that you have
so freely bestowed upon this people, how you've blessed us. We're overwhelmed with the bounty,
Father. We thank you and we pray that
you give us the wisdom to use the things that you've given
us, not selfishly, but wisely, for your glory and for the good
of your people. Give us an open hand as you have been so open-handed
in giving to us. Father, for your people in a
time of trouble, we dare not forget to pray for them. We pray
that you'd give them a special portion of your presence until
such time as you and your wisdom see fit to provide a way out.
Heal and comfort your people, we pray. All these things we
ask, Father. That name which is above every
name. The name of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's in His name and
for His sake we pray and give thanks. Amen. If you would, turn to 491. 491.
Maybe we learn a new song. He has great words. The tune's a little tricky, but I'll sing it through the first
and second verse, and you help me on the third. Heavenly joy is ringing, and
our hearts are singing. For His blood hath bought us,
when condemned He sought us. Men of every nation, sing in
great salvation of our blessed Lord Jesus, who in mercy Hail,
thou blessed Savior, we through thee find favor. Thou for us, heart and pleading,
ever interceding, Sing the third with me. Now with sins forgiven We can
enter heaven There we'll all adore Thee Sovereign King of
glory All the joy before us There in heavenly chorus Praises we'll
be blending For all time unending Praises will be blending for
all time unending. Let's open our Bibles again now
to Psalm 115. The title of the message this
evening is, Our God is in the Heavens. As the psalmist writes this psalm,
it's evident that he is concerned about the glory of God amongst
the people of his day. He says in verse 2, Wherefore
should the heathen say, Where is now their God? Now the heathen
ask, Where is your God? They know right where their God,
where their idol is. They know exactly where he is.
He's right where they put him. He's still where they left him.
They know what their idol is doing. They see him. They know
everything he's doing. They see him at all times. So
they're asking, where is your God? But they're also asking,
what is your God doing? We've heard about all his wonders
that he performed in ancient times. Where are they today? You know, their logic tells them
that if God's not doing those wonders today, he must never
have done them. And so all of our religion is
a fairy tale. Now, that's what you get when
you try to figure out God with human logic. It just won't work. We'll always be wrong when we
try to figure out God with human logic. But that's the blasphemy,
you know, that they ask, that they say. So the psalmist asks,
Lord, why do you even permit the heathen to talk this way?
I don't know. I don't know. When somebody asks
you why God's doing what he's doing, what is God doing? You
know a really good answer. This is always an acceptable
answer. I don't know. I just don't know. I don't know
what God's purpose is in allowing that to go on, but he does, doesn't
he? From the psalmist day to our day, hasn't changed. You
know, it could be the Lord's allowing them to do that, Because
He's waiting. He's waiting for a time to be
merciful to them. Or it could be the Lord's letting them fill
up the full measure of their iniquity. I don't know. I don't
know for sure. But I don't really want to spend
a lot of time on heathen idolaters, what they're doing and what they're
saying. I don't want to preach against them. I don't want to
preach against them. I want to preach Christ. But I want us
to answer this question this evening so that we see the true
and living God and we worship Him. By God's grace, we trust
him. Verse three, the psalmist answers
the question. He says, but our God is in the
heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Now, where is
our God? Our God's exactly where he should
be. He's in heaven. He's on the throne of heaven.
But when we say our God is in the heavens, we're doing more
than giving God's location because God's everywhere. He's omnipresent. He's everywhere at the same time,
isn't he? Saying our God is in the heavens, describes the character
of God. And it tells us what God is doing
there. Since God is in the heavens, God is the self-existent one. Nobody created God and nobody
sustains God. He's self-existent. God's not
from the earth. If you could say from heaven,
I don't know if you can say he's from heaven. He's in heaven.
I know that. He's in heaven where he's always
been. He's the self-existent one. And
since God is in the heavens, God is above us, ruling and reigning
everything that goes on beneath him, everything in his creation.
And since God is in the heavens, since God is so high above us,
he's beyond figuring out. Since God is so high above us,
we ought not even ask this question, where is now their God? Because
he's so high above us, we can't figure him out and we ought not
question him. because he doesn't have to answer
to you and me. He's in the heavens. Well, that's
where our God is. He's in the heavens. Well, what
is our God doing? He's doing whatsoever he hath pleased. Our
God is doing everything that he purposed to do from eternity. We often do not understand why
God does what he does, but we do know this always. Whatever
it is that God's doing, it's right. It's right because God
has done it. It's right because God purposed
to do it from all of eternity. And we bow to it. We bow to Him. That's the only proper relationship
between God and us, is we bow. I want to give you four things
this evening that are true. Since our God is in the heavens,
these four things are true. Number one is this. Since God
is in the heavens, we know all glory belongs to God. Verse 1,
the psalmist says, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto
thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake.
Now God is in the heavens. So that means all glory for everything
belongs to God. And anybody who knows God, anybody
who believes God will very quickly say, not unto us. Not unto us,
O Lord, not unto us. Even to man, not unto us, O man. Don't give any glory to us. Don't
give us glory for anything that we have. Don't give us any glory
for anything that we know, because we haven't done anything to deserve
them. That's true of everything we
have. Everything about us, isn't it?
It's true of material blessings. Everything we have. Everything
we have. God gave us. Your person can
Go get an education. They can go to a good school.
They get a good education. They study. They get good grades.
They graduate. They get a very good job, very
good paying job. And they work really hard at
that job, just like you should, right? They work hard at that
job. They get promotions and raises and so forth. And they
invest wisely. They take care of their money.
They're just wise with their job and their money and the things
that they have. And they become very, very, very wealthy. Who gets the glory for all that
wealth? Huh? I mean, do you say, oh, I'm a
self-made man. I've worked my way up from the
bottom. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Who gets glory
for all that wealth? God does. God does. Yes. Yes. You were
able to get into a fine school and get a good education. Who
gave you the ability to get in there? Who gave you a mind that
can read and write and do arithmetic? Huh? God did that. Who gave you
the opportunity to get a job? Who enabled that business to
stay in business? God did that. He gets the glory
for it, doesn't He? In a person, they can take pretty
good care of themselves. They can eat right. They can
measure out their little ounces of chicken and not eat steak
and everything. They may be healthier. They won't
be happier, but they'll be healthier. They can exercise, take care
of themselves, and they'll live a long and healthy life. Now
who gets the credit for that? Who gets the credit for that
long, long healthy life? God does. We just read the Apostle
Paul said, God has determined all of our days before time began. God did that. God gets the glory
for that. And if you can say especially, it's equally true,
but especially in this matter of spiritual blessings and salvation,
who gets the glory for it? God does. God does. You know, a person could say,
I believed the gospel a long time from a child. I'm like young
Timothy from a child. I've had these scriptures taught
to me, which they would make me wise in a salvation. And I
believe God early in life. That's good. That's good. We
ought to. But now who gets the glory for that? Who puts you
in a home where your parents brought you to hear the gospel?
Who puts you in a home where God's word is read? How did you
find yourself sitting under the sound of the gospel? Huh? God did that, didn't he? God did that. And whenever it
is you find yourself believing on Christ, who gave you that? I don't care when it is. Who
gave you that faith? Oh, God did. It's a gift of God,
isn't it? So the believer says, not unto
us, not unto us. Don't give us any glory in this
matter of salvation because it all belongs to God. God's the
one who planned and purposed salvation. God's the one who
chose me. I didn't choose him, he chose
me. God's the one who loved me. I love him, yes I do, but only
because he loved me first. God's the one who redeemed me.
God's the one who gave me life and faith. God's the one who
called me to Christ. And God's the one who's kept
me from falling away. Salvation is all in the name
of the Lord. It's all of what God has done
for me. So he gets all the glory. You know, not only are we not
worthy of any glory, I'll tell you where we need to start. We're
not worthy of any God's grace. If I understand I'm not worthy
of any of God's grace, I'm not worthy of the least of God's
blessings, it'll be real easy for me to understand none of
the glory belongs to me either. I don't deserve any of that either.
Now we're not worthy of God's grace, but we're sure thankful
for it, aren't we? We're sure thankful he gives
it freely. And God gives salvation. The people asking these questions
are idolaters. They know where their God is,
their little g, where their idol is. Well, God gives salvation
that these idols never can give. God gives salvation that's sure
and certain because God's salvation is done in mercy and truth. The psalmist says, give God the
glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Mercy and truth
together. No idol can do that. Only God
does that. See, there's one kind of idol
that offers salvation in truth. And I said that right. Offers.
Offers salvation in truth. They don't give. Now, they don't
give. They don't freely give. They offer. That kind of idol
is a legalist. That idol says that he'll save
you if you keep the law well enough. That idol will save you
if you don't sin too much. You know, they might have a lower
bar than perfection, but if you don't sin too much, this legal
idol, he'll save you. Or if you're a nice and kind
person, you do enough good, kind things for everybody, you know,
maybe this idol will save you. But I'm telling you, there's
no salvation for a sinner in that idol. Because all a sinner
can do is sin. That's all we can do. We can't
keep the law. We can't keep any law. All we
do is sin. So there's no hope of salvation
for a sinner in this idol. This idol has truth, but no mercy. And a sinner must have mercy.
Well, then there's another kind of idol on the opposite end of
the spectrum who offers salvation in mercy. That kind of idol,
the only way I can think of to describe him is he's an old sentimental
grandpa. He's got kind of a touch of dementia
And he's got the ability to forget about your sin and he can love
you and save you in spite of your sin. But there's no salvation
for sinner there. See, in order for salvation to
be real, sin must be paid for in full. See, this idol has got
mercy, but no truth. This idol is another Jesus. Another Jesus who died for everybody,
but Some of those people are going to go to hell anyway. There's
no truth to that idol, is there? There's no truth. His sacrifice
didn't put away sin. This death of another Jesus can't
atone, can't pay for sin. Well, there's no hope for the
salvation of a sinner in that idol, because that idol has mercy,
but no justice against sin. Sin is not paid for. So only
our God, who's in the heavens, has salvation. that's accomplished. It's not offered, it's accomplished
in mercy and truth. The true and living God who's
in the heavens, he sent his son to earth from heaven. And as
a man made under the law, born of a woman, the Lord Jesus Christ
worked out a perfect righteousness by obeying the law for his people.
That's how he made them righteous. He didn't leave it up to them
to obey the law because they can't. He obeyed it for them as their
representative. And then God's Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, He took the sin of His people away from them
and He made it His. Now it belonged to Him. And in
justice, He suffered the full penalty of the law. See, if He
didn't make it His, justice would not be satisfied by His death,
would it? That would actually be unjust if an innocent man
was put to death. He took the sin of His people
in a way we cannot understand, made it His. and injustice. He suffered the full penalty
for that sin. Now, God can show mercy to his
people in truth. Because Christ took their sin
away. He paid for it. The sacrifice of Christ made
it right for God to show mercy to sinners. Now a sinner can
hang his soul on that salvation. It's done in mercy and truth. Something I don't have to deserve.
Something I don't have to earn. but it's done in truth. Christ
suffered and died for my sin. Mercy and truth. I can hang my
soul on that. See, that salvation done in mercy
and truth can never be taken back. Never. Because if it was,
it'd be unjust, wouldn't it? And one thing God's not is unjust. He'll always be just. All right,
number two, since God is in the heavens, no idol can be compared
to God. Verse 4 says their idols are
silver and gold, the work of men's hands. Now God is the true
and the living God and nothing can be compared to God. Nothing
in earth and nothing in heaven can ever be compared to God.
But men have made up idols that they tried to worship from the
time of Cain. I mean by the time Cain came
to that altar and offered his fruits and vegetables on that
altar, he'd already made him up an idol to worship. You see,
Idle, he had an altar, probably an altar that looked much like
Abel's altar, didn't he? He didn't have a figurine or
anything. This was just a figment of his imagination that God would
accept these fruits and vegetables that he brought. And Idle doesn't
have to be a little figurine made of gold and silver or ceramic
or stone or something. And Idle is just a figment of
man's imagination. An idol is anything that's not
God, as he's been pleased to reveal himself in this book.
And worshiping an idol reveals just how little man knows about
God and how little man knows about worship. Now, the thing
made is always less glorious than the person who made it.
Isn't that right? The thing made is always less
glorious than the person who made. The person who made is
the one that gets the glory for having the wisdom and the skill
to make it. We can understand that, can't we? Well, then when
a person worships an idol that they made up, they're worshiping
something that's inherently less than them. Yet that's what they
want to worship. Now, these next verses describe
idols, and this applies to an idol made up of gold and silver
and stone, or the imagination of the mind. You know, just something
that we, this other Jesus, you know, that men have made up.
These next verses describing, verse five, they have mouths,
but they speak none. Now an idol can't speak. He can't
speak to the hearts of people. An idol can't explain the meaning
of scripture to you. He doesn't have a mouth. He might
have one carved out of stone, but they can't speak. Oh, but
our God has a mouth that he speaks. And when God speaks, he speaks
to the heart of his people. In a more powerful, more clear
way than if he spoke audibly like I'm speaking right now,
because when God speaks, he speaks to the heart of his people. He
speaks through his word. He speaks through his gospel
and the words of his mouth when they come to our heart. Oh, my.
They're sweeter than honey and more precious than gold. He speaks
to the heart. In verse five says. Eyes have
they, but they see not. An idol can't look on the heart.
An idol can only see outward actions. That's why everything
involved in the worship of an idol is all the outward motions
of religion. They have eyes, but but they
see not. But nothing, nothing is hid from
the eye of God. When God looks on his people,
he looks on the heart of his people. He doesn't look on the
outward countenance of the outward action. God looks on the heart
so that his people can say with the apostle Peter, Lord, you
know, all things, you know, I love you. You know it because you
see it. You've given me that heart that loves you and you
see it. Now God sees everything. He sees everything. as it really
is. Two bits of good news there.
Number one, God sees all my sin. He sees all of it. Didn't miss one. When He put my sin on the Savior,
He didn't leave one on me. Aren't you glad His eye sees
everything? And if God sees everything, and He does, He sees everything
the way that it is, Then when God says, I don't see the sin
of my people anymore, you know what that means? It means the
sacrifice of Christ took it away so that it doesn't exist anymore.
God's just not seeing something because it's in his blind spot.
God doesn't see the sin of his people because Christ put their
sin away and he made them truly righteous. Righteous in God's
sight, which is the only place that matters. Verse six, They
have ears, but they hear not. You know, none of these idols
can hear people cry to them any more than Baal could hear the
cries of the prophets on Mount Carmel. Remember, they kept crying
and cutting themselves with stone and nothing was happening. And
Elijah was making fun of them. He told them, cry louder. Maybe
he's taking a nap. Maybe Baal, he's off on a journey,
so cry a little louder, you know. No matter how loud they cried,
Baal could not hear them. Because His ear cannot hear.
Oh, but our God has an ear. The God who's in the heavens,
He has an ear. And even though He's in the heavens, high above
His people, He always hears His people. His ear is not heavy
that it cannot hear. He always hears the cries of
His people. Here's something that will bless
you. God doesn't just hear the cries of our mouths. His ear
hears, so that it hears the cries of our heart. First, Cecil Roach
told me one time, when all you can do is moan, that's when you
pray. And maybe even when you can't,
that's when you pray. Because it comes from the heart.
And our God's ear can hear it. And He's got a mouth that speaks
comfort to your heart too. Right now verse 6 says, noses
have they but they smell not. You an idol can't smell the stench
of sin. And he can't smell the sweetness
of holiness. He can't tell the difference.
That's why they call good evil and evil good. He can't tell
the difference. Oh, but our God smells. He smells
the religion of men. In Isaiah, the book of Isaiah,
God calls man's false religion He said, who required this at
your hand? It's a smoke in my nose. It's offensive to me. I
smell it and it's offensive to me. But then there's another
sacrifice, the sacrifice of Christ. You know what God calls that?
He said, that is a sweet savor to me. It's the savor of justice
satisfied. It's the savor of the blood of
God's son that puts away the sin of his people. It's the smell
of the sacrifice of His Son that accomplished God's eternal purpose
of the redemption of His people. And God says, that's a sweet
savor. And I'll accept everybody who
comes in that sacrifice. He knows the difference. In verse
7, they have hands, but they handle not. See, an idol has,
he might have, he might have hands made out of stone or gold
or silver or something. He might have a hand that people
talk about. They know better than to have
a stone statue. But they've got just Jesus of
their imagination. He's got some hands. But I'll
tell you what that idol can't do. He can't reach out and take
the scepter of righteousness and rule. He can't do that. He
can't take hold of people wherever they're at. No matter what they're
doing, He can't take hold of them and save them by His power. He can't lay hold on them and
keep them from falling. They got to do that themselves.
Oh, but our God who's in the heavens, he's got a hand. And
his mighty right hand is not shortened that it cannot save.
God's mighty hand of salvation reaches to the deepest depths
and always finds his people. He never goes to reach for his
people and comes up empty. He always reaches his people
and he finds them in the very depths. But they're not, his
hand's not short. They're not too far from God.
He reaches and he saves them. He takes them and he saves them
by his grace. He takes them and washes them
in the blood of his son. And he keeps them by that hand.
By the same hand that saved them is the hand that keeps them.
And what'd the Savior say? No man is able to pluck them
from my hand. Oh, they're eternally saved and safe and secure in
his hand. In verse seven, it goes on and
says, Feet have they, but they walk not. You know, an idol has
to be carried everywhere it goes. A man's got to put it where he
wants to have it. And you know where they normally put, you
know, these idols? They put them in a shrine, don't they? They
build a real nice looking shrine and there they stay. And I thought
about that. When you put your idol in a shrine,
you know what that tells me? That idol's not for everyday
life. He's just there for if you go visit him on a special
occasion. He's not there in everyday life. He's got to stay in that
shrine because he's got feet, but he walks not. Oh, but our
God who's in the heavens, he's got feet. He's got feet that
carried him to his people. He came all the way from heaven
to earth to save his people. And you think of our Lord Jesus.
All the places that he walked during his earthly ministry,
our study of Matthew, we read he went to all the cities preaching
the gospel of the kingdom. How did he get to all those cities?
He walked. He walked. Of all the places our Lord walked,
I thought of one in particular. One day he told his disciples,
I must needs go through Samaria. And he walked. He walked and
he got there to the well, and he's hungry, tired, and thirsty
from his walk. He told the disciples, go buy
us some meat. I'm tired, I'm going to stay
here. Lo and behold, there came a woman,
a sinful, sinful woman, come to draw water from the well.
She came at that time of day because she was too ashamed to
see the crowd. Everybody else, in a sense, went
in at the heat of the day. She knew the well would be all
deserted and she could come quickly, draw her water and get back to
the house before she saw anybody. And oh, she is so disappointed. There's a man there. She got
there and he asked her for a drink. And you know the conversation.
He ended up telling her, I'll give you living water. Reckon
that woman was glad the Savior had feet that walked where she
was. He had a mouth that could explain to her the scripture.
And I can't explain the scriptures. He did. She knew some scriptures,
didn't understand them. She understood them when she
left him to go tell those men, oh, you come and see this man
I met. He's the Christ. He's the Messiah.
He walked to her. He walked where she was and he
could forgive her sin. Her sin was great, but he could
forgive it because you know why? In a short while, he'd walk up
Calvary's mountain. He'd walked there. Nobody carried
him against his will, he walked. Because he was going there to
redeem his people from their sin by his sacrifice. And he
suffered and he died, but he rose again and he still has feet. One day we'll see those feet,
won't we? Pierced through with the nail, the scars in his feet.
He still has feet. And he walks with his people
so closely that he can promise them, I'll never leave you nor
forsake you. Don't care where you go. He's
good. You see, no matter how many different
idols men make up, there's no idol can be compared to God and
His glory. No idol has the ability to save
anybody. They don't have the power to
keep anybody. An idol has body parts, but all
of its body parts are incapable of doing what they're made to
do. So the next time you hear about a God, And you can't see
my nose, but that's a little G. Next time you hear about a
God described to you is now he has no hands, but your hands.
He got no feet, but your feet, no mouth, but your mouth. You
run away from him now. He's an idol. You know that from
God's word. An idol is a dead, lifeless,
useless thing. And the only reason anybody would
worship an idol is they're dead too. Verse eight. They that make
them are like unto them. So is everyone that trusted in
them, they're both dead. The only reason anybody would
worship an idol like that, a statue, a figment of their imagination,
the only reason they do that is they're dead. So they don't
know any better. And they're very religious. They
have lots of religious ceremony, but look at verse 17. The dead
praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.
Don't mistake all their religious activity and their religious
fervor for worship of God, because it's not. See, any idol who's
not the God of this book, as he has described himself to us,
is an idol. He's not God. And anybody that
worships a God like that, they got a good show of religion,
but it's not worship. It's not the worship of God.
There's no idol can be compared to the glory of our God who's
in the heavens. Now thirdly, since God is in the heavens,
every sinner can trust Him for their salvation. Verse 9, 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. Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their
help and their shield. Now these verses describe every
believer. They're not describing three
different classes of believers. Each one of these verses describe
every believer. See, every believer is as close
to God, as precious to God, as every other believer. You know,
it's not like, well, the priest, you know, the house of Aaron.
They're the ones who are closest to God, so they can trust the
Lord. And then the rest of Israel,
God's chosen people, you know, the more religious people, they're
the next closest to God, so they can trust the Lord, too. And
then everybody else, they're a little further away from God,
you know, but they can put their trust in the Lord, too. That's
not what the psalmist is saying here. He's describing every believer. Every believer is part of spiritual
Israel. They've all been chosen, elected
of God to be his people. And since God chose them, they
can trust him to be their savior. They can trust him to be their
shield. Every believer has been made a priest unto God and who
can come to God at any time they want, anytime, not just on the
day of atonement, but anytime through the sacrifice of Christ.
They can come to God so they can trust the Lord. He's given
them a sacrifice. And every believer has been given
a heart that fears and references the Lord. God's given them that
heart. So they can trust the Lord. They
have every right to trust the Lord. He's given them a heart
that believes him. See, our right to trust the Lord, our right
to be protected by him is God chose us. God redeemed us. by
the blood of His Son. God's already sacrificed His
Son for us. God's given us a heart to trust
Him and believe Him. So our right to come to God,
our God is in the heavens. Our right to come to Him by faith
is that unlike idols, God does save sinners. He does save sinners. And I don't care who you are.
You can trust God. He's able to save you. He's able
to save you from all of your sin He's able to keep you from
falling. If you believe God, it's not
just that He will be your help. He's already been your help.
He's already come and helped by saving you from your sin.
And He'll be your shield from every danger. If you believe
Christ, He's already been your shield from God's wrath at me.
He's already been the shield and bore it all for you. He'll
be your shield from the fiery darts of Satan. Satan will hurl
accusations against you. And if Christ died for you, you
know what God will say? What sin? What sin? Christ has
already put it away. He'll even be your shield from
this world. He'll be your shield from this
world in this way, that they can't suck you back into their
idolatry. He'll shield you from that. Now
you can trust him. You can trust him. All right,
fourthly, since God is in the heavens, He blesses his people
with blessings from above, spiritual blessings. Verse 12, the Lord
had been mindful of us. He will bless us. He will bless
the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.
Now we just read a description of how God is different from
manmade idols. He is so much better. And you
think the God of heaven, the God who's in the heavens, what
a blessing. that he would even be mindful
of sinners like us. Isn't that amazing? What a blessing
that is. God would be mindful of us? That
God would know my name? Oh my goodness. The literal translation
of this, I read this this week. This is the way this was written. Jehovah hath remembered us. Jehovah hath remembered us. The
Lord remembered his people. He remembered us to redeem us.
Long before we were like that thief on the cross, asking the
Lord, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom before
our God is so great. God who's in the heavens is so
great. He remembered us before we asked. He remembered his people
to bless them. He remembered his people when
he chose them in the covenant of grace. When he came to this
earth as their representative, he remembered As he obeyed the
law, he remembered his people. He was doing it for them. As
he suffered and died on Calvary's tree, he remembered his people.
Just like Aaron wore the names of the tribes of Israel on his
breastplate, Christ remembered the names of his people. He remembered
them as he was suffering to save them. And the Lord keeps his
people. He keeps them in remembrance
by a constant memorial. You know what that constant memorial
is? It's his sacrifice. The scars that are in his body
as he sits on the throne of glory right now are the constant memorial
that he has redeemed his people. And he'll never forget them.
He'll never forget them and let them go. That's a blessing, isn't
it? I mean, we could just end right there. That's all the blessing
we ever need. But our God who's in the heavens goes further.
Look here, verse 13. He will bless them that fear
the Lord. but small and great. Now the Lord's going to bless
all of his people. You know, we count some of them small and
some of them great. They're all the same to God.
He counts them all as his children. He blesses them all. But if you
want to consider the small and the great, consider this. The
Lord takes care of the elephant. I mean, I believe He can bless us wherever
we're at. Whether we consider ourselves small or great, He
can bless us too, don't you reckon? And don't worry. Don't worry.
And think that you're too small and too insignificant for God
to even notice. No, He's been mindful of us.
No matter how small we are, He's been mindful of us. Matter of
fact, it's a good thing that you count yourself small and
insignificant. Because that's who God blesses
the most. He takes the least and makes them to be first. In
verse 14, the Lord shall increase you more and more, you and your
children. You're blessed of the Lord, which
made heaven and earth. Now, our God's in the heavens.
He's the one who is the creator. He made heaven and earth. He
spoke it into existence with the word of his mouth. And that's
how the Lord is going to bless his people. He'll bless them
as the creator. You know, God still creates.
He creates spiritual life in the hearts of His people. That's
something no idol can ever do. No idol can ever lay claim to
creating anything. But God, not only did He create
the heavens and the earth, He creates spiritual life in the
hearts of His people. He creates that life, and God's
going to be the one to cause it to increase, to cause them
to grow in grace and knowledge of Christ. Oh, they're blessed,
aren't they? Verse 16 says, Even the heavens
are the Lord's, but the earth that he given to the children
of men. God's in the heavens. He dwells in heaven. Men dwell
on earth. And God in his wisdom has provided a way to bring his
people from earth to heaven through the sacrifice of his son. Now
that's the blessing. The blessing is salvation in
Christ. And the psalmist says the Lord's
given the earth to the children of men. Now that cannot mean
that the Lord lets men govern the earth however they please
and God just waiting to see, wonder what they'll do. It can't
mean that because God is the one who reigns. I believe that
this is what the psalmist means. God has a people on earth. He
has determined to bring them. He's provided a way, determined
to bring them to heaven. But right now they're on the
earth. And they've got to be on the earth to fulfill the work
that God's given them to do. So I believe it means this. The
Lord has given the earth to his people. He's given the earth
to his people. See, everything in this earth
is here, been provided for God's children. Now I know there are
other people that use it too. I know there's other squatters
here on God's earth, but I'll tell you why God's provided it.
He's provided it for His people, for His children. He's given
it to them. He's given it to them to use
until the time God calls them home, calls them out of this
place. And even in the midst of this sinful world, God's going
to bless His people. He's going to increase His people.
Well, then I don't have to be right bright to know what we
should do with the rest of our time here on earth. Verse 18
tells us, but we will bless the Lord. from this time forth and
forevermore. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah,
that our God is in the heavens. You know, I know when the Lord
takes us from this earth and takes us to glory, I know then
at that time that we'll praise the Lord forever. And we'll do
it perfectly, I know that. But I'm not much for waiting,
am I? I'm not much for waiting. I pray
the Lord will enable us to start right now. right now, praising
his name. I'm just confident that the best
use of the rest of the time the Lord has given us here on this
earth is to praise his name. Aren't you? From what we see,
the difference between him and idols, he's worthy. He's worthy. I hope God will enable us to
do it. All right, let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you
that you are not an idol, a figment of man's imagination. How thankful
we are you're God above, God who's in the heavens, God who
rules sovereignly, always doing as you will, always doing your
good pleasure. Father, how we thank you that
your good pleasure is to save your sinful people out of this
world. Father, we thank you. How can
we ever thank you for your mercy and your grace. How can we thank
you for your both mercy and truth in saving your people through
the awful, bloody sacrifice of your darling son? Father, how
we thank you, how we praise you. Father, we ask you to accept
our praise and our thanksgiving. Bless us for Christ's sake. Father,
bless your word to your glory. Deliver us from idolatry. and
enable us to see and believe and fall in love with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Trust our all to Him and Him
alone. It's in His precious name, for
His glory we pray and give thanks. Amen. I stand and sing 449, 449. To God be the glory, great things
He hath done. So loved He the world that He
gave us His Son, Who yielded His life and atonement for sin,
And opened the life-gate that all may go in. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the earth hear His voice. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the people rejoice. Come to the Father, through Jesus
the Son, And give Him the glory, great things He hath done. O perfect redemption, the purchase
of blood, To every believer the promise of God, The vilest offender
who truly believes, That moment from Jesus, a pardon received. Last verse. Great things He hath
taught us, great things He hath done, and great are rejoicing
through Jesus the Son. higher and greater will be our
wonder, our transport when Jesus we see. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the earth
hear His voice. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let the people rejoice. O come to the Father, through
Jesus the Son, and give Him the glory Great things He hath done.