I was asked to sing my favorite
song to sing. I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills From whence cometh my help My
help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to
be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. is thy keeper the lord is thy
shade upon thy right hand the sun shall not smite thee by ? The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil ? ? He shall preserve thy soul ? ? The Lord shall preserve
thy going out and thy coming in ? From this time forth and
even forevermore Even forevermore My dear friend Mindy Mahan complimented
me one time on a message by saying there wasn't a wasted word in
that message. And what she meant was it was
all about Christ. I give Gabe that same compliment
this morning. Not a wasted word in that message.
All about the Lord Jesus Christ and what he's done for wretched
sinners like me. and the Lord spoke to my heart.
Brother Mahan's one time said it's a long distance from here
to here. Only God can put it right here. I thank God for that. Thank you,
Gabe. My text this morning is found
in Psalm chapter 40, if you would turn there with me. Psalm chapter
40. Back home on Wednesday nights,
we've studied through the book of Exodus, and now we're going
through the book of Numbers. And if you're familiar at all
with either one of those books, the nation of Israel did nothing
but murmur and complain about the providence and the purpose
of God. Especially after delivering them
from the Egyptian bondage they were in, A horrible thing that
was. So many times they said things
like, has thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? It
would have been better for us to serve Egypt than to die in
this evil place. You made us to come up out of
Egypt to bring us to this evil place that we might with our
cattle die here? Wherefore have ye brought us
up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there's no bread,
neither is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light
bread. God delivered them from slavery,
drowned their pursuing enemies in the Red Sea, led them by a
pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, picturing
the presence of God with his people. Fed them bread from heaven. Gave them life giving water from
a rock that followed them where they went. And what did they do? They complained
and they murmured and they murmured and they complained. Now before
we too quickly shake our heads, And disgust and disbelief don't
let us so easily forget that we do the same things pretty
much every day of our lives. We always find something to murmur
and complain about, whether it's the traffic. I'm a road rager. I admit to
you. Whether it's the traffic, the
weather, or the government, we always find something to murmur
and complain about, don't we? Amen or oh me. In Psalm 123, verse six, David
said this. I love this verse. The Lord hath done great things
for us whereof we are glad. Isn't that what Gabe just preached
to us? The Lord hath done great things
for us. And God's people are glad about
that. As Gabe said, they're not mad about it, they're glad about
it. When I used to pout and act like a child, my mother would
say, you can get glad in the same pants you got mad in. What good news it is to know
that the Lord hath done, the Lord does, and will continue
to do great things for those who love and believe and trust
his son. Yet many professing believers
choose to dwell on the negative instead of the positive. We fret
over things that we cannot change. Instead of rejoicing in the great
things that Christ has done for us. Now here in Psalm chapter
40, verse five, we read this. Many, many, O Lord my God, are
thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which
are to usward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee.
If I would declare and speak of them, now notice this last
phrase, they are more than can be numbered. We have so much to be thankful
for and those who are God's people so much more so that they can't
be numbered. There was once a young lady who
developed a disease that caused her to lose all her hair in an
attempt to stay positive, knowing that it was God that sent the
disease. You do know that, don't you?
It's God that sends diseases and sicknesses and viruses. But in an attempt to stay positive,
she woke up one morning to find that she only had three hairs
left on her head. And she, with excitement, said,
I think I'll braid my hair today. Next morning, she awoke to discover
that she only had two hairs left. And she said, today, I'm going
to part my hair down the middle. The next day, she woke up with
only one hair on her head. And she said, today, I'm going
to put my hair in a ponytail. And then the next day, she woke
up with not a single hair on her head. But how was she gonna
spin this into a positive thing? She said, hooray, today I don't
have to do my hair. Now that's a cute little story,
I know. But that's how every child of
God should look at every trouble and affliction that comes our
way. The Lord sent it, and I know he sent it for my good and for
his glory and for Christ's sake. All things work together for
what? The good of them that love the
Lord, who are thee called according to his purpose. God help me to
be like that young girl. There's a great lesson for us
to learn in that story. No matter what God providentially
sends our way, we can be assured of just that, our good, his glory,
and Christ's sake. And not only are his works many
and wonderful, but also his thoughts. David continues here in verse
five, and he says, and thy thoughts which are to usward. Boy, that's
become a precious word to me. Usward, us. They cannot be reckoned
up in order unto thee. Now who are these usward of whom
David speaks? Who's David speaking about here? Well, he tells us who they are
in verse four. He said, blessed is that man,
and that goes for you ladies too, blessed is the man and woman
that maketh the Lord his trust. That's who that usward is. those
who trust and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And let me
clarify what you already know. We don't make the Lord our trust
any more than we make him our Lord. When I hear men say things
like, make Jesus your Lord, I thought, buddy, the Lord God beat you
on that one. He's way ahead of you. He's already
Lord. I don't make him anything, I
just bow to him as Lord. It's God who makes the Lord Jesus
our trust. It's God who made him Lord. Christ
becomes the Lord that we trust only when God is pleased to give
a spiritually dead sinner life. Christ becomes our Lord and our
trust when God enables a sinner's heart to believe on him. The
Lord Jesus becomes our Lord and our trust in the day of his power. Isn't that what he said? And it's only then that a man,
a woman, or a sinner makes the Lord their trust, not until.
And how does God do that? Well, he reveals to us and he
teaches us what we are. Sin's not just what we do, is
it? Sin's what we are. That's why
I'm such a wretch. That's why I sin, because of
what I am. And only Christ can put away
our sin. Is there any wonder why he's
our message? Is there any wonder that he's
who we preach? What does the Lord save us from?
You know, to be saved, you gotta be saved from something. A fireman
saves people from a fire. A lifeguard or the coast guard,
they save people from the water. But the Lord Jesus saves his
people from their sin. All of our other problems that
we have are because of sin. All sickness, all disease, all
because of sin. Now, did you notice that word
reckoned there? You know what that word means.
It means compared. It means there's no power in
any man or woman or any sinner to bring about these wonderful
works of God or these wonderful thoughts of God toward us. Nothing
we can do. Verse five continues, there more
than can be numbered. If I were to try to number all
the wonderful works that our Lord and Savior has done for
us toward His people, there more than can be numbered. Now you
think about that. More than can be numbered. There's
no number in our numerical system that would suffice. There's no
number that would be high enough. You know, as a kid, you know,
we'd say, you know, my daddy's stronger than yours. He's a hundred
kazillion, trillion, zillion, billion, you know, or whatever. He's to the infinite, you know,
greater than your daddy. But my father is. And there's
no number that I can come up with for it. It's more. His wonderful
works to us are more than can be numbered. We can't number
them. No number's sufficient. God's wondrous works and thoughts
toward his people would exceed the highest number we have as
a number. And that's why the scripture's
so clear and says things like, oh, the depth of God's wisdom
and knowledge. How unsearchable are his ways. God's ways are past finding out. By nature, we're people whose
glass is always half-empty. I'll never forget when somebody
did that to me once. They handed me a glass about
in the middle. And they said, is that glass
half-empty or half-full? And before I could catch my tongue,
I said, it's half-empty. By nature, I'm a half-empty type
person. I am. We're like a bucket full of holes,
ain't we? But even a bucket full of hose
can be filled with water when it's immersed in the river and
left there. Christ is that river that fills
us and never runs dry. Never. Many are God's wondrous
works. They can't be numbered, so I'm
not even gonna try to number them. But I'm gonna give you
four things this morning. that you can rejoice in, just
like he gave you seven. And you know what? Some of them
are the same thing. I just convinced my own game. The first one is the forgiveness
of sin. Forgiveness of sin. Boy, if you
ever see who and what you are, that'd be a blessing to you,
wouldn't it? Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
one. Paul tells us some wonderful
things in these verses. Every believer loves the book
of Ephesians, don't they? We love the whole book. But here
in Ephesians chapter one, Paul tells us some wonderful things.
That's what we're talking about. Many wonderful things. the Lord's
done for us. Here in verse three, he tells
us that it's God who had blessed his people with all spiritual
blessings. Every spiritual blessing comes
from God. And these spiritual blessings
are found where? In Christ. Verse four, Paul tells us that
God chose his people before the foundation of the world, that
we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Me,
holy and without blame before him in love? Yes, sir. That's
exactly what he said. And that is wonderful. But we must not ever look over
the fact that we were chosen in him. Isn't that what it says?
Chosen in him, the Lord Jesus Christ. If we miss that, we've
missed the gospel. You can know election frontwards
and backwards, but if you don't see that we're chosen in Him,
then you've missed it. In verse five, the believer sees
that they're predestinated, predetermined, determined beforehand to be adopted
into the family and the kingdom of God. How? By Jesus Christ. It's the same answer every time.
by Jesus Christ, and it was according to the good pleasure of God's
will. It pleased the Lord to make you
his people. Boy, that's just mind-boggling,
isn't it? And in verse six, we see that
it's to the praise of the glory of God's grace that God hath
made us accepted in the beloved. How are we made accepted? Well,
first of all, God hath made us accepted. And secondly, and most
importantly, it's in the beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
seven, in whom? Salvation's in a person. In whom,
Christ, we have redemption through his blood, Christ's blood. The
forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. And
that's wonderful. Many wonderful works, Lord, hast
thou done. The Lord Jesus told Simon the
Pharisee that there was a certain creditor which had two debtors.
One owed 500 pence and the other owed him 50, and neither of them
had anything to pay. I knew when I read that, that's
talking about me. I owe a great debt that I cannot
pay. Neither of them had anything
to pay, but the creditor forgave them both their debt. Again,
isn't that wonderful? Boy, it's really wonderful if
it's your debt of sin that Christ paid. Then the Lord asked Simon, he
said, Simon, tell me, which of them will love him most? The one who will love Christ
the most. That's what Simon said. He said,
I suppose, I can just hear his sarcastic answer, can't you?
I suppose it will be the one to whom he forgave most. And
the Lord said, well, you suppose right. The one who will love Christ
the most is the one that Christ forgave the most. Where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. What a wonderful thing grace
is. What a wonderful thing forgiveness is. What a wonderful savior Christ
is. Wonderful. God's wondrous works. What does sin bring? Well, we
know it brings about death. The wages of sin is death. The
soul that sins, it shall die. It brings about judgment. It
brings about condemnation. It brings about separation from
God. That's why we've got to be reconciled,
as Gabe said, brought back together. Only one way to do that, through
one mediator, the man Christ Jesus. We brought back to God. Sin ousted you and me from communion
and fellowship with God, and it did so now, and it will eternally
do so if God doesn't redeem you and reconcile you to himself. He's not obligated to. Why do people think that God's
obligated to do anything? You know, the price of redemption
is great. The cost of something denotes
the value. If you buy a home and you get
a mortgage, the bank, they want, first thing, they want an appraisal
on that property, don't they? Why? They want to know if the
value is greater than the cost. They desire to know if there's
equity in the property. You know what equity is. I didn't
for years, because I never had any. They always told me, you're upside
down. I'm like, no, I'm not. That word, did you know that
the word righteousness means equity? You and I don't have
any equity. We don't have any righteousness.
Our righteousness is filthy rags, unacceptable. People talking
about give Jesus your heart. He don't want it. No, sir. He don't want that wretched thing.
It's deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. He's
gotta give us a new heart. And isn't it wonderful when he
does? Many wonderful works has the Lord done for us. The equity,
the righteousness of all the people in the world combined
could not pay sin's debt. There's only one that can pay
it. And that's what we preach to you. And that's what the child
of God loves to hear. Tell me again how my Lord and
my Savior paid that debt of sin for me. That's the most wonderful
news I ever heard. And it is. It is. Only Christ can pay the debt
of sin. How do we buy without money and without price? It's
charged to the account of another. And that's our Lord and Savior.
Now if you compare a stainless steel ring with a 24 karat gold
ring of the same shape, size, and weight, The gold ring would be of far
greater value. Why? Because the value lies in
the quality of the metal. The forgiveness of sin is of
great value because of the quality of the one who paid sin's wages. It took the precious blood of
God to pay your sin debt. Jesus Christ is God. And God paid your sin debt. Forgiveness
is not accomplished because a man died. Forgiveness is accomplished
because the God-man died. Big difference. Forgiveness is
not granted because blood was shed. The blood of bulls and
goats could never put away sin. And guess what? Neither could
the blood of a sinful, depraved man put it away. Wherefore Christ came into the
world. He came in a body of flesh and
blood. God prepared him a body. And
that man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever
sat down. You know why he sat down? Because
his work was finished. Salvation was accomplished. Our
sin debt was paid. And isn't that wonderful? Oh,
it's wonderful. Why, it was the blood of God
of what value found in the shedding of God's blood. Neither by the
blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, entered in
once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for
us. The blood of Christ is of infinite
value. That's why substitution is salvation. As you said, because of who died
for us. Why is Christ and him crucified,
the message? Because who it is that hung on
that tree, on that cross. Because God became flesh that
he might shed his blood for the payment of sin. Not for the whole
world either. I'm sorry. Hope that doesn't
offend anyone here. He shed his blood for his people
in the world. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works, the works of
sin? That's what works of sin is,
just dead works. How much more will his blood
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? We don't serve God out of merit
or hope for redemption. We serve God because in his mercy
and grace, he saved us. It's not to merit salvation,
it's to thank God for being mindful of us. You know, to realize the value
of one year, you ask a student that failed a grade. To realize
the value of one month, ask a mother who gives birth to a premature
baby. To realize the value of one week,
ask the editor of a weekly newspaper who missed the big story. To realize the value of one hour,
ask a loving parent who hadn't seen their child in several years. To realize the value of one minute,
ask a person that missed her flight. To realize the value of one second,
ask a person who just avoided an accident. To realize the value
of one millisecond, ask the person who won a silver medal in the
Olympics instead of a gold. But to realize the value of the
one mediator between God and man, The man Christ Jesus asked
the man in heaven's glory or the man in hell's fire. They'll
both tell you the same thing. It's of infinite value. The second wondrous work is seen
in verse six. It's to be accepted in the beloved.
Christ is the beloved of God. We're accepted in him. God has
brought us into his favor. That's what that word accepting
means. Brought into his favor. Enemies
have been reconciled to him. Traitors have been forgiven.
The wandering son has returned to his father. Lepers have been
cleansed. He's made us accepted. Christ
has made us highly favored. God has given his people a special
honor. And what's the reason? Well,
I think the better question would be who's the cause? It's the
beloved son of God. We're accepted in the beloved. God requires perfection, perfect
holiness, perfect righteousness, the perfect keeping of the law.
I hear people say, well, I do pretty good on eight out of the
10 commandments. You're a liar. But God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Isn't that wonderful? Much more than being now justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Through
Him. I'm accepted in Jesus Christ
the beloved. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? You remember what Paul said,
how Paul answered? It's God that justifies. If God
justifies me, nobody can lay any charge to me. Who is it that condemneth? It's
Christ that died. If Christ died for me, ain't
nobody can condemn me if I'm in Him, because I'm accepted
in the beloved. Who shall separate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus? Nothing, no one, nobody. I'm accepted in Him. Many, many,
many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast
done, and thy thoughts which are to usward. They cannot be
reckoned, arranged in order. They're all too wonderful. My
sins are forgiven, and I've been brought into God's favor, accepted
in Christ. And thirdly, the believer is
made free. Boy, that's something we definitely
take for granted in this country, isn't it? Our freedom, liberty. By nature, we're the servants
of sin, and our fallen condition, we're servants to sin. Look at
John chapter eight with me. John chapter eight. Verse 34, if you would. John
chapter eight, verse 34. That's what the Lord is telling
us himself here. In verse 34, Jesus answered them,
verily, verily, truly, truly. That's the same in our lingo
today as saying, I'm telling you the truth. I say unto you, whosoever committeth
sin is the servant of sin. We're in bondage because we're
sinners. Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin. We're slaves to the lust of the
flesh. We're servants to the lust of
the eye. We're in bondage in the pride of life. Every one
of us by nature. We're in bondage under the weak
and the beggarly elements of this world. But look at verse
36. If the Son, therefore, make you
free, You shall be free indeed. On June 19th, 1865, we call it
Juneteenth now, two years after President Lincoln had signed
the Emancipation Proclamation, a man by the name of General
Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and he read what was called
the General Order Number Three. It read like this, the people
of Texas are informed that in accordance with a proclamation
from the executive of the United States, all slaves are free. And for the first time, many
of the slaves in Texas learned that they were already free.
Didn't know it. Some for as long as two years. And I was thinking to myself
as I read that, isn't that not the same with the child of God?
After God emancipates or frees us because of that old man, that
old nature within, we continue to live under the rudiments of
this world, subject to the ordinances of the law, touch not, taste
not, handle not. And they're all to the perishing
with the using of them after the commandments and doctrines
of men, according to Colossians chapter two. But as we grow in
grace and the knowledge of our Lord, it's revealed to us that
we were and are free indeed. And what liberty that is. We've not received the spirit
of bondage again to fear, but we've received the spirit of
adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. We've been delivered
from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty, the
glorious freedom of the children of God. You know, after I left my parents'
home and got married, went out on my own, My mom and dad gave
me a key to their house, and I never once, after that, when
I went to their house, I never once knocked on the door. I never
once rung the doorbell. I just put my key in the door
lock and opened it and went in. Whether they were there or not
there, it didn't matter. When they gave me that key, they
were saying, this house is yours. My, my, what freedom I had to
enter into their home. And what freedom we have to enter
into the throne of grace, to find mercy and help in time of
need. That's quite often for me. I believe it was Brother Paul
that said last night, and I'm much like him in the respect
that my prayers are pretty short. They seem to be the most effective
Lord, help me. Lord, save me. I'm convinced he hears those
prayers, aren't you, Russ? You know, a rich man's heir,
as long as he's a child, differs nothing from a servant, though
he be lord of all. That child is under tutors and
governors until the time appointed of the father. Did you hear that? until the time appointed of the
Father. Child of God, even so we, when
we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His
Son, made of a woman, made under the law. You quoted that, you
read that. To redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Most of
you know that I was adopted. Everything my parents had, they
left to me. I was an heir to all they had. It's no different for us and
our Heavenly Father. Boy, you think about that. And
we're joint heirs with Christ who made that possible, made
that certain. Be a better way of saying it.
And because you are sons, and because you are daughters, God
has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying,
Daddy." I don't think there's a more endearing word than that,
is there, darling? Daddy. I had three hairy-legged
boys before I ever had a girl. And when those little girls started
batting their eyes, going, Daddy, I knew I was in trouble. Nothing
got my attention like Daddy. Free indeed. You know that word
indeed in the original language means certainly. It means emphatically. It means absolutely, definitely,
without question, free. You're free. Free in Christ,
if the Son, if the Lord Jesus Christ therefore shall make you
free, you shall be free indeed. Bound in fetters and chains and
without ability, unable to free ourselves, God the Son makes
us emphatically, completely, definitely and without question
free. Free indeed. Isn't that wonderful? Your freedom will not be based
on your heritage, not on your works, not on your experiences,
and certainly not on your righteousness. Your freedom will be found at
Calvary, at the cross, where God was in Christ reconciling
his people in the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them. It's wonderful. And though we face death, we
don't fear death. I don't fear death. Now there
was a time I did, but I don't anymore. I don't fear death. Why? It's a promotion. It's a
departure. It's to be face to face with
Christ my Savior. To live is Christ and to die
is gain. Do we really believe that? God
help us to believe it, because it's so. Though we face judgment, we don't
fear it. I don't fear judgment, why? Because
my mediator, my advocate with the Father will stand before
my God one day in my room and in my stead, and he'll say, free
indeed, he's free indeed. Though we face condemnation,
there's now no condemnation to them that are aware in Christ
Jesus. If the Son hath made you free,
has the Son made you free? You're free indeed. Many, O Lord,
my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy
thoughts which are to us, where they cannot be numbered. And
then fourthly and lastly, the wonderful work and thought of
our Lord as toward us is to bring us to God. I hear people talking about Coming
to the front of the church, that's not coming to God. I hear people
talk about a decision they made that made the difference, no.
The question is, who make it thee to differ? Only God can. Peter wrote, for Christ also
hath once suffered for sins, but just for the unjust. Are
you unjust? Then listen. He suffered for sins, the just
for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Being put to
death in the flesh, that's how he did it, but quickened by the
Spirit, that's how God does it. Before a sinner can be brought,
before a sinner can be reconciled, redeemed to God, someone has
to do for them what they cannot do for themselves. The law of
God has to be kept perfectly. Only perfect obedience to the
law will suffice. If you offend the law in one
point, you're guilty of the whole law. What do people say? Well,
that ain't fair. Only when the law is kept perfectly
can the justice of God be satisfied, and the just one, the Son of
God, and God the Son suffered the just for the unjust that
he might bring us to God. How? By being put to death in
the flesh. He's the perfect man, and he
pays sin wages. And what was sin's wages? Death.
Only a perfect man can keep the law. Only a perfect man can satisfy
God's justice. Only a perfect man can bring
us to God, and that man is Jesus Christ. Only one mediator between
God and man, just one. Only one substitute that God
will accept. Only one great high priest to
offer blood for the sins of his people, and that man was God
himself. Christ the Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. God the Son was numbered with
us. Only Christ could bear the sin of many for our sins are more than can be numbered,
aren't they? Are more than can be numbered. He prayed not for
the world, he prayed for them that God gave him. That's us-ward. The just for the unjust, Christ
died for them. Now, let me leave this with you,
something for you to think about. If we've been brought to God,
and we have, God's people have, that means that we were not there.
I heard someone say not long ago,
I've known the Lord all my life. Well, that's just a little too
long. If we've been brought, that means
that we ourselves cannot come. Doesn't it? Why else would you
have to be broad? Because you can't come. We don't have the ability in
and of ourselves to come. The difference between our ability
and our calling is the grace of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. It's God's grace in Christ that
brings us to him. It's Christ who presents us faultless. Brother Gabe preached a message
in North Carolina. I believe it was there. We preached
quite a bit together this fall. I'm so thankful for it, because
I get to hear that good preaching. But he preached a message on
being faultless. Boy, I encourage you to find
it on Sermon Audio and listen to it. It'll bless your heart.
Boy, to be faultless? Me? I'm faultless. Brother Paul said last night,
God don't remember our sins. You know why? Because they're
not there. They're gone. You can't remember something
that doesn't exist or has never been there. In the eyes of God,
I am perfect. It's in Christ that we're unblameable
and unreprovable. Above blame. Above reproof. Unblameable. Unreprovable. You,
Russell, In Christ you are. And that's really all that matters
in his sight. Many, O Lord, my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which
are to usward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, there are more than can be numbered. May God enable us to always remember
God's wonderful works done for us and in us. Amen.