Tonight, I'm going to be speaking
on a man after God's own heart. Look back with me in Genesis
chapter 1, verse 3, and God said, Let there be light. And there was light. This is the first day, and I
have no doubt that this is a reference to the uncreated light, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the same light that Paul spoke of in Acts chapter
26 when he said, a light shined to me above the brightness of
the sun. And he is called the brightness
of God's glory. Now this is the light of the
first day, the light of the gospel. And then on the second day, we
read of the creation of heavens. The third day, we read of the
land and plant life. And then on the fourth day, we
just read about the creation of the sun, the moon, and the
stars. Now, I've always wondered why
the sun didn't come around to the fourth day, and I think I
have some understanding of that now. Plant life came before there
was a sun. It came out of the dry land,
and this was before it was even possible to have the process
of photosynthesis, where light energy, plants take the
sunlight and convert light energy into chemical injury that's used
to produce Food, grade school people are taught that this process
of photosynthesis. Well, when the plants lived,
there was no sun. Now, what does that tell us? It tells us that all life is
entirely dependent upon God. I don't care what kind of life
it is. I don't care if you're talking about micro life. I don't
care if you're talking about algae and plankton. I don't care
if you're talking about one cell organisms. It doesn't matter
if you're talking about plant life, animal life, human life,
angelic life, spiritual life, all life, the breath you just
took, all life is entirely dependent upon the independent God. We
have this plant life that lives without the sun. Why does it
live? Because God willed it to live. He is utterly independent. Now his independence is expressed
in creation. What did he need to help? Did
he need to come up with things to work with or find things to
work with? No, he's utterly independent. He created this universe from
nothing. Speaking of his independence,
I love the way the Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush
that could not be consumed. It just kept burning. It kept
burning. It didn't need the energy of
the wood to keep burning. Why? To let us know of the utter
independence of God. He has no needs. He doesn't need me. He doesn't
need you. We need him though. How desperately
we need him. Now look in verse 14. And God said, let there be lights
in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night. And let them be for signs, and
for seasons, and for days, and for years. Now some have said
that time did not begin until the fourth day. Now I have a
little bit of trouble with that because we already have the first
day, the second day, and the third day. So how did time begin
on the fourth day? But what we think of as time is dependent
upon the sun. After all, a year is the time
it takes for the Earth to rotate around the sun. and seconds,
minutes, and hours, and days are derived from this year that
it takes the earth to rotate around the sun. Seasons are caused
by the earth's tilt toward the sun. Did time begin the fourth
day? No, but the sun, and the earth,
and the stars certainly did begin the fourth day. Now, look what
it says in verse 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament
of the heaven to give light upon the earth and it was so and God
made two great lights the greater light to rule the day and the
lesser light to rule the night he made the stars also now I'm
thankful for Being able to Google stuff because I wouldn't know
any I can give you some information I get from Googling it that I
don't know if any of you have ever watched a What's it? I can't remember the
name of it. It's a Pawn Stars, you know,
where the guys, you know, they, and I remember when I'd watch
that, I was so enamored with the fact that that man knew everything.
I thought, where does he get all of his knowledge? This is
the smartest man alive. And Lynn said, don't you know
this is all staged? Well, I guess this is sort of
staged. I'm giving what I've got from
Google. But there are, Two trillion observable
galaxies that can be seen by Hubble telescope or whatever. Two trillion observable galaxies. Now, in those galaxies, there
are anywhere between several hundred million and a hundred
trillion stars. That is mind-boggling. And He has named every one of
them. They're all created by Him. The vastness of the universe
is mind-boggling. Jehovah created it and holds
it in the palm of His infinite hand. The one God in the Trinity
of His sacred persons is so other. I like saying that. He's so other. He's so altogether
glorious. He spake the universe, he spake
the worlds into existence. Now, the first reason we're given
for the sun and the moon, verse 14, and God said, let there be
lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide, to separate
the day from the night. Verse 18, to rule over the day
and over the night and to divide the light from the darkness and
God saw that it was so and it was good. Now, the first reason
given for the sun and the moon is to divide. It's to separate
the light from the darkness. And this gives us some idea of
the first thought of biblical separation, biblical division. Now, what do I mean by that?
Well, religion attempts to make a visible separation. A visible
separation. Many people, the way they dress. You ever seen the Catholic priest
with the collar on and the black suit? And they're advertising
by that, I have some kind of spiritual authority. There's
something about me that makes me worthy of being heard. Look at my dress. I prove it.
And really, in reality, what somebody advertises is they don't
have anything on the inside. If they had anything on the inside,
they would feel no need for anything like that. Or maybe, you know,
the Amish showing you how, or anything visible, they must be
really spiritual. They try to make a division.
I'm not interested in that, are you? I'm not interested in any
of that at all. But the Bible does make an infinite
difference, a division. What's the difference between
a saved man and a lost man? Christ. Christ. Look at the division
there is between grace and works. They can't be brought together
in any way. Look at the difference there
is between law and gospel. Oh, what an infinite difference.
Look at the difference there is between saved and lost. between
righteous and wicked. And who made that difference? Who makes you to differ from
another? You do differ if you're a believer.
You have a heart to receive, eyes to see, that which the unbeliever
doesn't have. You love Christ, the unbeliever
has no love for Christ. You really believe that he is
all in your salvation. That's a mystery to the unbeliever.
It's meaningless jargon. Who made you to differ? And what
do you have that you did not receive in this thing of a biblical
separation? Now the sun and the moon, look
in verse 16, and God made two great lights the greater light
to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made
the stars also, but we read of two great lights, or one that's
greater and one that is lesser, and the sun is a type of Christ,
and we're gonna see that in Psalm 19, and the moon is a type of
the believer. Now the sun has light in itself,
doesn't it? It has light in itself. What
about the moon? The only light the moon has, it has how much
light of itself? None. All the light the moon
has is reflected from the sun. Just like the light of the moon
comes from the sun, everything the believer has in salvation
comes from Christ. I was chosen in him. Never look
at election independently of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was
chosen in him. I was justified by his righteousness.
It really is his righteousness and it really is mine when he
gave it to me, but it's his righteousness. He's the one who redeemed me.
He did it all. In this thing of salvation, every
aspect, I don't care what it is, it's from him. Just like
the reflected light of the moon comes wholly from the sun, the
salvation of every believer comes wholly from the Lord Jesus Christ. Why are my sins forgiven? For
Christ's sake. Not because I asked. Not because
I was real sorry. Not because I promised to never
do it again. My sins are forgiven for this
one singular reason. Ephesians 4.32, be ye kind, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you. Boy, I'm so thankful for that.
I'm so infinitely thankful for that. If I can use a word like
that with regard to me, I guess I shouldn't. I shouldn't say
I'm infinitely thankful, but I am. I'm thankful that all God
requires of me, he looks to his son for. And in that sense, the sun and the moon are great
types of the believer and the savior. The sun is the savior. The moon is the believer, that
reflected light. And oh, I think of salvation. Let's don't leave this word greater
and lesser. Every believer is one with Christ. Every believer
is united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2.11 says, both he that
sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one. Now I want you
to think of this union. Every believer is united to the
Lord Jesus Christ so closely that I think of 2 Corinthians
5.21, for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He became what
we are, sin, that we might be made what he is, the very righteousness
of God. But he's still always the greater
light. And we are the lesser. Even if
we are united to Christ, he's the greater, amen? He's the greater. and we are the lesser. Now God
said, verse 14, let there be lights in the firmament of the
heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for
signs and for seasons, for days and years. Let them be lights
in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
and it was so. Now the sun and the moon are
to give light upon the earth. Now the light we're talking about,
yes, there's physical light, But the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ,
gives light as to how God, this is the great mystery of the gospel,
this is the subject of the scriptures, how God can look at a sinner
like me, one who is guilty of the commission of sin, one who
drinks iniquity like water. That's me and you. That's me
and you. Somebody says, well, I used to be that way. No, no,
you're still that way. The gospel is how that God can
see me without sin. Without sin. No sin. That can only be understood through
the light of the gospel. Christ actually bore my sin,
put away my sin, and God sees me without sin, and he's not
pretending like I'm without sin. I am without sin. I stand just
before God. Now that light can only be understood
in the gospel. Look in verse 17. Or verse 18,
I mean. Verse 17, and God saith him in
the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth and
to rule over the day. and over the night. The sun rules
the day. I love to think of the rule of
the Lord Jesus Christ, his absolute sovereignty. He controls everything. Why,
he's even controlling the thoughts that are going through your mind
right now. That's how sovereign he is. He controls everything. And the moon to rule by night,
How this benighted world hears the gospel is through our reflected
light of him, our preaching the gospel. The Lord did say, you
are the light of the world. And it's to reflect his light
to this benighted, dark world. Now, would you turn with me for
a moment to Psalm 19. And when you get there, hold
your finger there and turn to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter one, verse 18. For the wrath of God, don't kid yourself, there is
such a thing as the wrath of God. God is just. God is righteous. He must punish
sin. Now his wrath is not like our
wrath and we get mad and all red faced and we perceive we've
been dishonored or done wrong or disrespected and we're so
angry and we want vengeance. God's wrath has to do with perfect
impartial justice. And the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against,
here's what it's against, all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold, that's literally, who hold down the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them for God has showed it unto them for
the invisible things of him. from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Now, all you gotta do is look
at the creation. And you're forced to conclude
that somebody made this. and nobody made him. He's eternal. Nobody made him. He's all powerful. He made all
of this. He is unlike anything in this
created world. He's other. Somebody says, well,
what about atheism? thought that there is no God. That's irrational, it's illogical,
and it's intellectually indefensible. That's all I've got to say about
it. Every atheist hadn't always been an atheist. There was one
time when they were not an And something they learned about
God they didn't like, they said, therefore, there is no God. And
they make a blind leap into the dark to become an atheist. Because
everybody knows, even a child knows, that somebody had to make
this. It couldn't just, all of a sudden,
here it is. You know, I want to say this carefully. But I know that there
are many very intelligent atheists. Probably most of them have a
higher IQ than I do. That might not take much, but
most of the very intelligent people. That being said, atheism
is really stupid. I don't know what else to say
about it. It's illogical. It's irrational. And when someone
presents themselves as this is the educated view of these things,
no, it's not. No, it's not. The atheist was not always an
atheist. Now, turn to Psalm 19 now. Psalm 19. Now, this psalm, I
love this psalm. You could call this psalm God's
He talks about two books. He speaks of the book of creation
in the first part of this psalm, and then he talks about the word
of God in the latter part of this psalm, and I love this psalm.
Let's look at it together, Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory
of God, and the firmament showeth forth His handiwork, His work
of creation. Look at the stars, whatever it
is. It shows His eternal power in
Godhead. It declares His glory. It shows
His handiwork. Verse 2, Day unto day uttereth
speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. You can't
escape this. This is the knowledge and the
speech of the creation. Verse three, there is no speech
nor language where their voice, the voice of creation, is not
heard. I don't care what continent you're
on, I don't care what country you go to, I don't care where
it's at, everywhere God testifies of himself through creation.
Everybody can see this. There's no language. I don't
care what the language that is spoken, everybody knows somebody
made this, nobody made him. Everybody knows that. Look in
verse four. Their line, their message, the message of creation
is gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of
the world. In them, in the creation, he
has set a tabernacle for the sun. Now this was that sun that
was created on the fourth day. He's, everybody knows what, you
can't escape the sun, can you? You can't not notice the sun.
Everybody sees the sun and he compares it. It's a type of the
uncreated light, the son of God. Now look what it says about the
sun in verse five, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his
chamber. Now this is the way the sun is
described. When the sun rises in the morning,
it's described as a bridegroom. Well, who is the bridegroom?
How many times in the New Testament is he called the bridegroom?
The Lord Jesus Christ is the bridegroom. And the first way
the sun is compared is to that as a bridegroom. and the church
is called his bride. Now this speaks of the love of
the Lord Jesus Christ for his bride. Turn to, hold your finger
there in Psalm 19 and turn to Ephesians chapter five. Verse 25. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ
also loved the church and gave himself for it that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word
that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and
without Now this is speaking of the love
of Christ to his church. This speaks of his saving, eternal
covenant love that he possesses towards his elect. Now I want
you to listen to this statement real carefully. God does not
love all men. Now, the natural man rankles
at that. But the scripture points this
out. I'm not just giving philosophy. God said, Esau have I hated. God said that. The psalmist said,
thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Now that's a pretty big demographic,
isn't it? Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. To say he loves
all men the same, which is what most religious people say, to
say he loves all men the same is to make his love meaningless. Non-effectual, it puts the burden
of salvation on the sinner and it makes salvation by works.
If he loves everybody the same, that means the difference between
the saved and the lost is not his love, but what one person
did that another person did not do. That is called salvation
by works. The teaching of God's universal
love to all men the same, it's not in the Bible, and it is the
teaching of salvation by creature merit, by something you do. Now, my hope of salvation is
that, as Paul said, he loved me and he gave himself for me. Now, if that can be the case,
if he can love you and give himself for you and you end up in hell
anyway, that means his love and the gift of salvation did no
good for you. It's something you must do. Now,
this is how important it is. This is the difference between
life and death. This is not just some brand of Christianity. This is the difference between
life and death. Now, if somebody thinks this
is unfair, you've all of a sudden become
God's judge. That's a place you better not
go. You've all of a sudden become God's judge. and you think his
salvation is entitled to you. You think you're entitled for
God to love you. Look who I am. You think you're
entitled for him to give his only begotten son for you. That's
monstrous. That's monstrous. You can't sing,
I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder
how he could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean. Oh, the love of Christ for his
bride. There's a hymn in our hymn book,
I surrender all. Boy, it breaks all my nerves.
He surrendered all for his blessed bride to make her just like him. Himself 2nd Corinthians chapter
8 verse 9 Says, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
that though he was rich Yet for your sakes he became poor That
you through his poverty might be rich Now look back in Psalm
19 which is as a bridegroom, this
son, I love the way he's reckoning the son like this, which is as
a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoices as a strong
man to run a race. What would the love of the Lord
Jesus Christ be without his strength, his omnipotence? His power to
do whatever He's pleased to do for His bride. You see, His power created the
universe. His power controls everything
in Providence. And yeah, you can't take that
too far. You know, somebody was saying, well, God didn't decree
the fall. He's just allowed it in His permissive will. That's
double talk. God is the cause of all things. And somebody says, well, are
you saying He's the author of evil? I'm saying God is in absolute
control over all things. And yes, evil, God's never seen. God's not evil. God's holy. God's,
He is what He is. The reason there's evil is because
he brings good out of evil. And he's in control of evil.
And everything that happens, happens according to his will. That's his power. If you take
away any of that, he's no longer all powerful. If something can
happen outside of his sovereign purpose and will. I love what
Joseph said. I think this summarizes it all.
He said to his brothers, he said, you meant it for evil, and they
did, and there was no excuse for it. He said, but God meant
it for good. That's how glorious God is. He is all powerful in providence,
and he's all powerful in salvation. He has the power to make me to
be what I'm not, perfectly conformed to his image, justified before
him. He has the power to make my sin
to not be. So when he looks at me as wholly
unblameable and unreprovable, there's only one reason. I am
wholly and unblameable and unreprovable by what Christ did for me. He's a strong man. And notice
a strong man running a race. Running a race. Is there any
way he can lose the race? Is there any way he can fail?
Is there any way it could... He must be victorious. He must
be victorious. You know, even the thief, nailed
to a cross beside Christ, understood that. He might not have been
able to bring it all out verbally and articulate it, but he knew
this. He saw him as the Lord. He said, Lord, you're not gonna
stay on this cross. You're not gonna remain dead.
You're gonna come back as a mighty reigning king. Oh, remember me when you come back
in your kingdom. Now, this is the understanding
of faith. who he is, what he did. He must be successful. You're gonna win this race. Verse
six, his going forth is from the end of the heaven and his
circuit unto the ends of it. He is the beginning and the end. The first and the last, the alpha
and the omega, our salvation begins with Christ. It ends with
Christ. And Christ is everything in between.
He is the end of the law, the goal of the law, for righteousness. He's before all things. By him,
all things consist. Now, this is what I love thinking
about. At all times, in eternity and in time, doesn't matter what
you're talking about, at all times, Christ is all in my salvation. God looks to his son for everything
at all times, before time, now, and in eternity, God looks to
his son for everything he requires of me. And I love it that way. I don't want it to be any other
way. From the end to the end. And look what else verse six
says. And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. You know,
nothing, Christ knows everything. He's omniscient. He knows everything.
He never has to respond to some kind of unforeseen event and
say, oh, I need to do this. Everything is because he decreed
it and ordered it and nothing is hid from him. No unforeseen
circumstances, no oops, no. He knows all things because he's
determined all things. And nothing is hid from the heat
thereof. Now, the physical sun, the moon,
that was what's created on the fourth day. We have the gospel,
don't we? Christ, the greater light. The
one from whom is all light and all life. All are dependent upon
him. And the lesser light, that's
us. We don't have any life or light
in ourselves. It comes from the Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that moon ruling over the
night is the preaching of the gospel in this dark world. In
this dark world, we have the light of the glory of the blessed
God. in the face of the Lord Jesus
Christ. God who commanded the light to
shine out of the darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Now let me remind you, every
single one of these days is a very clear gospel message. That is the purpose. of every
one of these days. Let's pray together. Lord, how we thank you for the
bridegroom. How we thank you that you gave
him. How we thank you that he gave
himself. How we thank you for the accomplishments
and the achievements of the glorious Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's
tree, that He would sanctify, make us holy, cleanse us, make us to be without spot or
wrinkle or any such thing. How we thank You for our Savior,
our Husband, our Bridegroom. And Lord, we ask in Christ's
name that you would give us the gift of faith. Enable us to look
nowhere but Him only at all times. How we thank you for Him. In
His name we pray. Amen.