It's good to be here. I was driving
over here thinking about how excited I was to see you. I mean that. This is like a second
home. I don't know the city of Pikeville
at all. I don't know my way around. I don't know anything about it.
But I know God's people here. And every time I come, we get
to know each other a little bit more. And I just, honestly, I'm
humbled and honored. Thank you, Brother Tom, for having
me. Turn with me, if you would, to Psalm 106. Psalm 106. And let's read down
through a little bit of this chapter, beginning in verse 1. Praise ye the Lord, O give thanks
unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Who can utter the mighty acts
of the Lord? Who can show forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment,
and he that doeth righteousness at all times. Remember me, O
Lord, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people, O visit
me with thy salvation, that I may see the good of thy chosen, that
I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory
with thine inheritance. We have sinned with our fathers.
We have committed iniquity. We have done wickedly. Our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt. They remembered not the
multitude of thy mercies, but provoked him at the sea, even
at the Red Sea. Nevertheless, he saved them for
his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. He rebuked the Red Sea also,
and it was dried up. So he led them through the depths
as through the wilderness. And he saved them from the hand
of him that hated them and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
And the waters covered their enemies. There was not one of
them left. Then believed they his words,
they sang his praise." And watch verse 13. They soon forget his
works. They waited not for his counsel. but lusted exceedingly in the
wilderness, and tempted God in the desert." Verse 16 says, they
envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord. Verse 19 says, they made a calf
in Horeb, and worshiped the molten image. Thus they changed their
glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass, They
forgot God their savior, which had done great things in Egypt. Verse 24 says, yea, they despised
the pleasant land. They believed not his word, but
murmured in their tents and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord. Verse 28 says, They joined themselves
also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus
they provoked him to anger with their inventions, and the plague
break in upon them. Verse 32 says, They angered him
also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses
for their sakes, because they provoked his spirit so that he
spake unadvisedly with his lips. They did not destroy the nations
concerning whom the Lord commanded them, but were mingled among
the heathen and learned their works. And they served their
idols, which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their
sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood,
even the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they
sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan. And the land was polluted
with blood. Thus were they defiled with their
own works and went a whoring with their own inventions. Therefore
was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people in so much
that he abhorred his own inheritance. Now, let's read verse eight again. This is our text. Nevertheless,
He saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His
mighty power to be known. Is that not good news? Is that
not wonderful? Sometimes you come across a verse
of Scripture and it just grabs a hold of you. You just know
this is it. This is it. see the Gospel in it. You just
see the outline, the message, and that's this verse. That's
this verse of Scripture. I want us to enjoy four points
in this verse. We're going to just enjoy the
simple Gospel. Nothing new and nothing hard
and nothing We're just gonna enjoy the simple
gospel. We're gonna do all of our favorite
thing to do. Four points in this. Number one,
the Savior. Number two, the saved. Number three, the reason for
the salvation. And number four, the summary
of it all in one word. Alright, here's our point number
one. Verse eight says, Nevertheless, He saved them. Who is He? What an important
question. What an important question. We
are so blessed if we immediately know the answer. So blessed. Clearly, this chapter is talking
about Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egypt and the
time they spent in the wilderness. But Moses is not the one that
saved them. He's still not to this day. Moses
does not save anybody. It mentioned Aaron. Aaron didn't
save them. The prophets never saved anybody. The apostles never saved one
sinner, not one sinner. No preacher has ever saved one
sinner. Matthew 1.21 says, Call His name
Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. He is the one who saved them. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, somebody's going to hear
that and say, the only problem with that is He wasn't born yet.
God saved them. And to that we cry, Amen. God
saved them. And He was not manifest in the
flesh yet. That's right. But the Lord Jesus
Christ said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. I'm the door. I'm the door. He said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man cometh to the Father,
but by me. One way. He said, I am the good
shepherd. Does that ever just strike you
that the Lord said, we're sheep? And he said, I'm the shepherd.
Don't you love knowing that he has put you in his fold? Don't
you love that big fence? The fence of the gospel. It keeps
us in. Don't you love knowing that he
is able and willing to feed us and keep us and protect us How wonderful is that? But he
said, I'm the good shepherd and the good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. I don't know of any other shepherd
that would be willing to do that for his sheep. I don't know of
any shepherd on this earth that would give his life for one of
his sheep. He did. I laid down my life to
save him. Look with me at Hebrews chapter
nine. Hebrews 9, verse 11 says, But
Christ being come, and high priest of good things to come, by a
greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is
to say, not of this building, Neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Obtained eternal redemption for
us. Verse 25 says, "'Nor yet that
he should offer himself often.'" As the high priest entereth into
the holy place every year with blood of others, for then must
he often have suffered since the foundation of the world,
because we just keep sinning and just keep sinning and just
keep sinning. But now once in the end of the
world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sin of many. And you know what that means.
It is appointed to every single one of us one time to die. And that's where we died. That's
where, we're gonna sleep. Our Lord kept telling all the
apostles, they're sleeping. And David said, one of these
days I'm going to wake up in your likeness. But it is appointed
unto man once to suffer the judgment and die. And that's where we
died, right there. It's over. Verse 28 says, So Christ was
once offered to bear the sins of many, and unto them that look
for Him shall He appear the second time without all of that sin
from us that He took upon Himself and dealt with and put away.
He'll appear again unto salvation. He'll gather all of us to Himself.
Look at chapter 10, verse 10. It says, By the witch will we
are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oft times the same sacrifices which
can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God. There is a fountain filled with
blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Sinners plunge beneath
that flood, lose all their guilty stain. So who is the Savior? Christ Jesus the Lord. is the
Savior. But this is what He Himself said,
and I read this and quote this fearfully. This is a holy thing,
and this is something He Himself said. He said, I can of mine
own self do nothing. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is just, because
I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which
hath sent me." He said in another place, I and my Father are one. He said, if you have seen me,
you have seen the Father. To say that God the Son is the
Savior is to say that God the Father is the Savior. They are
one. When God the Father looked at
us in His Son, that's how He looked at us. That's the beauty
and glory of the gospel. When He looked at us in His Son,
our time was a time of love. He loved us. He set His affection
on us. For God the Father so loved the
world, He is the one who gave His only begotten Son. The love of the Father. It was
the Father who chose us in Christ. It was the Father who laid all
of our sin on Him. It is the Father who welcomes
the prodigal back home. So to say that the Son is the
Savior is to say that the Father is the Savior. They're one. Their
work is one. Their will is one. Now turn with
me over to Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians 1 verse 13 says, in whom you also trusted, after
that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise." God's Holy Spirit is the one who puts the
seal on us. He's the one who seals. Our salvation. So to say He saved them is to
say Father, Son, and Spirit. The Godhead, the entire Godhead
was in total agreement. Absolute agreement. One in heart,
one in mind, one in will, one in work. All of heaven, He. All three. The Spirit will not
seal without the blood of Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ will
not pour one drop of His blood without the loving choice of
the Father. He will not do it. So the entire
Godhead, all of the Godhead, He saved them. He did. All right,
now go with me back to our text. Psalm 106. Here's point number two. Verse
eight says, He saved them. Who are them? Who are the saved? Well, it's
not naturally who we'd think it'd be. It's not naturally who
this flesh would assume it would be. This is the most amazing
thing. This is the most amazing thing.
Verse 6 right here tells us who it is. It says in Psalm 106 verse
6, We have sinned. The saved are a sinful people. A sinful, sinful people. It says, We have sinned with
our fathers. Yes, our fathers did, but we
have too. Adam did, he sure did, but we
can't put the blame on Adam. Everybody says, well, you know,
everybody ought to have a chance. Well, go ahead, have your chance.
And let's just see how you do. We have sinned. We have sinned. It says in verse six, we have
sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done
wickedly. That's who God saved. That's
who he chose to have mercy on. Verse seven says, our fathers
understood not thy wonders in Egypt. The saved are ignorant
people who understand not. Sinful and ignorant. Sinful and ignorant. Verse seven
says, they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies. They're an ungrateful people.
Just completely ungrateful. Is it not so sad how ungrateful
we are? We pray to Him all the time.
Lord, would you please do this? Would you please do this? Would
you please do this? And He does it. Do we go back saying, thank
you, thank you, thank you? How often do we realize I never
even went back and said thank you? Ungrateful. Verse seven goes on to say, but
provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea, provoked him. Oh, rebellious people. Sinful,
ignorant, ungrateful, rebellious. That's who God chose to save. That's who He chose to save.
That is the greatest news a sinner could ever hear. The greatest
news. That's exactly what we are. There
is salvation for the sinful. Not the righteous, the sinful.
Redemption is for the ignorant. Well, let's talk doctrine. I
wanna have lunch with you and talk doctrine. I can't tell you
how many times I've been invited to lunch and talk doctrine. I
say, I'm not your man. I don't know any of that stuff. Forgiveness is for the ungrateful.
mercies for the rebellious. A man wrote this a long time
ago and I read it and I have fallen in love with it. Are not
his mercies rich and free? Then say, my soul, why not for
thee? Our Lord died upon the tree.
Then why, my soul, why not for thee? You know, our Lord has
a remnant He has a chosen people. There is a remnant that will
be saved, but He said it's according to grace. And I'm a sinner who
needs grace. I need His grace. Then say, my
soul, why not for me? Why not for you? Point number
three, the reason for the salvation. Why, honestly, why would this
three times holy God, who needs nothing, I mean needs nothing,
after all the saving is done, He is not increased, bettered,
improved, one iota. When all these people are glorifying
Him, it does not raise His glory at all. He's in need of nothing. Why would this holy God save
sinners like us? Verse 8 says, He saved them for
His name's sake. He saved them for His name's
sake. There was no other reason than
that. He saved us for His name's sake. There was nothing in us
Nothing about us, nothing made us worthy, nothing made us attractive
to Him in any way. It was only for His namesake. Call His name Jesus. Why that name? It's because He's
going to save His people in spite of them. He is going to save
His people. That's who He is. He is the Savior. God revealed His nature to us. He revealed His character to
us when He saved us. He revealed who He is. He revealed
the desire of His own heart. Is that not amazing? It was His
desire. It's what He wanted to do. He's
the only being who has a free will. Of His own free will. What did God want to do? He wanted
to save His people. He revealed His own love. He revealed His heart in the
choice of the Father, in the payment of the Son, the seal
of the Spirit. He revealed His love. God is
love. He is love. If we don't have
those three things, we don't have God's love. But in those
three things, God is love. God is grace. He is a gracious
God. He is slow to wrath, plenteous
in mercy. He's plenteous in mercy. He's merciful. He's not quick
to cut off. He's merciful. He's long-suffering. He's patient. This is who He
is. He saved sinners because His
name declares Him to be the only mediator between God and man.
If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. It's who He is. Verse 8 says, He saved them for
His name's sake, that He might make His mighty power to be known. He saved sinners for His eternal
glory's sake. His name is His glory. Moses said, would you show me
your glory? And he said, yes, I will. Here
it is. I will save. I will have mercy. I will have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. That's my glory. His name is
his glory. Go with me again to Ephesians
1. Ephesians 1 verse 4 says, According
as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved." That's why He did every bit of it. It was to
the praise. That's what we're going to do
for all eternity. To the praise of the glory. of His grace. Verse 11 says, "...in whom also
we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory."
who first trusted in Christ. It's to the praise of his glory.
Look at chapter two, verse four says, but God who is rich in
mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace,
you are saved and hath raised us up together and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now, why did he
do all that? Verse 7 says that in the ages
to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us through Christ Jesus. That's why He did it. That's
why He did it. Go with me to one more, Colossians
chapter 1. Colossians 1 verse 16, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before
all things, and by Him all things consist, and He is the head of
the body, the church who is the beginning, the firstborn from
the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence.
And that's exactly what we want, isn't it? Number one. First. The preeminence. That's why He did it. That's
why God saved sinners. That all glory and praise might
be unto the Lamb that was slain. Christ Jesus our Lord. And oh, we're so glad for that.
Oh, God's people are so glad for that. Thine be the glory. Hallelujah. Amen. So be it. Your glory. Your honor. Point
number four. The summary of it all in one
word. Go with me back to our text. Psalm 106 verse 8 says, nevertheless. That's a wonderful word. That
is a wonderful word. So sinful. They were so sinful. They were so ignorant, nevertheless. They were so ungrateful. They were so rebellious, nevertheless. I love that. I just love that. They did not deserve His love,
they did not deserve His affection, they did not deserve His favor,
nevertheless. They did not deserve Christ,
they did not deserve that blood, they did not deserve the inheritance,
Him and all things in Him, nevertheless. They didn't deserve to sit with
Him in that throne. They didn't deserve to be called
His bride. Nevertheless. So weak. They were all so weak
in this flesh. So consumed by this world. So
taken by this world. So distracted by this world.
There's one thing needful for every single one of us. We need
to worship God. bow the knee before Him and praise
Him. And we all get so taken with
this world, all of us. And we come in and sit down thinking,
Lord, would you please just let my mind stop just long enough
to where I could get just a hold of one word? Would you just let
me get a hold of one word? Nevertheless, He knows our frame. He remembers we're dust. He'll
feed us in spite of us, nevertheless. even though we don't add anything
to Him. Nothing. Nevertheless, even though
we cannot glory in Him without Him, we can't believe on Him
without Him doing it, nevertheless, nevertheless, even though all
of God's people are going to have to keep coming back, all
their time on this earth. They're just going to keep coming
back, and they're going to keep coming back. They're going to
keep begging. They're going to beg for more.
Lord, I'm right where I was five minutes ago, and I'm begging
again. They're going to keep begging
for mercy. They're going to keep begging for forgiveness. I'm
so sorry. Keep begging for heavenly bread.
They're just beggars. That's all they are. They're
just beggars. Nevertheless. Nevertheless, verse 8 says, He
saved them for His name's sake, that He might make His mighty
power to be known. That is a good and kind and loving
God. That's sweet. Our God is a sweet
God. It is a sweet existence with
Him. Loving, loving. Kind and tender God. That's glorious
news if you're a sinner. If we're not sinners, then take
it or leave it. But if we're sinners, sinful,
ignorant, rebellious, that's wonderful news. Nevertheless,