Psalm 75 this evening. I'm entitling
this message from the words found in verse 1. Oh, give thanks. Unto thee, O God,
do we give thanks. Believers are thankful people. We give thanks. It says there,
it repeats it twice. Unto thee, O God. Now who is
worthy of all honor and praise and glory? Unto thee, O God. do we give thanks. Unto thee
we give thanks, for thy name is near, thy wondrous works declare."
We give thanks unto the Lord. And believers do. Believers do
give thanks unto the Lord. Everything we know, everything
we have, everything we ever will is by His sovereign mercy, by
His sovereign love, by His sovereign grace. You remember this exhortation
in 1 Thessalonians? In everything give thanks, in
everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you, that in everything you do give thanks
unto the Lord. Now notice in the title of Psalm
75, It's called a psalm to the chief musician, altasketh, which
means destroy not, and then a song or song of Asa. Now, this song
or this psalm, as it's called, of Asa, some of the commentators
like to debate about who is the writer of this psalm, whether
it was David or Asaph. You know, it makes no matter
to me who the instrument God uses, if it was Asaph or David
or someone else. It makes no matter to me who
penned the words of this psalm, for we preach and believe that
all Scripture is God breathed, all Scripture is God given, God
given, Without controversy, this is not a controversial thing
among God's people. We consider this book we call
the Bible, God's inspired word. Turn over here to 1 Timothy chapter
3. 1 Timothy chapter 3, the best commentary we can find on
God's word is the word itself. I want 2 Timothy chapter 3. All
Scripture, you see that? 2 Timothy chapter 3. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. All Scripture, Old Testament
and New, given by inspiration of God and is profitable for
doctrine, teaching, for instruction, for correction, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness. His righteousness,
justifying righteousness, that the man of God, the believer,
may be perfect. And we are perfect in Christ,
but we're also, as believers, mature in the faith, truly furnished
unto all good deeds, all good works, all Scripture is God-breathed,
all Scripture is God-given. Now, turn back to the text again,
Psalm 75. Notice it's given the word here,
altaskit, which means destroy not. Psalm 57 and Psalm 59 also
contain the same word. And here's my thought on this.
God's word has been wonderfully given, wonderfully given, marvelously
preserved of God to lead us, to guide us, to teach us in the
way of salvation. We sing that psalm, one line
of it goes, in thy book revealed I see the Lord. God's Word is
given to teach us, to lead us, to guide us, to show us the way
of salvation. Here's a scripture on that. Find
Psalm 119. Turn there. Psalm 119. You see,
it's through his precepts. Psalm 119, verse 105. in verse 104. Let's go back to
verse 103, Psalm 119. This whole Psalm 119 is all about
His word, His precept, His commandment. How sweet are thy word unto my
taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through thy precept
I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
a light It's wonderfully preserved, marvelously
given to lead us, to guide us, to teach us in the way of salvation. Now, let's consider verse 1. Oh God, do we give thanks unto
Thee. Believers do. We should and believers
do. Praise the Lord again and again. Does it weary you to give thanks
unto the Lord? To rejoice in the Lord? It doesn't
weary God's people. Believers do praise the Lord.
Believers do give thanks unto the Lord for His infinite goodness. God is good to His people. For His sovereign mercy, His
sovereign love, there should be among God's people measureless
thanksgiving. Now next month, this nation is
set aside a day, we call it, it's a good holiday, Thanksgiving,
but believers Don't need to have a day set aside for Thanksgiving. To the believer, every day is
Thanksgiving Day unto the Lord, is it not? We do give thanks
unto the Lord. Lack of gratitude unto the Lord
is in reality, what? Ingratitude, is it not? We do
give thanks unto the Lord. Let's look at a few scriptures
here found in the Psalm. Turn to Psalm 100, first of all,
Psalm 100. We do give thanks, oh, unto the
Lord. Psalm 100, first of all, let's
read this. Look at verse 3. Know ye that the Lord, He is
God, it is He that made us, not we ourselves. We are His people
and the sheep of His pasture, entered into His gates with thanksgiving,
into His courts with praise. Be ye thankful unto Him, and
bless His name. For the Lord is good. His mercy
is everlasting mercy, and His truth endureth throughout all
generations. Here's another psalm, find Psalm
136. Oh, give thanks, give thanks
unto the Lord, for He is good. Look at this psalm here, Psalm
136. Verse 1, Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. His mercy, His mercy endureth
forever. That statement is made in each
of these verses here in Psalm 136. Oh, give thanks unto the
God of gods, for His mercy endures forever. Do you need mercy? Are you a mercy beggar? Do you
give thanks unto the Lord for His mercy shown to sinners? Oh,
give thanks unto the Lord of lords, For His mercy endures
forever." Now, back to the psalm, our study
psalm, Psalm 75. Oh unto thee, O God, do we give
thanks. Unto thee do we give thanks. For or because, two things are
mentioned here. Thy name is near. And His wondrous
works declare who He is. Two reasons here are given why
believers are thankful, thankful unto the Lord. The Lord is near. You see that? The Lord is near. The Lord is near. The Lord is
near. The Scriptures call His name
Immanuel. Immanuel. What does that mean?
God with us. God with us. The Lord is near.
He's near in His incarnation, for the Word was made flesh.
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. He's
near unto His people, in that He identified with our humanity. God manifests in the flesh. The Lord is near unto us. It
says in Psalm 34, the Lord is nigh unto them of a broken heart.
Save us such as be of a contrite spirit. In Colossians 1, he says
this, Christ in you, is a hope of glory." How near is the Lord
unto His people? And Christ, in you, is a hope
of glory. That's near. I'll tell you what
that causes. In our heart, before God, to
give thanks unto the Lord. The Lord is near unto His people. That glorious promise the resurrected
Lord gave His disciples in Matthew 28. He said, go and preach the
gospel in all the world knowing this. I have all power, all power
in heaven and earth." And then he said this, and lo, he said,
remember this, I am with you always. The Lord is near. The Lord is near His people.
He has promised to never leave us, to never forsake His covenant
people. The Lord is near. I'll tell you
what we do. We give thanks. to His covenant people. The second
thing here we see in verse 1, we do give thanks, the Lord is
near, for that thy name is near, God's given Him a name which
is above every name, that that name, every knee shall bow, every
tongue shall confess, call His name Immanuel, the Lord is near,
God with us, thy wondrous works declare. You know, His wondrous works
declare Who He is, who He is. Christ whose name is, what? Wonderful. His name is wonderful. And He whose name is wonderful,
cannot do but wonderful, wonderful works. Let's look at a scripture
on that. Turn over here to Psalm 111. Thy name is near, The Lord is
near. His name is Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
We give thanks unto the Lord for His wondrous works. Psalm
111. See this? Look at verse 3. His
work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endureth
forever. He hath made His wonderful works
to be remembered. The Lord is gracious, full of
compassion. He hath given meat to them that
fear Him. He will ever be mindful of His
covenant. He has showed His people the
power of His works, that He may give the heritage of the heathen
works of His hand, or verity, truth, Judgment, all His commandments
are sure. They stand fast forever and are
done in truth and in uprightness. We give thanks unto the Lord
for His glorious name. May God give Him a name above every name. At that name, every knee
should bow, every tongue should confess. And thy wondrous works declare who He is. I want
to show you this scripture I was looking at earlier today. Find
Matthew 11. Matthew chapter 11. When John the Baptist was captured
in prison, Matthew 11, verse 2. When John had heard in prison
the works of Christ, he got at Matthew 11, 2. He sent two of
his disciples and said unto him, Art thou he that should come,
or do we look for another? The Lord answered and said unto
them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear
and see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers
are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor
have the gospel preached unto them, blessed is he whosoever
shall not be offended, The wonderful works He has done for us. What other scripture on that?
I was thinking about this. Turn over here to Luke chapter
4. Luke chapter 4. And this is a fulfillment of
Isaiah 61. Talking about the wonderful works
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His works of providence, His
works of creation, and especially His works of grace. His works
of salvation that He has brought out for us. Luke chapter 4, verse
18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captive and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
That's the year of jubilee, where the captives are set free. And
Christ has set us free. Stand fast therefore in the liberty
of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ has set us free. We do give thanks
unto the Lord for a glorious person and his glorious work. Who he is and what he has done.
You see, it's who he is. Now notice verse 2. In verse
1 we have the praise and glory of God's redeemed, the elect,
the bride of Christ giving thanks unto the Lord. And here, the
Lord declares these truths. When I shall receive the congregation,
I will judge uprightly. In verse 1, we have the praise
of believers. We do give thanks. But now it's
changed to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ where He says, I
shall receive, I shall receive the congregation. And that word
congregation brought me to Psalm 40. Turn over there. The Lord
shall receive the congregation." Who is this congregation? Who
is this body He calls a congregation? When I shall receive, I shall
receive. I shall, not maybe, not could
be, I shall receive. This congregation, I will judge
uprightly. Who is this congregation? Well,
it's the congregation of those given to the Lord Jesus Christ
in that covenant of grace. Look at Psalm 40. Look at verse
7. Psalm 40 verse 7, Then said I,
Lo, I come, and the volume of the book is written of me. I
delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my
heart. Now here's a prophecy concerning
the incarnation of the Lord Jesus. Verse 9, I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation. Lo, I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness.
I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart. I have declared
thy faithfulness. and thy salvation hath not concealed
thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation."
Now, who are these people that He has declared His faithfulness
unto and His salvation has not concealed His lovingkindness
and His truth? Well, it's God's elect. He's hid these things
from the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes,
the congregation of God's elect, His body, His church. Who but
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look back at the text again.
He said, I will receive the congregation. I will judge uprightly. Who but the Lord Jesus Christ
can receive and judge sinners? None but Him. None but Him. The
elect were received by the Lord Jesus Christ of His Father in
eternity in that covenant of grace. Our Lord referred to them. In John chapter 6 where it says,
All that the Father hath given to me, they will come to me,
and those that come to me I will in no wise cast out. The elect
of God were received by the Lord Jesus Christ in eternity by the
covenant of grace. His elect were received by Him
when Christ undertook and stood for them as a surety of the covenant
of grace, as the grace shepherd of the sheep. The God of peace
brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ, that great
shepherd of the sheep. The elect were received by Christ
as God gave those to Him in eternity. The elect of God were received
by the Lord Jesus Christ when He undertook for them and stood
for them as the blood sacrifice where He justified them by His
blood. And they are received by Him
one by one in the effectual calling of God the Holy Spirit. When
God calls out His people, it's an irresistible call of grace. An effectual call. I want you
to look at Luke 15. Turn over there. Luke 15. You know the Lord Jesus Christ,
whom does He receive? Whom does He receive? Look what it says here, Luke
15, 1. Then drew near unto him all publicans and sinners. Notorious crowd. And the Pharisees
and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and
he eats with them. For whom did the Lord Jesus Christ
die? He died for the ungodly. For whom did He come to save?
He didn't come to call the righteous, did He? He came to call sinners
unto repentance. These are the congregations that
the Lord will receive and the Lord will judge, for He has judged
them in Himself, in Christ, in Him crucified. Our sin was judged
in Him. They will be received by Him
in the glory when they die. For to be absent from the body
is to be present with the Lord. And in the second coming of the
Lord, He will receive us unto Himself forever. You remember
that scripture over here in John 14? Let's turn and read it together
one more time. John chapter 14. The Lord will
receive this congregation. He died for them. You know, He's
going to have what He bought. He bought the church with His
own blood and He's going to have them. He purchased them. He's
going to take them home to glory. Look what he says in John 14
verse 3. If I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I
am, there you may be also. I will receive you unto myself. that where I am, there you may
be also." Now look back to the text again. When I shall receive
the congregation, who will judge? Who will judge uprightly? Now
there is a lot said in religious circles today, is there not?
About the sinner receiving the Lord. They make a lot about that
today. Accepting the Lord. They say,
come forward and make a decision for Jesus and receive the Lord.
There's a lot said in religious circles today about receiving
the Lord, or accepting the Lord, or making Jesus Lord, or making
Him your personal Savior. But the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is about Christ receiving us. Now, we do, by God-given
faith, receive the Lord Jesus Christ. But that faith, where'd
that come from? Huh? That's a gift of God. Gift of
God. So we put the emphasis, where
the Gospel put the emphasis, upon the Lord Jesus Christ receiving
us. You see, we're accepted. We're
accepted in the Beloved to the praise of the glory of His grace. The Lord, look back at the text
again. When I shall receive the congregation,
I will judge I will judge up my people." Now, who has the
right to judge? The judge of all the earth will
do right. He will judge and discern between the sheep and the goats.
You read about that in Matthew 25. All judgment is committed
unto the Son. It says in Acts 17, 31, that
the Lord hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world
in righteousness by that man. God, man, the Lord Jesus, but
all judgment is relative to Christ. Relative to Him. Now, back to
the text. Let's take a look at verse 3. The earth and all the inhabitants
thereof are dissolved and they will be. They will be. This earth as we know it is going
to pass away. The earth and all the inhabitants
thereof, the earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved. I bear up the pillars of it."
When the Lord returns, when the Lord returns, when's
He coming back? I don't know. I don't know. But
you know what it says in the Revelation chapter 1? It says,
Behold, I cometh. You know what that means? He's
on his way. The Apostle Paul said, the times
and seasons, you don't need to know. We need to know this, the
one who's coming. We're looking for the one who's
coming, not for a day, a time or place. We're looking to the
Lord who is coming back. When the Lord returns, there
will be an end to this earth as we know it, an end to the
inhabitants of this earth. the Lord going to purge this
earth with fire and make a new heaven and a new earth. Wherein
dwelleth what? Righteousness. We can read about
that. Find over here 2 Peter chapter
3. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 10. The day of the Lord will come.
2 Peter 3 10. The day of the Lord will come.
It will come. as a thief in the night, when
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with a fervent heat, the earth also and the works
therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons you ought to be in
all holy conversation, behavior, godliness, looking forward and
hastening unto the coming of the day of God, or in the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
a fervent heat. Nevertheless, we according to his promise look
for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. That will be a glorious day.
Look back at the text again. The earth and all the inhabitants
thereof are dissolved Now, the last part of verse 3 says, I
bear up the pillars of it. I bear up the pillars of it.
The Lord will bear up the pillars of this new heaven and the new
earth. The Lord created and sustains His first creation today, doesn't
He? By the Word of His power, all
things are held together. All things are sustained by His
power and glory. He will sustain the new creation
as well, the new heaven and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Who will sustain that? None but
the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is the foundation. Christ
is the pillar upon which we rest. The foundation which God has
laid. Is there another foundation? Is there another foundation we
can rest upon? Is there another pillar that
we can build upon? None but the Lord Jesus Christ.
Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
This one foundation, the Lord said in that scripture we read
just a moment ago in John 14, down at verse 6, He said, I am
the way, I am the truth, I am the light. No man comes to the
Father but by and through Me alone. You see, the Lord bears
up the pillars of it. He's the foundation that God
has laid. You remember that scripture over
in, turn to Isaiah. This comes to mind about a foundation
whenever I think about a foundation of the pillars. Isaiah 26. Turn
there, Isaiah 26. God said, Behold, I lay in Zion.
You remember? Isaiah 26, 16. Thus saith the
Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation. Who is Zion? God's people, God's church, that
congregation that's received of the Lord. Behold, I lay in
Zion for a foundation, a pillar, a pillar of Christ, a stone,
a tried stone, a precious cornerstone. This is a sure foundation. This
is not the sinking sand of man's works. This is the sure foundation
that God had laid. He that believeth, shall not
make haste, will never be forced to flee from this foundation
that God had laid in Zion. Now look back to Psalm 75. Verses 4 and 5 are the strong
warning given to the unbeliever. I said to the fools, deal not
foolishly. And to the wicked, don't lift
up your head against God. Don't lift up your head in your
religious pride against God. Don't lift up your horn against
God. Have you ever seen those wildlife shows, those elk and
the moose and the buffalo, and when it comes to mating season
about this time of the year, you know how they lock horns,
don't they? They fight with one another.
God says here, don't lift up your horn against me. Don't lift
up your rebellious heart, your head against God. You think you're
going to win? You think you're going to lock
horns with God and fight with God and win? Oh, no. No, you
won't. No, you won't. Lift not up your
horn on high. Speak not with a stiff neck of
rebellion against God. Here's a stern warning to the
unbeliever. He calls it here, the foolish.
I said unto the foolish, don't deal foolishly. To the wicked,
don't lift up your rebellion against God. You remember Psalm, is it Psalm
50? The fool has said in his heart,
there is no God. Don't lift up your horn against
God and rebellion and your sinful pride. I'll tell you what's going
to happen. Turn over here to Psalm 2. Look at verse 11, Psalm 2. Serve the Lord with fear. Rejoice
with trembling. Kiss the Son. Don't lift up your
head in rebellion against God. Don't lift up your horn in rebellion
against God. Kiss the Son. Who is this? The Lord Jesus Christ. Bow unto
the Son. lest ye be angry, and ye perish
from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed
are all they that put their trust in him." I tell you, trust the
Lord. Look to Him. Don't lift up your
heart in rebellion against God. Don't try to lock horns with
God and think you're going to win. You're not going to win.
He'll make you bow before Him. Now back to the text. You know
what fools do? They speak foolishly, don't they?
God says in Psalm 5, 5, the fool shall not stand in his sight. Fools speak foolishly. He said
deal not foolishly. How does one deal foolishly before
God? By glorying in Himself. By glorying. Fools deal foolishly
by glorying in themselves. By boasting of who they are. Boasting of what they've done.
Trusting their own righteousness. Like the Pharisee who prayed,
God, I thank You I'm not like that old guy over there. I pray
every day. I fast. I give tithes of all
that I possess. You remember what the Lord said
to that man? A Pharisee, he went down to his house, condemned
before God Almighty. You know, the Lord says of those
who justify themselves before God, you remember that scripture
over in Luke chapter 16? Our Lord says of those Pharisees
who dealt foolishly with themselves and fooled themselves that they
were righteous before God. You remember what He says of
them? You are they which justify yourselves before men. But God
knows your heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Don't lock
horns with God. Don't think, well, you know,
I'm just as good as that Pharisee said. You know, I compare myself
to others. You know, I think I'm just a
little bit better. Do you think you're going to merit God's favor? Merit God's mercy? Merit God's
grace? I tell you, mercy is not merited. Grace is not deserved. Mercy
is given as a free gift of God. Don't lift up your horn in rebellion
against the Most High God. I tell you how wicked and how
rebellious wicked men are. If wicked men today could assault
the throne of God, they would stab the Lord God in his heart right now. That's how wicked men are. If
they could, if they could assault the throne of God, they would
dethrone him. For we read the carnal mind is
enmity against God. Still is. Still is. The nature,
that old wicked, sinful nature that in Adam we've all inherited
being born in sin, shaping and iniquity. You remember what they did to
the Lord Jesus Christ? God Almighty incarnate in the
flesh. Pilate brought him forth that
day after he'd been so mistreated and beaten, falsely accused,
and brought him forth that day and said, Behold your king! Remember
what they said? Away with him. Crucify him. We have no king but Caesar. You know what it says in scripture
in Luke 23? Pilate delivered Jesus to their will. What did they do with him? They
led him outside the city and nailed him to a tree. They crucified
him. What did they do? They lifted
up their horn against the Lord's Christ. Now, look back at the
text. So, sinner, don't deal foolishly
with God. Don't lift up your pride and
sinful rebellion against God. Lift not up your horn. Speak
not against God with a stiff neck. Oh, may God cause us to
bow before Him as a mercy beggar. Have you ever taken your place
before the throne of God as a mercy beggar? One who's in need of
mercy. One who's in need of salvation.
Look at verse 6, verse 7. For promotion. Promotion. Everybody's interested in being
promoted, aren't they? Not too many people interested
in being demoted. but always about being promoted.
For promotion cometh not from the east, nor from the west,
nor from the south. God is the judge of promotion.
This word here, promotion, means lifting up, lifting up. God is the one who lifts up.
God is the one who puts down. He put down one and he set up
another. God is the judge of all the earth. God is the king of all the earth.
As such, He has the right to judge all things and all people.
His throne, His throne, His throne, the sovereign throne, Justice
and judgment are the habitation of His throne. I think it says
in Psalm 89. The throne of God Almighty is
a high and lifted up throne. It's a sovereign throne. It's
a most holy throne. But His throne is not vacated,
is it? Is it a vacated throne? His power
is not diminished. The Lord reigns now and forevermore. He is still doing today all that
He wills with whom He will. Promotion doesn't come from the
East or from the West. The lifting up and the salvation
of sinners is of the Lord. He puts down one and He raises
up another. What is that teaching us there?
He puts down one, He sets up another. Who makes the decision
about salvation? Is it in your hand? Is it something
you do? Some decision you make? God is the judge, and rightly
so. He puts down one and He sets
up another. This word here, as I mentioned,
promotion, look it up, means a lifting up, lifting up, lifting
up. The Lord will have mercy upon
whom He will. If we consider this, this lifting
up or the putting down as the kings or kingdoms of men is determined
by the sovereign will of God. He raised up the Cyrus. He raised
up the Nebuchadnezzar. And he put one down. He raised
up one Pharaoh, you remember? And put him, where did he put
Pharaoh? In his army, drowned in the sea. God will raise up
whom He will, and He'll put down whom He will. The king's heart
is in the hand of the Lord, even more so in salvation. He will have mercy on whom He
will have mercy. He lifts up His covenant people,
His elect, and He puts down others to reprobate. For He will have
mercy upon whom He will have mercy. He will have compassion
on whom He will have compassion. You see, salvation is determined
by the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord in His
planning. Salvation of the Lord is execution. Salvation of the
Lord is application. Salvation of the Lord is sustaining
power. Salvation of the Lord is ultimate
perfection. What is the ultimate perfection
of salvation? To be conformed to the image
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look at verse 8, and I've
got to move on quickly. I've taken too much time here.
For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, there is a cup, and
the wine is red. This is a cup of God's wrath. It's full of mixture. It is full
of mixture. And He poureth out the same,
and the dregs thereof, and all the wicked of the earth shall
wring them out. and drink them." Now, just one
reference on this verse, find Revelation 14. A cup of God's
wrath, a cup of God's indignation against the wicked, those who
lift up their head, their horn in rebellion against God. What
he says here, Revelation 14, verse 9, Revelation 14, 9. And
the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If
any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark
in his forehead or in his hand. What is this talking about here?
I believe it's talking about false religion. The same shall
drink idolatry, false religion. The same shall drink of the wine
of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture, no
mixture of mercy, into the cup of his ignomination. And he shall
be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angel
and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment
ascendeth up forever and ever. They have no rest. day or night,
whosoever worshiped the beast and his image, and whosoever
receiveth the mark of his name." I tell you, I don't want to drink
the cup of God's wrath and indignation. God have mercy upon us. But you know what? In this we
also see the good news of the Gospel. The good news of the
Gospel. For His elect, for His bride,
for His church. The Lord Jesus Christ took the
cup of wrath for us and He gives us the cup of His salvation. He prayed in Matthew 26, he prayed
in the garden, Oh Father, if this cup may not pass away from
me except I drink it, thy will be done. He said in John 18,
it's recorded when he was arrested, you remember Peter took out the
sword and tried to defend the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord
told him, I can call 12 legions of angels. Peter, put up your
sword. Listen to what he said. Peter,
the Lord said to Peter, put up thy sword into thy sheath. The
cup which my father hath given me, shall I not drink it? The Lord Jesus Christ as a sinner's
substitute took the cup of God's wrath. for the sin of God's covenant
people and drank it dry. Therefore, there is therefore
now no condemnation to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ."
God's people are crucified with Christ. May the Lord be pleased
to show us over and over again what was going on at Calvary,
what happened at Calvary. You know, most men look at that
scene as it's painted in the Word of Scripture, and they see
the wickedness of men. They see what men did unto the
Lord Jesus Christ. And make no mistake, they did
wicked things against Him. But you know what we must really
see there at the cross? Not only the hand of wicked men,
but the hand of God. The sword of God, justice, as
it says in Zechariah 13. Wake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man that is my fellow. Smite the shepherd, saith the
Lord of hosts. You see, my friend, our hope
of salvation is not what men did to the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's what God was doing at the cross. That's our hope. Isaiah
53.10, I brought a message from that this morning, where it said
it pleased the Lord. to bruise Him in our room and
in our stead. We know it pleased the Pharisees
to put the Lord Jesus Christ. They hated Him. They went out
and held a council how they might destroy Him. It pleased the Romans
to kill another religious Jew, didn't it? But what we must see,
it pleased God to bruise Him When God bruised him and put
his soul to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his day, and
get hold of it, the pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his
hands. The line of the tribe of Judah,
the root of David, has prevailed. Prevailed to put away sin. Prevailed
to establish righteousness. Prevailed to satisfy all God's
holy law and justice for us. He drank the cup of wrath. For
us. God's judgment, God's justice
cannot twice demand. At my bleeding surety's hand
and again at mine. That would make Him unjust, wouldn't
it? In closing, let's look quickly at verses 9 and 10. But I will
declare forever, I will sing praises to the God of Jacob,
the God who saves sinners. I will declare His name and sing
praises. What do we sing unto the Lord?
Remember over Revelation 1, 5, and 6, unto Him who loved us
and washed us from our sin in His own blood, to Him be all
the honor and glory both now and forever. Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain to receive all power, glory, and blessing both
now and forever. Look at verse 10 in our Psalm,
Psalm 75. All the horns of the wicked also
will I cut off. If you lock horns with God, you'll
lose. He'll cut you off in a holy, righteous judgment. But the horns
of the righteous, they shall be exalted. Who are
these righteous people here? Sinners saved by God's grace. The horns of the righteous shall
be exalted. You know why? Because the Lord
Jesus Christ is exalted. And we are exalted in Him. His people shall and must be
exalted in Him. Hebrews 1 verse 3 says, Him being
the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person,
when He, upholding all things by the word of His power, when
He had by Himself purged our sin, what did He do? After He
purged our sin, what happened? He sat down. He sat down in a
high place, an exalted place, the right hand of the throne
of God. God had highly exalted Him. He's exalted. Do you know
who else is exalted? His people are exalted in Him.
They're exalted in Him. And you know what? I promise you, I'll read this
Scripture and quit. But I want you to look at Ephesians
2, verse 6. His people, because Christ is
exalted, in victory. He's given us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Because He's exalted to the right
hand of God, Because His horn is exalted, He has all power. His people are exalted in Him.
Ephesians chapter 2. But God, who is rich in mercy,
verse 4, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
are you saved, and hath raised us up together, raised us up
together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. that in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. Raised us up together, made us
sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. It's already
done. When the Lord, the forerunner, you remember Hebrews 6, the forerunner
has entered in for us, seated in glory, we're seated in Him. What's through the head is through
the body.