Okay, this evening then we're
going to try to bring a message from Psalm 47, and we'll do this
by way of a verse-by-verse study, which I think is a very, very
blessed and profitable way to preach the gospel of Christ,
Christ and Him crucified. All the Psalms and all the Word
of God all tell us one message, the message of a person. Christ,
His person, His work, His victory. Christ our righteousness, Christ
our Savior, Christ is all of our salvation. All the Psalms
and all the prophets, they all declare the same message, the
beauty and glory of the Lord Jesus. Now I'm calling this message,
Christ has ascended in victory And I'm taking that title from
the words found in verse 5. God is gone up with a shout. With a shout. The Lord with the
sound of a trumpet. I believe this is referring to
His ascending victory when He by Himself purged our sin. Our sin brought death, a real
death. He died for our sin, according
to Scripture, was buried, and on the third day He rose again,
having justified us by His blood, delivered for our offenses, and
justified, we're justified by His resurrection glory, justified
by His blood, and because we've been justified, because He got
the work done, no longer did the grave and our sin have a
claim on Him. And then He ascends to glory
and occupies the right hand of the throne of God when He by
Himself purged our sin, put away our sin, all of our sin, the
sin of God's people. The Lord Jesus not only successfully
put away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself, and that's what it
says in the Word of God. Christ appeared once in the end
of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And
he rose victoriously the third day and ascended to the throne
of glory 40 days later. And now there's a God-man in
glory seated on the throne. And one day soon, I hope very
soon the Lord is coming back. The Lord is coming back. It says
in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 that the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with
the trumpet of God. It's no secret thing. It'll be known among all the
earth. The Lord has come back. The Lord of glory. He said, I'll
go away, and if I go away, I will come again and receive you unto
myself, that where I am, there you may be also with the Lord,
with the Lord forever. Can you imagine such a thing?
no more sin, no more flesh, no more tears, no more death, no
more trouble, but to be with Him, to be just like Him, to
be with Him, to worship Him without any distraction, to worship Him
without any sin, to worship Him truly like we want to and someday
we will. worship Him. Now let's consider
for a moment, verse 1 and following, considering His glorious victory
for us over sin, death, hell, and the grave, our Lord said,
I'm He that liveth and was dead, behold, I'm alive forevermore.
Got the keys of hell and death. Now, what are we to do? Clap
your hands. Clap your hands, all ye people. Shout unto God with a voice,
with a voice of triumph, triumph, as the Lord's elect. His church,
we are to clap our hands and shout unto our God with a voice
of triumph and victory that the Lord Jesus Christ has gained
for us. It's a victorious gospel we have
in Christ Jesus. Let's read a couple of verses
and consider a couple of verses. Find, first of all, 1 Corinthians
15. 1st Corinthians 15. Our God is
not a defeated Savior. He's a victorious Savior, a victorious
Lord. It says here in 1st Corinthians
15, verse 57, talking about the resurrection, our resurrection.
Because He lives, we shall live. Thanks be unto God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, the victory. Oh,
death, where's your sting? Oh, grave, where's your victory? Gone. We have complete victory
in Christ. He conquered death for us. Now,
find 2 Corinthians 2, 2 Corinthians 2, look at verse 14. This is 2 Corinthians 2, verse
14. Now, thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph
in Christ Jesus, always causes us to triumph in Christ Jesus,
and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every
place. Thanks be to God. He causes us
to have the victory over all things. You know, the clapping
of the hands. Now, we don't, in our worship
service, we don't physically clap our hands, and we don't
audibly shout and carry on, but we do within our heart. We're
rejoicing in our heart, and we are praising and singing unto
our God in our heart, but the clapping of the hands is a gesture
of joy. and approval, isn't it? When
you go somewhere and you see something and usually at the
end of the play or something people will stand up and somebody
who has brought special music or something in some kind of
theater or something, usually the people will stand up and
give a token of their approval and pleasure by the clapping
of the hands, don't they? Sometimes people even stand up
and clap. They give a standing ovation,
a hearty endorsement and approval of what they have just witnessed
before them. Nothing is more satisfying to
the believer than to rejoice in Christ and to clap and shout
with the voice of triumph. the voice of victory in the gospel
that the power of God unto salvation for the Lord Jesus Christ meets
our every need he's able to meet all our need and that singular
because I just have one need and that's Christ He's able to
meet all my need. Everything I need to stand before
God is fully and eternally provided in Christ Jesus. He's able to
meet all our need according to His riches in glory through Christ
Jesus. For He has made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. This is the message
of the gospel. It's one of victory, not defeat,
not frustration, but the one of victory. Christ is victorious. Christ is the conquering King.
He's not defeated, He's not frustrated, but He's absolute Lord. It says
in Revelation 6, describing the Lord Jesus Christ as a glorious
lamb that was slain for our sin, He went forth conquering and
to conquer. You see, He has won the victory
Himself and has given that unto us by His grace. Turn over to
Psalm 98. Psalm 98, look at verse 1. singing to the Lord a new song,
for he hath done marvelous things. His right hand, his holy arm,
hath gotten him the victory. Everybody likes to be a winner,
don't they? You want to be on the winning basketball team,
you want to be on the winning side of whatever you're on, you
want to be a winner. Well, you know by nature we're
all losers. And Adam and Eve all have died. And Adam and Eve
all have sinned. No wonder the Apostle Paul said,
O that I may win Christ and be found in Him. In the Lord Jesus
Christ every believer is a winner. winner, being found in Him, being
found in Him. And this is a message of the
gospel. Christ is victorious. He is our victory over all opposition. I think the remainder of this
psalm gives unto us reasons for our rejoicing, reasons to clap,
And to shout with a voice of approval, for we read in Scripture,
in all things, we're more than conquerors through him that loved
us, gave himself for us. Now, let's consider verse 2.
For the Lord Most High is terrible, or a better word, is tremendous. He's tremendous in His character,
impeccable. Impeccable. He's tremendous in
His character. He's tremendous in His person,
for He is God. He's tremendous in His work as
a great high priest who was obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. The Lord Most High is tremendous
in every aspect that you can think of, of His person, of His
work, of His priesthood, in His office. Mediator. Oh, he's a tremendous mediator,
isn't he? There's just one God, one mediator between God and
men, that is the man Christ Jesus. He's a tremendous mediator. I
want him to be my mediator. I have to have one. He's tremendous
in all of his offices, mediator. How about advocate? He's our
advocate. John says, my little children,
these things I write unto you that you sin not, but when you
do, We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the
righteous. We have a tremendous advocate. We have a tremendous mediator. We have a tremendous intercessor,
for He ever lives to intercede for us. You see, everything about
Him, His person, His office, His work. His salvation. How should we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? We have a tremendous Savior,
don't we? You know, He is what He's called.
He is what He's called. He is the Savior. Call His name Jesus. He shall
save His people from their sin. He is what He's called. He's
a tremendous Savior. It says He's able to save to
the uttermost. All that come to God by Him,
seeing He ever lives to make intercession for us. He's the
tremendous Savior that I need. I don't need a weak, impotent,
frustrated, weak, puny Savior. I need a tremendous Savior. You
know why? Because I'm a tremendous sinner.
I need a great Savior because I'm a great sinner. I need someone
to come and do for me what I cannot do for myself, to save me, deliver
me from my own self, from myself. So the Lord Most High, oh He's
tremendous. You know He is the Great King
over all the earth. It says that again down in verse
7. For God is the King of all the earth. God is God over all
things. He's the King over all the earth.
You know, not only here in Kingsport, but you know, over there in California,
down there in Texas, over there in China, anywhere you can think
of, God is King of all the earth. And we do sing praises unto Him
with understanding. We rejoice in His universal reign. We shout and we give thanks that
God is God. And He's our God. We do rejoice
in His universal reign and His absolute sovereignty. For He
indeed is King. And you know He's not king by
something we do. He's not king by a democratic
process. We didn't vote on this. God had
decreed Him to be Lord and Christ. God had made Him. You can't make
Jesus your Lord. That's what they say in religious
circles. Well, make Jesus your Lord. Come
forward and make a decision and make Him your Lord. You can't
make Him Lord. God beat you to it. In eternity,
God had decreed Him to be Lord and Savior. He's the king of
all the earth. Ah, what are you gonna do about
that? Well, I don't like that boy. I do I do I'm gonna sing
and Shout unto God with the voice of triumph for the Lord Most
High is tremendous and he's my king I like the way the Apostle
Paul refers to the Lord Jesus Christ as God my Savior and He's
the only just God and Savior. So we give thanks that He is
King over all the earth. He's King in salvation. You ever
doubt that? He's King in salvation, is He
not? He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I will have mercy. and whom I will I'll harden.
He's king in salvation. He's king in creation. He's king
in providence. He's king over all things. There's
nothing and no aspect that you can think of that He doesn't
reign over all things. Well it says in verse 3, so we
give thanks. He's king of all the earth. He's
no local deity. No local ruler. He's the undisputed
heavyweight champion of the universe. He's never lost a fight. He has a perfect record. He's
defeated every foe. And every knee will bow before
Him and every tongue will confess that He's Lord to the glory of
God the Father. It says in verse 3 that He'll
save His people. And we give thanks. He will save
His people from their sin. Or some have suggested that the
rendering is that He shall lead His people like a shepherd. Well,
He does both. He saves us, and then He doesn't
leave us. He leads us. He is a good shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. And
because He is my shepherd, I shall not want. He is a captain of
our salvation, it says in Hebrews 2 verse 10, that is bringing
many sons unto glory. He shall subdue, He shall save
His people from their sin. You see, the battle's not ours. It's His. We can't subdue one
sin, nor can we convict one sinner. I can't convict you of your sin. I can tell you you're a sinner,
and you probably might agree with me, but I can't convince
you in your heart before God Almighty what we are in His sight. He can. He can convince you. He can teach you. He can subdue
your hard-heartedness, your unwillingness, and He can break your heart.
He's neither of them of a broken heart. Save us such as be of
a contrite spirit. You know, there's no reason to
despair of God's mercy and God's grace to the hardest of hearts. God is able to save. You heard
the story What the old preacher, his name
was William Jay, he was a close friend of John Newton. Have I
told you this before? Well, I'll tell you. If I've
told you before, I'll tell you again. John Newton, great preacher
of the gospel, but he had a kind of a notorious beginning as the
captain of a slave ship. He traded in and African slaves and brought
them to various places and sold those men. And later God convicted
him of his sin and raised him up and saved him and raised him
up to be a preacher of the gospel. We sing his song, Amazing Grace,
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Well, one day
John Newton was sitting in his study and a preacher friend of
his that was in the neighborhood came by and His name was William
Jay, and he came in Brother Newton's study and said, Brother John,
he said, have you heard the news about this notorious sinner down
here in Bath County? How God invaded his heart and
how God broke him, unhorsed him, and made him a new creature in
Christ Jesus. And Brother Jay said to John
Newton, said, I'll never despair of God's mercy again in saving
his power, in saving the most vile, wretched sinners. And old
John Newton said, Brother Jay, that I've never despaired of
God saving mercy to any sinner since God saved me. Wretch that
I am. I once was lost, but now I'm
found with blind, but now I see. You see, He's able to subdue.
He's able to save. We keep on preaching. Keep on
preaching, keep on praying, keep asking God to be merciful, and
I tell you what, God will cross the path of His sheep, and He'll
subdue them, He'll save them, He'll break them, and He'll conquer
them. Is there ever such a case in
Scripture as old Saul of Tarsus? breathing out threatening and
slaughter against the Lord and against his disciples and how
he met the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to persecution Damascus
and how he was unhorsed and put in the dust and broken before
God and said, Lord, what will you have me to do? I'm a sinner. Have mercy on me, this sinner.
He shall subdue his people. Mark it down. He conquered me. He conquered you. And then it
says in verse 4, we give reason. These are reasons for rejoicing
in Christ. Verse 4, He shall choose. Now,
does He have the right to choose? Well, He's King. He's King. You don't call the White House,
do you, and suggest that the President of the United States
do what you choose, do you? No, he does what he chooses to
do. For the most part, he's going to do what he wants to do, because
he's, for all intents and purposes in our illustration here, he's
the king. He's the president, and he's
going to do what he wants to do. Now we might not agree with
what he wants to do, but that's his doing. But God, who's the
king of all the earth, He chooses whom he will have mercy upon.
He shall choose our inheritance for us. Now think about that. He has chosen our inheritance
for us. He's made us under our God kings
and priests. Christ is our inheritance. He
has chosen our inheritance for us and He has chosen us for His
inheritance. But we're heirs of God and joint
heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. It says over there in 1 Peter
chapter 3 that we have an inheritance that's incorruptible, undefiled,
that fades not away, that's reserved in heaven for you. He has chosen
our inheritance for us. He has chosen us unto salvation,
because He's King. He's King of all the earth. The excellency of Jacob, whom
He loved. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this sealed, the Lord knoweth them that are His.
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. He said, I am the Lord,
I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. He
shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob,
whom he hath loved. Hearing his love, not that we
love God, he loved us. And he sent his son to be the
sacrifice for us. And then it says in that portion
there, Selah. Selah. You think about that.
God has chosen us. Turn over here to Psalm 65. Verse 4, Psalm 65. Blessed is
the man whom thou choosest, and cause us to approach unto thee,
that he may dwell in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even thy holy temple. He has chosen us
for his inheritance, and he has chosen our inheritance for us. Jacob whom he loved, Nothing
can separate us from the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Therefore we give thanks. We
give thanks with a voice of triumph. Look at verse 5. Our God has
gone up. Our God has gone up with a shout. The Lord with the sound of a
trumpet. When Christ came in the flesh
to accomplish our salvation, he came with a shout of victory. The angels appeared that day
and said unto you, this day is born in the city of David a Savior,
which is Christ the Lord. And immediately there was a host
of heavenly angels singing, glory to God in the highest on earth,
peace, goodwill toward men. He came in incarnation as God
manifest in the flesh. He came with a shout, with a
shout of victory, didn't He? The angels and the heavenly host
praised His name. And when the Lord ascended as
a forerunner, so when He came in the flesh to accomplish our
salvation, He came with a shout of victory. Imagine this, when
the Lord of glory ascended as a forerunner, as a God-man mediator,
having accomplished all of our salvation, can you imagine the
shouts and acclamations in glory that day when the Son of God
came home? Can you even imagine such a thing? Can you imagine such a sight?
We do not doubt that the angels and glorified saints welcomed
Him with all acclamation of praise and glory. He descended with
a shout of victory and He ascended with a shout of victory as well. He descended as our representative
for us to accomplish our salvation. By His obedience many shall be
made righteous and He ascends as our victorious forerunner. He ascends for us as our representative,
doesn't he? He's a forerunner, who is the
anchor of our salvation, who has entered in to the throne
of glory, seated on the throne, and occupies it for us, and we're
seated in Him. We're seated in the heavenlies
already in Christ Jesus. Now, what do you say about that?
Well, sing praises unto the Lord. God, our God and Savior, has
gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Now sing praises. Sing praises to God. That is,
worship Him, honor Him, sing unto Him, worthy as a lamb. They
sang that day the new song of redemption, worthy as a lamb
that was slain to receive all honor, glory, blessing, and power
both now and forever. Unto Him who loved us and washed
us from our sin in His own blood, sing praises to God, sing praises,
sing praises unto our King. He is our King and He is our
Savior. Now sing praises unto Him. Sing praises, it says, for God
is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.
With understanding. He never ceases to be God. He
never ceases to be good. Let us never cease to be thankful
in our hearts. For we read in Scripture and
everything give thanks Now, you think about that now. In everything
give thanks, but this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. In everything give thanks? That's
what it says. Oh, may God be our teacher and
to teach us to be thankful unto the Lord. He never ceases to
be God, so let us worship Him as God. He said, I am God, beside
me there is no other. I'm only just God and Savior. And let us worship Him, it says
there in verse 7, let us worship Him and sing praises unto Him
with understanding. With understanding. You know,
true worship and true faith is not born of ignorance. not born of ignorance. Let us
worship with understanding of who He is and what He has accomplished. We don't worship in ignorance.
The Father seeketh such to worship Him in spirit and in truth. There is no spiritual worship
apart from Christ who is the truth of salvation, the truth. of the way unto God Almighty. True worship is with understanding.
We do not worship an unknown God. True worship is with understanding. Let's read that scripture over
there in 1 John. chapter 5. He has given us an understanding
of a true and living God and it is a delightful honor to worship
Him now and forever. During the first John 5, this
understanding, He's given us an understanding. You see the
natural man, it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14, the natural
man doesn't understand the things of God. They're foolishness unto
him, neither can he know them because they must be spiritually
discerned, but in the gospel and in the revelation where it
takes God to reveal God, He reveals unto us and gives us understanding
of who He is and what He has done. And this understanding
comes from God. 1 John 5, 20, and we know the
Son of God has come and He's given us an understanding. He's
hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them
undebathed. That we may know Him, that is
true. He's given us an understanding that we may know Him. That is
true. And that we are in Him. Salvation is in Him. That is
true. Even in His Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the true God. and this is eternal life. He
saves us not in ignorance. He gives us an understanding
of who He is. Saving faith is born of truth,
not lie. Someone I recently read, if someone
who claims to be converted under a false gospel and under someone
lying against God, he has nothing but a false refuge and a lying
salvation. You see, it's the truth that
sets men free. You shall know the truth and
the truth shall set you free. So sing praises with understanding. Do we fully understand? No. We say with the Apostle Paul,
we preach in part and we know in part. But the part we do know,
He has given us an understanding of who He is and what He has
done. Therefore, we shout unto our
God with a voice of triumph. We sing praises unto His name
and we worship Him. That's why we're here this evening.
You think of all the things that you could be doing this evening,
but you're here. Why are you here? Why'd you come
this evening? I trust that you've come here
to worship God and to hear His gospel declared. So, sing praises
with understanding. Look at verse 8. He's given us
this understanding, God reigneth. He's given us an understanding
that God is God. God reigns over the heathen.
God sits upon the throne of His holiness. God is holy. This generation of religious
people have lost the concept of who God is. They say, well,
God loves everybody. It's not so. It's not so. The book doesn't teach that. God Almighty is holy. He sits on the throne of His
holiness. And the love of God is in the
Lord Jesus Christ. His love is holy love. His mercy
is holy mercy. He dispenses mercy in a way that's
consistent with His character. for his character is holy. The
central attribute of God is not love. The central attribute of
God is holy. Holy. Holy is his name. God reigns over the heathen. What does that mean? You know
the word sovereignty is not in the scripture. But the truth of it is and the
root of it is. R-E-I-G-N. He reigns. He's sovereign. That means He's in charge over
all things. God reigns. Whatsoever the Lord
please. Let's see if we can find that.
Is that Psalm 135? Is it not? Psalm 135, verse 5. I know that the Lord is great,
that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the Lord please. That
did He in heaven, earth, sea, and all deep places. David, where
is your God? Our God is in the heavens. He
has done whatsoever He is pleased to do. God reigns over the heathen. God reigns over all. And He sits
on an undisputed throne of absolute undiluted holiness. The only
way God can have any dealings with us is to do so in a way
that is consistent with His holy character. And the only way God
can be just and justify the ungodly is through Christ and Him crucified.
Verse 9. The princes are the people. The
princes are the people. are gathered unto Him." The princes
of the people are gathered unto Him. Who are these princes of
the people that are gathered unto Him? His elect, His chosen. They're gathered together, even
the people. The God of Abraham, the true
sons of Abraham. For the shield of the earth belong
unto God and He is greatly exalted. For Christ is our shield Christ
is our security. Christ is our salvation. Therefore,
He is greatly exalted in the earth. Salvation is of the Lord. He's exalted to the throne of
glory, and in salvation He's exalted in our heart. We read
in the book of Acts chapter 5 verse 31, He is exalted as Prince and
Savior to give repentance and forgiveness of sin unto His people. He is exalted. He is our shield,
He is our covering, He is our refuge, and He is greatly, greatly
exalted. How high? How high is He exalted? As high as you can imagine. He's
exalted as God and Savior. I've never heard anybody complain,
that is, any believers complain, that the preacher exalted the
Lord Jesus Christ too high, that he gave too much honor unto the
Lord Jesus Christ, that he just preached on Christ too much.
I've never heard a believer complain about that. I've heard some rebels
say, well, all he talks about is Christ and Him crucified.
My friend, that's all there is to talk about. You don't find
God's people complaining about the preacher said too much about
the Lord Jesus Christ.