Okay, now you've got Psalm 14
there in front of you, I trust, and we'll work down through these
seven verses here and do it in somewhat good order, I do trust. Notice verse one, Psalm 14, the
fool, the fool hath said in his heart, the fool hath regarded
in his heart, And the fool has made a foolish statement saying
there is no God or simply saying no to God. And the Lord says they are corrupt. Now who says that? God says that. They are corrupt. They have done
nothing but abominable works. There is none, there is none
with a double emphasis. He puts it on here twice in verse
1 and down in verse 3. There is none that doeth good,
none, no, not one, not any. Does that include you? Does that
include this preacher? Absolutely so. Absolutely so. Now, I've entitled this message
this evening, The Creed of the Fool. The Creed of the Fool. This psalm, along with Psalm
53, almost reads identical. And both declare unto us the
creed, and I mean by that the belief or the doctrine of the
fool. What is the belief of the fool,
or the doctrine of the fool, the teaching of the fool? Paul
in Romans 3 also uses these verses, declaring unto us the total depravity
of both the religious Jew and the ungodly Gentile. The total
sinfulness of all men everywhere. All have sinned, all of us, have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. All of us are deserving
of God's just, holy wrath. against our sin. We've earned
nothing but judgment of God. The wages of sin is death, death,
death. That's what I've got coming to
me, judgment, death. All have sinned, all have come
short of the standard that God has set. Now God set the bar
so high and He did it on purpose. He did it on purpose. He set
the bar so high to show us how sinful we are. No matter how
far we think we have come up to His mark, we're still short
of that glory of God, short of holiness, short of righteousness.
There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Now you have to
agree with me on this. All human history Some of you
young people study history. You have history classes, don't
you? U.S. history or world history. But we've all taken history classes.
And usually when you study human history, it usually revolves
around war, conflict, doesn't it? All the time. All human history
reeks with the terrible evidence of the sinner's total depravity. Now, I just don't mean that we're
somewhat sick, somewhat sinful. I'm saying that the whole humanity
of Adam's race, completely depraved, dead. There is not a spark. There
is not a hint. There is not a smell. There is
not any righteousness in us at all. Zero. Now, we preach and
believe what this book says. total depravity. Now when you total out your car,
Andy you probably had this happen to you, when you total out your
car, that means it's a complete wreck, that means you throw it
away, that means it's no good, and that's what we are, we're
all throwaways, totally depraved in God's sight, in God's sight. It's truly evident in Adam all
have sinned, in Adam all are guilty, in Adam all are dead
in trespasses and in sin, and because of that fact, we see
the great need of salvation. salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We see the great need of righteousness wrought out for us. Righteousness
wrought out by another. You see, God doesn't demand just
the best we can do because We can't do anything good. He demands
perfection. God's holy. God demands absolute
perfection. I can't produce it. I can't give
it. I'm totally shut up to God's
sovereign mercy. I take my place before his throne
as a mercy beggar and I cry out unto the Lord, God have mercy
on me. Me, the sinner. The sinner before
God. All of us are in need of salvation. All of us are in need of that
blessed righteousness. The righteousness that's of God.
The righteousness that's provided. Wouldn't you love to have a righteousness
that God has wrought out for you? And that He gives freely
unto His people? Rather than going about to establish
your own righteousness? Wouldn't you much rather rest
in the righteousness of God in Christ? Oh, I tell you, if you
ever see something of your sin and depravity, you'll thank God
for all that He has supplied us in Christ Jesus. For He has
called the Lord our righteousness. The total righteousness that
this sinner has by faith, given to me freely, is a gift of His
grace. unto his people, sovereignly
given. That's the gospel, salvation
by Christ, salvation in him. Now, I want you to look at verse
1 for a moment. Verse 1 and verse 2, we see this.
We see this world's foolish creed, or the creed of a fool. The fool
has said, here's what the fool has said, no God. No God. That's what the fool
said. No God. No God. This is still the cry
of the atheist today. What is an atheist? He's anti-God. He's against God. He's anti-what
we call anti-theistic. That is, he's against the deity. He's against God. That's still
the cry of the atheist today. Has always been. There is even
in this day Recently, this happened in New York City, an ongoing
advertising campaign in New York City declaring this on the side
of buses, subways, all over the city, declaring this. All the
atheists got together and spent, I think, $40,000 on this advertising
campaign that says this, no God and no problem, and there's 2
million just like you. There's 2 million atheists that
don't believe in God, or rather, I think really, it's really that
they stand in opposition to God. Just the very acknowledgement
that there is no God is an acknowledgement to some degree that there is
a God. But yet, they're anti-God. They stand against God as rebels
against the true and living God. The fool today would like to
do away with God who is God, and fashion him a God after his
own imagination that he can control, that he can manipulate, or deny
the existence of a true and living God. who is God that is absolute
sovereign and controller over all things. You see, God who
is God, He works all things after the counsel of His own will. Whatsoever the Lord pleads, it
says in Psalm 135, whatsoever the Lord pleads, that's what
He does. None can hinder him. None can
say unto him, Lord God Almighty, what are you doing? He's the
absolute sovereign. And as such, he's sovereign in
creation. He made all things by the word
of his power. He's sovereign in providence, what comes to
pass in time. God controls and decrees all
things. And he certainly is sovereign
in salvation. The rebel would say in his heart,
no, God is not sovereign in creation. The rebel would say in his heart,
no, God is not sovereign in providence. I'm the captain of my ship. I'm
the master of my own fate. That's what the rebel says. And
the rebel would say in his heart, no, salvation is not of the Lord.
Salvation is something that's in my hand, that I do, something
I give, something I merit. my righteousness. The rebel has
said there is no God or the rebel has said no unto God who is God. The atheist would not deny the
sovereign rule and reign of God if he were not a fool by nature
and having denied God is no marvel that he becomes a fool in his
talk and he becomes a fool in his practice. The fool has said
what's in the well of his heart. You know what's in the well of
the heart? Usually it comes out through the bucket of the mouth.
What's in the well of the heart? Just stick around and listen
to them talk and you'll figure out by and by they reveal their
true self, who they are. By and by they will. It may take
a while. What's in the well of the heart? will leak out in due
time. And the fool and the rebel will
say, no, no, no unto God. Remember what the Lord taught
in Matthew 15, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.
Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Out of the
heart, our Lord said, flows evil thoughts, blasphemy, evil speaking
against God, all these wicked, wicked deeds. and words and thoughts,
they flow out of this well, this cesspool of this Adam nature
that we all are plagued with. This sinful nature, this nature
is a sinful, depraved, this is the nature of the sinful and
depraved heart that is deceitful above all things, that is desperately
wicked, that's pregnant with thoughts against God. But the carnal mind has said,
The carnal mind is enmity against God. Enmity is enmity at God. Sin is a folly and it's the height
of sin to attack the very God of Scripture who does all his
pleasure, who accomplishes all his purpose. exercise in ignorance to rebel
against God Almighty. Bow unto the Lord. Bow unto His sovereign rule,
His reign. I can't make you bow, but God
can. He made this sinner bow. He made
this rebel. He broke my heart, put me in
the dust, made me to cry unto God, save me Lord. I perish. or I'll perish. Notice carefully
what the Lord, the Lord's description of the wicked, the wicked fool,
this is the wicked unbelieving fool. Look what he says here,
this is what God says back, they are corrupt. They've done abominable
works. There is none that do us good,
no, not one. Now here's what the Lord, here's
how he describes fallen humanity. They are corrupt. They are corrupt
in their sinful nature. And their sinful nature affects
all their thoughts, will, and affection. It affects the whole
makeup of who we are. This sin nature, this fallen,
depraved, Adam nature that we have. The whole head, Isaiah
said. You remember this, Isaiah 1?
The whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint, there is nothing
in us from the top of our head to the bottom of our feet, nothing
but wounds and bruises and infection of sin that permeates this body. You see, this sin nature that
all men have, And we have that by birth, by nature, by practice,
by choice. He said, they are corrupt. They
are corrupt. That's us. That's us. Describing
our fallen flesh, our fallen, depraved nature. Not only that, he says,
they have done something. They have done something, and
it amounts to nothing, even though they have done works, he calls
them abominable works. These are horrible things, horrible
works. They have done wicked works,
and what is so horrible about the
works that the wicked have done, they try to pass them off as
righteousness. Now it says over in Luke 16,
15, Our Lord said to those self-righteous Jews, He said, You are they which
justify yourselves before men. But he said, God knows your heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men and religious deeds and religious offices and religious
doings is highly esteemed among men. But he comes right back
and he said, that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination
in the sight of God. I don't want to trust that which
God says is abomination, my works, my soul. And yet we see people
all the time trying to recommend themselves unto God or to merit
God's favor by their works. Look what I've done. God said
they're abominable works. And then he says this, he said,
there is none that doeth good. And he repeats it again now in
verse three, just in case we missed it, there was none that
doeth good. And then he clarifies it just a little bit more. Maybe
there's an exception. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. Not any. None at all. Some have claimed to have done
some good works. It's recorded for us in Matthew
chapter 7. Remember, they came together
before God and said, Lord, we've preached in your name. Oh, we've
done many wonderful works in your name. We've cast out devils,
and we've done all these things that we think will recommend
us unto God, and the Lord comes back to their claim of doing
many, many wonderful works, and the Lord comes back and said, workers of iniquity, depart from
me. I never loved you. I never knew you." He calls the
best that we put forth iniquity. He calls it abominable works.
I told the folks at home today about our righteousness and our
deeds. You know, Paul said they're all, but he talked about all
his righteousness of the past, and he said, I count all of it
but dung that I might win Christ. You know what a pile of dung
is, don't you? Manure. Manure. Now, I don't know what you do
with manure at your house. But I know what I do with the
manure in my house. We push it down the commode.
We flush it down the commode. That's what we need to do with
our righteousness that we think we conjure up in the flesh. Flush
it down the commode. Get rid of it. Be done with it. Don't trust it. And then he says,
oh, that I might win Christ and be found in him. having that
righteousness that's found in Christ Jesus. You see, the Scripture
declares, in the flesh dwelleth no good thing. The Scripture
declares in Ecclesiastes 7, there is not a just man upon the earth
that doeth good and sinneth not. Our Lord said that of those in
Isaiah 65, you've heard that saying, I am holier than thou,
have you ever heard that saying? It comes from the scripture,
Isaiah 65, and where it says, here's what it says, which say,
stand by thyself or don't come near to me. For I am holier than
thou. You know what God says of that
attitude? We see that so much in religious
circles, don't we? And the Lord says of those that
think that they are holier than others, God said, there's smoke
in my nose, a fire that burns all the day. All it is, is stink. That's right. Stinking. He says
that in the text here. In verse 3, they're filthy, they're
stinking. Stinking. Stinking. All our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags in God's sight. Well, he goes on, verse 2, there's
more. Can we stand anymore? And the
Lord looked down from heaven. You see, the one who is the Lord,
Jehovah God, He looks down, He looks down upon us, He looks
down upon all creation, and you know, He looks down just not
upon the outside, Samuel looked on the sons of Jesse, he looked
on the outward countenance. But you remember what the Lord
said to him? Don't look on the outside because God looks on
the heart. The Lord looks down from heaven,
not only seeing all that we are and all that we are before him,
but he sees the very thoughts of the heart. He knows us through
and through. There is not a thought in our
heart that the Lord is not completely familiar with. He permeates our
very thinking. He knows our mind, our thought. He knows everything about us. That ought to terrify the hypocrite.
But I tell you, it's comforting to the believer. Remember what
Peter said to the Lord Jesus Christ in John? Verse 21, Lord,
you know all things, you know that I love you. Not like I should.
Peter had just denied the Lord. Not like we should, not like
we ought to, but Lord, we do love you. Not like we will one
day. One day we'll love him without
any sin. But Lord, we do love you. The Lord looked down from
heaven upon the children of men. upon the sons of Adam, fallen,
depraved sons of Adam, to see if there were any that did understand,
if there were any that seek God. He said they're all gone astray,
the whole shooting match. They're all gone astray. They're
all together become, they're all together, not even individually,
but collectively, all of us together. If you have one million zeros
and you add all those zeros up together, one million or trillion
or billion, however many, you still have zero. I'm not real
smart, but that's what he's saying here. They're all together. All
of us together, collectively, not only individually, but collectively,
all the men of all ages, all put together. He said they're
all together filthy. Stinking is the word. And then
he says, there's none that doeth good. The Lord looks down, he takes
notice of everything and everyone. He's not only omnipotent, all
powerful, and omnipresent, he's everywhere, but he's also omniscient. That means he knows everything. The Lord looks down from heaven. What does He see? Turn way back
over here to Genesis chapter 6. He sees the same thing as
He saw on Noah's day. Same thing. The fallen flesh
hasn't improved any. We still are filthy in God's
sight. We're still ungodly in His sight.
The Lord looked down from heaven and says in Genesis chapter 6,
Verse 5, And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in
the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. Look at verse 11, Genesis 6. The earth also was corrupt before
God. The earth was filled with violence.
And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt. For
all flesh had corrupted his way, upon the earth and God said,
I'll destroy them. That's what we deserve. Whom
did God save in that day? Those who were in the ark. What is that ark a picture of,
Christ? Christ. Get in the ark. Noah was a preacher
of righteousness for 120 years. Every beat of that hammer. 120
years, they heard that hammer. Judgment's coming. Get in the
ark. Another 10 years. Judgment's coming. Get in the
ark. And one day, God sent a flood. And the wrath of God was poured
out. And only those in the ark were spared. And one day, my
friend, judgment's coming. The wrath of God will fall. And
only those in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who are justified
in Him, will be saved that day. He said they're all gone out
of the way. Then notice this in verse 2. No sinner, none, has right understanding
of spiritual things of God, none. We have no understanding. That
is, all men by nature are ignorant, ignorant. That's what Paul, Paul
uses that very word in Romans 10, they being ignorant of God,
And therefore going about in the ignorant of God's righteousness,
not only His holy character, but of the righteousness provided
in the gospel, therefore they go about to establish their own
righteousness. Have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God in Christ. Any that understand? No sinner. including this one, left to himself,
has any right understanding of the spiritual things of God.
The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.
The Christ crucified to those who are perishing is foolishness.
You see, it says in Ephesians 4, remember from our study through
the book of Ephesians, their understanding is darkened, their
heart is blinded, their heart is hardened by sin. We have no
right understanding of the spiritual things of God revealed in the
gospel. We have no right understanding of our own sin and the way of
salvation in Christ until God is pleased to give us an understanding. And that's what has to happen. He says in 1 John 5 20, we know
the Son of God has come and He's given us an understanding that
we might know Him that is true. He is the true God. He is eternal
life. Lord, give me this understanding.
Help me to understand the things of God. And then he says, now
watch this. Still, still, verse 2 now. The Lord looked down upon the
children of men to see if there were any that did understand.
No. The Lord looked down to see if there were any that did seek
after God. No sinner, now listen to me,
I've been around just a little bit, no sinner will seek after
God unless the Lord first seeks him out. It has to be the seeking
of God. You remember back in Psalm 10,
look at verse 4, the wicked through the pride of his countenance
will not seek after God. God is not in all of his thoughts. Due to his own wicked pride,
he left to himself now. Now if you find a seeking sinner,
I tell you this, you'll find a seeking savior. He's on the
trail of his sheep and one day he'll run them down. If you're
one of his elect, chosen covenant of grace, he'll run you down
and he'll overtake you and he'll break your heart and he'll cause
you to fall down before him and ask for mercy. No sinner will
seek after God unless the Lord first seeks him out. Our Lord
said that in John 6. He said, No man can come to me
except the Father which sent me. Draw him. He said, I've loved
you with everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness I will draw
you unto myself. That's a powerful drawing of
God the Holy Spirit. You know it's irresistible? It's
absolutely irresistible. And it's effectual. What does
effectual mean? It means it gets the job done. It's irresistible. And you know how He draws us
irresistibly? He draws us irresistibly to Himself. He makes Himself irresistible. He makes Himself so lovely and
so beautiful. You say in your heart, I must
have Christ. Give me Christ, else I die. Give
me the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that's a blessed, blessed
time. You know, we never get weary. when Lord is pleased to draw
us to bow before Him and acknowledge we're nothing and He's everything
in salvation. Look, verse 3 goes on. He said,
they're all gone aside. They're all gone aside. All men
without exception. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way. There's a way that seems
right unto men. The end thereof is death. They're
all together, He said, become filthy. There is none that doeth
good, no, not one." What a picture. What a picture. What a gruesome
picture. What a true picture of what we
are. A true picture of fallen humanity.
Someone said a desert without an oasis, a stove without a fire,
a well without water, a night without a star. Hell without a bottom. Oh my
soul, how we need the Lord Jesus Christ to save us, to keep us. You know, He's able. He's able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him, seeing
He ever lives to make intercession for us. Now look at verse 4. Have all the workers of iniquity
no knowledge? who eat up my people as they
eat bread and call not upon the Lord. All sinners left to themselves
have no saving true knowledge of God, no understanding, no
true knowledge. They have no knowledge of God.
All sinners left to themselves have no saving knowledge of the
true and living God or the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as it's
revealed to us in the gospel, in His word. Eternal life is
to know the only true and living God. Our Lord prayed that in
John 17. This is eternal life that they
might know thee the only true God. And then look what it says
in verse 4 as well. Who eat up my people as they
eat up bread, and they call not upon the Lord. They persecute
the Lord's people, these who are workers of iniquity, who
have no knowledge. They persecute the Lord's people
out of hatred toward God. And because of the total depravity
of their heart, these are the prime movers that produce persecution
against believers. Remember our Lord said, they
will hate you because they've hated me. And then it says, they
call not upon the Lord. Seems only logical that they
would not call upon him in prayer, nor worship him in truth, nor
seek his will in the word, nor believe the gospel, seeing they
deny his very existence. No, God, they called not upon
the Lord. You know, the good news of the
gospel is this. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. My pastor used to say on that
word, whosoever. A lot of people think that that
indicates the ability of the sinner to believe the gospel. But notice what it says, Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved." Whosoever
is a wide word. Whosoever calls on the name of
the Lord, we call on Him because He has called on us. We love
Him only because He first loved us. You remember that verse over
there in John 3, 16? Someone mentioned that earlier
this evening. God so loved the world. You remember? God so loved the world. And a
lot of people make make that to be the universal love of God,
but notice what it says here. Don't turn, let me just read
it to you. For God so loved the world, and this is the world
of his elect, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever,
notice the next word, believeth, in him should have everlasting
life, should not perish but have everlasting life. whoever believes
the gospel. Now how do we believe the gospel?
Remember our study from Ephesians 1, we believe according to the
working of His mighty power. And then remember over in Acts
13, 48, as many as were ordained to eternal life, they believe
the gospel. So sometimes when someone makes
a big deal about the word whosoever, that's a true word. But what
comes next? believes the Gospel, whosoever
calls upon the name of the Lord, now not just call on sweet Jesus,
I'm talking about calling on the Lord, who is God our Savior. Now the heap of difference, heap
of difference. Mercy beckers. Look what it says in verse 5
back in our text, Psalm 14, There were they in great fear, I believe this is looking forward into the future. God's judgment
throne. There they were in great fear.
Now there's no fear of God before their eyes. But there, there
they were in great fear before the throne of God. For God is
in the generation of the righteous. That day of judgment will come
and there will be abounding. Look over here at Psalm 53. This
is almost word for word, Psalm 53 and Psalm 14 are almost identical. But notice Psalm 53 verse 5,
There were they in great fear, where no fear was, for God hath
scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee. Thou
hast put them in shame, because God hath despised them. There's
coming a day of judgment. There were they in great fear,
these loud-mouthed, iron-handed, proud-hearted, hard-hearted,
heady, high-minded sinners will one day be in great fear. Terror will one day seize upon
their heart when they stand before God in judgment and hear Him
say, Depart from Me, I never, no, never knew you. I never loved you. Let those
who persecute and rail on the gospel, those who are haters
of the Lord's people, beware of this. When they persecute
the Lord, they persecute, when they persecute God's people,
rather, they persecute the Lord. Look what it says in verse 5,
Psalm 14, for God is in the generation of the righteous. The union of Christ with His
people so strong, so real, that when the ungodly persecute the
Lord's people, they do so to the Lord Himself. You remember
Saul of Tarsus? It's recorded for us in Acts
chapter 9, his conversion. He went about persecuting believers, and the Lord said, He said, who
are you, Lord? He says, I am Jesus who you persecuted. He was persecuting believers.
You see, you can't persecute a believer and not persecute
the Lord himself because of that vital union with Christ. God
is in the generation of the righteous, Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Now look at verse six. You have shamed the counsel of
the poor, Because the Lord is his refuge. The wicked fool would
like to shame the believer out of his confidence in the Lord.
They would mock the poor saint to forsake the counsel of the
Lord, to forsake the refuge of the Lord. What is the counsel
of the Lord? It's the gospel of God concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust Christ for all salvation.
He's the only provided foundation. He is the only provided refuge
for sinners to rest upon. He is the only Savior of sinners. But the wicked would like to
shame the counsel of the poor, the gospel of Christ, because
the Lord is his refuge, his only hope of salvation. You know,
it's always wise to follow the counsel of the Lord. Paul in Acts 20 said, I've not
shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Our Lord
said in Revelation 3, I counsel thee to buy of me gold that's
tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment that
thou mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness do
not appear, and anoint thy eyes with eye salve that thou mayest
see. That's good counsel, to believe
God and bow to Him. Well, look at verse 7 in closing. Just give me a couple minutes,
and we'll close with verse 7. Well, we've considered the creed
of the fool, but in verse 7 we see the creed of the believer.
You see it in verse 7? Oh, that salvation of Israel
will come out of Zion when the Lord bringeth back the captivity
of his people. Jacob shall rejoice, the sons
of Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. Here's the believer's
creed. Who will give salvation unto
God's Israel, His elect? Who doth give from Zion the salvation
of Israel? The Lord alone, for salvation
is of the Lord. David was among many of the Old
Testament saints that looked to the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ. As Abraham rejoiced to see his day and was glad, as
Moses wrote of him, as Simeon was waiting in the temple for
the consolation of the Lord. that salvation or who will give
salvation to Israel out of Zion the Lord He will bring back the
captivity of His people. He will set them free in Christ
Jesus. The Lord accomplished salvation
for us as our mediator. He completed our redemption.
Redemption was put into His hand. He undertook to finish it. He's
the captain of it. He's the author of it. And there
is salvation in no other. He does bring back the captivity. And that's what He did for us.
He delivered us from sin. from the bondage of sin, from
the power of sin, from the condemnation of sin, there is no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. He bringeth back the captivity
of his people. And when that happens, I tell
you this, Jacob will rejoice, will rejoice in the Lord. The
sons of Jacob, sinners saved by grace, they will find great
joy in Christ. And Israel, the Israel of God,
the elect of God, they shall be glad. Now listen to this. Psalm 92, 4. For thou, Lord,
hast made me glad Through thy work I will triumph
in the work of thy hands. And then Psalm 126, 3. The Lord
hath done great things for us whereof we are glad. Jacob shall rejoice. In what? This salvation. He has brought
me out of captivity and set me free. And we shall be glad. because Christ has redeemed us
from the curse of the law. The Lord Jesus Christ has put
away our sin. He's brought in everlasting righteousness
and given it unto us. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord would impute it, who imputes righteousness without works,
and he has made us new creatures in Christ Jesus. One more verse. Psalm 13, verse
5. But I've trusted in thy mercy,
My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the
Lord because he hath dealt bountifully with me. Well, there's a lot
there in seven verses.