sets forth his glorious person
and his redemptive work. And he's speaking again in verse
5, this is our Lord speaking, through David, but it's the Lord
speaking. I showed you that this morning.
And he says in verse 5, many, O Lord my God, he's speaking
to the Father, the Messiah, The Lord Jesus is speaking to his
Father. And he says, Many, O Lord my
God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done. This is
that new song, he says in verse 3, that the Father put in his
mouth. He said in verse 3, He hath put
a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall
see it, and shall fear, and shall trust in the Lord. And the works
of which he speaks here, it's not the creation of the world.
It's not the creation of the heavens, though they declare
the glory of God without question. The heavens and the earth, the
firmament declare his glory. But he's speaking here of his
redemptive work. He speaks of the incarnation
of our Lord, the redemption of his elect by blood and obedience. the resurrection of Christ, the
exaltation of Christ. If you turn to Acts 13, I can
show you that when he speaks here of the wonderful works which
the Lord God has done and is doing and will do, which thou
hast done, he is speaking of redemption, Christ redeeming
his people. I'm going to read you a prophecy
from Habakkuk. Now you just stay with Acts 13.
Here's the prophecy. Habakkuk. Long before Christ
came into the world. Habakkuk said, Behold ye among
the heathen. Behold and regard and wonder
marvelously. For I will work a work. I will
work a work. in your days which you will not
believe, though it be told you." What's Habakkuk talking about?
Well, Acts 13, verse 38. Paul the Apostle translates that
prophecy from Habakkuk for us. Acts 13, verse 38. Jesus Christ is preached unto
you the forgiveness of sins. And by him all that believe are
justified, by him all that believe are justified from all things,
from which you could not be justified by the law, the ceremonial Levitical
law of Moses. Now beware therefore, beware. You better believe it. lest that come upon you which
was spoken of in the prophets. Behold, ye despises and wonder
and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which you
shall no wise believe, for a man declares it unto you. Many, O
Lord, by God, are thou wonderful works, wonderful works, the redemption
of his people, sacrifice of his son, the shedding of his blood,
the putting away of our sins. That's the wonderful work that
he has worked in these last days. For we've been in the last days
since our Lord came. He called them the last days. The next line in verse 5, and
he says, And thy thoughts which are to us were You say, this
is Christ speaking, who is he talking about to usward? Alright,
turn to 2 Peter chapter 3, usward. My thoughts to usward. 2 Peter chapter 3, beginning
with verse 8. 2 Peter 3 verse 8. Be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
years is one day. And the Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering
to usward, usward, and not willing that any should perish, not any
of us, his thoughts to usward. His long-suffering to usward,
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Christ said that. He's speaking
of him and his brethren, him and his children, him and his
sheep. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2. This will better strengthen
it for you. Hebrews 2. What he says of himself,
he says of his children. What he says of his people, he
says of himself. in Hebrews 2 verse 10. For it became him, this is
talking about the Father here, it became him, for whom are all
things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory,
that's us, the Father, in bringing many sons, that's us, to glory,
to make the capital of their salvation, that's Christ, perfect
through suffering. For both he that sanctified and
they who are sanctified are all of one. For the which cause he
is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name
unto my brethren in the midst of the church, while I sing praise
unto thee. And again I will put my trust
in him. And again behold I and the children
which God hath given me." For as much as then as the children
were partakers of flesh and blood, he also likewise took part of
the same, that through death he might destroy him that hath
the power of death. Christ and his people are one.
That's the reason he says here, Be O Lord my God, thy wonderful
works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts to us, thy thoughts
to my people. When did these thoughts begin?
All right, they're everlasting. In Jeremiah 31, these thoughts
toward this kingdom, this sheepfold, one fold, one shepherd, these
people, their surety and his people. It's an everlasting covenant. Thoughts from eternity past,
Jeremiah 31 verse 3. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me, saying, Yea, I have led thee, I have led thee with
an everlasting love. And therefore my thoughts toward
you being everlasting, my love toward you being everlasting,
my purpose toward you being everlasting, my counsel toward you being everlasting,
that I have in times on you with loving kindness. But other scriptures
tell us that, and let's look at Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians
chapter 1, God's eternal love for his sheep. Thou thoughts
to Eswin. Ephesians 1 verse Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heaven and places in Christ according as he chose
us in Christ before the foundations of the world. And scientists may not be too
far off when they talk about the world's foundations being
laid millions of years ago. I don't know the history of man,
it's not millions of years. The history of man starts with
Genesis with Adam and goes right on through something like 6,000
years. But who's to say how old the
earth is in its original creation? When God created the world, the
heavens and the earth, and Satan fell and the earth became without
form and void and darkness on the face of the deep. I don't
know. But I do know he loved me before he laid the foundations
of the world. His thoughts, his purpose, his
counsel toward us, his thoughts to us are from eternity. He chose us before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love predestinating us to the adoption of sons. Then
there is 2 Timothy 1. Paul is sitting down there in
prison writing to his son in the ministry, Timothy, and he
knows that these are his last days. In fact, he said, just
two chapters over, the time of my departure is at hand. I've
finished my course. I've kept the faith. is laid
up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord hath given me
in that day, and not me only, but to all who love his appearing."
These are his last writings to Timothy. He says in verse 8 of
2 Timothy 1, "'Timothy, be not thou therefore ashamed of the
testimony of our Lord, and don't be ashamed of me, his prisoner.
But be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us. who hath called us with a
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his
own purpose, his thoughts toward us, his counsel, his grace toward
us, which was given us in Christ before this world began." That's what our Lord is talking
about here. He says, nearly, O Lord, my God, are thy wonderful
works. And those works of incarnation
of Christ, the identification of Christ with his people, his
obedience, his death, his burial, his resurrection, his exaltation,
his welcoming to glory, lift up your heads, O ye gates, be
ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, the King of Glory is coming
home. The Lord holds a host of people,
he's bringing with him all the wonderful works of God. But these
works, and toward us and far us and close toward us for all
eternity. Because he said whom he foreknew,
foreordained, he did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son. And whom he did predestinate, he called. And whom he called,
he justified. And whom he justified, he glorified.
Now what shall we say to these things? Well, if God be for us,
for us when? Always. Everlasting love, everlasting
covenant, everlasting grace, everlasting choice, if God be
for us, name me somebody who can be against us and succeed. There's plenty against you, but
do them no good. Who can be against us? Who can
do anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who can condemn that? It's Christ
that died. Yea, right, he's risen again,
who's even at the right hand of God, who also makes an assertion
for us. Now wonderful works. He says in verse 5, I can't be
reckoned up in order unto thee. Start preaching his wonderful
works and you'll preach ten lifetimes and you won't even begin to commence
to get started to preach his wonderful works. But Christ said
himself, if I should declare them, if the Son of God should
declare thy wonderful works and thy thoughts toward us and speak
of them, there more than can be numbered. Even if the Messiah
himself, he says that, should declare and speak of the heavenly
blessings, those spiritual blessings which we have in Christ Jesus.
It will take forever to declare them. It will take us forever
to fully enjoy them, because his
mercy is anew every morning. Here is where the Messiah takes
notice of his redemption. He says, "...sacrifice and offering
I just not desire." Mine ears hast thou opened, the word is
dead. Burnt offerings and sin offerings
hast thou not required. Then said our Lord, I come, and
the volume of the book is written of me. I delight to do thy will,
O my God, thy law is within my heart." Now Paul helps us with
that part of this psalm. Let's go to Hebrews 10 for just
a moment. And he says, "...sacrifice and
offering thou didst not desire, burnt offerings and sin-offering
hast thou not required." In Hebrews 10 verse 1, let's look at this
for a moment. From the law, now when you see
the word law in the scriptures, three things come to mind. Number
one, God's moral law. Thou shalt not have any God before
me. Thou shalt not take God's name
in vain. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill.
I shall not steal, I shall not covet, it's law. Secondly, when
you see the word law in the scriptures, it may mean just the word of
God. It may mean the word of God.
The law and the prophets. It's written in the law and the
prophets. The law and the prophets, that's the word of God, the scriptures.
Thirdly, as here, it's talking about that Levitical law, that
Mosaic law that God gave to Moses on the mountain. the priest, put the furniture
in the tabernacle, keep the Passover, fulfill the atonement, offer
the sacrifices until Christ comes. I do this as a type and a picture
of him who comes. The priesthood is a picture of
Christ, he's our high priest. The mercy seat is a type of Christ,
he's our mercy seat, our propitiation. The atonement is a type of Christ.
Everything about that temple and tabernacle, it was given
not to save, not to put away sin, and it never gave God satisfaction
or pleasure. It was a picture. No more than
you can look at a picture of a person and get satisfaction
by touching the person, possessing the person. And here, listen
to Hebrews 10. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image of those things,
can never with those sacrifices which are offered year by year
continually make the comers down to perfect. Those people who
bought these sacrifices were never perfected by these sacrifices. But then would they not have
ceased to be offered? Because the worshippers once purged would
have no more conscience of sin. That's the reason we have no
more conscience of sin. Christ has got the one atonement,
the perfect sacrifice. The Lamb of God has died. It
doesn't happen again and again. By one offering he's perfected
forever because of who he is. It's not how much blood was shed,
it's who's blood. It's not how long he suffered,
it's who's suffering. The infinite, eternal Son of
God. So we are all conscious of sin.
Our sacrifice is complete, but theirs is never complete. In
verse 3 he says, in those sacrifices there's a remembrance of sin.
made of sin every year. Every time they offer a sacrifice,
it reminds them that the sin is not gone. Every time the high
priest went into the Holy of Holies, everybody stood up and
said, well, here we go again. The sin is still there. Verse 4, it's not possible that
the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin. It's not
even the same nature. They're not the same kind of
creature. A man's got to die for men. A
bull can't offer a man, a bull doesn't sin. A man in Christ
has got to become a man. He's got to become bone of our
bone, flesh of our flesh. He's got to be made of a woman,
made under the law, as our second Adam, as our representative,
as our federal head. He's got to represent us and
do what we can't do. And he's got to do it as a man.
He's got to be tempted in all parts as we are, yet without
sin. And he's got to die unto the wrath of God. He's got to
shed his blood under the judgment of God, and it's the soul that
sinners got to die. And he died in our faith. He
made his soul an orphan for sin. Not just his body, his soul.
You will see that in a minute in the scripture. That's how we're redeemed. So
he goes, this is what our Lord said. Wherefore, verse 5, when
he came into the world, this is what he said. These sacrifices
on Old Testament altars, These offerings, thy will is not. But
a body you prepared me, the body of a man, the soul of a man,
the nature of a man, the feelings of a man, everything, the brain
of a man, the perfect man, but a man. A body you prepared me. And in those burnt offerings
you never had any pleasure, no pleasure, none whatsoever. You didn't say I, Lord I come.
In the Bible of the book, it's written of me a long time ago.
That covenant of mercy Christ was our surety from eternity
past, our head, our representative. He came. That's what he said
here in Psalm 40. This is Christ speaking and Paul
is telling us what it is over there in Hebrews 10. Go back
to Isaiah 40. And that's what he says in verse
6. The sacrifice and offerings I just not desire. But mine ears
hast thou opened." You see, Christ was a servant. God said, Behold,
my servant. He said, Behold, a lot of times.
Behold, unto you is born a Savior, Christ the Lord. Behold, your
King. Behold, the man. Behold, a virgin
shall conceive. Behold, my servant. Now back
in the Old Testament, this ear digging, this ear That kind of exodus, when the
Jewish people, when they got a heavenly indent and couldn't
pay their debts, they were taken into some death or as home as
a slave. Either the man or his sons. But
they were taken into their home as a slave. And they stayed there
until the seventh year. And that's when they were set
free. Couldn't keep a slave over 6 years, he had to go out on
the 7th year. But if this slave, working for this master, will
come to the priest and tell the priest, I don't want freedom,
I don't want to go out, I love my master, I love his family,
he's a good master, and I prefer to be his servant the rest of
my life. I prefer to serve him. So the
priest would take this man and blow his ear with it all. I guess
put something in that ear. From then on, he's not an unwilling
surfer, he's a willing, loving bond surfer. Dig the ear. I love Jesus. I wish I had the
part, I wish I had the ability to describe his manhood. I can
do better with his deity than I can with his manhood. I understand
Christ is God. infinitely, everlasting, unspeakable,
incomprehensibly God. But honestly, he's a man. And
he's the Father's servant. He said, I love my master. I
don't want to go free. I want to be a servant. I want
to do whatever he commands me. Now here is Jake. That's him. Burnt offerings for sin, that's
not required. But I come I come to, it's written
with me, I delight to do thy will. That's the reason you and
I say, because he, I represent it, delighted to do God's will.
He didn't do it reluctantly, he didn't do it unwillingly,
he delighted to do God's will. That's it. That's it. Thy law is within my heart. So
everything that he became, it was for us. Everything he did
was for us. His wonderful works, his redemptive
works. It's the shedding of his blood,
the cleansing of his blood. Now listen to what he says. And
I've preached righteousness. I've declared righteousness in
the great congregation. I have really framed my lips,
O Lord, thou knowest. I'm not here by righteousness.
I've declared it publicly and plainly. What's he talking about?
Well, he's not talking about the righteousness, the essential
righteousness of God himself. No man can even understand that.
Righteousness of God. Holy and reverent is his name.
It's his name. And even the seraphims cover
their faces in his presence and cover their feet and fly crying,
holy, holy, holy. He's not talking about that righteousness.
And he's not talking about the righteousness he requires of
us. Be ye holy as your fathers holy. Be ye perfect as your fathers
perfect. Impossible. But I'll tell you
what he is talking about. He's talking about the good news
of that righteousness which our Lord Jesus Christ by his perfect,
perfect obedience. brought out, completed, and gave
to us. He made us righteous. It's not
a righteousness he pasted on us by garment, he just covered
our leprosy. He made us righteous. We're righteous
in God's sight. Go to Romans 3. This is what
he's talking about right here. This is the righteousness he
said I've declared. I've preached it. I'm not here to In Romans 3,
look at verse 19. We know this, that what things
have the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
that ever amount may be stopped, and all the world become guilty
before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law
is the knowledge of sin. The righteousness of God. That's
what our Lord said, I've declared your righteousness. And here
it is. The righteousness of God without
the law, without our obedience to it, is manifested. Being witnessed
by the will of God, the law and the prophets. It's even the righteousness
of God which is by the faith of, the faithfulness of, the
holiness of Jesus Christ. And it's under all and upon all
men that believe, there's no difference. That's the righteousness
in Christ. Now one of the old preachers,
Martin Luther, wrote this 550 or 600 years ago. He said, concerning this righteousness
of God, I've longed for so long to understand Paul's letter to
the Romans. But one expression stood in my
way and hindered me from understanding Paul's letter to the Romans.
And that statement was the righteousness of God. Because I took it to
mean the righteousness whereby God is righteous. And how God deals righteously
in punishing the unrighteous. And night and day I pondered
and pondered until God enabled me to grasp the truth that the
righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby in Christ,
by his grace and sheer mercy, he justifies us through faith. Thereafter and thereupon. I felt myself to be reborn, actually
to have gone through the door to paradise. The whole of scripture
took on new meaning, whereas at one time the righteousness
of God justly filled me with fear, it became inexpressibly
sweet to me. The righteousness of God is mine
in Christ. Oh, Christ said, I declared your
righteousness. And then he says up here in verse
10, I've declared your faithfulness. I've declared your faithfulness,
not mine and yours. I want to be faithful. We will
be faithful unto death. But we're talking about real
faithfulness here. We're talking about his faithfulness. God's
not a man that he should lie. That's why it says over here
in Numbers 23. Turn over there. Look at this, Numbers 23. It
says in Numbers 23, verse 19, God's not a man. God's not a
man that he should lie, neither the Son of Man that he should
repent. Hath he said, shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, shall
he not bring it to pass? Shall he not make it good? That's
our God, God who cannot lie. He promised eternal life in Christ,
God who cannot lie. Here is faithfulness. The Lord
will perform all of his purpose in his faithfulness. That was
the basis of Abraham's faith. He believed God was able to do
all that he promised. Paul said this over in Hebrews
10, verse 23, listen to this. Paul exhorts us to hold fast
the profession of our faith without wavering. Why? He's faithful,
that promise. He's faithful. That's why you
can hold fast every promise, because he's faithful. And I'll
tell you this, he that hath begun a good work in you, he'll finish
it in the day of Christ. He's faithful. And what's this?
I've declared, our Lord's saying, I've preached righteousness,
I've declared your faithfulness and your salvation, it's his
salvation. And I have not concealed your loving kindness and your
truth from the great congregation." Whom does God love? Well, let's
look at three scriptures. Whom does God love? John 5. Whom does God love? His love
is infinite, his love is everlasting, his love is indescribable. His love never fails. But whom
does he love? Well, he says here in John 5,
verse 20, The Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things
that he that himself doeth. But ye shall him greater works
than these, that ye may marvel. The Father loves the Son. Look
at John 10, verse 17. Therefore let my Father love
me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. The
Father loves the Son. That's an indisputable fact. Write it down. He said Jacob had a love. he
shall have a hated deed. In Romans 8 he tells us some
more folks that he loves. In Romans chapter 8 verse 35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Tribulation, distress, persecution,
famine, nakedness, peril of As it's written, for thy sake we're
killed all the day long, we're counted as sheep for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things, we're more than conquerors through
him that loved us. For I'm persuaded, I'm persuaded
the Father loves the Son. I've no doubt about that. But
I'm persuaded, Paul said, that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come. and any other creature shall
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. And everybody who is in Christ
Jesus our Lord, God loves them. And I can show you that in John
17. Now listen to John 17. I bring this part to a close
right here with this scripture, John 17. John 17, verse 23, our Lord prays. He says, I in them, and thou
in me. That they may be perfect, that
they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know you sent
me, and you love them as you love me. These people for whom
he prays, these people for whom he died, these people for whom
he came, Christ. God loves them. My friend, there's
no way that we can preach or promise or even hold out God's
everlasting love to people who are not in Christ, who do not
believe on Christ. It's not fair to tell them that
either. God's wonderful everlasting love, infinite love, is in Christ. That's where it is. Outside of
Christ there's no love. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall never see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. There's no trouble defining where
the love of God was during the days of the flood. It was on
the earth. And I don't know why people have
trouble with that. I can't understand why they have
trouble with that. The love of God is in Christ.
The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his
hands. He that--" Turn to that in John
3. This is such a powerful statement,
I don't know how we can miss the meaning thereof. John 3,
listen to this. John 3, the last two verses,
John 3.35. The Father loves the Son. He's
given all things in this hand. Oh, what all things? Redemption,
sanctification, salvation, in Christ. And he that believeth
on the Son hath life, yet God, he that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth, abideth, continues,
hangs heavily over him and about him, wrath of God. And now the world will just,
they won't believe you when you tell them that, but it's the
truth. It's the most unpopular thing
you can say. Two things. In 1950, when Rothbard
walked into the Polybagness Church, that's the first two things he
said. April the 17th, 1950. He made two statements. He said several years ago, Somebody
started two lies in American churches. The first lie is God
loves every son of Adam. And he said that's not so. He
loves men in Christ. And the second lie is Jesus Christ
died on the cross for every sinner. And my friend, that's not so.
He died for his sheep. And the pastor just lost his
legs. The sister pastor didn't do. I never heard that before. I've been lied to all my life.
I grew up in a church of lies. And those were the two most powerful
lies we were raised on. Smile, God loves you. He loves
everybody. We don't need Christ, we've got God's love. Why would
I need Christ? If God loves me, why would I
need Christ? God doesn't want to see anybody the hell he loves.
No. If Christ died for my sins, why
should I be disturbed? They're paid for. That's what
it said in Hebrews 10. If the people who brought the
sacrifice, if this blood on the Jewish altar put away sin, they
have no more conscience of sin. So if Christ put away everybody's
sins in Iceland, then nobody got anything to worry about.
No sins to face. But I'm going to keep telling
it, because it's so. God's love is in Christ. A person
outside of Christ, I don't care if it's your mama and daddy,
your brother or sister, your son or daughter. If they're out
of Christ, they're out of the love of God. And God does not
love sin. He loves holiness. So how can
he love us? In Christ we are holy. That's
what Christ said. He has righteousness. We are
made righteous in Christ. And he can love you. He can love
you in Christ. He can't love you out of Christ
and be God. Now, if you make up your mind,
are you going to have that God or make up a God? I'm not going to make up a God.
I'm going to let God be God and every man a liar. He loves me and all his love
is here. I can't, the way I handle the love of God is indescribable.
But I know where it is. It's in Christ. That's so. He said, I've declared
your lovingkindness and your truth to this great congregation. And then he pleads for help.
I'll close with this. He says, withhold not thy tender
mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy lovingkindness and thy
truth continue to preserve me. I told you about this this morning.
Innumerable evils encompass me about. Evil men, evil demons
on that cross. My iniquities have taken hold
upon me." My iniquities, yes, they weren't committed by him,
they were impeded to him. They were our sins laid on him.
And they were, he said, my iniquities have taken hold on me, I'm not
able to look up. And more than the holes in my
head, my heart fails me. This is our Lord on the cross,
bearing our sins. Oh, be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me. O Lord, make haste, help me.
This man is suffering for men. And let them be ashamed and confounded
together and seek after my soul destroyed. Let them be driven
backward and put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate
from the water they are ashamed that walk around my cross saying,
Aha! Aha! He trusted God, let's eat
God or heaven. He came to be a son of God, he
gave his son his life, come down to the cross, we'll believe on
you. All this saying, Aha! Aha! Let them be desolate for reward
of their shame, and say this to me. But let all those that
seek thee, here it is, here's where the love and mercy is,
those that seek thee with all their hearts, honestly, sincerely. My Father, I pray that you'll
let all them rejoice and be glad indeed. Let such as love thy
salvation, say continually, The Lord be magnified. That's easy to say. It is if
you love him. It is if you love him. It is
if you love his grace. It is if you love his salvation.
Now if you love your salvation, what you worked out, what you
worked for, and what you paid for, and what you did all these
things for, I couldn't love that. Filthy rags. But I sure can love his salvation.
A free gift. An unspeakable gift. You ain't never had a Christmas
present like that. Unspeakable gift. I can love that. I can love this
salvation. I can love it. I can trust it. I can rest in
it. I can have peace in it. Because
I didn't have nothing to do with it. My Lord worked the whole
thing out by himself. And I sure can love that. Free. I'll tell you the reason I had
it, because he said in verse 17, I'm poor and needy. My Lord
took my poverty and took my need, gave me his wealth. Yet the Lord
thinketh upon me, I'm glad of that. Thou art my help and my
deliverer, make no tarrion. Oh my God, isn't that beautiful?
That's our psalm, the Lord willing for the new year.