Turn to Psalm 19. Preachers put a great deal of
emphasis upon their libraries. They're very important to us,
and we've received a great deal of help and good from them. Some
of you are in the process of building libraries. I don't know
how many books were in David's library. But I do know of two. I know of two books into which
David had so completely entered into the spirit of them, two
volumes, that he was able to see the excellence and beauty
and glory of the author in both. And that is the world book and
the word book. This Psalm 19 is a psalm of David. I don't know when it was written,
but I do know that David wrote it. And I know that what he deals
with in this psalm is the creation, the book of creation and the
book of scripture. That's what he's dealing with,
the book of creation and the book of scripture. And from his
earliest days, of keeping his father's flocks to his great
glory days as the King of Israel, David devoted himself to the
study of these two great books, Nature and Scripture. I read
some of his psalms go like this, I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills from which cometh my help. My help cometh from the
Lord who made heaven and earth. He loved the book of Nature.
He saw God in every leaf, in every tree, in every stream.
He saw God in the seas and in the mountains. He saw God in
the sky. He saw God everywhere. He saw a description of the Lord
God on every leaf. In another psalm, he says, the
earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. They that dwell therein,
the earth is the Lord's. And then sometime, if you'll
read Psalm 119, Spurgeon suggests that we read
it and notice the different ways that David describes the Word
of God in just that one psalm, Psalm 119. He is wise who reads
both these books. He is wise who gives his time
to the study of the things that God has made. And he is wise
who gives his time to the study of the things God has written,
both the book of creation and the book of scripture. They both
declare the glory of God. Turn to Romans 1.19. Paul says
this, not only David, but Paul says this in Romans 1.19, talking
about nature, talking about the things that God has made. And
you know, I don't know why, but it bothers me to hear someone
refer to the world and creation is mother
nature. It's kind of an indirect way
of denying that God made all things and that God sustains
all things, that all things live and move and have their being
in him. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, not a sparrow falls to
the ground without your father. He talked about the lilies of
the field, how God clothed them. And these things God has made
revealed his excellence, his wisdom, his power, his greatness,
his punctuality, somebody said. The order of the stars and the
planets, how they, everyone on a definite course at a definite
time, so precise down to the one thousandth of a second. God's
punctuality. God always on time. Always doing
things mathematically accurate and correct. If you ever thought
about time, we carry watches, and the number of days in a year,
and the number of months in a year, the number of weeks, the number
of hours in the day, the number of minutes in an hour, the number
of seconds, and everything, looks like we'd run over sometime on
January the 1st. Looks like we'd celebrate New
Year sometime we'd be five minutes late. Five minutes, oh, but never,
never, John, is it? Always the punctuality of our
God. The faithfulness. That didn't
happen. That didn't just happen. A man's
a fool to think that this accuracy and preciseness and punctuality
is an accident. Or just, it happened to fall
out that way. No, sir. No, sir. It didn't fall out that
way. You'll find that the full moon and the half moon and you'll
find that the seasons are always on time. And there'll never be
an end to the seasons till Jesus Christ comes again. So the things
that are made declare the faithfulness of God, the power of God, the
greatness, the wisdom, the punctuality of God, His greatness, His glory,
His goodness. His goodness. When we go out
and breathe in that fresh, pure oxygen, let the plants take our
old stale air and breathe them in, clean it up, and send it
back out to us. God did that. There's just enough water, just
enough land, just enough greenery, just enough oxygen, all these
things. We may mess it up, but God made it right. And here,
Paul said in Romans 1, 19, because that which may be known of God
is manifest in them, that is, in all men, in the heathen. God
has showed it to them. That which may be known of God,
He's shown it to them. The invisible things of him from
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even God's eternal power and
Godhead, so that they are without excuse. There's a God. There's a God. And David saw
him. David studied him. David praised him. David rejoiced in his greatness
and power. in talking about the things that
are made. Look at it. Psalm 19. This is our text. The heavens declare the glory
of God. The heavens are always telling,
always telling the glory of God. That's their message. The heavens
declare the glory of God. The sun and the moon and the
stars and the clouds and all of these things are telling,
always telling the glory of God. And the skies, the firmament,
that's between the earth and the heavens there, this part
of the sky out there, the firmament, between the waters, that's the
firmament. The firmament, the skies are always displaying the
work of his hands, always displaying. The heavens are telling the glory
of God and the firmament always displaying his handiwork. And
it says in verse 2, day unto day uttereth speech, and night
unto night showeth knowledge. In other words, when one herald
of glory is silent, the other takes up the message. When one
herald, day unto day welleth for speech, and night unto night
breatheth for knowledge. But during the daytime, we see
the things that are made, and they declare the glory of God,
display His handiwork, tell His glory, But at night, these witnesses
are silent, but new witnesses, Bob, come out. New witnesses. The witnesses that are silent
during the day, they breathe a testimony at night. And the
ones that are silent at night, the others breathe one during
the day. And then it says in verse 3, there's no speech. Now
watch this. There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard. where their voice is not heard.
The heavens are telling the glory of God. The skies are displaying
the work of his hands. Day and night, the witnesses
and messengers are declaring his greatness and breathing forth
the knowledge of his power. And there's no speech. Think
of all the different speeches. We go to Mexico, there's English,
Spanish, and Mayan right there in one little group of people.
And all over the world, there's something, I don't know how many
languages and how many speeches there are in this world. I know
the Bible has been translated in over 900 different languages. So there are that many. In Africa,
they tell me there are many, many, many different speeches
and languages among the tribes and so forth. But it says here
there is no speech and no language. No speech and no language. Where
the skies and the things that are made do not tell about God's
glory. Every man hears the message,
regardless of what his speech or what his language. There's
no man on earth of any speech that cannot hear, see, and comprehend
the language of nature. Not a man on earth. And their
line, as Cecil said, their direction, the far reaching of it, an amplified
version says their voice, is gone out through all the earth.
and their words to the end of the world, to the very end of
the world. And in them, in this creation,
God has set a tabernacle for the Son, a tent for the Son,
which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber. The Son is
described like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber dressed and
prepared, all attentions on him. He's the man of the hour. He's
the important one. And the sun is. God has made
the heavens into a tent for the sun. You realize our dependence
upon the sun, I know it's upon the Lord, but God made the sun,
and he made the heavens a tabernacle, a tent for the sun. The sun,
he goes on, he says, down in verse 6, his going forth is from
the end of the heaven and his circuits under the ends of it,
and there's nothing hid from the heat thou. The sun is so
important. It's the center of creation.
That's where we get our heat and our light. And if there was
a scientist up here tonight, he could tell you how dependent
we are on that sun. Of course, that sun is typical
of Christ and the center of all things. But he's talking about
the sun here and how the heavens declare the glory of God. How
dependent, if the sun, somebody told me if the sun were a little
bit closer to the earth. we'd be consumed. If it was a
little bit further away, we'd freeze to death. At different
times, it's in the right place at the right time. And in this,
this is the book of creation. This is the world book that declares
the glory of God. The glory of God. All men are
without excuse because of this testimony. There's no speech,
there's no language where the testimony is not heard. But the
book of nature is not sufficient. While it's blessed and while
its knowledge is refreshing, and while, especially when a
man has entered into a knowledge of Christ and of the glory of
his redemption, it's so precious to him, and he studies it, and
when he reads this about the Son, he likens it to Christ,
upon whom we have total dependence. But that's not sufficient for
knowledge of the redemptive glory of God. So David goes from David
goes from the book of creation to the book of Scripture. And
there are four or five things that I want to mention here,
and this is the main part of the message. Now, what I'm saying
by way of introducing these points is that a knowledge of the redemptive
glory of God and grace of God in Christ Jesus depends upon
the Scripture. And while I advise people to
rejoice in the things that God has made, appreciate them, Rejoice
in them, give thanks for them, see God in them. But let's don't
become a student of nature to the exclusion of this book right
here. Because there's so many places that tell me that there's
no way that I can know about God's mercy and God's grace and
God's redemption and God's righteousness except through this book right
here. Let me show you that in several scriptures. First of
all, turn to Romans 10. Romans 10, verse 17. I know there
are a lot of people who say, well, there's no need for me
to go to church on Sunday. No need for me to go to Sunday
school and study. I just go out among the trees
and go out under the stars at night and I can appreciate God
and I can worship God and I can love God and I can feel close
to God and get away from the concrete and the bricks and the
sticks and stones and the hustle and bustle of automobiles and
people and the crowding and all these things, get alone by myself
with nature and worship God. If you already have an understanding
of redemption, you can certainly enter into a deep fellowship
with God among the things that are made. But this will not replace
this. It cannot. It will not. It must
not. Not even in a believer. He needs
edifying. Inspiration. He needs instruction. He needs warning. He needs rebuke.
He needs reproof. He needs the teaching of God's
Word that he may grow, just like a child needs food. And while
there's a certain amount of being able to feed upon the things
God has made, understanding his glory and power, the attributes
of God are revealed in his Word. The redemptive grace of God. And this is what Paul is saying
in Romans 10 and 17. So then, faith cometh by hearing. Hearing, not seeing. Faith is
not born of sight. It's born of hearing. That's
right. We walk by faith, not by sight.
And we receive faith by hearing the Word of God. That's how faith
comes. Let me show you another verse over in John 20, verse
31. John 20, verse 31. Listen to this. John 20, verse 31 says, But these are written, now he
said in verse 30, and many other signs truly did Jesus in the
presence of his disciples which are not written in this book,
but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the
Christ. These are written that you might
believe. And that believing you might have life through his name.
There's no way. How can they call on him in whom
they've not believed and how shall they believe in him of
whom they've not heard? And there's no way to hear who God is, what
we are, what Christ has done, where Christ is apart from the
Word. So David goes, if you'll see
here in Psalm 19, and then in James 1.18, he says, he of his
own will begat he us with the Word of truth. This Word. So David goes from an appreciation. The heavens declare the glory
of God. They're always telling his glory. The firmament always
has on display his handiwork. And day and night their speech
is heard. There's no language, there's
no speech where this message is not heard, where it cannot
be understood if men listen and if men look. And the sun, God
put the sun and made the whole heavens a tent, a tabernacle
for the sun. That's the center of creation.
But he said this is where A man is brought to a true knowledge
of God. Look at verse 7 now. And let me see if I can show
you four or five things here. Verse 7, he says, the law of
the Lord is perfect converting the soul. The law of the Lord
is perfect converting the soul. Now, in the margin you have the
word doctrine. The doctrine of the Lord is perfect
converting the soul. I don't think we'd be wrong to
say the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is perfect, converting
the soul. If I want to be saved, I must
hear the gospel. It's the gospel that converts
the soul. It's the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the
gospel concerning his son, Paul said. He said, I'm a bond slave
of Jesus Christ. I'm separated to the gospel concerning
his soul. And then in 1 Corinthians 15,
turn over there with me. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul said,
Brethren, I declare unto you the gospel. I declare unto you
the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received,
and wherein you stand, and by which you are saved. If you keep
in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed
in vain, I delivered unto you first of all that which I also
received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scripture." The gospel of the Lord is perfect. It's the gospel
of a perfect righteousness. It's the gospel of a perfect
sacrifice. It's the gospel of a perfect
mediator. And it converts the soul. Not
so much the word of the preacher as the word of the Lord. It's
the word of God that converts the soul. It's the word of the
Lord that converts the soul. And it not only changes the outward
actions, but it changes the inward attitude of the sinner. It's
the powerful, perfect gospel of God that converts the soul.
Notice the second thing. The testimony. The testimony
of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. What do you take
the word testimony to mean? The testimony of the Lord. I
take the word testimony to be the revelation of himself that
God gives in his words. Things which we can never discover
anywhere but by his own testimony. Turn, if you will, to 1 Corinthians
2, and let's see if I can make good on that. Now, what I'm saying
is this. David says the gospel, the doctrine,
the law of the Lord is perfect. It's the gospel of a perfect
righteousness, of a perfect atonement, of a perfect sacrifice, of a
perfect mediator, of a perfect redemption. And it converts the
soul. It changes the heart and the
mind of man and brings him into submission to the living God.
And then he says, the testimony of the Lord. Or God's testimony
about himself. A revelation of himself. A revelation
of himself makes wise the simple. 1 Corinthians 2. First Corinthians
2, let's begin with verse 9 of 1 Corinthians 2. It says here,
It is written, I have not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for them
that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God, the things of God that
are unknown to the natural man. Unseen by the natural eye, unknown
by the natural heart, unheard by the natural ear. God hath
revealed unto deep things of God. For what man, now watch
this, what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man
which is in him? This is the only way that I can
know anything about you, is for you to tell me. I stand here
and I can look at you, I can tell your hair is dark and your
eyes are blue and your suit is navy blue and you can put forth
a front or a character that's entirely different
from what's really in here. Now, if you take me aside and
you say to me, I want to tell you just exactly what type of
man I am. I want to tell you exactly what
goes on in here. You see me out here, but you don't know me really.
Unless I'm pleased to tell you what's in it. Even so, as we
look at the things God's made, we know God is great, God is
powerful, God is wise. We know God's able to do anything.
We know that God Almighty is faithful. His punctuality, His
fervency, all these things. But just exactly who is God?
What about his love? What about his grace and mercy? What about his holiness? What
about his mercy? What about his long-suffering,
his patience? Now, these things aren't learned
by what you see. We've got to hear from him. He's going to have to tell us.
Will God forgive sins? Suppose a man sins, which we
do. And those thoughts go through
his heart and mind that are so obnoxious and wicked. Will God
put up with that? Will God not smite him and cast
him into hell? What's God like? Is God tender? Is God merciful? Is God kind?
Is God gracious? What's God like? Gotta go here.
And he says in verse 11, What man knoweth the things of a man,
save the spirit of man in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth
no man. A man doesn't know God. Can you
by searching find out God? It's higher than the heavens.
What can you know? It's deeper than hell. What can
you find out? It's broader than the sea. You can't approach down
to... Even so, the things of God knoweth
no man but the spirit of God. God has the testimony of God. Now, now, we have received, not
the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. That's what I'm talking about.
God, the testimony of the Lord, makes wise the simple. No man knows God. No man by nature
knows God. Christ said to those men in his
day, you neither know me nor my Father. You neither know me
nor my Father. The only source of knowledge
about the living God is the Word of God, and that in the hands
of the Holy Spirit. Now, that's so. David goes to this book. He just
left the hills and the heavens. He just left the valleys and
the night and day. He's come down to the book, and
he says, the doctrine of the Lord will convert the soul. doctrine of the Lord, the gospel.
And he says the testimony of the Lord will take a simple,
ignorant, prejudiced man who knows nothing, blind and dead
and dumb, without understanding, who talks about God out of his
mouth but knows nothing about God in his heart, who talks about
God and goes through the motions and ceremonies of playing church,
playing religion, but who has no conception, no understanding
of the Lord God in his grace and mercy, in his attributes,
his attributes, character. Who is God? Who is God? There is just one way we'll find
out, and that's for him to reveal himself. No man knoweth the Father
save the Son, and even the Son revealed. Make wise the simple. And my friends, you can take
the most brilliant, somebody said Noah Webster's brain weighed
more than anybody else's, his head was so big. But God doesn't
necessarily fit in big heads. Big heads don't necessarily comprehend
God. Men can comprehend mathematical
formulas. They can build bridges and skyscrapers. They can draw blueprints to satellites
and things like that and send them into the heavens where God
dwells. But there's just one way to know God, and that's from
his Word as his Spirit reveals it. That's right. Look at verse,
go back to that 1 Corinthians 2 just a moment. 1 Corinthians
2, he says here in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14, "...the natural
man receiveth We just talked about the deep things of God
in verse 2, the Holy Spirit revealing unto us the deep things of God,
the real things of God. This is what I'm talking about,
like, I've known some of you for years, but do I really know
you? Have you really confided? You don't do that. People don't
do that very often. Even the closest friends, somebody
may be a wife here, and her husband really never, she thinks she
knows him, but there's just one way that's for him to tell her.
You may be friends here, you've been with friends for years,
but do you really know them? You won't unless they reveal
themselves, voluntarily, from their spirits to you. And even
so, the deep things of God, now you may see the handiwork of
God, and the power of God, and the wisdom of God, and these
things. But to know God in his saving character, in his redemptive
character, has to be revealed by the Holy Spirit. And a man
can use his name, and this is what he is saying, verse 14,
"...the natural man receiveth not these things of the Spirit
of God." There is foolishness to him. He doesn't want to be
bothered. Neither can he know them. They
are spiritually understood. It's a whole new ballgame. It's
a whole new effort. And this is what, y'all, you
see this word book, this book of Scripture, the doctrine of
God is perfect, converting the soul. powerful, the testimony
of the Lord, a revelation of himself, oh God! Oh, that's what
Paul's talking about, oh that I may know him! Here's an apostle
to whom Christ appeared on the road to Damascus, of whom Christ said he's an apostle
of mine to the Gentiles, a man who authored many books in the
New Testament, a man who founded many churches and ordained elders
and deacons in every city. The man suffered for Christ.
Here's a man saying, oh, that I may know him and the power
of his resurrected life, that I may know him. And we so flippantly
and carelessly talk about knowing God. Well, there's no way to
know God except by his own testimony. Who taught you about God? There's
just one who can do that, and that's the Holy Spirit. Look
at verse 8 now. I've got to move along. Verse
8. The statutes of the Lord. The statutes of the Lord are
right. They're right. Rejoice in the
heart. Statutes. What do you think of
that? We've come to, I think we're
right thus far. The law of the Lord, the doctrine,
the gospel converts the soul. The testimony, that is, a revelation
of himself, his attributes, his peace and grace and patience
and long-suffering and love and mercy in Christ, make wise simple
men, make wise men out of dumb-dumbs like me, simple men, ignorant,
but they become wise in the things of God. They're not only smart
in the things of this world, but they're wise in the things
of God. And the statutes of the Lord are right. You know what
I see in statutes, what I understand with the word statutes? I understand
the mandates. That's what that word means.
You look it up in your Hebrew lexicon, the word statutes is
mandates. Or better, a word that we use,
decrees of God. The decrees of God are right. What effect do they have? Well,
the gospel has this effect. It converts my soul. A testimony
of God concerning himself in his mercy and grace and love
in Christ make a wise man, make a simple man wise. Understand,
he understands. But what about these decrees
of God, the mandates of God? I will be merciful to whom I
will be merciful. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. I am the Lord, can I not do with
my own what I will? All that my Father giveth me
will come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. My sheep hear my voice, I give
them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Whom he foreknew,
he predestinated to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Whom he predestinated,
he called. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. That's his decree. The Lord God
reigneth in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. Let me tell you something.
When my spirit is depressed, there is nothing that rejoices
my heart like good old-fashioned preaching of the sovereign grace
of God. That's a fact. Nothing. I don't
know of anything When I'm depressed of spirit and when my heart's
in despair, when I see my failure and frailty and lack of faith
and all these things, don't talk to me about what I ought to do
and what I should do and what I could do and what I must do.
Tell me what He's done. That'll make me happy. That'll give me some strength.
When trials surround me, When my body is frail, like the hymn
writer said, when my days are growing shorter, and my back
is bending low, and the wrinkles furrow my brow, and my hair is
turned to silver, and my days are short, don't talk to me about
what I ought to have done, and did do, and will do. Tell me
about His grace, His mercy in Christ Jesus. Tell me God's on
the throne. Tell me His sheep will never
perish. Tell me He'll never leave me
nor forsake me. Tell me that! That'll make me
happy. How sweet and refreshing to fall
back on His sovereign mercy. How sweet and refreshing to fall
back on His sovereign grace. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned
for repose I will not, I will not desert to its poles. That
soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never,
no never, no never forsake." When God in His providence moves
into a home and takes out a little one, or takes out a loved one,
what are you going to tell them? What's going to rejoice the heart?
Where are they going to find any comfort? I'll tell you where
they'll find it. All things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. That's
just plain old Augustinian, Paulinian, Calvinistic, Owens, Whitefield,
Newton, Spurgeon, Gill, preaching of the sovereign grace of God.
And that's the only place I can put my feet. I don't want to
talk about what man does or man's will or man's decisions or all
this foolishness. of what I've contributed. I just
want to hear you tell me about the statutes of the Lord, the
decrees, the mandates of God. That'll rejoice my heart. That'll
rejoice my heart. That'll give me comfort in trial. That'll give me confidence in
old age. That'll give me strength for
the journey to know that He loved me from the foundation of the
world. In fact, you talked last night,
Joe, He gave his Son, that's how much he loved me. That's
proof of his love. He gave his Son. He gave his
Son. And I'll guarantee you, all who
are in his Son shall never be ashamed. Now watch this next
statement here, the commandments of the Lord. The commandments
of the Lord are pure. And they enlighten my eyes. Now
his gospel converts my soul. And the testimony concerning
himself makes no simple man wise, and his decree give me some comfort
and rejoice my heart, and lift my spirit when it's low and sad,
and rejoices my heart when it's depressed or in despair. But
the commandments of the Lord enlighten my eyes. In other words,
His commandments light the path that I walk and are a lamp unto
my feet. These are His commandments. You
love one another. That's my commandment. He opens
my eyes to my duties, to my responsibilities, to the direction that I should
walk. His commandments are pure, pure, they're always pure, and
holy, and right, it's right. His commandments are always pure.
And they'll enlighten the fellas. Fellas, as David said, thy law
is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Enlighten. This
is what I should do. I don't have to have any doubts
about what I should do. No, sir, not at all. He says,
freely you have received, freely give. God trusts me with His
blessings. I don't have to consult somebody
to find out what I ought to do with it. He says, freely you
receive, freely give. I don't have to consult some
soothsayer or wise man to find out what this church ought to
do about missions. My Lord said, go into all the world and preach
the gospel to every Christian. Bob said, Sunday night, Twelve
hundred miles from here, below Miami, Florida, he listened to
our radio program, Clear as a Bell, like I was sitting in the car
talking. Isn't that great? Clear all over the eastern part
of the United States at 11 o'clock on Sunday night, costing $475
for a half-hour program. Let me tell you something. If
one of God's sheep, below Miami, Florida, hears the gospel of
Jesus Christ, we just spent $475 good dollars. It's worth that
and much more. That's right. I don't have to... His word enlightens my eyes about
that. You don't have to wonder about
what we ought to do about missions. And I don't have to wonder about
what I ought to do concerning my relationship with you and
other people. He said, as you would that men
should do unto you, do ye also to them. Well, brethren, what
ought to be my attitude towards my mother-in-law in this case?
Well, just have the same attitude you'd want her to have towards
you. That's what Christ said. Well, what should be my attitude
towards my foreman or my boss when he... That's the same attitude
you'd want him to have towards you. What should I do? His commandments enlighten my
eyes. I don't have to wonder what I
should do, how I should act and behave myself. I should rebuke
myself when I do otherwise. Love your enemies, Christ said.
What should I do about this man? He's an enemy. Love him! Pray
for those which despitefully use you. The commandments of
the Lord are pure. They're never questionable. They're
never gray. They're never hazy. They're always
pure. And when they are read and loved
and learned and obeyed, they enlighten our eyes. You know,
I'll tell you this, if we plunge into this Word, we'll need a
whole lot less counseling. That's right, a whole lot less.
We need teaching, I know that. But we'll need a whole lot less
of this what we call counseling and getting together and analyzing
one another if we'll just get into this Word and look at His
commandments and say, just open your eyes. Open your eyes and
enlighten your eyes. All right, I've got to quit.
The ninth verse, let's look at this, the fear of the Lord. The
fear of the Lord. You'd be surprised at the folks
that don't want to talk about that. Fear of the Lord. Now, there's two kinds of fear,
I think. It's what we call a slavish fear,
and it's what we call a reverent fear, an awe, a respect. I think on a lesser scale, on
a lesser scale, you might use as an illustration a son and
his father. I think you might, as a child
growing up, and I know there's less of that in old age, older
age, but as a child is growing up, I think he loves his father.
He's just a little fella like this, and two feet tall, his
father's six feet tall, and he weighs 40 pounds, his father
weighs 210, you know, and his father's got that big, gruff
voice, and he's the head of the whole household, all these things,
and that kid loves his father. He loves his father. Calls him
daddy. But he fears him. Now, he's not
afraid his dad's gonna kill him. He's not afraid his dad's going
to disown him. He's not afraid his dad's going to put him out
of the house, for good. He knows his father loves him.
But he has a respect, and that's a fear. And I know that's not
too good of an illustration, but what I'm saying is we do
the whole Bible over the Old Testament, and I brought a message,
I was down in Panama at a meeting one time, and I brought a message
on the fear of the Lord. I use David's writings, come
my children, I teach you how you ought to fear God. The beginning
of wisdom, was it Solomon wrote, the beginning of wisdom is the
fear of the Lord. And there's no walk to them that
fear him. And I just went through hundreds
of scriptures, I didn't read that many, but pointed out that
many where it talked about the fear of the Lord. Jacob feared
the Lord. Abraham feared the Lord. Moses
feared the Lord. On and on and on I read. And
in the New Testament when our Lord Talks about unbelievers,
he says, no fear of God before their eyes. No fear of God. And I really think maybe the
reason why today's religionist has no fear of the Lord is because
the Lord he's heard preached is not to be feared. He doesn't
have respect for Him. In other words, you talk about
a God who cannot do His will, who cannot perform His own purpose. who sits up there in heaven dependent
on the creature, who has created for himself a monster that he
can't control, and a world that he cannot control, and a man
with whom he can do nothing. Well, now, there's no respect
for a God like that. Same thing in the home of a father
who doesn't make decisions, who's wishy-washy, and makes no decisions,
and turns the management of the home over to his wife, or somebody
else. And no, the children don't respect
nor fear Him, nor will they obey Him. And He speaks and they don't
move. And that's the kind of God that we've heard preached.
Jesus Christ is leaning over the banisters of heaven. Somebody
said, crying his eyes out because you won't let Him in your heart.
I couldn't fear. My soul, there's no respect for
that kind of... But when we talk about God, when
the Scripture talks about God, who kills and makes alive, who
makes rich and makes poor, who raises up and brings it down,
God who holds our breath, God who holds our life, God who can
give faith or withhold it, who can save or damn, who can reveal
Christ to you or turn you out in darkness, who can seal you
in judgment, cast you into hell. You know, the Scripture says,
don't fear them who kill the body. I'll tell you whom you
shall fear. Fear Him! who is able to cast
your soul and body into hell. I was listening to WCMI one Sunday
morning after church, and I heard a local man preaching at one
of the local Baptist churches, and he quoted that scripture.
Now, he says, friends, he says, we're supposed to fear the devil.
He says, yes, sir. He says, I fear the devil. He
says, the Bible says, fear him who is able to cast your body
and soul into hell. That's the devil. That ain't
the devil. Now, that's just plain language.
That's not the devil. That's God. And you do what you
want to. Well, you're supposed to love
God. I know that. He says, If any man love not
our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed, the Lord coming.
And we're supposed to love God and love Christ. But I'll tell
you this, my friend. If you ever, in God's sovereign grace and
mercy, come to see His greatness and glory and holiness and power,
you'll fear the Lord. I don't have to describe it to
you or teach it to you or show it to you. Your whole soul and
heart and mind will be filled with a trembling before his presence."
Israel at Sinai backed off and said, Moses, you talk to God.
Don't let him speak to us. We'll be consumed. Isaiah saw
the Lord and he said, Woe is me! Job saw the Lord. The Lord appeared to Job out
of a whirlwind. And he said, I've spoken once,
twice, things too wonderful for me. I put my hand over my mouth.
I hate myself. Daniel saw the Lord and his cumbliness
melted into corruption. Let me tell you something. There
was one who leaned on his breast at the Last Supper whose name
was John. Our Lord Jesus Christ in human
flesh was sitting at that table, and John, the beloved disciple,
loved him, adored him. He put his head over on his shoulder. But when the Lord Jesus Christ
appeared to John on the Isle of Patmos, this same Christ appeared
to this same beloved disciple. Christ appeared in his glory.
And what did John do? He fell like a dead man at his
feet. He didn't lay his head on his
shoulders. He didn't go running to him. He saw him in his glory. His head was white. His voice
like many waters. And John said, I fell at his
feet as a dead man. Now, you go on preaching this
God is my co-pilot and God is my partner, and you go on preaching
this Jesus and me got a good thing going, and you go on preaching
this silly, idolatrous, sentimental, mush, hogwash about your intimate
friendship with God. And Jesus said to me last night
on the hotline to heaven, and God told me to do this and told
me to do it. You go on. You got you an idol. And when
you go taking him with you, the judgment, you're going to meet
the King of heaven. You're going to meet the Lord of lords. You're
going to meet the one whom the heavens won't contain. You're
going to meet the one who says the earth is my footstool. You're
going to meet the one who says that he reigneth in the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth and giveth it to
whomsoever he will. You're going to meet the one.
that the greatest men who ever lived, they are like dead men
at his feet. That's who you're going to deal
with. And I'm telling you, we'd better become acquainted with
them now. The fear of the Lord. Now, the
fear of man bringeth a snare. You're not to fear men. The fear
of man bringeth a snare. The fear of loss, loss makes
men jealous. The fear of weakness makes men
envious. The fear of death depresses men. their souls. The fear of judgment
makes them weak. But I tell you this, don't fear
those things. But the fear of the Lord is clean. It's clean. The fear of the Lord is to be
desired. The fear of the Lord, watch it, it's clean. It endures
forever! Forever and forever. His majesty
will not be depleted or diminished, yea, even in glory. For in glory
their song is worthy as the Lamb, worthy as the Lamb of all power
and glory." The fear of the Lord is clean. The Lord let me associate
with men who fear God, who are careful about how they use his
name, who are careful about how they talk about his Word, who
are very careful about how they refer to him, to his glory, to
his gospel, to his to his church, to his preachers, to anything
that is identified with him. They walk before him softly.
God is in his holy temple, be still. Let your words be few,
be still and know that I am God. Let the earth be silent before
him. Fear of the Lord. It won't hurt
you, it's clean. Fear of man, bring the snare.
The fear of death depresses the soul. The fear of judgment makes
men weak. The fear of God gives you strength.
The fear of the Lord. Come before His presence with
thanksgiving, yes. Let me tell you something. We're
always talking about the throne of grace, grace, grace, grace,
but remember, it's the throne of grace. Huh? Don't forget that. It's grace, all right, but it's
grace sovereignly given. It's a throne. All right, the
last thing. The judgments of the Lord are
true and righteous altogether. Now, when we think about the
law of the Lord, the gospel, testimony of the Lord, a revelation
of Himself, the statutes of the Lord, His mandates and decrees,
commandments of the Lord, His commandments and how He directs
us, the fear of the Lord. Now, the judgments of the Lord.
When I think of the judgments of the Lord, all of them, I'll
be honest with you, I believe he's taught me enough about his
holiness and man's sin that I can say that I can regard God's judgments
as righteous. When Adam fell and God came upon
him with the sentence of death, was God right? true and righteous. When he looked
down upon the earth and every imagination of man's heart was
wicked, evil continually, and he sent a flood and wiped her
out, was he righteous and true? When he looked into the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah and saw the perversion and the homosexuality
and the sodomy and all of this rotten, putrid, perverted beast
of the earth, men acting like beasts, was he right to consume
it? Is he right? When God's wrath fell upon Jerusalem
in 70 A.D. and wiped it clean, was he right?
Turn to Psalm 51. David said so. And I'm not just
talking about his judgments and his dealings with others. So often we're prone to say,
yes, he's right in dealing with Sodom, but what about when he
deals with us? Is he right? Suppose, suppose your brother
or mother or father, God deals with them in judgment and righteousness. Is he right? That's getting closer
to home, isn't it? The rebels of Sodom ought to
be destroyed. What about the rebels of Asherah? Ah, the rebels
of Noah's day ought to be dealt with in fire and judgment and
flood. What about the rebels of our
day? Last name Mahan. How about them? Last name Halsom. How about that
bunch? Last name William. How about
that bunch? They ought to be dealt with in judgment. David
said so. He said in Psalm 51, verse 4,
"...against thee, thee only have I sinned, and done this evil
in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest,
and clear when thou judgest." You're right, God. You're just
as right. Your judgments are righteous. One man told me one time a few
years ago, if his mama wasn't in heaven, nobody was there.
Well, I said, I know two or three folks that are there. The Lord
Jesus is there. And there was a thief that he
said, today you'll be with me in paradise. I know he's there.
I know Moses is there because he came back. invested with us
a little while. I know Elijah's there, but I
don't know about your mama. But I'll tell you this, if she's
not there, God's right, and she's wrong. How about that? I know
God's righteous. Now you better get on the right
side on this thing. Turn to Revelation 19. I'm just
telling you the truth. We like this. We go down the
road, His gospel converts the soul. His testimony makes foolish
men wise. His decrees Rejoice, my heart,
his commandments enlighten my eyes. And the fear of the Lord
is clean, but can we say his judgments are true and righteous,
whatever they are? Ed, do you remember Brother Barnard's
sermon on when to save? Shout hallelujah while God sends
men to hell. Woo, that tore some of us up.
As a preacher came to the, your former pastor, Eddie Ballard,
came to the preacher's meeting on Monday after Barnard preach
that sermon on Friday night before he happened to be there, he was
mad as a hornet. Mad as a hornet. Brother Barnard
said that at the judgment, God's going to take that rebel, that
son, that rebel who despised his name and despised his blood
and spit in the face of God, and he's going to hold him up
and say, Mama, this your rebel son. I'm going to send him to
hell." And the mama's going to say, praise the Lord. Huh? Well, that preacher reacted like
some of you are right now. He got mad. He said, that's awful. Well, now, let's read the Bible.
In Revelation 9, are God's judgments righteous? Huh? You can say amen
when he sends Adolf Hitler to hell, can't you? Well, he had
a mama. He had a mama. And John Dillon, you're going
to send him to hell, you're going to say amen? Well, he's got a
mom that loved him. What makes you think you love
yours more than they love theirs? When he sends that killer down
to Atlanta to hell, who's killed those little black boys, you're
going to say amen? How come you can't say amen when he sends
that killer you're raising to hell? Now, wait a minute. We love ourselves
more than we love God. We love our families more than
we love God's righteousness. That just means one thing, we
don't know God. Now come on. I know we'll be
more equipped in that day to appreciate his judgments and
righteousness than we are now, but we better get started on
that road. Somehow. In Revelation 19, after these
things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying
hallelujah. salvation and glory and honor
and power unto the Lord our God, for true and righteous are his
judgments. He hath judged the great whore
which did corrupt the earth with her fornication." That's the
apostate church. And he hath avenged the blood
of his servants in her hand. That's the religious crowd that's
persecuted God's people through the ages. And they said, Hallelujah! And her smoke arose up forever
and ever. And they said, Hallelujah! Praise
the Lord. Praise the Lord. I know how we just want to make
room for us and ours. And it may be God in his grace
will make room for us and ours, but it'll be by grace. It won't
be because we deserve it. If God saves me, it'll take just
as much grace as to save the worst sinner out of hell. Because
that's what I am by nature, the chief of sinners. If God saves
my son or my grandson, it'll take his grace. And if he's not
pleased to save him, if he leaves him in his sin, and leaves him
in his rebellion, God Almighty will have to send him to hell.
That's right. Is that right? You can't be God
and send him anywhere else. You'll have to deal with him
in judgment. Whosoever believeth not on the Son, the wrath of
God abideth on him. And my friend, I've got to love
God more than I love any blood relative or any other thing on
this earth. He that loveth somebody else
more than me, Christ says, is not worthy of me. Who you want
to be God, you are God. Who you want to reign when it's
all over, you are God. Is sin, sin? How desperate is
sin? How exceedingly sinful is sin? According to who it's in? No, it's not according to who
it's in. It's sin against God. And rebels are going to be dealt
with in judgment. And David, when he came to the
end of this, the gospel of God, is perfect, it converts my soul. And all of these other things,
the commandments of God, the Spirit. But when it came down
to God's judgments, he says they're true and righteous. Paul, they're
true and righteous. I'm going to let God be God and
rejoice in it. And when he's pleased to deal
with us in mercy, I'm going to say, thank you, Lord, for your
mercy. When he's pleased to deal with us in judgment, I want to
be able to say, Thank you, God, for your judgments. Thank you
for a heavy hand. I deserve it. I deserve it. Our Father, give thanks unto
Thee for the Book of Nature and the Book of Scripture. Open these
eyes to behold Thy glory in the things that are made, and, Lord,
open my heart to behold Thy glory in the things that are written.
Let me lay hold upon these two books, like David laid hold upon
them, and find the excellency and majesty and glory of my God
in all things. Lord, humble my spirit and break
my heart. And these who listen to the Word
do for us great things. The world will not understand
us. The natural man did not understand thy Word or thee. despised and
hated Christ and nailed him to a cross. They hated what he said. And, Lord, they'll hate what
we say if we say what you said. But, Lord, give us the grace,
the boldness, and the courage to read your Word and say, Amen. So be it. Even that part we don't
understand, even that part by experience that we haven't been
able to enter into as yet, let us be able to say, Amen. So be
it. Let God be God. In the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.