to the book of Psalms, and let's
look at Psalm 12. Psalm 12. Help, Lord, for the
godly man seeth. For the faithful fail among the
children of men. They speak vanity every one with
his neighbor. With flattering lips and with
a double heart do they speak. The Lord shall cut off all flattering
lips and the tongue that speaketh proud things. Who have said,
with our tongue will we prevail. Our lips are our own. Who is Lord over us? For the
oppression of the poor, for the sign of the needy, now will I
rise, saith the Lord. I will set him in safety from
him that puffeth at him. The words of the Lord are pure
words, as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven
times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord.
Thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever. The
wicked walk on every side when the vilest men are exalted. The only comment that I wish
to make on the psalm is that we see from David's words in
verse one that it is not a new thing for the church to be small. The scripture says the godly
man seeth in verse one, the faithful fail from among the children
of men. We know at one time there were
only eight souls, that is, Noah, his wife, and his three sons
and daughters who made up the people of God in this world.
In the days of Elijah, we know that there were only 7,000 in
the kingdom of Judah who did not bow the knee to Baal. Christ's
people have always been a small flock. And so David said, the
godly man seetheth, the faithful fail from among the children
of men. But I want to speak to us today
from the words in verse six. The words of the Lord are pure
words. You notice the words of men,
according to verse two, are vanity. The word vanity, of course, means
emptiness. The words of man are empty words. Also, we say the words of man
are flattering words. Men flatter themselves with their
goodness, with their ability, and many other ways. And not
only are the words of men vanity and flattering, but in verse
three, we see that they are proud words. Man is a proud being. He's so proud of himself and
what he believes he can accomplish and what he can do. And he does
not hear the word of God, which proclaims that man, God made
man upright, but men have sought out many inventions. The words of the Lord are pure
words. All scripture that is given by
inspiration of God is pure. That means it is without error. Pure words. Charles Spurgeon
made this comment. He said in the original, that
is in the original language of this text, There is an allusion
to the most severely purifying process known to the ancients,
through which silver was passed when the greatest possible purity
was desired. The dross was consumed, and only
the bright and precious metal remained. So free from all alloy
of error or unfaithfulness is the book of the words of the
Lord. The words of the Lord are pure,
pure words as silver tried in the furnace of earth purified
seven times. Now I want to mention to us this
morning four truths about the Lord whose words we have here
in the scripture. First, The pure words are His
who is absolutely sovereign in all things. And I trust you'll
listen this morning and think about what I'm saying. The pure
words, the words of the Lord are pure words. The pure words
are the words of him who is absolutely sovereign in all things, who
sovereignly worketh all things after the counsel of his own
will. It would be impossible, it would
be impossible for his words to be pure, that is, to be without
error. if he is not absolutely in control
of all things and working all things as the scripture says
after the counsel of his own will. In order for his words
to be pure without error, he must be God as Nebuchadnezzar
proclaimed him and confessed him to be when he said, who doeth
according to his will in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth. God does his will among the inhabitants
of the earth as well as the army of heaven, the angels, the spirits. He must be God as he is proclaimed
in the book of Proverbs, the preparations of the heart in
man. And the answer of the tongue
is from the Lord. The preparations of the heart,
the thoughts of the heart, and the answer of the tongue is from
the Lord. The lot, the lot is we might
think dice. If you think of playing a game
where you use dice and you shake those dice up and roll them,
and how many different combinations might they make? You might think
that's all by chance. Oh no, it's not. As the scripture
says, the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing
thereof is of the Lord. Now what I'm saying is for his
words to be pure. These things must be true about
him. He must be sovereign in all things
and work all things after the counsel of his own will. As the
Apostle James said in Acts chapter 15, known unto God are all his
works from the beginning of the world. God never has learned
anything. He never shall learn anything. He knows all things and he knows
all things because he has determined all things that come to pass. That's the God of the Bible,
and that's the only way His words can be pure words. That is, words
without error. Let me give us a couple of examples. If you will, look back with me
to Genesis chapter 15. And I must be careful here that
I do not take too much time. Genesis chapter 15 with this
example, because It is so overwhelming to think about it, to meditate.
The words of the Lord are pure, that is, without error, without
any fault. Now you know, and everyone who
picks up the Bible should know this, that God's word is full
of promises and prophecies. Full of promises and prophecies. But how could these prophecies
be pure, be sure, be without error, if God is not sovereignly
working all things after the counsel of His own will? Look
at this one here in Genesis chapter 15. God speaking to Abraham.
Genesis chapter 15 and verse 13. And at this time Abram He
did not have the promised son yet. He had been given the promise,
but he had no son of promise. And God speaks to him and says,
and he said unto Abram, Know of a surety. In other words,
you can count on this. This is my word. This is God's
word. This is pure word. Know of a
surety. This is going to happen. This
is going to take place, Abram. Know of a surety that thy seed
shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall
serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. And
also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterward
they shall come out with great substance. Now, that's a prophecy
or a promise, either way you want to look at it. Think of
everything that had to take place for the fulfillment of this prophecy. Abraham had no son. Or he may
have had the son by the bondwoman already, but he had not the promised
son, the son in whom his seed would be called. So he has to
wait, there has to be a child born. And then he has to send
his servant off into the land from which he came to seek a
bride for his son Isaac. And remember how he prayed and
how providentially he was led there to that place where the
people came to water their camels, their sheep, and who turns up
but Rebecca. You say, well, that was a stroke
of luck. I'm saying that all of the so-called
contingencies that had to take place for this prophecy to be
fulfilled, there is no way under heaven it could have ever happened
unless God was working all things after the counsel of His own
will. He finds Isaac a bride and she's willing to come. Lo
and behold, here's this woman who's ready to leave her family,
her home, everything, and go off with this stranger to be
married to a man she had never met. And then they have only
two sons, twins, Esau and Jacob. Think about that and how They
send Jacob back to that same land to find him a wife, and
the first woman he sees is love at first sight. Sometimes people
say, do you believe in love at first sight? I do in this case. He saw Rachel, and she was such
a fine young lady, he was willing to work for her for seven years. to work for her father, to be
a dowry to her father, his labor for seven years. And then lo
and behold, he finds out that his father-in-law is a trickster,
much like he himself was. And so it's not Rachel that he
first marries, but Leah. And so he has to serve another
seven years. And then all the children that
are born to Rachel and Leah, and their two handmaids, but
the wife that he loved the most, Rachel, she only had two sons. And Jacob loved those two sons
the most, Joseph and Benjamin, because he had loved their mother
the most. And because of that, now what
I'm saying is all these things had to take place. Because of
Jacob's partiality in love for Joseph, his brothers hated him.
They hated him. And so what do they do out of
their hatred? They sell him. They sell him
and he's taken off into Egypt. And lo and behold, you know the
story. how he's eventually brought to
the throne, second in command of Pharaoh. But still, the promise
is your seed is going to go into that strange land, that is Egypt,
and they're going to be servants there. How does the rest of the
family of Jacob go down into Egypt? God sends a famine. First
of all, God sends seven years of plenteous production and then
he sends seven years of famine so that Jacob's family is forced
to go down there for corn, for wheat, for food, for bread. And then they actually move there. And when they moved there, they
were given the best of the land. They were not strangers at this
time. They were in the land and they
had the choice place to live in the land. But lo and behold,
time passes and Pharaoh dies and another Pharaoh comes to
the throne. Joseph is dead. And a Pharaoh
who did not know Joseph was now in control and they are being
afflicted. And because of their bondage,
they began to cry unto God for deliverance. And isn't it amazing? I always like to think about
this. Pharaoh, you know, he gave that
command that all the boy babies were to be destroyed. And so
the parents of Moses, they have a child and they could no longer
hide him in their home, so they put him in a little ark put him
there in the river and wasn't it lucky, wasn't it lucky that
Pharaoh's daughter came down to the river to bathe and heard
that baby crying and her heart was touched. There were a number
of babies in Egypt at that time of the children of Israel, but
her heart was touched so that she took Moses And Pharaoh, who
was doing his best to destroy the nation of Israel, actually
fed, educated, maintained the very man that God would use to
deliver them from Pharaoh's hand, Moses. And Moses, of course,
at first he strikes out on his own, doesn't he? You know, he's
going to do this in the flesh. What a wonderful thing it is
when men are made to realize it's not by power, it's not by
might, but it is rather by my spirit, saith the Lord. God does
his work and he does his work in such a way that he receives
all the glory. And Moses destroyed a man and
so he ends up out there in the desert for 40 years. The same
desert that he's going to lead the children of Israel through
for 40 years. What am I saying? Here's a prophecy
that God gave to Abram. And it all comes to pass over
400 some years, all of the things that had to meet together, come
together, God was orchestrating it all. That's the reason we say His
words are pure. His words are without error because
He's God and because He does His will among the inhabitants
of the earth. Another example, but I'm not
going to give this one, but think of the 70 years that Israel was
in captivity. God told them through Jeremiah. But God had already told them
through Isaiah, who lived before Jeremiah, of a man named Cyrus,
the Persian monarch, who would give his decree, after they had
been there for 70 years, to allow them to return and rebuild the
temple in Jerusalem. Again, But look at this one in
Acts chapter two, because this is the most important of all.
In Acts chapter two, these are the words of the apostle
Peter on the day of Pentecost. Verse 22. You men of Israel, hear these
words. Listen to what I've got to say. Peter, along with the other apostles,
on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God had come upon them. You men of Israel, hear these
words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, Could
not doubt he was sin of God. No one could doubt that. He opened
the eyes of the blind, a man who was born blind, raised the
dead, cleansed the lepers, fed the multitudes, Jesus of Nazareth. A man approved of God among you
by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst
of you, as you yourselves also know. And they knew this. They
knew it was true. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. That is, before the foundation
of the world, God had determined that his son would come into
this world. and he would be crucified and
slain by the hands of wicked men. Wicked men would do exactly
what they wanted to do. They wanted to crucify the Lord.
They did exactly what they wanted to do, and yet in doing what
they wanted to do, they did exactly what God had determined should
be done before the foundation of the world. His word is pure. You know, when
you think about the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's
easy for us to think, well, the Jews were guilty, and they were.
It's easy for us to think, well, the Roman authorities, they were
guilty, and they were. But my brother and sister in
Christ, let us remember, it was my sin, it was your sin. that nailed the nails through
his hands. It was our sins that crowned
him with thorns. It was our sins that pierced
his feet. And that spear that went up into
his side, that was produced because he was being made sin for us. who's guilty. God determined
it before the foundation of the world, and yet it was for our
sins that he was crucified and slain. It's amazing to me to
hear preachers, I've known a bunch of them over the years, and they
are so vocal and vociferous and bold
about proclaiming that they believe that this Bible is the inspired,
verbally inspired, inerrant Word of God, and yet, at the same
time, will deny the sovereignty of God. Will deny that God sovereignly
works and controls all things that take place in His world. I was with a group of preachers,
been back several years ago. And one of them, at least, was
a member of a Southern, he was pastor, rather, of a Southern
Baptist Church. And this is back before the Southern
Baptist Convention has taken all the splits it's taken over
the last few years. But he told us, he said, you
know, we're going to be at the convention. I think they were
having it here in Houston. And we've got these papers we're
going to hand out. And we're going to try to get
every pastor who attends to agree to sign and say that we believe
the Word of God is the inspired Word of God. Now that would be
commendable. That's a good place to start.
But I told the pastor, I said, you know, if you've got every
pastor to sign that statement, most of them don't believe it. They believe, they say they believe
the word of God is inspired by God, that it's without error,
but they don't believe the word of God. They don't believe that
God is sovereign. They don't believe that God is
the one who is in control over all things. Oh no. They believe that man, man's
free will, man, great man. You know, most people believe
that God is here and Satan is over here, and these are two
opposing forces, good and evil, and God's doing His best, and
Satan's doing his best, and here's man in the middle, and he makes
the decision. He's the one that settles the
issue. That's not true, my friends.
Man left to himself will always go in the way of evil. Why? Because he's a fallen individual. Thank God, God has a purpose. And His purpose is to glorify
His Son in saving His people. And His purpose shall be accomplished. Here's the second truth I want
to say. Not only are these the words
of Him who is sovereign in all things, but the pure words are
His who is absolutely holy in all His ways. Absolutely holy. He is so infinitely holy that
Job says, yea, the stars are not pure in thy sight, Look with
me to Deuteronomy chapter 32, just a moment. The words of the Lord are pure. They are without error because
they are the words of him who is absolutely holy in all his
ways. In Deuteronomy chapter 32 in
verse 4, in this hymn that God gave Moses, we read, he is a
rock, his work is perfect. For all his ways are judgment.
A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. His work and his way in creation
is perfect. His work and way in providence
is perfect. And his work and way in saving
sinners is perfect. They are perfect and just in
every point, consistent with his absolute holiness. God cannot deny himself. You say, what does that mean?
God cannot. He cannot do anything that would
infringe or would somehow tarnish himself, his character, his holy
being. He cannot deny himself. He cannot
change. He cannot lie. And my friends,
he said this in the book of Exodus, when he put Moses in that cleft
of the rock, and he passed by proclaiming the name of the Lord.
And part of that proclamation was that he would by no means
clear the guilty. By no means clear the guilty. That means without a satisfaction,
without an offering, To His infinite holiness, He will by no means
clear the guilty. Mankind, all of us by nature,
we are guilty. And yet, He made His Son to be
sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. I looked at that verse again
this past week. He will by no means clear the
guilty. I thought, first of all, by no
means that man might come up with. By no means that man might
institute will God clear the guilty. In other words, there's
no plan. There's no means that men might
come up with. They might invent by which God
will clear the guilty. The only way by which God will
clear the guilty is His way. His way is Christ. His way is
bringing His Holy Son into this world as a substitute, as a sacrifice
that does, yes, please God, satisfy God. And because of His work
of redemption, He clears the guilty. He accomplished this by sending
his son into this world to represent his chosen people and making
him to be that sin offering that does satisfy his infinite holiness. Peter tells us that he bear our
sins in his own body on the tree. Paul tells us for Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. I
would think that most of the world that is under the umbrella
of Christianity today believes somehow that it is by us keeping
God's law, satisfying God's law, obeying God's law, that men are
going to be justified before God. That's a lie. Christ is
the end of the law, the goal of the law, the law The goal
that the law always had was to point men and women to Christ. The law shuts us up. The law
shuts our mouths where we have no excuse, no alibi, nothing
with which to defend or justify ourselves. It shuts us up. to trust in Jesus Christ and
in Him alone. He's the end of the law for righteousness
unto everyone that believeth. Third, the pure words are His
who is the God of all grace. Not only are these pure words
the words of Him who works all things after the counsel of His
own will, Not only are the pure words the words of Him who is
absolutely holy in all things, but the pure words are His who
is the God of all grace. The scripture calls Him that,
the God of all grace. You see, grace is an attribute
of God. And calling him the God of all
grace reminds us that he's the author. If you could think of
a fountain, a fountain, waters flowing up, coming up, bubbling
up, an artesian well just flowing up. If this water coming up is
grace, he's the God of all grace from which all grace flows, from
which all grace comes. Election, for instance. Election
unto salvation is a blessing of grace of which God is the
author. The scripture says, according
as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.
Adoption into the family of God is a blessing of grace which
God is the author. Again, having predestinated us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ. Acceptance and
reconciliation to God is a blessing of grace of which God is the
author. to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Forgiveness
is a blessing of grace of which God is the author, in whom we
have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of his grace. The pure words of God. The pure
words of Him who is the God of all grace. I'm so thankful today. I've got so many things to be
thankful for. But I'm so thankful the day that
God showed me that grace cannot be merited. It cannot be earned. It cannot be deserved. Grace
is free. And if God looked to you for
anything, you to produce anything, you to do anything in order for
him to be gracious unto you, it wouldn't be grace, it would
be merit, it would be justice. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And the last thing I want to
say, the pure words, the fourth, the pure words are his who will
never leave nor fail those who come to him. Now that's a big
statement. Think about it. That's a big
statement. And I wouldn't make it on my
own. I'm telling you right now, I
would not make this statement on my own. That He will never
leave, that He will never fail those who come to Him. That's
what I'm saying. His words are pure. I wouldn't
say that on my own. But I will say it this morning,
quoting Him. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. John Gill made this comment about
that, I will no wise cast out. He said it's very emphatic in
the original. I will not, not, or never, never
cast out without. Him that cometh unto me, I will
in no wise cast out. You say, well, how do you come
to him? By faith, by looking to him. Just like that serpent
lifted up in the wilderness and all who looked to him were healed. Look to Christ by faith. When
you look to him, you look away from yourself, you look away
from everything around you. Christ and Christ alone is all
my salvation. Look to him. And his promise
is, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. He will never fail
those who come to him. Paul said it like this, he that
spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him freely give us all things? His words are pure, the pure
words of the Lord. This is what we have in this
book here, isn't it? The pure words of the Lord. I pray that this message would
be a help and a blessing to those of us here today. You may be here today and you're
without Christ. You're living a life of futility,
vanity, no stability, no hope, no contentment, no joy. You'll never, ever find it apart
from Jesus Christ. God has so created man, I think
it was Augustine who first said something like this, but he has
so created man that there's an emptiness in man. And that emptiness
will never be filled, that void will never be filled until it
is filled with Christ, until that need is met in Christ. I know that so. But oh, what
joy and what contentment did those of us have today who know
Him and have His pure words for us, to us. May the Lord bless
His word. Number 460, hymn number 460.