A Subpoena from God

Redeeming Grace Church

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May 9, 2021

00:03: Well, good morning again everyone, it's good to see everyone back safely from vacation and hope you all had a refreshing time.
00:13: This is the Lord's Day, which also happens from, we're here in this world but not of this world.
00:21: It's Mother's Day, but I'd like to humbly thank God for all the mothers in here.
00:28: You see all throughout Scripture, the mothers, the roles the mothers play with,
00:34: I believe in Timothy's life and just, you see the mothers always disciplining and raising the children up in the fear and admonition of the
00:42: Lord. So that's the highest calling of a woman is to be a mother. So we come to worship the true and living
00:51: God who never sleeps, never slumbers, and is sovereign over all. The first commandment attached with a promise is the fifth commandment, honor your mother and father for the days of your life may be long upon this land,
01:04: Exodus 20 verse 12. So we also like to,
01:09: I'd like to humbly thank God for the life that mothers have in Christ.
01:15: That's the life that matters. So that's what a blessing. But also
01:21: I thank our pastor that he delights in feeding stinking, stubborn sheep week in and week out and prays for our souls.
01:31: So we praise God for him as well. So I was asked over two months ago to prepare what
01:37: I like to bring this word to you and to me that's like asking a kid would you like to go to the candy store or to Party City or to get a balloon.
01:48: Because when you delight, take pleasure in something, you love to talk about it, you love to be taken up with it, but God himself is my greatest pleasure and my sole desire by the help of the
02:01: Holy Spirit is to point you to the lover of your soul, Jesus Christ. So I was able by God's grace through all this rain that we've had recently to, he sat me down and gave me time to really prepare this message in advance and to pray but it didn't come under,
02:17: I personally, you know Satan is here to rob, seek, kill and destroy. It was really, really
02:24: I was trying to guard this word in my own heart first and not be a hypocrite and stand before you.
02:32: But as God is my witness, my sole desire like I said is to point you to the lover of your soul and I would much rather draw you with mercy than drive you with terror any day of the week, any day of the week.
02:47: So please pray for myself and you all as we traverse over and hear
02:55: God's word through Psalm 50. This text was sent to me about two months ago and I was really convicted and it really calls for a deep reverence and self -examination and we need that within this hour, the church needs that this hour.
03:14: So, let us go ahead and turn to Psalm 50 and we're going to,
03:22: I'm going to try to cover 23 verses and really just skipping a rock again but I want you to see the bigger picture of this
03:30: Psalm and be encouraged to hate sin and love holiness, to remember that God is holy, without holiness no man shall see the
03:40: Lord. So, hear the word of the living God. This is Psalm 50, this is Psalm of Asaph, Psalm of Asaph.
03:49: So, hear the word of the living God. The mighty one,
03:54: God the Lord, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going down. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
04:02: God will shine forth. Our God shall come and not keep silent.
04:07: A fire shall devour him and it shall be very temptuous all around him.
04:14: He shall call to the heavens above and to the earth that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
04:25: Let the heavens declare his righteousness for God himself is judge. Hear, O my people, and I will speak.
04:33: O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God your God. I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings which you have continually before me.
04:44: I will not take a bull from your house, nor goats out of your folds, nor every beast of the forest as mine and the cattle on a thousand hills.
04:54: I know all the birds of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry,
05:01: I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all its fullness.
05:07: Will I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God thanksgiving and pay your vows to the
05:14: Most High. Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.
05:22: But to the wicked God says, what right have you to declare my statutes or take my covenant in your mouth, seeing you hate instruction and cast my words behind you?
05:32: When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and you have been a partaker with adulterers.
05:39: You give your mouth to evil and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother.
05:45: You slander your own mother's son. These things you have done, and I kept silent.
05:51: You thought I was altogether like you, but I will rebuke you and set them in order before your eyes.
05:58: Now consider this, you who forget God, at least I tear you in pieces and there be none to deliver.
06:07: Whoever offers praise glorifies me, and to him who orders his conduct aright,
06:13: I will show the salvation of God. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, you said to the churches, he who has an ear, let him hear.
06:28: Lord, we pray that your holy presence, that you will manifest yourself to us.
06:34: We're in need of thee this very hour. And I pray, dear Lord, your glory will shine forth.
06:42: Lord, we will howl your name in our hearts. Please forgive us of our sins, of omission and commission.
06:49: Lord, we want to be a holy people and a vessel of honor for your namesake.
06:55: Lord, everything that you do is good. Lord, we love you. Lord, help this stammering tongue, and please hide me behind your cross, said the
07:05: Lord Jesus. Lord, please speak to us this hour.
07:11: In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Well, our pastor has been taking us through 1
07:17: Peter. In the last Lord's days, Pastor David spoke to us about a word called precious.
07:25: He asked us a question. How precious is Jesus to you? He talked about a preciousness of faith.
07:31: How precious is faith? But, consider this as well. The preciousness of God's mercy is best known and seen by those who discern the terror of His justice.
07:45: The light of Mount Tabor, which is where the transfiguration happened, and the fiery flashes of Mount Sinai are equally divine, as long as we learn to rest in Calvary.
08:00: This means whether tender or terrible, we must always rest in Calvary, which is the
08:07: Lord Jesus Christ. We live in a time and age this day when comfort and pleasure is sought after at all cost.
08:17: Man's motto, he's come up with, and he just, since he turned his back on God, we live in a time, man,
08:28: God created man in His own image, and since then man has been returning the favor ever since, trying to make
08:34: God in His image. And that's our problem, we've forgotten who God is. So man's motto, sin, the lie that Satan said you will be like God and your eyes will be open, and that was a lie.
08:50: No, your eyes will be shut, and you will be like me, full of pride, and always thinking about yourself.
08:56: And man's motto has ever since, eat, drink, and be merry. And assume that God will just forget sin, and turn
09:04: His back, and not deal with it. So the question I have, before we launch out into this, the question
09:10: I have, does God overlook sin? Again, I'm going to ask this, and it's a searching question.
09:18: Does God overlook sin? The title of this sermon is
09:23: A Subpoena from God. This is not original, this came from an Old Testament professor at Master's Seminary, and I thought, wow.
09:33: I can understand this, my mother was a judge, a probate judge. So I've heard those words, subpoenas and summons, and so it's kind of,
09:42: I was like, wow, that's very fitting. But let me explain to you briefly what a subpoena is.
09:49: And it's a court -ordered command from the judge, requiring a person to appear in court for a legal case.
09:56: We call earthly judges even honorable. Even earthly judges even honorable.
10:01: And we owe them due respect because they guard the civil laws of this land.
10:10: But how much more? The judge, the supreme judge. So, I don't know if you all, by show of hands, it's not many of us, but a little as much as when
10:23: God is in it. So, the question, by show of hands, how many has ever been into a courtroom?
10:30: Yeah. But, you know, even when it's empty, thank you, but even when it's empty, don't you feel a solemnity?
10:38: There's a sobriety. It's almost like you can hear the floor cracking. You can hear verdicts falling.
10:46: There's a seriousness to it. Even when it's empty. It's like chills go over my body sometimes.
10:53: Life and death is sometimes given and taken. It's a sobering thought. But let us remember that it is a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living
11:04: God, Hebrews 10 .31 says. It is appointed for men to die once, but after that, then the judgment.
11:12: All men are on probation. All men are on, we're on probation. So, let me say that again.
11:18: All men, we are all on probation. So, let me, there's two types.
11:23: I want to introduce two men. The repenting saint. Notice I said repenting, not just the repentant saint.
11:30: The repenting, because his life is going to be full of repenting. As Ben just introduced us this morning.
11:37: So, we have the repenting saint and the unrepentant sinner. You're in one category or the other, and there's no middle ground.
11:45: And by God's grace alone, the repenting saint has found mercy outside the courtroom and has been pardoned solely by the substitutionary atonement of Jesus Christ alone.
11:55: But it's still on probation. And Romans 2 .6 says, God will repay each man according to his deeds.
12:04: The unbelieving and unrepentant sinner, I'm sorry, the unbelieving and unrepentant sinner is already condemned of God.
12:10: And like Jonathan Edwards says, God's justice and His anger is drawn black.
12:19: And His fiery arrows are drunken with your blood on it at this very moment. When you're unrepentant and unbelieving in Him.
12:29: So, death will be our arresting officer that binds all men and brings them before God. So enough,
12:36: I'm going to try to go ahead and... But this Psalm 50 is a very sobering psalm.
12:42: Better yet, to me, it's kind of terrifying. Who in their right mind likes to be scrutinized under the eyes of God?
12:51: It is a graphic picture of God coming in judgment. And it reminds us, if you remember, like Exodus 19.
12:58: When God brought the law, Exodus 19. On Mount Sinai, to the days of Moses.
13:07: And we're reminded of God's holiness in this psalm. Psalm 50, though, is attributed to Asaph, which is the first one of Asaph's psalms.
13:21: They can also be seen in Psalms 73 -83. So the question is, who is
13:27: Asaph? Asaph is a leader of temple worship. And I've read some of these commentaries.
13:33: When I thought it was good, it was during, sometimes, the remodeling of the church. Now you must worship me in spirit and truth.
13:39: It was like a transition in time. I thought, wow, that's... Because no longer
13:45: Jesus... I mean, we're going to read a little bit of the right view of sacrifices. And God will say,
13:51: I'm fed up with these sacrifices. So this is kind of like a rebuilding. Like Jesus said,
13:57: I'm going to tear this temple down. And in three days, you'll be risen. So this is like a transitioning time.
14:05: So Asaph is like, in a way, like a superintendent. So the
14:10: Bible in itself is progressive revelation. So that a
14:17: New Testament passage is a commentary on an Old Testament text. The theme of Psalm 50 is developed from the
14:25: New Testament verse, 1 Peter, where we're at. And it comes from 1 Peter 4 .17, where it says,
14:32: For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God. And if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
14:43: So that is the commentary of Psalm 50. So let's look at our text.
14:49: I want to give you a brief outline. And if you have a pen, you might want to jot this down and keep. It's just four points.
14:58: Verses 1 -6 is a call to judgment. Verses 1 -6, a call to judgment.
15:07: Verse 7 -15 is the first indictment.
15:12: We would say the first charge. The first felony. Which is formalism.
15:19: Formalism. That's the first indictment. Verses 7 -15. Then we're going to look next at the second indictment.
15:29: Verses 16 -21. 16 -21, second indictment is hypocrisy.
15:40: Excuse me. And then verses 22 -23, the last two verses, is a call to repentance.
15:47: So we have a call to judgment at the first and a call to repentance at the end. And two charges in between.
15:53: So just remember, I asked earlier, do you remember entering into a courtroom? So let us come before God as God speaks to us this day.
16:04: This is a prophetical psalm that speaks to the ancient of days and speaks to us this day.
16:12: It's not final judgment, but it calls out to each one of us to examine our own hearts.
16:19: If you look at the very first verse, if you will. Let's look at this verse.
16:26: And through studying this, we are being summonsed to God's court.
16:34: Asaph is like the bailiff. Has anybody seen a bailiff? They say, I'll rise. The judge enters the courtroom.
16:40: This is like a prologue. And God speaks in verse 7. So can you imagine anything more sobering than coming before the judge of judges?
16:51: This is a power manifestation of God's power. So it starts with three names.
16:58: Look at verse 1 with me. The mighty one God the Lord has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going down.
17:07: That, in Hebrew. I mean, I'm sorry. Yes, in Hebrew.
17:13: This is what it means. El Elohim Yahweh. El Elohim Yahweh.
17:19: It's basically the God of all gods is Yahweh. Mighty in power.
17:28: God is the judge. The son of God came for judgment into the world. And the
17:35: Holy Spirit is the spirit of judgment. So these three glorious names, as I shared with a pastor this week.
17:42: There was a really bad storm. And there was a lightning bolt that hit the ground. Maybe 10 feet from the car as I was going out to get some food.
17:50: And I saw power poured out from above. And it popped the ground and I jumped.
17:56: And the car in front of me went off swerving. And the fire came from the ground. Smoke went billowing up.
18:03: And I thought, this right here, these three names is basically one pop of those that I saw.
18:10: And it put chills on me. And it literally, I was like, wow. I've never seen a flame come up from the ground.
18:18: And black smoke go billowing up. And I got home and I was just in awe. And it was so loud.
18:24: No warning. Pow! It scared me. It really did scare me.
18:30: So in this we have three glorious names of God. It's like a triple thundering bolt, lightning bolt.
18:37: El Elohim Yahweh. And it just strikes. And basically what it is, is getting our attention and awakening us out of our familiarity with God's Word to take this serious.
18:53: You know, if you saw a lightning bolt right before your eyes, you would think, wow. Like, praise
18:58: God, that didn't hit me. But nevertheless, Yahweh is
19:05: God's covenant keeping name. His self existence name. And El and Elohim are
19:10: His titles of deity. The only other occurrence of this is in Joshua 22, verse 22.
19:18: So to whom is God speaking to in this? It says He's called from the rising of the earth. He called the earth and from the rising of the sun and the going down.
19:28: Sun rises in the east, sits in the west. What is He saying? All people, all ranks, all characters are called.
19:37: So if you look at verse 2, it says, Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
19:43: God shall shine forth. The judge is set, judgment is set, and the judge is taking his seat in Zion.
19:54: As we know, the carpenter shop is empty, the throne is empty, but this seat is occupied.
20:01: And this is where God shines forth out of Zion. But notice this was so beautiful, He shines forth through Zion, through His church.
20:10: That's His holy place where God is at, but He shines through Zion, us, through the
20:17: Lord Jesus Christ. Where we hide in Him, He shines through us. God of old dealt with Zion amongst
20:24: His chosen people, but here the beams of His radiant glory is shining forth to all the nations.
20:29: You see in verse 1, the sun is spoken about. It says the sun to His going down.
20:35: Here, the majesty of God shines greater than the sun. It says holiness is the perfection of beauty.
20:46: So all the attributes of God is found in God's holiness. It's the perfection of beauty.
20:55: Verse 3, Our God shall come and not keep silent. A fire shall devour before Him and shall be very temptuous all around Him.
21:05: We see in this the consuming fire is the forerunner.
21:11: It has a clearing path that tangles all evil and breaks through all evil. A pastor sent me a quote a while back.
21:21: He said the sun is 92 million miles away and it will burn your eyes out. It will burn your eyes out.
21:28: So do we think that we can casually walk into its maker's presence? Casually? Verse 4,
21:39: He shall call to the heavens from above and to the earth that He may judge His people.
21:46: Both heaven and earth shall unite in condemning sin. And the guilty shall have no appeal.
21:54: The question is, where will you go and to whom will you fly when the sentence of the Supreme Judge falls upon you?
22:02: This visible trial will be the most awful thing your eyes have ever witnessed. He will separate the nominal from the real, the precious from the vile.
22:15: And this calls for a great awakening. If you will, turn with me to Isaiah 1, verse 2.
22:36: Isaiah 1, verse 2. Hear, O heavens, and give ear,
22:47: O earth, for the Lord has spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.
22:55: The ox knows its owner, and the donkey knows its master's crib, but Israel does not know.
23:02: My people do not consider. If you will, now let's go to the
23:07: New Testament and compare. Let's look into Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12.
23:30: Luke chapter 12, verses 47 and 48. And that servant who knew his master's will and did not prepare himself or do according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes.
23:45: But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes shall be beaten with few.
23:54: For everyone to whom much is given from him, much is required. And to whom much has been committed of him, they will ask the more.
24:04: So brethren, more is required of us. More is required of us. So look at verse 5, look back up.
24:12: Look what it says. Gather My saints together to Me, those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.
24:21: Let the heavens declare the righteousness for God Himself as judge. If you look across the page,
24:27: I just said earlier that the Word of God is a progressive revelation. Look back in verse 49 and look at verse 1.
24:36: We see a general attention. And in Psalm 50, we see special attention. So look at verse 1.
24:44: Hear this, all peoples. Give ear to all the inhabitants of the world. Now, this is saying gather
24:49: My saints. Many translations have this. If you look into it, it says My favored ones,
24:56: My beloved ones, My holy ones. Basically, gather
25:01: My objects of My mercy. That's what He's saying. Gather to Me now My objects of My mercy.
25:10: Let the heavens declare His righteousness for God Himself as judge. So priests of old and churches still today can be readily deceived, but not so with the all -discerning
25:22: Lord. The Lord injured Himself so He weighs all the evidence and will take vengeance or give reward.
25:35: So here in verse 7, now is the first indictment. So we just had a great summons, but let me not leave off one word.
25:43: It says, Selah. So imagine the court, the summons, the bailiff has said,
25:50: All rise. The judge has taken his seat. And now the judge is speaking.
25:59: And there's a Selah. So what are we to think about? What are we to meditate upon? Habakkuk 2 .20
26:07: says, The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.
26:13: I'm going to say that again. The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.
26:20: So what are we to meditate upon? The fear of God, the reverence and God's standard of good righteousness.
26:31: So here are the two categories that are summoned to judgment. If you will, let's look at the
26:38: Word of God. So verse 7, Hear, O my people, and I will speak.
26:46: O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God your God. I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings which are continually before me.
26:56: I will not take a bull from your house nor goats out of your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine.
27:03: Listen to these words. They start to reoccur. And the cattle on a thousand hills.
27:09: I know all the birds of the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
27:17: Mine. So I want to give... So if you look at this, this is what was so refreshing when
27:24: I started to dig in with this. This is all about worship. God made us to worship
27:29: Him. These are indictments against worship. So as you know, the horizontal, if you look at the cross, the horizontal always hinges upon the vertical.
27:41: The vertical doesn't hang upon the horizontal. On the cross, at the cross, at the cross.
27:48: So it's the vertical, the horizontal hangs upon the vertical. Not the vertical upon the horizontal.
27:55: So if we're not right here, it's because we're not right here. So we're going to see, this first indictment is all about the first four commandments of worship.
28:06: The object of our worship, the manner of our worship, the attitude of our worship, and the time of worship.
28:13: So I want you to, if you will, by the Spirit of God's help, let us understand these things from a practical standpoint today.
28:22: Because no longer are there burnt offerings and sacrifices, but we have sacraments, which are the
28:28: Lord's Supper and Baptism, which still we can offer the same way with our hearts as they did burnt offerings and sacrifices.
28:42: So the first people, God reproves them for a lack of genuine love and a thankful heart. So they retreat and hide in rituals.
28:52: It's vital to understand that the ritual is not bad in itself. And that's why God says,
28:57: I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings. So what is the rebuke about?
29:04: So all sacrifices and burnt offerings did will remind us that we needed a
29:11: Savior. We needed salvation. And it's the attitude that was significant. If you look at this, what was most significant with them was least significant with God.
29:24: So as I mentioned earlier, the New Testament sacrifices are to our benefit and not
29:29: God. So anytime that we think that we're doing God a favor by our worship
29:35: Him, we dishonor God and slide into a trap of works based righteousness, which is false religion.
29:43: And the Pharisees did the same thing in the days of Jesus. They hated
29:48: Him and were trying to get rid of Him. Yet in spite of this horrible sin, the Pharisees kept themselves ritually clean.
29:58: And observers of the Passover, could you imagine their consciences the next day while they entered into this with hearts that were just so hardened?
30:13: But if you will, turn with me to Hosea 6.
30:20: And let's look at these sacrifices. Let's do a quick survey. We're going to go from Hosea, Amos to Micah.
30:26: So we'll just go forward because it's leading us to the true sacrifice.
30:34: Hosea 6. We're going to go from Hosea, Amos, Micah.
30:46: Hosea 6. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
30:56: If you will, now turn with me to Amos. Two books over. Amos 5 verses 21 -24.
31:14: Amos 5 verses 21 -24. I hate,
31:20: I despise your feast days. I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
31:25: Though you offer me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them. Nor will
31:31: I regard your fattened peace offerings. Take away from me the noise of your songs for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
31:41: But let justice run down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream. Now turn to Micah 6.
31:50: Many of you have this verse memorized. And it's beautiful to see.
31:57: Instead of just Micah 6, 8, go back two verses and start there. It's really powerful.
32:06: Micah 6 verse 6. What shall I come before the
32:12: Lord? With what shall I come before the Lord? And bow myself before the high
32:17: God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings? With calves a year old?
32:24: Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousands of rivers of oil?
32:30: Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
32:36: He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your
32:45: God? Amen. So that's key. True worship, brethren, always remember this, true worship recognizes the fact that everything we bring to God, including ourselves, already belongs to Him.
33:01: It already belongs to Him. He doesn't want a partnership. He wants ownership. So the question is, if you flip back with me, now back to our text,
33:12: Psalm 50. So what is the cure to this? What is the cure?
33:19: And really it's just a good dose of spiritual reality to realize that God needs nothing from us.
33:26: If you look, do you remember, He says, the cattle on a thousand hills, all the birds, all the beasts of the field, they're mine.
33:36: They are mine. To love God and our neighbor is better than all burnt offerings.
33:42: God doesn't need our works, but our neighbor does. So if you look in verse 14 and 15, this is a wonderful, wonderful text.
33:56: Listen to this. If we want to offer something to God, may God let us hear this clearly.
34:03: This is wonderful and it should be cherished like that alabaster box. Just cherish this in your own hearts.
34:12: Offer to God thanksgiving. And this is, again, a special invitation. Offer to God thanksgiving and pay your vows to the
34:21: Most High. Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.
34:28: I'm going to say that one more time. Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.
34:36: So the question is, is this the acceptable and true sacrifice? The question is, is this the true and acceptable sacrifice?
34:50: Is this offering to ask aid of heaven? How can this be a sacrifice to ask aid from heaven?
34:59: We're asking for help. How can this be a sacrifice? You know, I like having the cookies low, but if the king said it so, it is.
35:10: He himself regards this as a sacrifice. But how beautiful it is because the reality of this, have you ever thought about this?
35:18: In the hour of fear and doubt and danger, we fly to the one we love.
35:26: We fly to the one we love, which therefore shows where we're exercising faith.
35:32: And He's pleased in that. And that's what God is pleased in, He's pleased in His faith. So now, let's continue on.
35:40: This is the second felony charge. The second charge falls in the courtroom.
35:49: And this is the horizontal. First we dealt with the first four commandments, now we're dealing with the second part of the table.
35:55: The second book. This is the second indictment hypocrisy, verses 16 -21.
36:06: Listen to the first words. But, to the wicked God says, what right have you to declare
36:13: My statutes or take My covenant in your mouth? Seeing you hate instruction and you cast
36:19: My words behind you. And when you saw a thief, you consented with him and have been a partaker with adulterers.
36:28: And you've given your mouth to evil and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother and you slander your own mother's son.
36:36: These things you have done and I've kept silent. Let's stop right there. Do you see the second book?
36:44: Did you see it there? It started with commandments 8, 7, and 9. 8, 7, and 9.
36:54: So the question is, He said, call My beloved. Let's go back up.
37:00: He said, call My saints together to Me. But then now
37:05: He says, but to the wicked. So is this in contradiction? No. No.
37:11: God never is in contradiction. This is the alleged people of God. And God knows the true identity of men.
37:21: Men, this is who... God has commanded all men to repent.
37:28: Many are called, but few are chosen. So this is the distinction. And these people are unconverted here.
37:40: Let me say this again. These are the characteristics of the unconverted. And this is proven by believing they can worship
37:47: God and disobey Him at the same time. Let us turn to Romans chapter 2.
37:53: Romans chapter 2. Keep your finger back in on Psalm 20.
38:04: Romans chapter 2. Starting in verse 22. You who say, do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery?
38:26: You who abort idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor
38:34: God through the breaking of the law? For the name of God is blaspheme among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written.
38:46: So they're mouthing, they're worshiping God with their lips, but their heart is far from them. It says in verse 17, they hate instruction, and God says, you cast
38:56: My words behind you. Notice how they love to give instruction, but don't like to heed instruction.
39:05: And having you always seen that, the most scathing rebukes came from the most religious hypocrites.
39:12: They're so hard on others, but not themselves. They're so hard on others, but not themselves.
39:21: Some are highly visible, and others, as you know, are very well camouflaged. But let us not be deceived that God will not be mocked.
39:32: So my question is, how does this apply to you and I? How does this apply to you and I?
39:39: Many have said today, you can have Jesus as Savior, but not as Lord. Many, as you know, are pickers and choosers of God's Word.
39:48: They hopscotch around, never touching upon something hard, because it causes for self -examination, and that's what this psalm does.
39:59: I need this this day, and I'm sure you as well, because this is very sobering.
40:12: Pickers and choosers of God's Word, because they love the praises of men, not the praises of God.
40:19: And this is what it comes down to. Revelation, as you know, 22 says, if you add or take away from My Word, you'll be removed from this book.
40:28: That's what pickers and choosers, they don't want to read that. So, can you fathom these notions?
40:37: Is it possible to be justified without being regenerated? Can you fathom, it is possible to be saved without following Him in obedience as a lifelong disciple?
40:51: Yes, Christians, we do sin. We do sin. But it's impossible for them to be hypocrites.
40:58: Note again in verses 18 -20, if you look at verse 18, when you saw a thief, you consented with him, and you have been a partaker of adulterers.
41:12: You've given your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother, and you slander your own mother's son.
41:23: These things you have done, and I've kept silent. And you thought I was altogether like you, but I will rebuke you.
41:33: So doing the opposite things with the same words at the same time, proclaiming lip reverence, and scornfully slinging
41:39: God's words behind their back in conduct. Alexander McLaurin said this about this area of the
41:49: Word of God. Hypocrisy finds fuel in impunity. So what does impunity mean?
41:57: It means exemption of liberty from a time of punishment or consequences. However, God is just and must punish all sin.
42:08: Impunity is only longsuffering of God that you would think would bring man, as God said, the goodness of the
42:15: Lord brings men to repentance. But sadly, through our own personal experience, what has been revealed, men trample and continue to go on and imbues the wonderful gift of grace and mercy and grow deeper in rebellion and darkness.
42:34: But hypocrisy does have a nemesis and an enemy. And this is the shining idea of the light that God is the righteous judge.
42:44: This is the nemesis. And let us remember this. This is the nemesis of hypocrisy within impunity of God's delaying of consequences.
42:59: That judgment is final and has no appeal. So verse 21, if you look at this verse,
43:06: These things you have done, and I kept silent, and you thought I was altogether like you, but I will rebuke you. They forgot that God was moral and holy.
43:16: Sin darkens the image of God. I kept silent, and you thought
43:24: I was altogether like you. So let's look at, if you will, look at verses 22 -23.
43:35: This is the call to repentance. So God has called man into His courtroom this day, this very hour.
43:44: There's been two charges laid down. And the Spirit of God is the true searcher.
43:51: So there was a call to judgment. The first indictment was laid down, which is a felony against God, which is formalism, worshiping
44:04: God without our hearts. The second indictment is laid down, felony charge. There's two felony charges, which says hypocrisy means basically antinomianism.
44:17: You can live any way, and that grace is just cheap. But God, how loving is one that tells us the truth.
44:29: How loving is the one that... You know,
44:34: God is crying out for us still this very hour as a call to repentance before there's a final verdict.
44:43: These have been charged, but will you be found guilty of these? So the call to repentance, if you look at this in verse 22, the remedy of repentance for hypocrisy and rebellion is in verse 22.
44:59: The remedy of repentance for formalism and dead orthodoxy is verse 23. So I'm going to say that again one more time.
45:07: Verse 22, we have the remedy of repentance for hypocrisy and rebellion. So it's in the reverse order.
45:16: He goes directly dealing with the worse first to the lesser, which is
45:21: God's people. So now consider this, and this means, oh my, to reflect upon the most sobering thought.
45:30: This will save both from destruction. Now consider this, you who forget
45:35: God. Ultimately, if you really think about this, they both forgot God. They both have forgotten
45:41: God. And in a way, if you think about Psalm 14, where the fool in his heart said, there is no
45:52: God, but really he says, no God. Now he has no more chance.
45:58: But God is... We have a call to repentance for this. Listen at the words.
46:06: This is probably some of the strongest words I've ever read in Holy Writ.
46:14: Now consider this, you who forget God. Least I tear you in pieces. And there'll be none to deliver you.
46:23: This is a language of a line tearing its prey apart. Nothing remaining.
46:30: If you will, turn with me to... Let's look at Deuteronomy about this. This is the most quoted book by our
46:38: Lord Jesus Christ. So it might do us good to glean and go through this sometimes in our own personal devotion.
46:48: Deuteronomy 4 as Brother Ben opened up about obedience earlier.
46:59: This is what Moses is commanding obedience. If you will, look at Deuteronomy 4 verse 9.
47:07: And look what it says. Only take heed to yourself and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life, and teach them to your children and to your grandchildren.
47:23: Okay. Go over to verse 23. Same chapter. Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the
47:31: Lord your God, which He made with you. And make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the
47:39: Lord your God has forbidden you. Look over at verse 31. For the
47:45: Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which
47:52: He swore to them. And now look over to chapter 6 verse 12.
47:59: Deuteronomy 6 verse 12. Then beware, lest you forget the
48:08: Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. Look at verse 8, verse 11, and 14.
48:19: Let's just read 8 through 14. 11 through 14. And you're going to start to see a pattern.
48:26: Deuteronomy 8 verse 11 through 14. Deuteronomy 8 starting verse 11.
48:37: Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments,
48:43: His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today. Least when you have eaten, and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have multiplied.
49:02: Listen to this. When your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your
49:07: God who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, who led you through with a great and terrible wilderness in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water, who brought water for you out of the flinty rock.
49:31: So let's look at verse 23. This is the call to repentance for formalism and dead orthodoxy.
49:44: Whoever offers praise glorifies me, and to him who orders his conduct aright
49:49: I will show the salvation of God. So if you look back in verses 14 and 15, look at the comparison in Psalm 50 and just look.
50:04: Offer to God thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.
50:17: This is the remedy of repentance, of formalism and dead orthodoxy.
50:25: God says, look at this wonderful promise. I will show the salvation of God.
50:32: I will show the salvation of God. The promise is to one who by faith receives the truth and acts shall see the salvation of God now and forever.
50:45: So, God has already given us application here.
50:51: There's been already what to do with a call to repentance, to offer thanksgiving, to not forget
50:59: God. So, just my own personal application.
51:07: I don't care how twisted or how corrupt if anyone is listening to this message, your life may be at this moment.
51:13: It is not too late to ask forgiveness from God. God can forgive you and will forgive you if you repent of your sins and plead the blood of Jesus Christ and ask for mercy.
51:26: You may wonder, can God really forgive all the rottenness and the corruption in my life? He certainly can.
51:34: Why? This is why He can do it. Because today, Jesus is on the throne of mercy.
51:42: Jesus is on the throne of mercy and you can find grace and help from Him this very hour.
51:48: But, when we see Him in judgment, He will no longer be on the throne of mercy. He will be the throne of justice.
51:58: So, everyone, without exception, will one day stand before the judgment seat of Christ, be wise and repent and believe the
52:04: Gospel. Let us remember the goodness and severity of God in our daily walk.
52:10: Do we see this in here? The goodness of God. If you'll be reminded, there's hope in this no matter how severe that God condescends to rebels.
52:20: He condescends to rebels. That's hope. That's hope. So, let us never forget the goodness and severity of God in our daily walk, but also in our evangelism.
52:34: Because we don't want to be like Ephraim, the half -burnt cake. We can either speak about God's severity without ever
52:41: His love, or we can speak about God's love without His severity. It must be fully cooked.
52:48: Fully the truth. May the Lord help us. Let us remember too, as Leonard Ravenhill has said, the greatest prayer meeting is in hell this very hour.
53:02: But no one answers. No one answers. Magnify the
53:08: Lord and guard the greatness of God in your own hearts. Lean upon Him and believe every single word
53:14: He has said. Call upon the Lord and don't lose heart and well -doing. Remember this promise and let it ring sweetly in your ears always.
53:23: Offer to God thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High. Because this is the sacrifice
53:29: God will receive. Call upon Me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify
53:35: Me. So, now here's the point. Jesus did not write off these seven churches in the book of Revelation.
53:45: He did not write them off. He said the day may come when He would write them off.
53:51: He may war against them with the sword of His mouth. He'll come against them like a thief.
53:58: We just talked about a thief consenting to a thief. And He would bring them into sickness and if necessary, take away their candlestick and put them out of existence.
54:10: But not yet. But not yet. He gave them all time and He's still giving time to repent.
54:18: The Lord is so slow to anger. Abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
54:24: Keeping the steadfast love for thousands and forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.
54:30: That goes for people like you and me. So God shall judge not the shows anymore but the secrets of men's hearts.
54:40: Let us end with this. Thanksgiving is good, but thanksgiving is better.
54:47: Thanksgiving is good, but thanksgiving is greater. As believers born again of God, the hardest decisions are good, better, and best.
54:59: Let us sanctify the best unto the lover of our souls. So let us pray.
55:08: Father, Your Word is the searcher of our hearts.
55:15: Your Word is true. Your Word is pure. Your Word is holy.
55:21: Lord, Your Word is perfect, converting the souls of men. Lord, help us to come and abide in Thee.
55:30: To have sweet fellowship, union, and communion all the days of our lives. Lord, we see that You shine forth out of Zion and You shine through Zion.
55:43: And we cannot believe that we're still beneficiaries of this amazing grace. Lord, we love
55:50: You. Lord, please. Lord, help us to sing unto You and offer the sacrifice that is acceptable.
55:58: It's to pay our vows unto You and offer up thanksgiving and praise to You because what more can we bring to You?
56:04: You already own everything. It all belongs to You. You said it was mine.
56:11: Lord God, create in us a clean heart. Let us worship You in spirit and in truth.
56:18: Lord, we love You, Lord Jesus, for Your great humility that purchased our salvation.
56:25: Lord, for where will we go when You summon us? And that's the question.
56:30: Where will we hide when we're summoned on that day? Lord, my soul trembles to even think about this.
56:38: Lord, let us think about that song, Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in Thee.
56:46: Lord, we thank You. We thank You for Your Word. Lord, may we continue all throughout this day to be taken up with the things of heaven and not of this earth.
56:55: Let us not use this day as a day that we use it for our own pleasure, but to be taken up with You, to meditate upon You, to love the things
57:08: You love and to hate sin. So we thank You. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.