NXR Podcast - SUNDAY SERMON - The Sermon Of The Skies (Part 1) - Psalm 19
Aired: 2022-07-17
Duration: 54:27


=== Pray For Spiritual Eyes (03:13) ===

[00:00:00]  Hey guys, real quick before we get started, I have a small request.
[00:00:03]  If you've been blessed by our content and you like this show, would you take just a brief moment and leave us a five star review?
[00:00:09]  This is quite possibly the most effective thing that you can do to ensure that this content gets out to as many people as possible.
[00:00:17]  Thanks.
[00:00:18]  Psalm chapter 19, verses 1 through 6.
[00:00:22]  The Bible says this The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
[00:00:29]  Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
[00:00:33]  There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
[00:00:38]  Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
[00:00:42]  In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom, leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
[00:00:52]  Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
[00:00:59]  This is the word of the Lord.
[00:01:03]  All right, please be seated and join me as I pray for us once more.
[00:01:07]  Father, we pray that through the preaching of your word, your people would indeed arrive at a right knowledge of who you are, what you've done, and what it is that you require from us.
[00:01:17]  Father, we pray that in your word we would see who you are, your character, your heart, your nature.
[00:01:24]  Father, we pray that we'd also see what it is that you've done for us, what you've done as the universal creator of all things, what you've done in your work of creation.
[00:01:34]  But Father, we pray that for those of us who have been given by grace, I To see and ears to hear, that we would see beyond merely your work in creation, but we would see your work in redemption and salvation, even in this Old Testament psalm, that we would see your love for us through the person and work of Jesus Christ.
[00:01:55]  And Father, we also pray that we would see, we would receive a revelation of what it is that we're required to do, what it is that you command of us in light of who you are, in light of what you've done, and in light of what you promise to do.
[00:02:10]  So, Father, our prayer today is.
[00:02:12]  That you would equip us by the power of your spirit and by your grace with spiritual eyes to see, spiritual ears to hear, new hearts that are softened and malleable and receptive to your truth, so that we might indeed receive the truth of your word today, and that we might receive it with gladness and with joy.
[00:02:34]  This revelation of a right knowledge of who you are, what you've done, and what you require, that it would not serve as merely an end in itself, but as a necessary means propelling your people.
[00:02:45]  Into greater love, adoration, worship, and obedience like never before.
[00:02:50]  We pray all these things ultimately that you might be glorified in all the earth, but we also pray these things for the good of those people that you're saving across the globe, in our city, and perhaps if you would be so kind, even in this room, especially with our children.
[00:03:06]  We pray all these things with confidence, for we pray them in Jesus' name and amen.
[00:03:12]  All right.

=== Natural Revelation Limits (08:39) ===

[00:03:13]  As a brief introduction, just to set a little bit of Theological groundwork.
[00:03:18]  I just wanted to define two terms that I've used a few times as we've gathered together on the Lord's Day, but I wanted to provide in your sermon notes and then also verbally a little bit more of a specific and detailed description or definition of these two theological terms.
[00:03:36]  The two terms are as follows natural revelation and supernatural revelation, also known as general revelation and special revelation.
[00:03:46]  In the case of natural revelation or general revelation, I've written the following.
[00:03:51]  Natural revelation is the display of some attributes, some, not all, that's key.
[00:03:57]  Some attributes of God through creation, by what God has made, his physical creation.
[00:04:03]  Now, there's something that we should be aware of.
[00:04:05]  We need to be cautious because natural revelation is inferred from fallible human observations.
[00:04:12]  You and I, we are fallible creatures, fallen creatures, and finite creatures, and we are the ones perceiving God's attributes through natural revelation.
[00:04:21]  But also, there's another concern with natural revelation, and that is the natural world, the creation itself.
[00:04:27]  So, it's not only that you and I are a part of God's natural creation, that we are creatures and we are finite and fallen, and therefore our perceptions are fallible, our perceptions can be flawed, but it's also that what we're looking at, what it is that we're actually perceiving, not only the one who is perceiving, but the object we're perceiving, is also subject to the curse.
[00:04:50]  When we think of creation, it's important for us to keep in mind that this world is under the curse of sin.
[00:04:56]  And so, this world reveals, according to Scripture, we'll get there in a moment, this world reveals the glory of God, some of the attributes of God, and this world reveals those things accurately.
[00:05:09]  And we receive or perceive those things accurately.
[00:05:13]  And the we that I'm using in this context is not just believers, not just those who are God's people born again by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, but I'm using an even broader we to describe all human beings.
[00:05:27]  Romans 1, and I'll get there in just a moment, but Romans 1 is clear that all people, both believers and unbelievers alike, have not only seen a revelation of God's attributes, who God is in creation, in natural or general revelation, but they've also understood it.
[00:05:45]  It's one thing for God to manifest something, reveal something, but it's another.
[00:05:49]  In Romans chapter 1, God goes further and actually says, He doesn't just say, I have displayed a portion of who I am to all people, but He says, and all people have seen it.
[00:05:59]  They all know.
[00:06:01]  They've all understood.
[00:06:02]  They've all perceived.
[00:06:04]  And that's precisely why all people, believers and unbelievers alike, are without excuse, is what Romans chapter 1 says.
[00:06:12]  So we have natural revelation, that is what God has revealed about himself through his physical creation, his general revelation, by what he has made.
[00:06:23]  However, we need to be cautious as we seek to interpret attributes of God through natural revelation or general revelation, because We are a part of God's creation.
[00:06:33]  We are creatures and we are both finite and fallen.
[00:06:37]  And the world that we're perceiving, this physical creation, is also fallen by man's rebellion, by man's willful sin.
[00:06:46]  Not only has man fallen underneath the curse of sin, but the whole creation has become subject to the curse.
[00:06:55]  So, to give you an example, if you're looking at the world, you're going to be confronted on a regular basis with something such as death.
[00:07:05]  And it might be convenient for someone to take away from that natural revelation the fact that things die, trees die, plants, animals, people die.
[00:07:18]  You look at the world and you're confronted regularly with the concept, the reality of death.
[00:07:24]  And it might be easy, if we're not careful, to all of a sudden impute that understanding of death to God in a wrongful way.
[00:07:32]  That we might be tempted to say God is the author of death.
[00:07:36]  God is responsible for death.
[00:07:39]  But that would be wrong.
[00:07:40]  You see, death did not come into the world in creation.
[00:07:44]  God did not create the world with death.
[00:07:46]  No, death came into the world by sin.
[00:07:49]  God didn't introduce death to the world.
[00:07:52]  We did.
[00:07:53]  So we need to be careful because we, the ones who are perceiving God's attributes in natural revelation or general revelation, we ourselves are creatures, not the creator.
[00:08:04]  We're a part of that creation and we are finite and fallen.
[00:08:08]  And also the creation that we are looking at, that we're observing, is also finite and fallen.
[00:08:14]  By man's rebellion, creation, not only humankind, but all of creation has been subject to sin.
[00:08:21]  Even the ground.
[00:08:22]  The earth itself was cursed because of Adam's sin.
[00:08:26]  It would now produce thorns and thistles.
[00:08:29]  Man was always required and always called and created to work.
[00:08:33]  But the curse introduced that the ground, the earth, would actually work against man, that his work would be frustrating and exasperating and at times futile.
[00:08:45]  So we need to be careful as we seek to perceive the character of God in general or natural revelation.
[00:08:53]  Romans chapter 1, verse 18 through 20 says this For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood.
[00:09:06]  That's what I was speaking of earlier.
[00:09:08]  They've not just been displayed, but they've been perceived.
[00:09:12]  The display has been received and perceived and understood by all people, believers and unbelievers alike, through natural revelation by what God has made.
[00:09:25]  And because of this, this is precisely why all men are without an excuse.
[00:09:31]  Even that lost people tribe somewhere in the deep, dark jungles of South America, this hypothetical group of people who have never received even a page of scripture, they've never had a single preacher come to them, they've never had any ounce of special revelation.
[00:09:46]  Natural revelation, simply by what God has physically made, is still sufficient, but sufficient for what?
[00:09:53]  Sufficient for their condemnation.
[00:09:56]  It's not sufficient to save, but it is sufficient to strip man of any and all excuse.
[00:10:06]  Does that make sense?
[00:10:06]  So, natural revelation, the way God reveals himself through his physical creation to all people, both believers and unbelievers alike, is sufficient.
[00:10:15]  It is accurate in a sense.
[00:10:18]  It is accurate to a point.
[00:10:19]  It's clearly seen.
[00:10:21]  The word clearly is used in Romans chapter 1.
[00:10:23]  So, it's clear enough, it's accurate enough, it's credible enough to all people.
[00:10:29]  For the purpose of stripping them of any and all excuses, for the purpose of indicting them, for the purpose of condemnation, for the purpose of making them clearly guilty without having any kind of excuse.
[00:10:48]  And what would be, just to list one example of an excuse, what would be the number one excuse that the unbeliever would try to cite in the presence of God for not submitting to Him, not believing the gospel, not loving Him?
[00:11:01]  It would be ignorance.
[00:11:03]  Right?
[00:11:04]  It's the classic argument of innocence on the basis of ignorance.
[00:11:08]  We didn't know.
[00:11:10]  Well, natural revelation says, yes, you did.
[00:11:15]  But we didn't know everything.
[00:11:16]  You knew enough.
[00:11:18]  That's what natural revelation accomplishes.
[00:11:21]  It reveals not all the attributes of God, but some of the attributes of God.
[00:11:26]  And Paul explicitly names at least two the eternal power of God, the divine nature of God.
[00:11:33]  He lists these two in specific, and he says that this.
[00:11:36]  This partial revelation of the character of God has been clearly displayed and clearly perceived by all people, and it is sufficient not to save, but to strip you of excuses and to condemn.

=== Special Revelation Defined (05:10) ===

[00:11:53]  Now, supernatural revelation or special revelation, by contrast, is the method that God has chosen to reveal himself by miraculous means.
[00:12:01]  Special revelation includes appearances of God.
[00:12:05]  Theophanies.
[00:12:06]  This isn't God who is spirit, right?
[00:12:08]  That's John chapter 4, the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.
[00:12:14]  She asks him a question about worship, right?
[00:12:17]  Which is really her attempt to change the subject because he's just convicted her of sin, right?
[00:12:21]  He says, Hey, go and bring your husband.
[00:12:24]  I don't want to just sit here and talk to a woman alone.
[00:12:27]  Let's go ahead and get the head of your house and let's have a conversation with both of you about God, about spiritual matters, things that are eternal.
[00:12:36]  The things that are of ultimate significance.
[00:12:39]  And she says, Well, I don't have a husband.
[00:12:41]  And he says, You're right to say that you don't have a husband.
[00:12:43]  The fact is, you've had five husbands, and the man you're currently with is not your husband.
[00:12:48]  And then she immediately responds by saying, I perceive you're a prophet.
[00:12:50]  Could we talk about something else?
[00:12:53]  You know, let's talk about the theological, you know, elements of worship.
[00:12:58]  Where should we worship?
[00:13:00]  You know, your people, the Jews, they say that we should worship in Jerusalem, at the temple.
[00:13:06]  My people say that we should worship at the mountain.
[00:13:09]  Jesus says, I tell you the truth, paraphrasing Christ at this moment, where you worship is not the primary issue.
[00:13:18]  The primary issue is who you worship, the one true God, and how you worship in spirit and in truth.
[00:13:25]  And why does Jesus say that you must worship in spirit and in truth?
[00:13:29]  He says, you should worship in spirit and in truth because God is spirit.
[00:13:34]  So all these physical elements of worship, like the physical location, The place, a temple, or a mountain that you're emphasizing is a misplaced emphasis.
[00:13:48]  Why?
[00:13:49]  Because the God that you're worshiping, to focus on the physical, is a wrong emphasis because the God that you're worshiping is not physical.
[00:13:58]  He's God without body, parts, and passions.
[00:14:00]  You are worshiping a God who is spirit, and therefore, true worshipers worship in spirit and truth.
[00:14:08]  And so we worship God in spirit.
[00:14:10]  So special revelation.
[00:14:12]  Is God revealing Himself by miraculous means?
[00:14:15]  And one of the examples of this would be a physical appearance of God, theologically known as a theophany.
[00:14:20]  Now, a theophany is a physical appearance of God, but I went through the John chapter 4 explanation just to be clear.
[00:14:28]  A physical appearance of God does not mean that God Himself has a physical body.
[00:14:33]  So, all throughout the Old Testament, we have multiple examples of theophanies.
[00:14:38]  But this is the God who is spirit.
[00:14:40]  And if we want to break it down to the three persons of the Trinity, God the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit.
[00:14:45]  In the Old Testament, this is before even the Son has taken on flesh.
[00:14:49]  So, with the confession, both the Westminster and the 1689 London Baptist Confession speak of God in these terms God is a most pure spirit without body, hearts, or passions.
[00:15:03]  Now, that description of God who dwells in unapproachable light, that description of God is accurate and true of all three persons, not just two, not just the Father and the Spirit, but all three persons of the Trinity up until a particular moment in human history.
[00:15:19]  Jesus has not eternally been the God man.
[00:15:24]  He has not eternally been the God man.
[00:15:25]  He is forever the God man.
[00:15:27]  Forever and eternity, using these in two different ways.
[00:15:29]  Forever meaning there will be no end.
[00:15:32]  But eternity means there will be no end and there is no beginning.
[00:15:36]  So Jesus is not eternally the God man.
[00:15:38]  There is a precise moment in real human history, preordained before the foundations of the world and the Council of Eternity, a moment, a time, when Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the second member of the eternal Trinity, would take on flesh.
[00:15:56]  Until that moment, until 2,000 years ago, give or take, when Christ was incarnate.
[00:16:03]  Jesus, just as the Father and just as the Spirit, was a most pure spirit without body, parts, and passions.
[00:16:09]  So in the Old Testament, theophanies, physical appearances of God, are not God meaning for us to interpret as God having a physical form or a physical body.
[00:16:22]  It's a physical appearance that God is taking on, but it's not his actual essence.
[00:16:27]  It's not that God has a physical body.
[00:16:29]  So, for instance, the first one that we would have is in Genesis chapter 1 and 2, that in the cool of the day, God walked with Adam and Eve.
[00:16:38]  Most of the biblical scholars and theologians that I would trust would say that this was actually a physical appearance of Jesus.
[00:16:45]  He had not yet taken on literal physical flesh, but whether this be, you picture it or imagine it as a hologram or whatever you might need to do, it's something they could physically see, but it doesn't mean God has a physical body.
[00:16:59]  Here's another example of the theophany the burning bush.

=== Theophany Examples Explored (04:19) ===

[00:17:03]  When God speaks to Moses, the bush is aflame, but there is no smoke.
[00:17:08]  The bush is not actually being consumed by the fire.
[00:17:12]  The bush is on fire, but it's not being burned.
[00:17:16]  And God speaks from the bush.
[00:17:18]  Now, we're not meant to interpret that the bush is God.
[00:17:21]  That when we get to heaven, we're going to see seated on a throne, surrounded by four living creatures and 24 elders, we're going to see a bush on fire.
[00:17:31]  No, that's not who God is in a literal physical sense.
[00:17:35]  And yet, that was a physical appearance, it's something that Moses could see.
[00:17:40]  He could literally see.
[00:17:42]  Another theophany would be multiple times throughout the Old Testament, we hear this phrase, right?
[00:17:48]  There are multiple appearances of angels, but from time to time we hear the phrase, the angel of the Lord.
[00:17:54]  Like in the case of Joshua, the angel of the Lord.
[00:17:57]  Even the case of Nahum, the prophet who was beating his donkey.
[00:18:04]  Is it Nahum or am I getting it wrong?
[00:18:07]  Who was the prophet who was on his way?
[00:18:09]  Balaam.
[00:18:10]  Balaam's donkey.
[00:18:11]  Balaam, in the case of Balaam, you know, his donkey stops in the middle of the road and he starts to beat his donkey.
[00:18:18]  And eventually, God supernaturally gives the donkey the ability to speak.
[00:18:21]  And the donkey says to the prophet, Balaam, Well, why are you beating me?
[00:18:26]  And you would think his immediate reaction, I mean, this kind of speaks to the level of arrogance.
[00:18:31]  He's very frustrated and distressed at this point because you would think that the natural reaction would be, Whoa, a donkey's talking.
[00:18:37]  But his reaction is actually to answer the donkey's question.
[00:18:41]  Right?
[00:18:41]  What kind of frame of mind do you have to be in to not be taken so far aback, so shocked, but rather to argue?
[00:18:47]  His first inclination is not shock and bewilderment and wonder, but frustration and begins to engage in an argument with a donkey.
[00:18:56]  Because at that moment, I would say that Balaam has stooped to the level of the donkey.
[00:19:02]  You have an argument, a debate between two jackasses, if you will.
[00:19:07]  You know, Balaam and the donkey.
[00:19:10]  Using that term, and you know, and the Physical animal description.
[00:19:13]  So, anyways, he's arguing with the donkey.
[00:19:15]  Well, I'm beating you because you won't obey me.
[00:19:17]  And if I had a sword, he says, I would actually kill you.
[00:19:20]  Pretty dramatic, pretty heated, pretty frustrated in that moment.
[00:19:24]  But then the angel of the Lord appears.
[00:19:27]  Not just an angel, an angel, but the angel of the Lord and says, I've given the donkey eyes to see.
[00:19:33]  And really, what the angel of the Lord is saying in that moment is this the angel of the Lord is saying, the donkey, right?
[00:19:39]  Because prophets, one of the words in the Old Testament for a prophet was seer, S E E R, one who sees.
[00:19:46]  And so, what the angel of the Lord is saying in that moment is, the donkey is more perceptive than you.
[00:19:51]  The donkey is functioning in a greater and superior prophetic role than you who are supposed to be.
[00:19:58]  The prophet.
[00:20:00]  The donkey is seeing, and you are oblivious, dull, blind.
[00:20:06]  And if it were not for the donkey's ability to see in this moment, if the donkey had gone one step further, if the donkey had responded and had submitted to your commands and your physical beatings, I would have killed you.
[00:20:19]  And the angel of the Lord goes a step further and says, But I would have let the donkey live because it wouldn't have been her fault.
[00:20:25]  So I would have let the donkey live, but I would have killed you.
[00:20:29]  And now all of a sudden, finally, he has.
[00:20:31]  A posture that's humble.
[00:20:32]  But again, this is an example of the angel of the Lord.
[00:20:36]  Joshua, same thing, I've already mentioned Joshua, but remember, he falls down with fear and trembling.
[00:20:41]  And his first question is, Are you for us or against us?
[00:20:47]  And the angel of the Lord says, Neither.
[00:20:50]  I'm for God.
[00:20:51]  The angel of the Lord, most biblical scholars and theologians would say, This is an example of God Himself.
[00:20:57]  It's not just an angel, but the angel of the Lord is actually Jesus.
[00:21:01]  But this is Old Testament before Jesus, as Taken on flesh.
[00:21:04]  And yet, it's still a physical appearance of Jesus, Jesus who is not yet incarnate, Jesus who has not yet taken on a human nature, and yet still a physical appearance of Jesus that looks enough like a man to where people can see it, recognize, and have a conversation.

=== Prophetic Discernment Needed (07:24) ===

[00:21:23]  So God reveals himself in natural revelation, but also special revelation.
[00:21:27]  Special revelation is miraculous means.
[00:21:30]  One example of that would be theophanies, physical appearances of God who is without a physical body.
[00:21:37]  And yet, he still physically appears, even in the Old Testament, on multiple occasions.
[00:21:42]  Also, dreams, also visions, also prophecies, and then especially the Bible.
[00:21:48]  Now, I went, I labored the point of theophanies, and I wanted to mention dreams and visions and prophecies because we often think that special revelation is relegated exclusively to the written Word of God, the 66 books of the Bible.
[00:22:04]  But the reality is, until these books of the Bible were inscripturated by the prophets and the apostles, inspired by The Holy Spirit, God was providing for His people even before the New Covenant, even before the New Testament, God was providing for His people even in the Old Testament for millennium special revelation.
[00:22:26]  The law of God that comes from Mount Sinai, written on two tablets of stone, is special revelation.
[00:22:32]  The finger of God wrote something to people.
[00:22:36]  Every prophecy that we see in the Old Testament and the New was special revelation.
[00:22:41]  And we know that in the apostolic age, in the beginning of the New Testament, that there were many.
[00:22:47]  Many prophets.
[00:22:48]  We know that in the case of Philip, he had four daughters who prophesied.
[00:22:52]  We know that Agabus was a prophet.
[00:22:53]  There were many prophecies that were given that we actually don't even have record of.
[00:22:59]  And so God was speaking to his people, not just by what he has made in natural or general revelation, not just by the sunrise and the sunset, not just by the stars and the moon and the sky, but God was speaking specifically, particularly in his special revelation to his church, to his people all throughout the Old Testament.
[00:23:18]  By the law and the prophets, but even in the New Testament through apostles and the special revelation he provided for them, but also through prophets like Agabus.
[00:23:27]  And many of these examples of special revelation we don't actually have inscripturated, we don't have recorded in our Bibles.
[00:23:35]  So, why did God do that?
[00:23:36]  Well, one of the reasons that he did that is because we didn't have the Bible.
[00:23:40]  The Bible hadn't yet been inscripturated, it hadn't yet been translated into every tribe and tongue and language.
[00:23:47]  You and I have far more.
[00:23:48]  This is what I want you to get.
[00:23:50]  You and I, sometimes we look back on the early church, we look back on that apostolic age, and we feel a sense of carnal, fleshly envy.
[00:24:00]  Oh, what it would have been like to be discipled personally by the Apostle Paul.
[00:24:05]  But the reason why we envy the early church, the people of that age, is often because they received so much specific, particular, intimate, personal revelation from God.
[00:24:18]  But we have not less, but more.
[00:24:21]  We have more.
[00:24:23]  We have, I don't know, it depends on the size of your font and what particular translation, but we have 1,500 to 3,000 pages of revelation, give or take, from God.
[00:24:34]  Special revelation.
[00:24:36]  The Corinthian church would have done anything to have that many prophecies.
[00:24:41]  They certainly received many, but not that much.
[00:24:45]  And the prophecies that they received still had to be tested, right?
[00:24:48]  One should prophesy while the rest weigh what is being said.
[00:24:53]  They still had the danger, the threat, the The potential of false prophets rising up in their midst and misleading them.
[00:25:00]  Whereas for you and I, when we read the Word of God, we want to read it carefully.
[00:25:04]  We want to read it with discernment.
[00:25:06]  But the discernment that we utilize in our private study and public preaching of the Word of God is a discernment to get at the meaning.
[00:25:15]  It's not a discernment to find out whether or not the Word of God is true or false.
[00:25:20]  So we're able to read 3,500 to 3,000 pages of special revelation without any fear.
[00:25:27]  Without any concern, any worry that it might be false or that it might be intended to mislead.
[00:25:34]  What a privilege, what grace.
[00:25:36]  We have been given many words from God.
[00:25:40]  So, special revelation, it comes in the form of appearances of God, theophanies, it comes in the form of dreams and visions, the law given at Mount Sinai and other laws given through Moses, the Deuteronomy, and Leviticus and Numbers, but then also through the prophets, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.
[00:25:59]  But for you and I, we have.
[00:26:01]  The Bible in scripture.
[00:26:03]  We have the law and the prophets summed up for us in binding that we're able to preach from and hear from and study week in and week out.
[00:26:12]  This is such an incredible privilege.
[00:26:14]  But did you know, brothers and sisters, there is one more example of special revelation that's actually even greater than the Bible?
[00:26:23]  And that is Jesus Christ.
[00:26:27]  Jesus, in his incarnation, is an example.
[00:26:31]  The premier example of special revelation.
[00:26:34]  Because special revelation, all it is, is a word from God.
[00:26:38]  But Jesus is the word.
[00:26:40]  He is the logos, the logic, the word, the message personified.
[00:26:46]  The word of God in flesh, who came and dwelt among us.
[00:26:51]  The word there in the Greek is He tabernacled among us.
[00:26:54]  So, in the way that God's presence, as it were, was potent in the tabernacle in Old Testament Israel, present with the people of God, Jesus is.
[00:27:06]  The personified presence of God more clearly displayed than the tabernacle, more clearly displayed than the temple, or any of these other things.
[00:27:16]  Jesus is an example, the premier example, even greater than the Bible, of special revelation.
[00:27:24]  Hebrews 1, chapter 1, verse 1 through 3 says this Long ago, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets, right?
[00:27:33]  God provided special revelation through other means, like the prophets.
[00:27:37]  And He did this in various ways, right?
[00:27:39]  That's what I've already labored.
[00:27:40]  Dreams, visions.
[00:27:41]  There are various ways that God provided special revelation in the times of old through The prophets, but in these last days, God has provided special revelation for us by His Son.
[00:27:53]  Jesus is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being.
[00:28:00]  If you want to hear from God, if you want to know what God is saying, if you want to see what God is like, look to the person and work of Jesus Christ.
[00:28:12]  There is no more accurate portrayal of the nature, the character, and the Word of God than Christ.
[00:28:20]  Where do we see Christ, though?
[00:28:21]  For you and I, who were not eyewitnesses 2,000 years ago, well, we see Christ in the written word.
[00:28:29]  We see Jesus in the Bible, and we see him most clearly when the Spirit of God illuminates the word to us.
[00:28:38]  So the Spirit is working in conjunction with the word to help us ultimately see Christ, which shows us the Father.

=== Creation Speaks Glory (13:31) ===

[00:28:47]  That is special revelation.
[00:28:50]  Now, with that framework, I wanted to labor all that natural or general revelation, which is what we primarily are getting a picture of, a description of in our text today.
[00:29:00]  Psalm 19, verses 1 through 6.
[00:29:03]  But I also wanted us to understand supernatural or special revelation.
[00:29:07]  Now that the framework, the ground has been laid, I'll be able to move efficiently, or rather quickly, through these six verses.
[00:29:15]  So, Psalm 19, verse 1 says this The heavens are telling the glory of God and the firmament of God.
[00:29:24]  Declares his handiwork.
[00:29:27]  Here, David references the physical skies and all that they contain.
[00:29:32]  What you can see when you look to the skies the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, the clouds.
[00:29:37]  This is what David is speaking of.
[00:29:38]  So, when he says the heavens, he's not speaking of the spiritual heavens.
[00:29:42]  He's using the word heavens as it's often used in the Old Testament to describe the skies.
[00:29:47]  The heavens and the sea would be the sky, the physical sky and the sea.
[00:29:52]  And so, what he says is this the heavens are telling.
[00:29:56]  They're proclaiming, they're speaking.
[00:30:00]  The sky is saying something about God.
[00:30:04]  And the firmament is speaking.
[00:30:07]  Again, that's speaking to the atmosphere, speaking to the sky.
[00:30:11]  It's also speaking.
[00:30:12]  So, in both cases, the heavens and the firmament, David is referencing the physical earthly creation, but particularly the sky.
[00:30:21]  And he's saying the sky, the physical sky, when we look at it, it's shouting something to us.
[00:30:27]  About God.
[00:30:29]  So that's verse one.
[00:30:30]  David, in a nutshell, in short, he says, The skies are speaking about God.
[00:30:37]  Verse two, day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge.
[00:30:42]  So David began in verse one by saying, The sky speaks.
[00:30:46]  In verse two, David is saying that the sky, not only does it speak, the sky won't shut up.
[00:30:52]  In other words, God is constantly speaking all day and all night by what he has made.
[00:30:58]  Look at verse two again.
[00:31:00]  Day to day.
[00:31:01]  Pours out, right?
[00:31:04]  It's this image of day to day, meaning every day and all day, without pause, without ceasing, and not just a trickle, not just a continual, constant trickle, but a pouring, a gushing of what?
[00:31:17]  Of speech.
[00:31:18]  So the sky speaks, verse one.
[00:31:22]  The sky is constantly speaking a lot, verse two.
[00:31:27]  Now, verse three says this there is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
[00:31:35]  Now, notice the apparent, at first glance, at a surface look, notice the apparent contradiction between verse 2 and verse 3.
[00:31:43]  See, in verse 2, David says that the sky never stops talking.
[00:31:47]  But in verse 3, David says that the sky never utters a word.
[00:31:50]  Now, we know that God's word does not contradict itself.
[00:31:54]  So we know that verse 3 is not meant to contradict or eradicate or erase verse 2.
[00:32:00]  Therefore, we must logically conclude that both of these verses are somehow simultaneously true.
[00:32:07]  So, how do we resolve the apparent tension or contradiction between these two verses?
[00:32:13]  I believe the natural conclusion for us is this the constant speaking of the skies.
[00:32:18]  So, we can't say, oh, the skies are constantly speaking, verse 2.
[00:32:21]  Oh, actually, they're not really speaking, verse 3.
[00:32:23]  No, the skies are constantly speaking, verse 2 is true, but they're constantly speaking somehow without literal words, verse 3.
[00:32:32]  So, the skies, they speak something about God.
[00:32:35]  Verse 1, the skies are always speaking, and they're speaking a lot about God.
[00:32:39]  Verse 2.
[00:32:40]  And the skies are doing this, speaking constantly a lot about God, somehow without words.
[00:32:47]  Verse 3.
[00:32:48]  Now we're ready for verse 4.
[00:32:50]  Verse 4 in our text says this Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
[00:32:57]  In verse 1, we saw that the skies are speaking.
[00:33:00]  In verse 2, we saw that God is speaking through the skies all the time.
[00:33:04]  And in verse 3, we learn that this constant speaking is accomplished somehow without the medium of words.
[00:33:10]  But now in verse 4, we discover that God is not merely speaking all the time, but he is also speaking in all places.
[00:33:19]  So the point thus far has been this without the need for words, literal human words, God is still speaking through the skies at all times to all people in all places.
[00:33:32]  Look at verse 4 again.
[00:33:33]  Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
[00:33:39]  Verse 2 is day to day pours out speech.
[00:33:43]  So, lots of speech all the time.
[00:33:44]  That's verse 2.
[00:33:46]  But verse 4 is all this speech pouring out all the time, it's going to all the earth.
[00:33:52]  It's going to the end of the world.
[00:33:54]  It's going everywhere.
[00:33:56]  So, in the first four verses of Psalm 19, this is the framework we have thus far.
[00:34:01]  The skies are saying something about God, and they are speaking all the time, and they're speaking in every place, and they're doing this without the need for literal words.
[00:34:13]  They're speaking as it were.
[00:34:16]  Now, The main point of our text is verse 5 and verse 6.
[00:34:20]  And that's what I want us to focus on now.
[00:34:24]  Verses 5 through 6 of our text says this In them, he, that is God, in the skies, God has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber.
[00:34:35]  And like a strong man, it runs its course with joy.
[00:34:39]  Its rising is from one end of the heavens and its circuit to the end of them.
[00:34:44]  And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
[00:34:47]  So, in the first four verses of Psalm 19, we discover that without the need for words, God is speaking through the skies at all times, to all people, in all places.
[00:34:58]  And because God never speaks in vain, we must conclude that God is speaking something important, something significant for us to hear.
[00:35:07]  However, the question that still remains at this point in our text is this What is God speaking?
[00:35:14]  Well, according to verse 1, that's where we actually find the answers, all the way back in verse 1, but we only find the answer in summary, in a short word.
[00:35:24]  Verse 1 says that God is speaking through the skies simply one word.
[00:35:30]  And he's speaking this word everywhere, all of the time.
[00:35:33]  God is shouting, as it were, through the skies one word over and over and over again.
[00:35:40]  The word is glory.
[00:35:43]  Verse 1 says, The heavens speak, but they declare, they speak of the glory of God.
[00:35:51]  Now, contrary to the opinions of atheists, creation, notice in verse 1 of our text, this is so plain creation, the skies, the heavens, the sun and moon and stars.
[00:36:03]  They do not sing their own praises.
[00:36:07]  Creation speaks to the glory of another.
[00:36:10]  Creation speaks to the glory of the God who made it.
[00:36:14]  Unlike the atheist, contrary to the atheist opinion, creation is singing.
[00:36:19]  The atheist would say that.
[00:36:20]  They would say, yes, in a metaphorical sense, creation sings.
[00:36:23]  It sings to its own glory, it sings to its own majesty.
[00:36:27]  Look at this sunset.
[00:36:28]  Look at this creature.
[00:36:30]  Crikey, she's a beaut.
[00:36:32]  You know, like the creation is shouting all the time about how amazing it is.
[00:36:37]  Well, the Bible would agree with half of that statement and then disagree with the other.
[00:36:44]  Yes, creation is speaking all the time.
[00:36:45]  That's absolutely right.
[00:36:46]  But it's not speaking about how glorious it is, it's speaking about how glorious the one who made it is.
[00:36:54]  That's verse 1.
[00:36:55]  The heavens declare the glory of themselves.
[00:36:58]  No, the heavens declare the glory of God.
[00:37:04]  Now, we know that the revelation of God's glory through creation.
[00:37:08]  Can actually mean two things.
[00:37:10]  So, this is the big point I want you to get.
[00:37:13]  God is saying something to everyone at every time in every place by what He has made.
[00:37:19]  In particular, in our text today, through the skies.
[00:37:23]  And if we were to sum it up in a word, according to verse one of our text, that one word would be glory.
[00:37:28]  So, God is speaking over and over and over again to everyone throughout all the earth through what He has made, one word about Himself glory.
[00:37:37]  But what we know with the whole biblical theology is that.
[00:37:40]  Is that this one word that God continues to speak to everyone through his general revelation, his natural revelation?
[00:37:49]  This is one word, but it can have two very distinct meanings.
[00:37:54]  The one word that God is shouting by what he has made again and again about himself is glory, glory, glory.
[00:38:03]  I am the glorious one.
[00:38:06]  But what it means for God to be glorious can be one of two things.
[00:38:10]  The old adage is this beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
[00:38:14]  And depending on the one who perceives the glory of God, the glory of God, if we were to sum it up into two words, it can be either judgment or joy.
[00:38:23]  Judgment or joy.
[00:38:25]  And this is precisely why the last two verses in our text today, verses 5 and 6, are so important.
[00:38:32]  Because verse 5 and 6 plainly tell us that in the case of David, who's perceiving the glory of God in the sky, he doesn't see judgment.
[00:38:43]  David.
[00:38:44]  Because he's born again by grace through faith in Christ.
[00:38:47]  David, because he's a child of God, because he's a new creation, he's been given spiritual eyes to see.
[00:38:54]  David, when he looks to the skies, when he sees a glorious sunset, when he sees the sun, the moon, and the stars without number, David sees glory.
[00:39:03]  But the glory of God to him is not judgment.
[00:39:06]  It's not fear.
[00:39:08]  It's joy.
[00:39:09]  It's joy.
[00:39:11]  Now, how do we know that the glory of God revealed through natural revelation could mean judgment for some?
[00:39:17]  It's all the way back to the foundation we laid with Romans chapter 1, particularly verse 19 through 20.
[00:39:23]  For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them.
[00:39:28]  For his invisible attributes, namely, specifically, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made.
[00:39:40]  So, what's the result?
[00:39:42]  What's the conclusion of that reality?
[00:39:44]  God revealing himself by what he has made to all people?
[00:39:47]  The result is they're without an excuse.
[00:39:51]  The result is they're guilty.
[00:39:53]  That's the result.
[00:39:56]  What is the end, the outcome, the result of God revealing himself by natural revelation?
[00:40:02]  To the unregenerate man, the result, the purpose, we might even say, is guilt.
[00:40:11]  So that they are without an excuse.
[00:40:12]  So that God is further justified in his judgment.
[00:40:18]  It is a defense of God.
[00:40:20]  So that no man would be able to ever accuse God of having failed.
[00:40:26]  That no man would ever be able to raise his fist to God and say, You're the one who failed.
[00:40:32]  It's not that I didn't believe, it's that you were a bad provider.
[00:40:36]  You failed to provide sufficient evidence.
[00:40:39]  No, man is not the jury.
[00:40:43]  Man constantly, constantly places himself in the seat of the judge or in the seats of the jurors and says, God is on trial.
[00:40:53]  And God is the one, he's the defense.
[00:40:55]  God's the one on trial, and God is the one who is obligated to provide a compelling case for his existence, for his glory, for his character, for his goodness, for his holiness, for his justice.
[00:41:08]  God's on trial here.
[00:41:09]  And rather than innocent until proven guilty, we go even further than that.
[00:41:13]  We put God on trial and we say he's guilty until he proves himself innocent.
[00:41:19]  That's not what Romans 1, verse 19 through 20 teaches.
[00:41:22]  Romans 1, verse 19 through 20 teaches the reality of the situation that God is the judge and that man is on trial and that God has indeed provided all that is necessary to condemn man righteously.
[00:41:38]  He is without an excuse, he has been provided with plenty, sufficient evidence.
[00:41:44]  God has clearly displayed something, and man has clearly understood and perceived that something.
[00:41:51]  The problem is this the problem is that what God has displayed and what man, all men, believers and unbelievers alike, have perceived in God's natural revelation, it's sufficient for condemnation, for judgment, but not salvation.
[00:42:06]  And how do we know that?
[00:42:07]  Well, we know that by going forward in the book of Romans, namely chapter 10.
[00:42:12]  Romans chapter 10, starting with verse 14, it says, How will they believe?
[00:42:16]  How can we be saved?
[00:42:18]  By belief.

=== Natural Revelation Condemns (12:08) ===

[00:42:19]  Right, not by works, but by faith.
[00:42:22]  So, if we want to be saved, we want to be pardoned of our sin, forgiven of all our iniquity, we must believe.
[00:42:29]  But Romans 10 says, How will they believe unless they hear?
[00:42:32]  And how will they hear unless someone preaches?
[00:42:36]  Someone has to preach, and how will they preach unless they're sent?
[00:42:39]  For it is written, Blessed are the feet of those who bring good news.
[00:42:43]  See, natural revelation, the skies that David speaks of in our six verses today, the skies are sufficient to testify to some attributes of God.
[00:42:53]  If nothing else, his divine nature, his eternal power.
[00:42:58]  And this is sufficient to condemn man, to strip him of any legitimate excuse where he might want to claim ignorance as a basis for innocence.
[00:43:09]  But the skies are not sufficient to produce faith.
[00:43:15]  For that, you need a preacher.
[00:43:18]  Someone must preach to them.
[00:43:19]  And preach what?
[00:43:20]  Well, the skies are preaching.
[00:43:21]  According to David, they already have a preacher.
[00:43:24]  I mean, we could use that word preaching, and I think it would be faithful exegesis to say David, in a sense, is saying that the skies are, the sky itself is a preacher, and it's constantly preaching.
[00:43:34]  It's a preacher like me, it's long winded.
[00:43:37]  Right?
[00:43:38]  The skies, there's wind, and there's long.
[00:43:42]  If you explain the joke, it kind of ruins it, but I couldn't help myself.
[00:43:44]  So the skies, they're long winded, they're constantly preaching, and they're preaching to everyone.
[00:43:49]  Right?
[00:43:50]  I mean, Billy Graham, eat your heart out.
[00:43:52]  George Whitefield, eat your heart out.
[00:43:53]  You've preached to tens of thousands of skies.
[00:43:55]  They're right now preaching to 7.8 billion people.
[00:44:00]  And not just a 30 minute sermon or a 60 minute sermon, but they've been preaching for millennia.
[00:44:05]  So the skies are a preacher.
[00:44:06]  But Romans 10, what it's implying is this it's implying that the sermon, if you will, the sky is a preacher.
[00:44:13]  And it's a great preacher.
[00:44:15]  But that particular sermon that the sky preaches over and over and over again is not the sermon that will ever get anyone saved.
[00:44:24]  Because the sermon that saves is not the sermon of the eternal power and divine nature of God.
[00:44:31]  The sermon that saves is the sermon of the gospel.
[00:44:35]  It's the sermon of the mercy of God for sinners in the person and work of Jesus Christ, his son.
[00:44:40]  It's the sermon of incarnation.
[00:44:42]  It's the sermon of a substitutionary life.
[00:44:44]  It's the sermon of Christ who fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law.
[00:44:49]  It's the sermon of Jesus who, according to the scriptures, was judged and tried unfairly and he was.
[00:44:56]  Found guilty and he was crucified at the hands of Pontius Pilate, and he was laid in the tomb in the belly of the earth for three days.
[00:45:03]  He rose physically on the third day and he ascended to the right hand of the Father, and he's interceding now for his people at every moment.
[00:45:12]  That's the sermon that saves.
[00:45:14]  And the skies don't preach that sermon.
[00:45:16]  The skies are a preacher, they preach all the time to everyone.
[00:45:20]  The skies preach and they preach well, but just like the traveling preacher who's really only got two or three good sermons and he preaches over and over and over again.
[00:45:29]  That's just like the skies.
[00:45:30]  And unfortunately, none of those sermons are salvific sermons.
[00:45:35]  None of the skies' repertoire and his preaching book are actually redemptive sermons.
[00:45:43]  See, the sermons that the skies preach are sermons of the glory of God.
[00:45:48]  But it's the glory of God that's only sufficient ultimately to condemn.
[00:45:54]  But here's the beauty for those who have heard not merely the skies' sermons, but for those who have heard a sermon of God's special revelation, A sermon of the gospel, like Romans 10, somebody has been sent and somebody has preached good news.
[00:46:08]  And God, by His grace, through the power of the Spirit, has given them eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to believe.
[00:46:15]  For that person who's been born again, who's a new creature in Christ Jesus, that person, not only have they heard the sermon, the gospel sermon of the preacher, and been saved, but now they can hear the sermons of the sky and also see the glory of God no longer as judgment.
[00:46:33]  No longer is merely sufficient to condemn, but they can look and listen to the sermons of the skies and see the glory of God as joy, as beauty.
[00:46:44]  Not because the skies preach in a way that's sufficient for salvation, but for the one who has heard preaching that is sufficient for salvation through special revelation, through the gospel, through the scripture, for those people, now they look to everything.
[00:46:59]  It's like the matrix.
[00:47:00]  It's like once you've been unplugged, once you've been woken up, everybody else is just seeing ones and zeros, but you.
[00:47:06]  You look to creation, you look to the scripture, not just special revelation, but you look to the scripture, of course, right?
[00:47:13]  You hear the faithful preaching, and of course, you see the beauty of God.
[00:47:17]  But for you, you see the beauty of God everywhere.
[00:47:19]  You can't help but see the joy and pleasure and beauty of God.
[00:47:24]  You see the grass, and you think God's good.
[00:47:26]  You drink wine, you think God's good.
[00:47:28]  You look to the sunset, God is good.
[00:47:30]  You hear a child laughing, God's good.
[00:47:33]  You hear a child screaming, God's good.
[00:47:36]  It's all speaking to the glory of God, and for the Christian, the glory of God is good.
[00:47:41]  Is our joy.
[00:47:44]  So, in a nutshell, Psalm 19 verses 1 through 6 is this.
[00:47:50]  The physical creation, in particular the skies, are constantly speaking all the time to everyone in every place without the need for literal words about God.
[00:48:01]  What are they speaking about God?
[00:48:03]  One word, glory.
[00:48:05]  What is the meaning of this one word, glory?
[00:48:08]  Glory is in the eye of the beholder.
[00:48:10]  For those who have been born again, the glory of God is joy.
[00:48:13]  For those who have not, the glory of God is joy.
[00:48:17]  Judgment and joy both emanating from the glory of God, which is clearly perceived in creation itself.
[00:48:25]  Now, what does it mean?
[00:48:28]  Getting more specific now, digging a little bit deeper into glory as joy.
[00:48:33]  We've talked about glory as judgment, Romans 1, but our primary text today is not Romans 1, our primary text is Psalm 19.
[00:48:41]  So, Psalm 19, verses 5 and 6, we don't see glory.
[00:48:46]  As judgment, we see glory as joy.
[00:48:51]  And honestly, I could think of no better way to explain this reality the glory of God displayed through the skies, through natural revelation, as joy for his people, than to completely verbatim quote the words of John Piper.
[00:49:06]  John Piper says it like this in his descriptive John Piper way The glory of God is a happy thing.
[00:49:14]  Is this not the point of verses five and six?
[00:49:17]  David looks up into the sky on a beautiful, clear blue early morning from Mount Zion and hears speech ushering forth, pouring forth about the glory of God.
[00:49:27]  And then he fixes his heart's attention on one theme in that symphony of glory and watches the sun rise out of the east over the Jordan Valley.
[00:49:36]  And the Spirit of God comes upon David to help him communicate what the glory of God is really like.
[00:49:43]  And he says in verse 5 and verse 6 it comes forth like a bridegroom.
[00:49:48]  Leaving his chamber.
[00:49:49]  And like a strong man runs his course with joy, its rising is from the end of the heavens and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hid from its heat.
[00:49:59]  See, the point here is not merely that the bridegroom is decked out in the finest clothes and surrounded by his noble groomsmen.
[00:50:07]  No, the point is that this is the happiest day of the bridegroom's life.
[00:50:13]  This is the fulfillment of his dreams.
[00:50:15]  This is the beginning of a whole new kind of joy.
[00:50:19]  That's what the glory of God is like.
[00:50:21]  That's the message when the sun rises in lavish red and gold and lavender in the eastern sky.
[00:50:27]  God's glory is a happy thing, like the happiness of a bridegroom on his wedding day.
[00:50:33]  This is even more explicit in the other analogy or image that David uses at the end of verse 5.
[00:50:40]  When the sun rises and pours forth speech about the glory of God, it's not only like a bridegroom leaving his chambers, but it's like a strong man that runs his race with not just pain, blood, sweat, and tears, but with joy.
[00:50:55]  Now, how can we not think of Eric Little at this moment?
[00:50:59]  In that great scene from Chariots of Fire, as he takes that last turn in the race for the glory of God, and his arms drive like living pistons, and his head goes back in that utterly unorthodox position, and every muscle fiber in his body does just what it was made to do, and the smile breaks out across his face, and everything in Eric Little cries, Glory, glory, glory.
[00:51:23]  That's what the glory of God is like.
[00:51:25]  It's like the happiest day of your life.
[00:51:28]  It's like every muscle, and every tendon, and every ligament, and every organ.
[00:51:32]  And all of your mind and your emotions working just the way they were created to work on the day of triumph.
[00:51:39]  The glory of God is the happiest reality in all of the world.
[00:51:44]  In conclusion, all of mankind has seen this glory.
[00:51:49]  That much is clear from Scripture.
[00:51:52]  The only question is this Have we merely witnessed the glory of God through His creation as judgment for sinners?
[00:51:59]  Or have we witnessed the glory of God through creation as joy for saints?
[00:52:04]  Which message we receive from God's glory revealed through natural revelation is ultimately determined by whether or not we have been given new hearts to receive God's message in special revelation.
[00:52:17]  That is, the grace of God for sinners through the person and work of Jesus Christ.
[00:52:23]  Let's pray.
[00:52:24]  Father, we thank you for your word.
[00:52:27]  Father, we thank you for the privilege that it is to preach your word and the privilege that it is to hear your word preached.
[00:52:35]  God, we thank you that you have not left us merely with a revelation of yourself in creation, but that you have given to us, your people, your children, a revelation of yourself through special revelation.
[00:52:51]  That you have spoken to us not merely through the skies, but also in your written word.
[00:53:00]  And your written word, ultimately, the sum of your word is Jesus Christ your Son.
[00:53:08]  In the days of old, to our forefathers, you spoke to us by the prophets in many ways, but in these last days, you have spoken to us by your Son.
[00:53:18]  He is the radiance of the glory of God, He's the exact imprint and representation of your character and nature.
[00:53:28]  And this Jesus can be seen clearly on every page of Scripture.
[00:53:33]  And as we see Him more and more in your special revelation of your Word, We see him likewise even more and more clearly when we look at natural revelation, what you have made.
[00:53:48]  We thank you for this gift, this privilege.
[00:53:50]  And Lord, we pray that we would be a people who love your glory, who are enamored with your glory, because we see your glory not merely as judgment for sinners, but as joy for saints.
[00:54:08]  We pray these things in Jesus' name.
[00:54:10]  Amen.
[00:54:11]  Thanks so much for listening, but real quick.
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