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Good morning to everybody. It's 
nice to be in the house of the Lord with everyone. It's nice 
to see almost a full house here. I pray that as we continue in 
worship, it'll be a blessing for all of us to have congregated 
here. You can turn in your Bibles to Psalm 19. Psalm 19. And just as a note to let you 
know where we're going, we're also gonna read from two other 
passages and I'll explain why after we read and pray. After 
reading Psalm 19, we're going to turn to Luke 24, and after 
reading Luke 24, not the entire chapter, I'll tell you where 
to turn. After reading Luke 24, we're going to read a passage 
from Romans 10. Psalm 19, beginning in verse 
1, this is the word of the triune God. To the chief musician, a 
psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory 
of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters 
speech and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech 
nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has 
gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of 
the world. In them he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which 
is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices 
like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one 
end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end, and there is 
nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, 
converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is 
sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are 
right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is 
pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, 
enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are 
true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than 
gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the 
honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant 
is warned. and in keeping them there is 
great reward. Who can understand his errors? 
Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back your servant also from 
presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over 
me. Then I shall be blameless and I shall be innocent of great 
transgression. Let the words of my mouth and 
the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, 
my strength and my redeemer. Amen. If you'll turn with me 
now to Luke 24 and specifically verse 44. Luke 24 and verse 44. Then he said to them that is 
Jesus These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still 
with you that all things must be fulfilled which were written 
in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms Concerning me 
and he opened their understanding that they might comprehend the 
scriptures Then he said to him said to them thus it is written 
and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise 
from the dead the third day and That repentance and remission 
of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning 
at Jerusalem. And now finally turn to Romans 
10 with me. Romans chapter 10. And when you 
get to Romans 10, you can turn to verse 16. Romans 10 and verse 16. But they 
have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord, who has 
believed our report? So then faith comes by hearing 
and hearing by the word of God. But I say, have they not heard? 
Yes, indeed. And then quoting Psalm 19, their 
sound has gone out to all the earth and their words to the 
ends of the world. Amen. Well, let us pray. Heavenly 
Father, we thank you for your word. We rejoice in the fact 
that we can gather together in liberty with Bibles in our hands 
to freely worship you. We do pray that you'd help us 
in this act of worship, the preaching of your word. Do help us to Glory 
in your word, to glory in the God of the word, and to rejoice 
in the Christ to whom the word points. Do bless our time. Give 
us your spirit that our eyes might be opened, the eyes of 
our faith might be illuminated, that we might behold the glory 
of God and the Christ whom he has sent. We pray in his name. Amen. Well, if you'll go back 
with me to Psalm 19, as that is the passage under consideration, 
just an explanation as to why we read those passages. Why did 
we read Luke 24 after reading Psalm 29? And why did we read 
Romans 10 verses 16 to 18 after that? Well, in the account of the resurrection 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, he says something very striking 
that all Christians should appreciate. He says that the scriptures are 
about him. He says to his disciples that 
the law, the prophets, and the Psalms all spoke concerning me. That the Old Testament, that 
threefold way of summarizing the Old Testament, law, prophets, 
Psalms, the old covenant documents, the old covenant scriptures spoke 
concerning me. And he opens up their minds that 
they might understand the scriptures. And then the apostle Paul, an 
apostle of the Lord, in writing to the Romans, speaks with regards 
to the proclamation of the gospel. And he cites and he interprets 
Psalm 19 as applying prophetically to the proclamation of the gospel 
of Jesus Christ. And so we're going to look at 
Psalm 19 this morning with the title, The Psalmist's Prophetic 
Anticipation of the Apostolic Proclamation of Christ. We have 
a common surface and legitimate reading of Psalm 19 as a two-fold 
sort of declaration of general revelation or natural revelation 
that creation proclaims that there is a God who is to be glorified 
in by rational creatures. And then the second part of the 
psalm applying to special revelation. So the supernatural revelation 
whereby God reveals himself in the holy scriptures and reveals 
his will, his Christ, to the sons of men. Well, we have New 
Testament interpretation of Psalm 19 as using that legitimate figural 
language, though, concerning the apostolic proclamation of 
the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have figural language in our 
Bible. We have the use of metaphor. 
We have the use of symbols. We have, in this case, both things, 
and the use of personification, the heavens declaring, as if 
they are rational creatures, the glory of the Creator. So, 
as we work through this particular passage for the first six verses, 
we're going to notice first the symbol, so the symbolic language 
used, and then the referent. What do those symbols refer to? And then the particular message 
that is being conveyed by David writing and speaking as a prophet 
anticipating gospel Proclamation so as we work through the first 
six passages You know what symbols do symbols stand in the place 
of another thing or they refer to another thing so the symbol 
itself the figural language and then the literal reference to 
which it applies and then the message. So as we work through 
seven points, hopefully, with it, you know, across the next 
two hours, just kidding, we won't be that long. But as we work 
through, we're going to look at seven points here regarding 
this passage. So let's look then first at the 
glory in the apostolic preaching of Christ, and this is seen in 
verse 1. The heavens declare the glory 
of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. Now, you might 
be asking, okay, preacher, are you just trying to interpret 
Psalm 19 in this particular way? No, Paul does, in the Bible, 
in Romans chapter 10. He isn't just borrowing the language 
from Psalm 19, but rightly interpreting and applying Psalm 19 to the 
apostolic preaching of Christ. This is John Gill. This psalm 
was penned by David and inscribed to the chief musician as others 
to be used in public service, and was designed for gospel times 
as the subject of it shows, which is first, not an account of the 
light of nature and then of the law of Moses, but of the gospel 
of Christ and especially as ministered in the times of the apostles 
as a citation out of it in Romans 10.18 makes clear. But we want to notice first the 
symbol. Notice the symbol used, and it's 
glorious, the symbol used by the psalmist. The heavens declare 
the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. Isn't it 
a wonderful thing as Christians, saved by amazing and victorious 
grace, made to known the triune God and Jesus Christ whom he 
has sent, to look up to the heavens and not just stop at the burning 
sun, not just stop at the whitened moon, not just stop at the sparkling 
stars, but to move beyond that and glory in the God who made 
those things. who created those things, who 
placed them in the heavens, that we might observe the glory and 
the majesty of God. We are not atheists that just 
stop in our particular worldview that out of chaos comes order, 
and we stop at the sun, and we stop at the moon, and we stop 
at the stars, and glory and chance. There is no such thing. We glory 
in the God of perfect creation, who has set in the heavens witnesses 
to his glory. Some of you might know and remember 
the quote I'm about to quote, but C.H. Spurgeon In his comments 
on verse one, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament 
shows his handiwork, he speaks with these sorts of words. He 
says, in the expanse above us, God flies as it were his starry 
flag to show the king is at home. And he hangs out his coat of 
arms bearing shield that he might show the atheist how much he 
despises their denunciations of him. Then he goes on to say, 
and this is absolutely correct, he goes on to say that he who 
looks up to the heavens, the heavens and the firmament, he 
who looks up to the heavens and then writes himself down an atheist, 
brands himself at the same time either an idiot or a liar. The heavens declare the glory 
of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. What is then the 
referent? What is, according to the interpretation 
of the Apostle Paul in seeing this as a prophetical, spiritual, 
mystical psalm that points to the Lord Jesus Christ and the 
apostolic age, what is the referent? It is the church and specifically 
the apostles of Christ. This is Augustine on this point, 
on this verse. The righteous evangelists in 
whom, as in the heavens, God dwelleth, set forth the glory 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, or the glory wherewith the Son glorified 
the Father upon earth. Now, you see, in this exercise 
of preaching this morning, we need to stretch our minds a little 
bit. Because in the relaxed posture and perhaps the, I don't want 
to say laziness, but I just said it anyway, sometimes we can come 
to passages and we cannot appreciate or move forward from a fully 
informed posture of recognizing, as we noticed this morning, that 
Christ is the scope of the scriptures. He is the center, the aim, the 
target, the blessed terminus to which all Holy Scripture points. The Bible, page after page, chapter 
after chapter, points to the righteous Christ upon the cross 
working out the salvation of men. We noted a quote this morning 
in our study in the Doctrine of Christ. Nehemiah Cox, a particular 
Baptist forerunner of ours, he said, in all our search, after 
the mind of God, in the Holy Scriptures, we are to manage 
our inquiries according to Christ. That's what Christ is saying, 
essentially, in Luke 24. 44 to 47. So here we have the symbol of 
the heavens and the firmament referring to the apostles of 
Christ and the proclamation of the gospel. Just so that we understand 
or that we see that the Bible supports and touches upon this 
sort of symbology, you can turn with me to Genesis 37. Genesis 
37. You'll remember some of this 
language in your reading of this passage over the years, the language 
of heavens applied to men. Notice regarding this dream of 
Joseph in verse 9 of Genesis 37. Then he dreamed still another 
dream and told it to his brothers and said, look, I have dreamed 
another dream. And this time the sun, the moon, 
and the 11 stars bowed down to me. So he told it to his father 
and his brothers, and his fathers rebuked him and said to him, 
What is this dream that you have dreamed? Notice, shall your mother 
and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth 
before you? You see, immediately, The father 
understood that all of these things that he just used in figural 
speech, the sun, the moon, sorry, where am I here? Verse 
nine, the sun, the moon, and the 11 stars bowed down to me. 
He recognized immediately that Joseph is speaking concerning 
his father, his mother, and his brothers. So there's language 
used of heavenly bodies applying to persons. Now you can turn 
with me to Revelation 12. We see similar language used, 
this time with respect to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and how Christ, in a sense, comes forth from out of the true church 
of God. Notice Revelation 12, beginning 
at verse 1. Now a great sign appeared in 
heaven. A woman clothed with the Sun with the moon under her 
feet and on her head a garland of 12 stars Then being with child 
she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth now We don't 
see or we don't find here the interpretation or the referent 
of the symbolic language, but as John is informed strongly 
and is citing and is utilizing the Old Testament in his writing 
to the seven churches in Asia Minor, we're to understand this 
in the same way that Joseph was understood in Genesis 37, that 
this applies in this case to the true Israel, the church 
of the Lord Jesus Christ, from whom comes forth the Messiah 
himself. This woman here is not Mary, 
but this refers symbolically to the church of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. So as we find our way back to 
Psalm 19, hopefully we can see here the Bible's use of figural 
language and how heavens and firmament can apply to church 
and specifically the apostles. And in fact, just one more passage, 
if you turn with me to Daniel 12. Daniel chapter 12. We're going 
to see some language there that applies to Christ and the church 
and the proclamation of truth. Notice Daniel 12 verse three, 
those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament 
and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever. So hopefully you can see that 
passage and its relation and relevance to Psalm 19. The heavens, 
the stars, those who turn away many to righteousness, the firmament, 
written here as the firmament, who declares wisdom or who brings 
wisdom to those as they shine in a sense like heavenly bodies. So finding our way back to Psalm 
19, the symbol is the heavens and the firmament, the referent 
is the church, specifically the apostles of Christ, and then 
so what's the message? The heavens declare the glory 
of God and the firmament shows his handiwork. There's language 
of declaration being cited here, being stated. There's language 
of proclamation. It's an interesting thing. The 
heavens, in a sense here personified, proclaim the glory of God, and 
referring then to the apostles of Christ, we're to see here 
the proclamation of the gospel as Augustine and as John Gill 
and others recognize. The message is, just as the light 
of nature shows that there is a God and declares in a measure 
His glory, so the apostles of Christ declared the glory of 
God and the perfection of Jesus Christ. It's a blessed thing. You know, in a sense, in a measure, 
the stars were given so that David, being a prophet, and Paul 
interpreting him rightly, that those heavenly bodies created 
by the triune God can serve as symbols for the proclamation 
of the gospel of God. we have a bright reminder as 
Christians. The light of nature, joined with, 
conjoined with the light of special revelation, we can look up to 
the stars, we can look to the sun and the moon, and we can 
remember the symbol and that to which it refers, the apostles 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because we, at one point in time, 
were the recipients of the declaration, the proclamation, perhaps the 
reading of God's holy word. We were recipients of the proclamation 
of the gospel, of Jesus Christ and by grace we believed. What a blessed thing. As you 
look up to the stars, as you look up to the sun and the moon, 
we don't as atheists stop there. We look beyond that to whom those 
things point, the God of glory. And as Christians with full and 
complete Bibles, we can even move beyond that and recognize 
that the glory of God was proclaimed in and through His Son, the Lord 
Jesus Christ. We have a blessed thing here. 
in Psalm 19, verse 1. So that's the glory in the apostolic 
preaching of Christ. Secondly, the significance of 
the apostolic preaching. If you're in Psalm 19, notice 
verse 2. Day unto day utters speech, and 
night unto night reveals knowledge. So with respect to the symbol, 
we see here the constancy of day leading to night leading 
to day. There's something of a constancy 
here, a persistence in the proclamation of something. The heavens and 
the firmament, day after day and night after night, proclaim 
that there is a God and proclaim knowledge. Our confession uses 
the language of the light of nature. In fact, the quote I 
think there from from Gil or from someone, refers to the light 
of nature. Our confession says, the light 
of nature proclaims that there is a God who is to be feared, 
loved, a giver of goodness, a giver of good things. The heavens and 
the firmament declare that, and day after day utter speech. So 
with respect to the symbol here, the movement of the sun, the 
burning of the sun, the rotation of the earth, revealing the moon, 
the moon in the sky, the stars that we can look upon, all of 
those heavenly bodies are not silent on some days, but there 
is a constancy, there is a persistence in their proclamation of the 
glory of God. The heavens and the firmament 
proclaim that, and they are constant in that proclamation. Day unto 
day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. 
You see, when the atheist comes to the creation, and he can't 
move and he doesn't move beyond that to recognize the creator, 
he is running against the full weight of the utterance of the 
stars and the sun and the moon and the heavenly bodies and galaxies 
spinning in their orbit because those things day after day and 
night after night proclaim that there is a God. Moving then beyond that blessed 
symbol to the referent, what is it? It is then the constancy 
of the gospel's proclamation in the apostolic age. The Apostle 
Paul understanding this in recognizing the symbol and then the referent, 
we have in the apostolic age a constancy and a persistence 
with regards to the declaration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 
You can turn with me to see some of this. Turn with me to Acts 
20, Acts chapter 20. Notice in Acts chapter 20 at 
verse 31. With regards to the Apostle Paul, 
there was an apostolic persistence. There was a constancy. What does 
Paul write with regards to his mission? with regards to the apostolic 
mission, with regards to what the church's mission should be, 
he writes things like, God forbid that I should boast saving the 
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I was determined to know nothing 
among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. There was an active 
zeal and persistence in the things of gospel proclamation another 
verse you can turn to that touches upon this is 1st Thessalonians 
2 1st Thessalonians chapter 2 Notice verse nine, when you get 
to 1 Thessalonians 2, for you remember brethren our labor and 
toil for laboring night and day that we might not be a burden 
to any of you. We preach to you the gospel of 
God. You see the apostolic persistence 
here symbolized by the turning of the day, day leading into 
night, leading into day, leading into night. The apostolic proclamation 
of the gospel of Jesus Christ had a constancy and a persistence. And this is something that we 
ought to pray for in our day. the constancy and the persistence 
of the proclamation of Jesus Christ. Who is it that is the 
Savior of sinners? Who is it that is the Savior 
of the sons of men? It's Jesus Christ the Lord. We 
pray for things in our prayer lives. We ought to pray for missionaries 
who go out, like the Apostles went out in the early church. 
They go out to Countries afar off to proclaim the riches of 
the same Christ that the apostles proclaimed, the riches and the 
excellencies of the same gospel that the apostles proclaimed. 
Day after day utters speech, night after night reveals knowledge. The message with respect to this 
is the sustained zeal by which the gospel of Christ was proclaimed. That's the message here. David 
as a prophet, looking forward to his greater son and the proclaimer 
of good things, the proclaimer of his redeeming power, he sees 
the proclamation of his greater son and writes concerning its 
constancy and its sustained zeal. Isn't that what we need as the 
Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in a perverse and dark age, is 
a persistent zeal, a sustained zeal for our Savior? He's the 
answer for sin and madness and depravity in our world. Christ 
is the answer. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who 
ought to be constantly and persistently proclaimed by the Church of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. We don't need humanist sermons 
coming from the pulpit. We need Christian sermons. We 
need pulpits that flame with righteousness, proclaiming the 
riches and the excellencies of so great a Savior. The sustained 
zeal by which the gospel was proclaimed, day unto day utter 
speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. The importance 
and constancy, the persistence, and I think we can take this 
for granted. First off with the symbol, we 
can take it for granted. We just rest, we acquiesce, we 
abandon ourselves in sometimes a lack of recognition to the 
fact that the sun's going to rise, then it's going to set. 
I'm not going to say the moon's going to rise because it's a 
little bit different with the moon, but that we'll see the moon. 
and that we'll see these things in the sky, we kind of take them 
for granted. And really, if you perhaps examine yourself, unless 
you're the most amazing example of an observant Christian, we 
don't always look up at the sun, look up at the moon, and look 
up at the stars, and just joyfully spend time in glorifying our 
God and glorying in the creator. We you know it's easy us for 
us to just get outside and look at the Sun oh man and get in 
our in our Van and drive away, or you know what you know get 
up get outside and look at the moon. Ah cool, and you know We 
are not to take these things for granted. We are to look up 
to the heavens and look up to the firmament and know and glory 
in the fact that there is a Creator, that He has made us, that He 
has set those in place, that He might be glorified, and even 
as special revelation testaments to the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, the message with regards 
to verse 2 is the sustained zeal by which the gospel of Christ 
was proclaimed. Thirdly, then, the extent of 
the apostolic preaching of Christ. Notice in verse 3 and then 4b. Psalm 19, verse 3, there is no 
speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line 
has gone out through all the earth and their words to the 
end of the world. This pertains to the extent of 
the apostolic preaching of Christ. The symbol here, as we read, 
is the voice of the sun, moon, and stars. There is no place 
absent from the witness of the heavens. The creature who rejects 
God, the creature who rejects that there is a creator, cannot 
escape from the revelation of the light of nature. Everywhere 
he goes, creation declares that there is a God. The unbeliever, 
the atheist, the rejecters of God, remember, suppress that 
truth in unrighteousness. It's not that it isn't there 
declaring and proclaiming the glory of the creator. It's just 
that they work so very hard to suppress the fact that creation 
speaks to the glory of God. Christians as Christians saved 
by grace through faith we can look at the heavens and we can 
see their constant voice We can recognize that wherever we go 
We can cast our eyes upon creation and then mount ourselves and 
lift ourselves up by the spirit To recognize that there is a 
God in high heaven who has made these things There is no speech 
nor language where their voice is not heard their line has gone 
out to through all the earth. So what is then the referent 
here? It is the Church of Christ and specifically the Apostles 
proclaiming. John Gill on this, but certain 
it is that the Apostle is speaking neither of the light of nature 
nor the law of Moses. This is the reference of this 
passage in Romans chapter 10. So the Apostle Paul is interpreting 
it not with respect to the light of nature nor the law of Moses 
but of the preaching of the gospel and what the psalmist literally 
understood says of the heavens that the Apostle in an allegorical 
and mystical sense or by an argument from the lesser to the greater 
or by way of illusion applies to the apostles and ministers 
of the gospel, the luminaries of the world and stars of heaven, 
whose ministry by this time, Romans 10, had reached the then-known 
parts of the habitable world. It was an amazing thing, following 
the death and resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
how the apostles went out with that zeal and brought that message 
to every nation under heaven, according to the Scriptures. 
Not a glorious thing. You know, they were scattered 
at his crucifixion. Many were in hiding. Of course, 
one, we know, Peter denied him thrice before the servant girl. 
They were scattered, but in the Lord Jesus Christ's resurrection 
glory, he came to them, he gathered them to himself, he opened the 
eyes of their understanding to let them know that the scriptures 
speak concerning him, and then he sent them out, he commissioned 
them to go out to every nation under heaven and proclaim the 
goodness of Christ and his redemption of men. the extent of the apostolic 
preaching of Christ. The expansion of the gospel, 
the message is, from Psalm 19, 3-4b, the expansion of the gospel 
of Christ throughout the world. Turn with me to Acts 2 for a 
moment. Acts chapter 2. Because do we see this? Do we 
see this language of the entire world and the ends of the earth? 
We do in many places, and one of those first is Acts chapter 
2. When you get there to Acts chapter 2, notice verse 5. And then verse 11, Acts 2, 5. 
And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation 
under heaven. And then verse 11, Cretans and 
Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful 
works of God. What an amazing providential 
thing that on the day of Pentecost, these from every nation under 
heaven and the nations are listed between those two passages all 
of these nations under heaven come to jerusalem and they hear 
the proclamation of the gospel of jesus christ isn't god glorious 
in his providential dealings he brings all of these sinners 
from all these nations under heaven and they hear in their 
own tongues the wonderful works of God the heavens declared the 
glory of God the firmament shows his Handwork the works of God 
the gospel of glory the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ The 
expansion of the gospel of Christ throughout the world notice also 
in Colossians chapter 1 Colossians chapter 1 and specifically there first 
at verse six. Notice what we read in Colossians 
one at verse six. Backing up to back, just backing 
up a bit. Well, yeah, we'll start at verse six, which has come 
to you as it has also in all the world and is bringing forth 
fruit as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew 
the grace of God in truth. It's line, their line has gone 
out throughout the world, their voice has gone out to the ends 
of the earth. And just a note on this, Steve 
reminded me of a particular quote the other day in last Sunday's 
prayer meeting. We are, Psalm 19 is speaking 
to the expansion of the gospel in the apostolic age, the proclamation 
of Jesus Christ. But if we think about our own 
particular situation 2,000 years removed from that, We've noted 
before, isn't it a blessed thing that we here, thousands of miles, 
thousands of kilometers away, 2,000 years removed, are the 
blessed and undeserved beneficiaries of the proclamation of this same 
Christ and this same gospel? We have been the recipients of 
the gospel that has gone out through the ends of the earth. What a blessed thing that God 
and his providence sustained the proclamation of truth throughout 
millennia and that we Gentiles heard of Christ and we came by 
grace to faith and to believing in him. This quote is speaking 
with regards to the spread of the gospel. There was a time 
here, this particular fellow, he's a poet, and I believe an 
ambassador to France or something like that, and there were people 
at a table speaking in a denigrating manner about Christian missionary 
work. They were mocking Christian missionaries. And this man, James Russell Lowell, 
replies, and he says, I challenge any skeptic to find a 10 square 
mile spot on this planet where they can live their lives in 
peace and safety and decency, where womanhood is honored, where 
infancy and old age are revered, where they can educate their 
children, where the gospel of Jesus Christ has not gone first 
to prepare the way. If they find such a place, then 
I would encourage them to emigrate thither and there proclaim their 
unbelief. Isn't that wonderful? The gospel 
has gone out to the ends of the world. In Psalm 19, it's captured 
by the prophet David in the language that we read there. There is 
no speech nor language where their voice is not heard, their 
line has gone out through all the earth, and the words to the 
end of the world. A number of Sundays ago, we read 
that language with regards to Jesus Christ. I believe it was 
in Matthew 12, inciting the Old Testament, where it says, and 
specifically I believe Isaiah 46, but it says, in his name 
Gentiles will trust. And we ought not to skip past 
that and just sort of read the narrative and, okay, yeah, after 
the apostles speak to Jerusalem Jews and they go out and they 
speak to Jews in synagogues, then they went to the Gentiles 
2,000 years ago. That blessed promise of the prophet 
also applies to us Gentiles. In his name, Gentiles will trust. There was a blessed time in history 
where for Christians here this morning, We received the gospel 
at some point, we heard of this Christ, we heard of salvation 
by Him, and by grace, the Lord God Almighty brought us forth 
from the deadness of sin to life in Christ, brought us forth from 
the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of the Son of His love. 
that was by the proclamation of the gospel in his name Gentiles 
will trust should be blessed words upon the lips or in the 
minds of Christians because the gospel has gone out through all 
the earth it has gone to the end of the world notice fourthly 
Well, actually, just one more quote on this. This is Sutcliffe, 
and this applies to our understanding, or Paul's interpretation of this, 
applying to the apostolic age, and specifically how the gospel 
has gone out to the ends of the earth. The elegant Tertullian, 
in his Apology for the Christian Religion, applies the same idea 
to the spread of the gospel with respect to Psalm 19. After stating 
to the emperor that their cities, their camps and castles were 
full of Christians, he asks, in whom have all the nations 
of the earth believed except in Christ? Not only the Parthians, 
the Medes, the Elamites, not only Phrygia and Pamphylia, not 
only Egypt, Libya and Cyrene, not only the boundaries of Spain, 
but Gaul and those parts of Britain. this is the third century, inaccessible 
to the Roman arms are become subject to Christ. Origen also 
asks, when before the time of Christ did the land of Britain 
agree in the worship of one God? When did Mauritania, the country 
When did Mauritania, when did the whole globe at once agree 
in this? Whereas now, on account of the 
church's spread to the utmost boundaries of the world, the 
whole earth rejoices to invoke the gospel of Israel. As three 
bishops from England attended a council at Ares in the south 
of France in the year 215, it is almost certain that the gospel 
was preached in Britain in the Apostolic Age. So this language 
speaks to the blessed extent of the Gospel preaching of Christ, 
and we ought to pray that that same Gospel would be continued 
to be preached in churches throughout the world. Fourthly, the power 
in the Apostolic preaching of Christ. Notice the language here 
as we move on to 4C, just above verse 5 there, if you see that 
in your Bibles. So the power in the apostolic preaching of 
Christ from 4C to verse 6, in them he has set a tabernacle 
for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and 
rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from 
one end of heaven and its circuit to the other end and there is 
nothing hidden from its heat. So this, with respect to the 
symbol we have, the heavens which contain the sun, the sun itself, 
and then the bridegroom. So we have this symbology being 
used with respect, remember still, to the heavens and the firmament, 
in them, the heavens and the firmament, he has set, God has 
set a tabernacle for the sun, and that sun is like a bridegroom. 
It's a figure here wrapped in a larger figure if you read the 
particular symbology. So we have here that which the 
heavens contain, the sun, the sun itself, and a bridegroom. 
So what then is the referent? Well, actually, before we move 
on, this continual language with regards to the revelation of 
God in creation. You know, we should keep coming 
back to this because it is with madness and the highest colossal 
folly that the atheist, the unbeliever, rejects the declaration of creation. As you've heard Pastor Butler 
often say, as in a mock conversation, the atheist might say, well, 
where's the proof of a God? We have it all around us. We 
look up to the heavens. We look to the mountains. We 
look to the animals. We look to ourselves. We look 
to the fact that we are rational creatures, that Gibbons can't 
engage in Aristotelian syllogisms, that animals can't engage in 
logic. They don't engage in narrative. 
We have so many proofs with respect to creation that it is madness 
to run against the fact that the sun is set in the heavens 
like a bridegroom coming out of its chamber, rejoicing to 
run a race. It's rising, the declaration 
of God, it's rising is from one end of heaven to the other, it's 
circuit to the other end. There is nothing hidden from 
its heat. No one can hide from the declaration 
of the glory of God. What then is the referent? It 
is the Church of Christ, the apostolic witness of the Gospel 
of Christ, and Christ Himself. Christ is the Son who is coming 
out like a bridegroom from His chamber. This is an ancient Latin 
hymn. that was used in the early church 
and it was used usually sung around Christmas time. And they 
rightly apply Psalm 19 verses three or verses four C to verse 
six with regards to Christ. This is the hymn, from chastity 
his palace bright, forth came the bridegroom decked with light. 
Giant, God and man in one, glad his glorious race to run. From 
the eternal father sent, back to him his circuit bent. down 
to hell his path descends, at the throne of God it ends." So 
they see rightly here this symbolic, this prophetic and apostolic 
understanding of Psalm 19, and particularly this declaration 
of Christ as the Son, and as then the Son pointing to, with 
symbology, the bridegroom coming out of his chamber. Remember, 
Christ uses that language of himself in his earthly ministry. 
His church is the bride and he, Christ, is the bridegroom. And 
he is referred to, Christ here, as the son also. We sang this 
morning in our confession study, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, 
and there's a clause in the lyrics that says, hail the son of righteousness. And it's not S-O-N of righteousness, 
it's S-U-N. Hail the Son of Righteousness. The Bible uses that language 
with regards to Christ, and so we have here God setting in the 
heavens a tabernacle for the Son. This is Christ set amongst 
the Gospel proclamation and the Church of Christ. in history. So we have the church of Christ 
and the apostolic witness of the gospel of Christ and Christ 
himself declared here. What does that mean then? It 
means that no one is hidden from the exalted and ascended Christ 
in his kingship over all things. Remember, Christ, before his 
ascension, spoke to his disciples and he said, all authority in 
heaven and on earth has been given to me, which would have 
instilled confidence as they go about proclaiming the gospel 
of Jesus Christ. And as they set forth the blessed 
bridegroom who runs like a strong man, who rejoices like a strong 
man to run his race. One of the things that we read 
with regards to the Lord Jesus Christ is that He endured the 
cross for the shame, but He rejoiced in the victory of it. He looked 
forward to the blessed of benefits that accrue with respect to His 
completion of His mediatorial work with the cross. He rejoiced 
like a strong man to run his race. Yes, he had suffering. 
Yes, he endured much opposition and hatred. Yes, he suffered 
the shame of the cross. But Hebrews 12, 2 says he rejoiced 
as well. He rejoiced like the strong man 
to run its race. And our exalted Christ is such 
that nothing is hidden from the heat of the mediatorial and exalted 
King. One of the verses that we have 
as Christians confident in the judgment of the wicked in Revelation 
is that those sinners, those rejecters of God, those haters 
of Christ, will not be able to hide themselves from the wrath 
of the Lamb. They'll seek to hide themselves 
under the rocks and the trees, but there is nothing hidden from 
the heat of the Son of Righteousness, even Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom. So the message, of course, then, 
is Christ and His glory set forth by the Church's proclamation. This is John Gill on this. The 
grace of God appeared to all men, shone out in a very illustrious 
manner, and Christ became what the sun is to the earth, the 
light of the world. Isn't that what the language 
that Christ uses of himself as we've been going through, as 
Pastor Butler's been going through the gospel of John? He is the 
light of the world. Jesus Christ repeatedly uses 
this language of light. He is the sun. As Gil says here, 
what the sun is to the earth, Christ is the light of the world. Blessed language and Augustine 
and he coming forth out of the Virgin's womb where God was united 
to man's nature as a bridegroom to a bride This is his comments 
on Psalm 19 rejoiced as a giant to run his way That's an ancient 
way of interpreting that particular verse rejoiced as one exceedingly 
strong and surpassing all other men in power incomparable not 
to inhabit but to run his way for he stood not in the way of 
sinners and So we have Christ and His glory set forth by the 
Church's proclamation, and I'll say it again, this is to be the 
same proclamation today. We spoke only briefly this morning, 
but we'll talk about it more as we work through the study 
on the doctrine of Christ in the morning hour, every second 
Sunday. We talked a little bit about the landscape of the study 
of Christ, or the landscape of the doctrine of Christ today. 
Maybe some of you know, but maybe a lot of you don't know, there 
are a lot of problems with the church professing Christ today. 
Wrong doctrines, bringing Christ down to a low and diminished 
Christ, not asserting his essential deity and equality with the Father, 
not asserting rightly his true humanity, mixing those two things 
up and saying that Christ somehow changed In the incarnation that 
he set aside divine attributes and all these sorts of madnesses 
There is a problem with the proclamation of the true and saving Christ 
today and there always has been And so we are to appreciate Christ 
and His glory set forth by the church's proclamation. And as 
a church, we ought to pray for our church, yes, but for other 
churches as well, that the right Christ, the right gospel would 
be proclaimed, that the full and saving Christ would be proclaimed. That he is not diminished, that 
he is not somehow eternally subordinate to the Father, that he is not 
less than the Father, inferior, but that he is essential deity 
and that he has unbridled equality with the Father and with the 
Spirit. That he took on true humanity, not simply a body, 
but also a reasonable or rational soul that he might substitutionarily 
engage in the work the Father sent him to do for his people. 
we need to proclaim Christ and his glory. Fifthly, as we move 
along to an end, the perfection of the doctrine of Christ. So 
we're coming sort of to the end of a lot of symbology referring 
to something that prophetically anticipates Christ. And now it's 
a little bit more literal language that we have in the next three 
points. So notice the perfection of the doctrine of Christ in 
verses seven through nine. The perfection of the doctrine 
of Christ, the law of the Lord, is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is 
sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are 
right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is 
pure, enlightening the eyes. the fear of the Lord is clean, 
enduring forever, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous 
altogether." Now, as we noted from the quotes from Gill, from 
Augustine, and from others, this isn't speaking with respect to 
the law of Moses. This isn't speaking with regards 
to the Ten Commandments or the ceremonial law, that sort of 
thing. How do we know that? What is meant by law? And when 
we see here in verse 7, the law, and then subsequently testimony, 
statutes, commandment, fear, and judgments, we are to understand 
that all as the Word of God. These are not different things. 
There might be nuancicles, if that's a word, There might be 
nuances with respect to how they're employed what they're showing 
with regards to the utility of the Word of God But law testimony 
statutes commandment fear judgments all of these pertain to the Word 
of God and specifically pertaining to the gospel of Jesus Christ 
and again Not the law of Moses. This is a gust and on this point 
the law of the Lord Therefore is himself who came to fulfill 
the law not to destroy it an undefiled law who did no sin 
Neither was guile found in his mouth not oppressing souls with 
the yoke of bondage but converting them to imitate him in Liberty 
and So this language here given from seven to nine, again, isn't 
the law of Moses. It's not a yoke of bondage. And 
how do we know this? How do we know that it isn't 
the law of Moses, but it is the gospel, even Christ himself? 
Because of what this word of God does. Notice the language, 
it converts, it makes wise, it rejoices, et cetera. The law 
of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. It makes wise the simple, 
it rejoices the heart. Nothing but the gospel of Jesus 
Christ can do these things. How were we saved? Not by the 
law of Moses. How were our souls converted? 
Remember, the law of the Lord is perfect. Converting the soul. How were we converted? Not by 
obedience to the law of Moses. Not by obedience to a set of 
commandments or statutes. We were saved by grace through 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not saved by deeds of 
righteousness, which we have done, the apostle writes, but 
according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of regeneration 
and renewing of the Holy Spirit. And so what converts the soul? 
It is the preaching of the word. It is the word of God itself 
attended by the spirit in power and much assurance. The law of 
the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. So these words, these 
synonymous words, law, testimony, Statutes, commandments, fear 
judgments all pertain to the Word of the God, specifically 
the Gospel. And we know this because of what the Word of God 
does in the context. It converts. It rejoices the 
heart. Notice the glorious qualities 
of the Word of God. Notice the language that we have 
here. We have perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true, and 
righteous. When we come to the word of God, 
we're not simply coming to a dusty tome of letters and books slapped 
together into some religious document, you know, by men with 
big hats in the fourth century. That's not what our Bible is. 
Our Bible is the word of the living and true God. It is inspired, 
it is inerrant, it is infallible. It is the revelation, the supernatural 
revelation of God, disclosing the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and it bears, These glorious qualities, perfect, sure, right, 
pure, clean, true, and righteous. And we see this language, the 
law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. We can rely on, we 
can have confidence in the word of God. Whatever the word of 
God testifies to, it is perfect. There is no error. There is no 
fallibility because it comes from divine inspiration. That 
grand divine and superintending author of the word of God, the 
single author has given us his special revelation. And by virtue 
of that fact, It is perfect. So when we read our Bibles and 
we read, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be 
saved, that is true. That is sure. There's a perfect 
revelation of the law of God. If you're here this morning and 
you're outside of Christ and you don't believe in him, If 
you feel the weight of a holy God, if you feel the weight of 
the doctrine that you have sinned against that holy God, and there 
is no glory outside of that God to be given to sinful creatures, 
and you realize that you are under the just condemnation of 
this God, know with perfection that Jesus Christ is the Savior 
for sinners. and He has promised to save all 
who believe in Him. The law of the Lord is perfect. 
Similar, the testimony of the Lord is sure. The statutes of 
the Lord are right. This is something that we ought 
to appreciate as we read our Bibles and that we ought to glory 
in and have confidence in. The statutes of the Lord are 
right. Our God is a God who is most 
holy, most loving, most pure, and whatever the judge of all 
the earth does is right, and whatever he says is right. We 
have this language of purity. The commandment of the Lord is 
pure, enlightening the eyes. We have this interesting language, 
the fear, fear there being synonymous with the other words that are 
speaking with regards to the word of the Lord, but the fear 
of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. Just touching upon this 
language, I think we ought to appreciate this language of clean. 
And clean as it applies to the cleansing of the blood of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. We are clean, we are cleansed 
in the blood of Jesus Christ. We are made clean by the perfection 
of His sacrifice. The Word declares a Savior. The 
Word declares the reality of guilty, dirty, wretched sinners. And the Savior comes, and by 
amazing and victorious grace, by virtue of the perfection of 
His work, He cleanses us. In fact, the language used in 
Hebrews 1 with regards to this cleansing or expiation of guilt 
is the same language used by John the Baptist when he says 
that he will thoroughly cleanse the threshing floor. He will 
surely clean out in divine judgment the threshing floor. There will 
be a cleansing. Well, this, the Apostle Paul 
in Hebrews 1 applies to forgiveness of sin. applies to the work of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. We are, sinners saved by grace, 
are clean, and that promise of salvation endures forever. We also have this blessed language 
of the glorious effects of the Word of God. So qualities, perfect, 
sure, right, pure, clean, true, and righteous. We have also glorious 
effects of the Word of God, conversion, wisdom, rejoicing, enlightenment, 
and permanence. the utility, the effects, what 
the Word of God does for Christians. We have conversion, wisdom, rejoicing, 
enlightenment, and permanence. You know, we ought to pray for 
these things, and maybe I'll just verge in on wisdom, rejoicing, 
and enlightenment. Merging wisdom and enlightenment 
together, we ought to pray for wisdom as we seek to grow in 
the grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Don't we want 
to know our God more? Don't we want to know our Christ 
more? Don't we want to know the doctrine 
of salvation more? We ought to be such who eat up, 
who listen to the declaration of the heavens and the firmament, 
who listen to the declaration of the apostolic witness, who 
day after day, night after night, proclaim knowledge, who gave 
us the inspired documents concerning the Savior of men and rejoicing. It's a commandment, in a sense, 
the Apostle Paul, in the book of Philippians, rejoice in the 
Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. It's a 
commandment, but obviously not one that is a yoke of bondage, 
not one that is burdensome. Why? Because Christians ought 
to be, our posture should always be one ready to rejoice in the 
Lord Jesus Christ, ready to rejoice in the forgiveness of sins. ready 
to rejoice in the glory of God, who is even the son of righteousness 
himself, Jesus Christ. Wisdom rejoicing enlightenment, 
and we have the blessed promise of permanence. Well, as we close 
here, notice that we have the treasure of the doctrine of Christ. 
It is greater than earthly treasure. More to be desired are they than 
gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the 
honeycomb. Is this true of your appreciation, 
your rejoicing in and your glorying in the Word of God, that you 
treat it as treasure? that you treat it as better than 
gold, more to even be desired than gold. The language is that 
it's greater than earthly treasure, the gospel. It's sweeter to the 
soul than the richest food is to the taste. And we all have 
maybe a favorite food. Maybe it's not honey. There might 
be some people here who don't like honey very much. The symbology 
can still apply, though. Pick something that is really 
blessed upon your lips, whatever that might be. It might be a 
steak with HP sauce on it or something like that, some Red 
Vines licorice or something like that. As much as you rejoice 
in that, there is much greater in the referent here to rejoice 
in Jesus Christ the Lord and the glory of the gospel. The 
word of God is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. It is replete 
with benefits. It is replete with truth, instruction 
in it, prevention of error, and it is a lamp to our feet. We 
are to glory in the Word of God. And it closes with the desire 
of the saints of Christ. Notice this language. The desire 
of the saints of Christ. Who can understand his errors? 
Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back your servant also from 
presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over 
me. then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great 
transgression." This isn't a desire for the saint of Christ, for 
the Christian, to be obedient to the law such that then he 
will be blameless in the sight of God, but this is a plea, this 
is a desire for forgiveness from God by virtue of the perfect 
work of Jesus Christ. How are we blameless before God? 
How do we stand righteous before God? Not by virtue of ourselves. A one-second examination of ourselves 
will certainly declare that, but the Bible also declares that 
by the deeds of the law, no one shall be justified in the sight 
of God. So how are we blameless? How are we righteous before God? 
It's by virtue of Jesus Christ, the Son of Righteousness. It's 
by virtue of the one who lived in our stead, who died in our 
stead, and who rose again, punctuating the victory of himself over death, 
hell, and the grave. What a wonderful thing we have 
in this verse, leaning upon forgiveness, leaning upon the righteousness 
of Christ. And then lastly, we have this 
blessed statement by David, let the words of my mouth and the 
meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, and notice, O 
Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. You know, this is something that 
we can pray as well. Our meditations of heart, our 
words of the mouth come acceptable to the Lord God through our mediator, 
the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are as such a sweet-smelling 
aroma to God. Let the words of our mouths and 
the meditations of our heart be acceptable to God. And this 
is an interesting use of a word. You've probably heard this before. 
But as Christians, we, rightly so, kind of shudder against meditation, 
conceived largely. Because often, it sort of carries 
the weight of Eastern mysticism, that we're supposed to clear 
everything from our minds and be one with the universe, or 
whatever sort of garbage is set forth in mystical religious meditation. The Christian meditation is such 
that we fill our minds with the knowledge of the truth. That 
is the best meditation on earth, is to fill our minds with the 
word of God, to fill our minds with the Christ to whom it points, 
to fill our minds with the doing, the dying. and the rising again 
of the Son of God. Saints, rejoice in your Christ. 
Rejoice in the Bridegroom. Rejoice in the Son of Righteousness. 
Rejoice that you were the blessed recipients of gospel proclamation, 
and sinners here, believe in this one who died and who rose 
again for guilty sinners. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and you will sing with the prophet, rejoicing in your God and rejoicing 
in our blessed Savior. Well, let's pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for the word of God. We thank you for the disclosure 
of truth. We thank you for the proclamation 
it gives us concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and the glory of 
his gospel. We pray that you would help us, Lord God, to glory 
in our Christ, to rejoice in you, our creator, to rejoice 
in the truth. And we pray, Lord God, that you 
would save a multitude of sinners. We pray that you would save a 
multitude of those who would reject the declaration of nature, 
the declaration of creation, who currently would reject the 
declaration of Jesus Christ, the Savior. We pray that by your 
grace and for your glory and by your word and spirit, you 
would bring them forth from darkness to light. Do go with us now and 
help us to honor your day. We pray in the name of Jesus 
Christ, our Savior. Amen. Well, we can stand and 
sing our closing hymn, which is 224, stanza one. That's 224 
and stanza one. ♪ In this world of holy minds divine 
♪ ♪ Let's ask the Lord in our eyes ♪ ♪ Who has set your soul 
free ♪ ♪ To be the children of nature ♪ ♪ All-mighty King of 
glory ♪ Please be seated, we'll have 
a time of prayer and meditation, and after the piano's finished, 
you'll be dismissed.