Great Is The Lord And Greatly To Be Praised
Have you ever notice how people throw around the word great? This team is the greatest of all time. Many people consider Michael Jordan one of the greatest basketball players of all time. In 2015, Adrian Peters called himself the Michael Jordan of football. Of course, Muhammad Ali used to call himself the greatest boxer of all time. Many people throw around the word great. But there is truly one great and that is the Lord. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.
1 Chronicles 16:23- 26 says: Sing unto the Lord, all the earth; shew forth from day to day his salvation. Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvelous works among all nations. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.
For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. God is great. He is to be praised. Not movie stars, athletes or business titans. God and God alone should be praised. He is greatly to be praised. The great God of Heaven and earth is the great one. He is the one to be praised.
Sing Unto The Lord
The verses just before praising God because He is greatly to be praised, are the ones that say sing unto the Lord and show forth His salvation from day to day. We are to share the glorious Gospel with this lost and dying world.
God is great. You and I are not. In fact, we are sinful creatures. We have all sinned against God. All of us have rebelled against God at one time or another. The wages of our sin is death. That’s all you are “working” for tonight, if Jesus is not your Lord and Savior. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).
The penalty of sin is death. The soul that sins, it shall die. We are all sinners and we were born to die. You cannot cheat death. None of us can. One day you will die. What will you do with your sins on Judgment Day? You will have no where to hide and no one to blame. You can’t blame your mom, your dad or your spouse. You will stand before God and you will stand there alone. No one will be with you. It will be you alone and you will have no excuse for your sins. Every mouth will be stopped.
God Is Great And Greatly To Be Praised
God is righteous, Holy and just. He is perfect. God is great and greatly to be praised. But we have all come short of the glory of God. Sin separates us from God. If you die in your sins, if you die as an unrepentant sinner, then God will cast you into Hell after you die. We all deserve everlasting punishment for our sins. Sin is that vile and reprehensible to our Holy God.
But God, in His great mercy (because He is great and greatly to be praised) sent His only begotten Son to suffer the punishment for sinful humans, for those of us who repent from our sins and trust Jesus. Oh, folks, God is great and greatly to be praised. Because of His perfect nature, His Holiness, He cannot tolerate sin and He cannot put up with sin. So, He must punish sin. If He did not punish sin, He would no longer be perfect; He would no longer be just. God would no longer be God.
Oh, but God is God. God is good. God is great. Even though we can’t pay for our sins, we can’t atone for our sins, He sent Jesus to be the sacrifice, to be the atonement for guilty sinners. Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God is perfect, just like God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus never sinned; not one time. Jesus was tempted in every way that you and I are tempted, yet He was without sin. Jesus never sinned, yet He suffered, bled and died on the cruel cross in the place of guilty sinners like you and me.
The Great God Offers Eternal Life
Jesus died, was buried and rose from the grave three days later. Jesus defeated sin, death, Hell and Satan. God, the great God, offers eternal life to each and every person who repents and surrenders their life to Jesus. Oh, tonight, turn from your sins and turn to Jesus.
Recognize that you are a sinner, that you have sinned against God. Admit you’re a sinner. Confess your sins to Almighty God. He already knows them anyway. God knows your next thought, even before you know it. The Lord knows the next word that is going to come out of your mouth before you even form it. Nevertheless, confess your sins to Him. Acknowledge your sinfulness.
Cry out to God, the great God to have mercy upon you. For Him to save you. There is no magical prayer. God knows your heart. Call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13). Call upon Jesus tonight and be saved.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spoke he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:37-39.
Believe In The Finished Work Of Jesus Christ
Oh, come to Jesus. Believe on Him. Believe in His finished work on the cross to pay for your sins. Don’t trust in yourself or in anyone or anything else. Trust in Christ alone for salvation. Oh, be saved today. Come to Jesus. Surrender your life to Jesus Christ the Lord. He is Lord. He is Lord of all. Oh, submit to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Repent from your sins and put your faith in Jesus. Trust Jesus Christ today and be saved.
If God is drawing you through the power of the Holy Spirit, don’t resist God. Repent and surrender your life to Jesus. Don’t put it off. God will not always strive with man. You may resist God to the point where He no longer calls you. Repent from your sins and put your trust in the risen Lord – Jesus Christ. Do this today.
If or when you ever recognize your sinfulness and God’s Holiness and you cry out to God to save you, then you too will understand the unsearchable goodness of God who sent His only Son to save wretched sinners like us. Oh, if you truly ever repent and believe the Gospel, you too will praise and thank God for His great mercy and grace.
Then you too will say: Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. You will join us in praising our Redeemer, our Savoir, our Lord and Master. You then will agree with the psalmist in Psalm 145:3: Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
Join Us In Praising God
Oh, you won’t stop there. You will join us in continuing to praise God. Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might (Jeremiah 10:6). For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods (Psalm 96:4).
When you turn from your sins and turn to Jesus, you become a new creature in Christ. God takes away your heart of stone and gives you a heart of flesh. You then desire to be more Christ-like. You want to please God. Your desire is to live for God. My desire for God to take away my evil thoughts and desires and for Him to give me His thoughts and desires which are higher than mine.
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:6-9).
The Hour Is Come
Oh folks, we want you to receive eternal life. These words spoke Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (John 17:1-3).
Receive everlasting life. Repent from your sins and put your faith in Jesus. Without faith it is impossible to please God. We are to have repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). Oh, come to Jesus and be saved. Call upon Jesus and be saved.
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:9-13).
Oh, confess the Lord Jesus, believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Call upon the mighty name of Jesus and be saved. Repent and trust Jesus. Then see for yourself: Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.
(This message was proclaimed in downtown Springfield, MO on January 26, 2018)