Title: Satisfaction
Text: Psalm 17: 15
Date: December 15, 2013
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
My subject is: Satisfaction.
Has
anything in this world ever satisfied you?
There are some whose satisfaction is found in this life, in carnal
things. David prayed to be saved from
such men. He describes them in Psalm 17:
14 as:
Psalm 17: 14:…men
of the world, which have their
portion in this life, and whose belly
thou fillest with thy hid treasure:
they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
·
They are men of the world—worldly men; they belong to the world; they are
satisfied with the world.
·
Their portion is in this life—only in this life. In their lifetime they receive their
good things.
·
Whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure:--They live for their belly, for their flesh. And God fills their flesh with earthy
things—with hid treasure—treasure dug out of the earth like silver, gold,
diamonds and so on.
·
They are full of children. And leave the
rest of their substance to their
babes.
To
many, that sounds good! They would be
satisfied with those things. Nothing is
worse than to find satisfaction in this world. David does not pray to be one of
these men. He prays to be saved FROM
these men. When we were dead in sin we
were satisfied with those things. But
the believer is no longer satisfied with earthly treasure. What is it that satisfies the believer?
Psalm 17: 15: As for me, I will behold thy
face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
Proposition:
One day every believer shall awake to behold the face of God and we shall be
perfectly conformed to our Savior. Then we shall be satisfied.
I. THE OBJECT OF OUR SATISFACTION—V15: I will
behold thy face…
Face of Christ Through Faith
Right
now, every true believer, beholds God’s face through faith. It is only when God
causes his face to shine into our hearts that we are saved.
Psalm 80:3: Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to
shine; and we shall be saved.
We
behold the face of God in the face of Christ Jesus our Redeemer.
2 Corinthians 4: 6: For God, who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness,…
Genesis 1: 2: And the earth was without form, and void;
and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. 3: And God said, Let there be light: and there was
light.
2 Corinthians 4: 6: For God, who commanded the light to
shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in
the face of Jesus Christ.
God
hath shined into our hearts. He has given us the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God—a spiritual knowledge of the gospel. Where do we behold the glory
of God? in the face of Jesus Christ.
God has
made us to behold his glory, the glory of his gospel, the glory of our
salvation, and it is all in the face of Jesus Christ.
Colossians 1:18: And he is the head of the body, the
church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things
he might have the preeminence. 19: For it pleased the Father that in him
should all fulness dwell;
The
invisible God manifests his glory to his saints in the person of the GodMan,
Jesus Christ.
Colossians 2:9: For in him dwelleth all the fulness of
the Godhead bodily.
Hebrews 1:3: Who being the brightness of his glory, and
the express image of his person,…
The
gospel of God is Christ Jesus. Before
time began, God the Father blessed his people with all spiritual blessings in
Christ according as he chose us in him. He predestinated us to be his adopted
children, adopted to himself, and he did so by Jesus Christ. He made us
accepted in Jesus Christ. In whom we have redemption by his blood. It is by
Jesus Christ that we have been given grace and life and light to behold his
face. God’s gospel is “concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Christ
Jesus is our Salvation.
·
He is our Wisdom—by
whose knowledge we are justified.
·
He is our Righteousness—through
faith in Christ we have established the law in perfect righteousness.
·
He is our Sanctification—our new man—created in true holiness—is Christ in you
the hope of glory.
·
He is our Redemption—we
have been bought with the price of his precious blood; Freed from the curse of
the law, freed from sins dominion, freed from death and hell.
Through a Glass Darkly
We do
see, but for now, we see through a glass darkly—like in a mirror. But soon—face-to-face!—v15: I will behold thy face.
1 Corinthians 13:12: For now we see through a glass,
darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even
as also I am known.
Brethren,
we shall see the living God with these eyes.
Job 19:
25: For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand
at the latter day upon the earth: 26: And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27: Whom I shall see
for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins
be consumed within me.
Application: The triune God in the face of Jesus Christ is the object
of our faith now. And he shall be the object of our satisfaction when we behold
him face-to-face in that day—v15: As for
me, I will behold thy face
II. THE STATE IN WHICH WE SHALL BE SATISFIED—V15:
in righteousness
Righteousness
We
shall be righteousness with no more sin--I
shall behold thy face IN RIGHTEOUSNESS. The guilt of sin is removed from us
now by the blood of Christ. The dominion
of sin has now been dethroned by the Spirit of Christ within us. But when we stand before God’s throne we will
be completely free from sin—made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
2 Corinthians 5:21: For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we
might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Ephesians 5: 25:…Christ also loved the church, and gave
himself for it; 26: That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word, 27: That he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and
without blemish.
In that
day we shall be holy, unblameable, unreproveable IN HIS SIGHT!
1 Thessalonians 3:13: To the end he may stablish your
hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
This
will all be the result of God’s work alone—to
the praise of the glory of his grace!
III. THE TIME OF OUR SATISFACTION—V15:…I shall be
satisfied, WHEN I awake, with thy likeness.
Death is Sleep
For the
believer, scriptures say death is only sleep. When we take our last breath we
shall fall asleep but immediately, our soul shall awake in the presence of the
Lord.
Luke 23: 42: And [the regenerated, believing thief on the
cross] said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
43: And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with
me in paradise.
2 Corinthians 5:8: We are confident, I say, and willing
rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
In the
resurrection, our body, shall awake a glorified body.
1 Corinthians 15: 50: Now this I say, brethren, that flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit
incorruption. 51: Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed, 52: In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed. 53: For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and
this mortal must put on immortality. 54: So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory. 55: O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy
victory? 56: The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is
the law. 57: But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Awake Conformed to Christ
We
shall awake with his likeness—conformed to Christ—Psalm 17: 15:…I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
Romans 8:29: For whom he did foreknow, he also did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren.
Right now sinners are changed into his image in the inner
man by a sight of him through faith,
2
Corinthians 3: 18: But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory
of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even
as by the Spirit of the Lord.
But then we shall be perfectly like him because we shall behold
him face-to-face.
1 John 3:2: Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it
doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear,
we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
IV. THE MEASURE OF OUR SATISFACTION—I shall be
satisfied—fully satisfied!
First, God
our Father shall be satisfied because Christ his Son shall deliver up every
elect child whom the Father entrusted to him, saying, “Behold, I and the
children which thou hast given me”.
Secondly,
Christ shall be satisfied for he “shall see of the travail of his soul and
shall be satisfied.” (Is 53: 11)
And
every child of glory shall be fully satisfied--v15 As for me, I will behold thy face in
righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
Application:
2 Peter 3:14: Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for
such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot,
and blameless.
AMEN!