So, I invite you to turn with me to Psalm 19, Psalm 19, and also ask that you turn in the back of this altar hymnal, page 70, as we, once again, after a little break, take up our consideration of the Belgic Confession. We had considered Article 1 this morning, and next week, the Lord willing, we consider The second article, page 70 in the back of the Psalter, hymnal, Belcher Confession, article 2. As we read first together the Word of God, Psalm 19, hear now the Word of God. The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. He rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other. Nothing is hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold. They are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned in keeping them. There is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins. May they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Before we turn to Article 2, Allow me to read a couple of verses from Romans chapter 1, verses 18 through 20. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse. And then turning to Article 2 of the Belgic Confession, Article 1, of course, deals with the fact that there is only one God. And then Article 2, as the heading there, states, by what means God is made known unto us. Please follow along as I read that. We know Him by two means. First, by the creation, preservation, and government of the universe which is before our eyes as a most elegant book, wherein all creatures, great and small, are as so many characters leading us to see clearly the invisible things of God, even His everlasting power and divinity, as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 1, verse 20. All which things are sufficient to convince men and leave them without excuse. Second, He makes Himself more clearly and fully known to us by His holy and divine Word that is to say, as far as is necessary for us to know in this life to His glory and our salvation. Beloved in Christ the Lord, I had a seminary professor who would say on occasion, of the making of books, there is no end. Of the making of books, there is no end. And of course, we know that that's true. That's not a secret. Books of different subjects and purposes are being written and published every day. Just look at all the libraries that you have been familiar with in your lifetime. For example, this church has a wonderful library filled with many books. Calvin Christian School across the street has a much larger library with many more volumes located there. And not to mention certain libraries in major cities, the buildings of which are even larger, possibly, than the church building we're sitting in. There is indeed a thirst for knowledge. We read for pleasure, but we also read to learn, because through many of the books available, we acquire knowledge. But man's greatest need for knowledge has to do with knowing God. And after considering the truth that there is only one God, In Belgic Confession, Article 1, Article 2 then considers, as we have said, by what means God is made known unto us. How does God make Himself known or reveal Himself unto us? Of course, Psalm 19 speaks directly to this, and no doubt along with Romans 1 was one of those most important Scripture passages from which this article was written by the author. And as we read, this article speaks in two ways in which God reveals Himself, which we know as general revelation and special revelation. And we know that special revelation includes the book that we call the Bible, which we call the Word of God. But the author of this confession also uses the figure of speech of a book to describe general revelation. And this is now talking about the book of creation, which, as Article 1 beautifully says, is before our eyes as a most elegant book, wherein all creatures, great and small, are as so many characters, leading us to see clearly the invisible things of God. David the psalmist in Psalm 19 teaches that this book declares the glory of God and proclaims the work of His hands, His craftsmanship. It declares, it proclaims, It tells us something. And the characters of creation are like letters that tell a story. John Calvin in his commentary on Psalm 19 says, The glory of God is written and imprinted in the heavens as an open volume which all men may read. And then he goes on a bit later. The glory of God is not written in small obscure letters, but richly engraven in large and bright characters which all men may read and read with greatest ease. Beloved, this morning we want to consider knowing God through the world book of general revelation. And next Lord's Day, the Lord willing, we will consider knowing God through the word book of special revelation. But first of all, with regard to the world book of general revelation, who is the author of this book? It's not a trick question. Even the boys and girls know the answer. In fact, as parents, we teach our children that at a very early age. And there is one children's catechism that begins with the question, Who made you? The answer is God. The second question, What else did God make? Everything. In fact, the word book of special revelation begins that way, doesn't it? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And again, David testifies to that in Psalm 19, verse 1. The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work. I believe that as David was talking about the heavens and the skies, this is inclusive language including all of creation, all that God has made, all that is before our eyes, even down to the tiniest microorganism that, of course, it takes a microscope to see. But it's there. And the truth of all of it is that God is indeed the master architect and the master builder. The entire universe and everything in it is the product of God's craftsmanship. The heavens proclaim the glory of God by openly bearing testimony that they are not put together by chance or by some sort of random occurrence, but they are wonderfully created by God. They are the work of His fingers, as David says in Psalm 8. John says of the Lord Jesus Christ in His Gospel, whom He calls the Word of God in chapter 1, verse 3, Through Him all things were made. Without Him nothing was made that has been made. God has also made man after his own image, and man is called then to read the world book of general revelation. Well, what's the story of that book? What's it all about? In the second place, what is the content of this book? To answer that, we need to first know what general revelation itself is. We need to know as well of what it is made up. And then also, what does it reveal? We can say, as someone has said, That general revelation is revelation that God gives generally to all men, through which then He gives a general knowledge of Himself as the Creator of the universe. And therefore, general revelation is made up of all of creation. But it's not simply creation as we see it with a quick glance. It's creation as it is preserved and governed by God, as the confession says. David in Psalm 19 focuses again on the heavens or the skies, but as I mentioned, I believe this language includes the earth. But maybe, maybe he focused on the heavens because man has always been in awe of the skies and what's out there. It's a mystery to us, isn't it? Man is intrigued. Our space exploration supports that, doesn't it? NASA, Hubble telescope and those kinds of things, space shuttles. But man is intrigued with space, with stars, planets, black holes, ozone layers, galaxies, you name it. Whatever's out there, man is intrigued with it. And for David, no doubt the heavens filled him with a sense of awe about the majesty and the greatness of God who is even greater than the universe, greater than the expanse of the skies that he talks about. And the sun, the sun that shines in the sky, which David talks about in a specific way, we might say it represents all the glory of all that God has made. Other than man, the sun that we see in the sky, we might say, is in a sense the crowning achievement of God's creation. But then we bring our eyes back down to earth and we see the work of His hands a little bit closer to home. and we need to ask the question, where do we begin with all this? You see, we look all around us and we see the beauty of creation. And even one who cannot see with their physical eyes is able to sense the beauty and the awesomeness of creation with the other senses, the sense of touch and smell and taste and hearing. But we know, of course, especially if you travel, had the privilege to travel a lot, you know that this globe that we call earth is so diverse, especially in its topography, in its landscape. We enjoy a particular climate and beauty here in Escondido, California. It's said that once someone comes, they'll never want to go home. They'll never want to leave again. For some of you, maybe that's true. Maybe you didn't leave. And that's why you're still living here. But in truth, every part of the world, every part of the United States has its own unique beauty. whether it's the unending blanket of various colors of green that cover the Midwestern fields in July. It struck me when we moved back to my hometown about 13 years ago as we were driving in from Omaha to northwest Iowa that I never noticed it before growing up. The green of the corn was one shade. The green of the beans is another shade. The green of the grass in the ditch is another shade. The green of the leaves is still another shade. and put the blue sky as a backdrop. It's absolutely gorgeous, whether you like the color green or not. It's so beautiful. Or what about the brilliant fall colors of the leaves that can't help but capture your attention, for example, in Michigan? And we could go on and on. We can talk about the majesty of the Niagara Falls or the awesomeness of the Grand Canyon. What about the breathtaking view of Mount Everest? or maybe even the endless sight of the ocean that seems to go on forever. But again, it's more than what we simply see at any given moment as if we take a snapshot with our eyes and just stop it for that moment. It's more than that. It's that we see it day after day, night after night, and we observe the same patterns year after year. You see, God didn't just create the heavens and the earth in the beginning and then walk away from it. He didn't just wind up His creation like a big spinning top, as the deists claim, and let it wind down throughout history. And once it stops spinning, well, then that's the end. God is intimately involved with His creation. He preserves it. He protects it. He provides for it. And He governs it. He leads it to its directed end. We confess that which we call providence. I invite you to turn with me back a few pages to the Heidelberg Catechism, page 17. Providence, question and answer 27 of Lord's Day 10. What is it? Answer 27. Providence is the almighty and ever-present power of God by which He upholds as with His hand heaven and earth and all creatures and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty. All things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from His fatherly hand. And the very next answer adds to this that all creatures are so completely in His hand that without His will they can neither move nor be moved. You see, this is what Scripture teaches again and again. Pardon me. That God, through His Son, from the very beginning of time has been sustaining all things by His powerful Word. Hebrews 1, verse 3. And Paul says of Christ in Colossians 1, verse 17, He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Paul also told the men of Athens in Acts 17 that God made the world and everything in it, and that He gives all men life and breath and everything else, and that from one man He made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth. And He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. And finally, Paul says, for in Him we live and move and have our being. See, God both preserves and governs that creation made in His image, namely man, as well as the rest of His creation. God has created the laws of nature with the sun to rule by day and the moon and the stars to rule by night. Of the sun, again, David says, in the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from His pavilion, Like a champion rejoicing to run his course, it rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other. Nothing is hidden from its heat. And of course, we know that David speaks from the perspective of man, doesn't he? We've learned that. The sun doesn't actually move in the sky. It's set in one place. The earth rotates and revolves. But from man's perspective, the sun rises and it sets. And through his law of nature, God fulfills his promise to Noah. Remember what that is? That as long as the earth endures, seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. Beloved, even though there are so many out there that reject this truth, there is no doubt to believers that this is our Heavenly Father's world. It points to Him. Every part of creation, again, is as Calvin says, a large and bright character that we might say makes up the sermon that preaches. and tells the story of the glory of God. In his introduction to his comments, before he begins his comments on Psalm 19, Calvin writes, David, with a view of encouraging the faithful to contemplate the glory of God, sets before them in the first place a mirror of it, a mirror of that glory in the fabric of the heavens and in the exquisite order of their workmanship which we behold. It's a mirror out there. A mirror of the glory of God. The world book of general revelation reveals the glory of God and the work of His hands, as David says. It reveals that He is the Creator. And God's glory is visible in the blue of the sky as well as in the gray of the thunderclouds. It's visible in the erupting volcano as well as in the wonder of the unborn child's ultrasound photo. God's glory is revealed in the detail of the seasons of the planting and the growth and the harvest cycle of the crops. It's evident in the detail of how the human body is perfectly knit so perfectly together so that it even heals when it's hurt. How a bone that is broken heals again. And boys and girls, how when you scrape your knee over and over and over again, Over and over and over again, that knee heals. We are to be amazed by God's glory as it is made known to us through the law of gravity, which keeps our feet on the ground. We are to be amazed in this environment called earth and its atmosphere in which we can live, unlike any other place in space. Indeed, we feel the warmth and the heat of the sun, as David says, yet it does not burn us up. And beloved, there is no end to how God's glory is revealed in creation. And when it comes to mankind, there is no limit with regard to the recipients of this world book of general revelation. And that's because of a couple of things in particular which David describes. First of all, this revelation is continuous. Verse 2 says, Day after day they pour forth speech. Night after night, they display knowledge. It's ongoing. It's always there, this revelation. It's never removed. It's not on again, off again revelation. We are always, whether we see it or not, whether we comprehend it or not, we are always in the midst of God's general revelation. Boys and girls, wherever you look, as you look around at the world, you see God's revelation. And this is every moment of every day from the beginning of creation. Until Jesus Christ comes again. This revelation is also abundant, as David says. It is poured forth, and the idea is like a gushing spring. I think of a fire hydrant that might be hit by a car, but the water is gushing 20, maybe 30 feet in the sky. You can't stop it, and you can't begin to catch all of that abundance. God's revelation is poured forth. No one can soak in the abundance of God's general revelation. And there is enough for each and there is enough for all. But this revelation, beloved, is also universal. Verses 3 and 4. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth. Their words to the ends of the world. Now, boys and girls, at the spring concert the other night for Calvin Christian School, which was very good, and I thank you for that, At the beginning it was said that music is the language, is the universal language. And I was interested in that comment as I had just been studying all afternoon for this particular sermon. And that's true in a sense that music is the universal language. It's true in the sense that all people, no matter what nation, what continent, what country, all people, generally speaking, enjoy music. Music, I'm sure you can find it in every culture and in every place. In that way it's universal. And also in some respects we might take a particular tune like the tune of Amazing Grace, which is well known throughout the world, in a sense that's universal. However, it's limited in the sense that we sing English words for Amazing Grace and we can't, at least most of us, understand Chinese words or words of a small native tribe, the language of a native tribe somewhere. And that way music is not the universal language. And yet, without the words, there's not a whole lot to communicate, is there? There is only one true universal language, and David teaches of it here. It's the language of God in creation. This language knows no boundaries. It transcends. It crosses the boundaries of time and color and nations and continents and languages. We, of course, know that the languages of the world confuse us. Some know a number of languages, maybe four, five, six, seven languages, but that's just a drop in the bucket compared to the number of languages out there. The Gideons can tell you that. The Bible League can tell you that. The languages of the world confuse us, but as different as they may be, the beauty is that they cannot stand in the way of the speech of general revelation. You cannot stand in the way of it from being heard and understood. And no one is discriminated against when it comes to the language of creation. It's for all to see. And it clearly reveals to all, as Article 2 says, the invisible things of God, even His everlasting power and divinity. I trust those words sound familiar to you. We read them also from Romans 1, verse 20. And as well, Paul says in that chapter, as we read, what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. Beloved, this truth of Romans 1 and Psalm 19 are probably the best arguments that we could ever have against atheism which says there is no God. Just open your eyes and look around. The glory of God is revealed all around us. This is a revelation of God's existence and power that is so great that it should lead every human being on the face of the earth to seek God and to thank Him for bringing him or her into existence and as well to worship God. As Article 2 says, quoting again from Paul, this world book of general revelation is sufficient to convince men and leave them without excuse. No one has an excuse for not knowing God. Yet, the sad truth is not all know Him. Many do not see Him. Many are blinded to that glory. And therefore, they do not seek and thank and worship Him. And therefore, we need to consider the limitations of this book. I'm not saying, please understand, I'm not saying that there are any defects or flaws in God's world book. There are none. God created it very good. The problem is in man. The limitation is in man because of sin. General revelation reveals God as Creator, but not as Redeemer. General revelation is sufficient to reveal the glory of God, and indeed it does reveal that glory, but man in his godlessness and wickedness suppresses the truth by their wickedness and exchanges the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles and to believe things like the Big Bang Theory, the theory of evolution and other things like that. David, I believe, also points this out indirectly that general revelation reveals God as Creator but not as Redeemer. In that in verses 1-6, David speaks of God using the general term for God, The Hebrew word El, E-L, which can also be used by the heathen when they speak of their idol gods. But then in the rest of the psalm, David speaks in a particular, a special way about God using his personal, his covenantal name, Yahweh. Which of course is his covenantal personal name given only to his redeemed people. We might say that the limitations of this book is that although it clearly reveals to all people everywhere in every time the power and majesty and glory and creative work of God, yet not one in and of themselves in their human nature sees any of that clearly. Not one. Every last one is blinded by his or her sin. We need the word book of special revelation which we hope to consider next week. That word book which Calvin describes as a pair of eyeglasses. We need that in order to clearly and properly read the world book of general revelation. It's only through that word book applied to a new heart by the illumination of the Holy Spirit that we can see God as the fulfiller of our greatest need, to know Him as our Redeemer for the sake of Jesus Christ. You see, one can only know God, see God in creation, and know Him as the Creator when he first knows Him as Redeemer in Jesus Christ by the grace of God. Beloved, the world book takes away a man's excuse for not knowing God. Yet it doesn't bring salvation. The word book is necessary for that. And David clearly outlines how that is possible in the rest of Psalm 19 as we hope to consider again later on. But the truth of all that we have said so far answers the question that many, including believers, have wrestled with for so long. What about the man on the deserted island who has never heard the Gospel message and never will? Or what about those people who seem to be good and sincere people yet they have never heard of Jesus Christ? Can they be saved? As hard as it is for us to understand and even accept the Word of God is clear. God's power and divinity and glory are clearly revealed to them in creation yet without the Gospel message of Holy Scripture They cannot and will not understand it and believe it. Because no one sincerely seeks God apart from the gospel message applied to their heart by the Holy Spirit. Paul says in Romans 10 verse 14, How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? We know that Paul says in another place that God has chosen through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. And therefore, as one of my colleagues has said, we have the assurance that if there is an elect child of God in a deserted place, we have the assurance that Jesus Christ indeed died for them, and the Holy Spirit will reach that person by sending a preacher. And you know what? He might even use us to make that happen. This points as well to our great responsibility as a people of God, those who have been called to bring the Word of God to the ends of the earth. What a responsibility we have been given, and what a delight that ought to be, because we have seen the glory of God by His grace. As our Redeemer for the sake of Jesus Christ and our Creator. That's why the work of the Gideons, for example, is so important as well. It's such a wonderful work. As we heard the stories already this morning, the Holy Spirit Himself at times is that preacher as one picks up the Scriptures. As we heard in adult Sunday school this morning, the cause of Christ in the world, not just for myself, but the cause of Christ in the world ought to be so very dear to the people of God. And therefore, congregation, may we be a thankful people of God. Thankful because God did not leave us to suppress the truth, but He has given to us the eyeglasses of Scripture to clearly read His world book of general revelation. Boys and girls, we were blessed this morning with a baptism in the first service. A little Joshua David Tiersma. And I hope that each one of you is thankful that like Joshua Tiersma, God has placed you in a family with a mom and dad who love the Lord, which means, as they promised, Which means that you, like Joshua, will hear and you will be taught the Word of God. Will you believe it? That's the question. Do you believe it? Young people, I hope as well that you consider that to be the greatest privilege in your life. It's not about getting good grades or having a lot of friends or having the talent to play sports or instruments or even having a great personality or many of the other gifts that God pours out upon us. Those are indeed wonderful privileges and gifts that we are to be thankful for. But the greatest of all is hearing the Word of God and being taught that all of life as you're taking chemistry and history and sitting in biology class and running in P.E. or learning mathematics and calculus, that all of it finds its foundation in the glory of God. And beloved, as believers by grace through faith, we can and we must use creation to witness for God. You see, He's given us such a wonderful tool. I have a retired minister friend back in Michigan who does this so beautifully. He can take a rock, for example, and take Scripture and apply it to that rock. Maybe the fact that the very stones will cry out. I'm not sure what he uses. But he can witness to the Lord, to someone with creation. We've been given the same thing. As we look at the skies, it proclaims the work of God's hand. It declares His glory. But, you see, it's got to be as my friend. We cannot witness with that tool of creation apart from the Word of God, which explains in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And that the heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Or as we read in Isaiah, To whom will you compare Me? Or who is My equal? Says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. And beloved, may each one of us then take the time to look around and smell the roses. And as well, may we enjoy the sunset and may we not simply complain about cutting the grass but may we marvel at the fact that the grass continues to grow may we also marvel at the new leaves that are growing on the trees in this season may we not take it for granted but praise God for creation's preaching of His glory and may we thank Him for bringing us to a true knowledge of Him through His word for the sake of Christ Jesus and may our earnest and sincere prayer be may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight O Lord my rock and my redeemer so go ahead as I told the first service to do look around not just at me look around at each other go ahead look around at all the people here it's awkward isn't it but look around we teach our children to look forward look at the building when you get outside look at the flowers and the creation and as you see the unique features and the details of each person for example sitting here this morning as you observe and study the architecture and the craftsmanship of this building as you look at the flowers and you notice the multi-colors and shapes and sizes and then as you're going home and you look at the hills back over here and you notice the different rock formations there then tonight, Lord willing if it's a clear night you stare at the stars in the sky then answer this question what do I see? what do I see? Amen shall we pray? Father, we praise You for Your visible sermon to the world and to us in creation. In the heavens, from the heavens, from the skies, the sun, the moon, the stars. From the beauty of Your creation which is all around us. We praise You for that, O Lord. We praise You not simply that we can see it, but that we can understand it by Your mercy and Your grace. because you have illumined us and brought us to that saving faith and taken away the blinders from our eyes and given us to see the glory of our God. May we be pleased, O Lord, to use that in some small way, to be used of you to bring someone else to that wonder and the majesty of that glory. We thank you for such a great revelation. in Jesus Christ, our Lord, and such a great salvation we have through Him that we might be able to enjoy to the utmost the work of your hands. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen.