Well, let us turn to the Word
of God. And with the Lord's gracious help this morning, I will consider
with you the whole of Psalm 133. Psalm 133, a song of degrees
of David. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious
wind that's upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even
Aaron's beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments,
as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the
mountains of Zion. For there the Lord commanded
the blessing, even life forevermore. Psalm 133 is one of the 15 psalms
which are entitled A Song of Degrees. And it's one of four
of those psalms which are attributed to David. A Song of Degrees of
David. Now as to what is meant by A
Song of Degrees, there has been much conjecture. The word degree
in the Hebrew literally means ascent or going up, a step up,
so to speak. It may be that these songs of
degrees were so called because of their excellent nature. Just
as an excellent man is called a man of high degree. Remember,
David said in prayer that God had regarded him according to
the estate of a man of high degree. It's possible that these songs
of degrees were to be sung in a higher key or in a higher pitch. This was the opinion of such
men as John Calvin and Dr. Gill. It may be that these songs
were sung on some high place, such as on the steps going up
to the temple in Jerusalem. These Psalms may have been sung
on special occasions, such as the bringing up of the Ark to
Jerusalem, upon special occasions like that,
the bringing up of the Ark to Jerusalem. Or perhaps upon the
return of the captivity from Babylon, when all the The tribes
of the Lord again went up to Jerusalem. Perhaps they were
sung when the Lord's people met together three times in the year
before the Lord at Jerusalem, in the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles.
And this would certainly agree, wouldn't it, with the subject
matter of this particular psalm. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It's also been suggested
that this psalm was penned when all the tribes of Israel and
all the elders of Israel came together to anoint David king
over all Israel. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Well, there's one thing
that we can be sure of regarding this psalm. And that is that
it is indeed an excellent song written by David, composed by
David. Yes, but inspired by God, the
Holy Ghost. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And here is a psalm which is
to be used for the benefit and for the blessing, for the edification
and for the encouragement of the Church in all ages. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable. for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness. The subject of
the psalm is the church and the communion of saints. And we are
exhorted first of all to behold Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. The communion of saints
is something which may be beheld. It is something which can be
seen. The Holy Catholic or Universal
Church has its visible expression in particular congregations or
local churches. the local church is the visible
expression of the Universal Church, the Bride of Christ, the Kingdom
of God. It is something which can be
seen. A city that is set on a hill
cannot be hid. And so we read here, Behold!
Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity and we see here that the communion of saints is both
good and pleasant indeed it is immeasurably good and immeasurably
pleasant so much so that words cannot really express it behold
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity and there are many things in the world which are good but
are not necessarily pleasant. Work is good, but it's not always
pleasant, is it? Medicine can be good, but it's
rarely pleasant. And likewise, there are many
things which may be pleasant, but which are not good. Sin might
be pleasant, and therein lies the temptation, but it's never
good. Ah, but the communion of saints
is both good and pleasant. It is good in the sight of God
to see his children dwelling together in unity, and how good
and how pleasant it is to the child of God, to one who is born
of God, to one who has the Spirit of God, to see the Lord's people
dwelling together in unity. Though doubtless the Apostles'
Creed does not originate with the Apostles, but it is nonetheless
a very ancient confession of faith in the Christian Church,
and a part of it reads thus, I believe in the communion of
saints. I believe in the communion of
saints. Or do you believe in the communion
of saints? how good and how pleasant it
is to all the Lord's people in every age and in every clime
and we note this we note this that all the saints
all the Lord's people are called brethren Jesus said But be not ye called
Rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. And call no man father, he said,
and call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father,
which is in heaven. All those who belong to Christ
are brethren. And in the true Catholic Church,
the holy Catholic Church, as it is in the Apostles' Creed,
none is called Father upon the earth. No. All ye are brethren. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. We note the verb to dwell here
in this first verse. It actually means to sit down
in the original Hebrew. Now when you sit down in a house
it usually means that you're going to stay for a while, doesn't
it? Well, so the word here means to abide, to continue, to remain
together in unity. This was David's hope and expectation
and desire, wasn't it? And I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. And mark the words in unity,
in unity, as one. to dwell together even as one
this text could be rendered and this was the experience of the
New Testament church wasn't it from the very beginning as we
read in the book of Acts and the multitude of them that believed
were of one heart and of one soul Or it was the great concern of
the Apostle for the Colossians and for the Laodiceans and for
others that their hearts might be comforted being knit together
in love. Being knit together in love. The Puritan Thomas Watson said,
and I quote, As in music, though there be several strings of a
vial, it all make one sweet melody. So though there are several Christians,
Yet there should be one sweet melody of affection among them.
There is but one God, and they that serve him should be one.
There is nothing that would render the true religion more lovely
or make more proselytes to it than to see the professors of
it tied together with the heartstrings of love. If God be one, let all
that profess Him be of one mind and one heart, and thus fulfill
Christ's prayer that they all may be one. that they all may
be one. Well, this then is the subject
of the psalm. It's a psalm concerning the church
and concerning the unity of the church or the communion of saints. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Then in verses two
and three, we see two similitudes or similes. It is like the precious
ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's
beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments as the
Jew of Hermon and as the Jew that descended upon the mountains
of Zion. Now here the communion of saints
is compared to two things. The first similitude we have
in verse 2. The communion of believers is
compared to the precious oil with which the high priest was
anointed. It is like the precious ointment
upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard,
that went down to the skirts of his garments. We read of that
precious oil, that holy anointing oil in the book of Exodus, Exodus
30 verse 30. And thou shalt anoint Aaron and
his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me
in the priest's office. And thou shalt speak unto the
children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil
unto me throughout your generations. Upon man's flesh shall it not
be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it after the composition
of it. It is holy, and it shall be holy
unto you. Whosoever compoundeth any like
it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall
even be cut off from his people." The High Priest was of course
a type of the Christ who was to come, the Anointed One, who
is our great High Priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus
the Son of God. Just as Aaron was anointed, so
the Lord Jesus Christ, as the apostle and high priest of our
profession, was anointed. The word Christ, as I'm sure
you know, or Messiah, means anointed one. Oh, but you know, our Lord
Jesus Christ was not anointed with oil made by the hands of
men, no. He was anointed with the Spirit
of the living God. For he whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto
him. When he was in the synagogue
at Nazareth, Jesus read from the book of Isaiah the prophet,
and he applied the words to himself. Luke 4 verse 18, here is Christ,
he reads from this scripture, The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me. because he has anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach
the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he
gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of
all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he
began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled. in your ears. The Lord Jesus Christ, oh He
is the Christ of God, the Anointed One. He was anointed with the
Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, which was typified by the precious
ointment with which Aaron was anointed. Now we are taught here
then that the unity of the church, the communion of saints, is in
the Spirit and of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit being the author
of the spiritual unity of the church. And so Paul writes to
the Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 4, I therefore
the prisoner of the Lord beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the
vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness,
with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring
to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is
one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called, in one hope
of your calling." And just as the oil descended from the head
to the body, or down to the skirts of Aaron's garments, or so the
risen and ascended Lord, who is the head of the church, and
the only head of the church, has sent the Holy Ghost to the
church, which is his body. And this he did on the day of
Pentecost. And so the unity of the Spirit,
sorry, the unity of which the psalmist is speaking here in
this psalm is the unity of the Spirit. in the bond of peace. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious
ointment upon the head that ran down the beard, even Aaron's
beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments. This
is the first simile then. It is like the precious ointment
upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard,
that went down to the skirts of his garments. And the second
simile we have in verse 3, as the Jew of Homan, and as the
Jew that descended upon the mountains of Zion. Now here is a similitude
taken from nature. The text may be rendered if we
take away the italics which have been inserted by the translators.
It literally reads as the Jew of Hermon that descended upon
the mountains of Zion. Now Hermon was a great mountain
on the northern a border of the land of Israel to the northwest
of Dan in the Old Testament and near to Caesarea Philippi of
the New Testament. Because of its proximity to Caesarea
Philippi, some have suggested that this was actually the scene
of Christ's transfiguration. It was the Mount of Transfiguration,
a great mountain. It was also called Syrian and
Shynia as we read in Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 3 verse 9, which
Hermon the Sidonians called Syrian and the Amorites called Shynia. And it was a mountain which was
very well known for its copious dew. Dr. Gill quotes a traveller
who slept one night in a tent near Mount Hermon. And he quotes
him as saying, we were sufficiently instructed by experience what
the Holy Psalmist means by the dew of Hermon, our tents being
as wet with it as if it had rained all night. So it was a mountain
that was very well known for its dew. And the sun would shine
on this dew and the moisture would rise up into the air. It
would be carried south until it descended on the lesser or
lower mountains of Zion. And thus it would refresh the
parched land in the heat of summer. We have a similar figure in Isaiah
18 verse four. For so the Lord said unto me,
I will take my rest and I will consider in my dwelling place
like a clear heat upon herbs and like a cloud of dew in the
heat of harvest. Lord Jesus Christ is to us the
great mountain of Hermon. He is the rock that is higher
than I. And his churches are as the little
hills or mountains of Zion. The dew of the Spirit descends
to us from Christ our Head, and He refreshes and revives us. He grants us His Word, the pure
and holy doctrine of the Gospel. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain
upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. and
you know the Lord himself comes to us in the word and so it is
written in another psalm he shall come down like rain upon the
mown grass as showers that water the earth in Hosea he says I
will be as the dew unto Israel Oh, He comes to us in the Word. The Lord, the King of Zion, comes
to His people to refresh and to revive and to renew them by
His Word and by His Spirit. The King's wrath is as the roaring
of a lion, but His favour is as dew upon the grass. The King's
favour spoken of there in Proverbs 19 is the blessing which we have
here in Psalm 133. For there the Lord commanded
the blessing, even life forevermore. Oh, how we need that dew of the Spirit. If we are to know anything of
God's quickening grace, if we are to know in our heart experience
that union with Christ, if we are to know the saving truth
of the Gospel, and if we are to know the truth of the Gospel
savingly. Oh, how we need that dew of the
Spirit. As John says, But ye have an unction from the
Holy One, and ye know all things. Remember what Paul said. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. If any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. All but remember, too,
the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ. If ye, then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
him? or how we need that dew from heaven, the gift of the
Holy Ghost. We are to ask the great head
of the church for that gift. We are to ask our Father in heaven
for that gift of the Holy Ghost. Let us pass on to consider the
last part of the third verse of this psalm and the blessing
which God has commanded for their The Lord commanded the blessing,
even life forevermore. For there the Lord commanded
the blessing, even life forevermore. Firstly, then, under this heading,
consider who has commanded the blessing. It is the Lord. It is the Lord who has commanded
the blessing, the Eternal I Am, the Omnipotent Jehovah, He whose
word cannot be broken. He whose word frames the worlds. He who upholds all things by
the word of His power. It is He who has commanded the
blessing, even life, forevermore. And you know, where the word
of a king is, there is power. Or how much more, then, the word
of Him who is the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings
and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the
light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor
can see, to whom be honour and power everlasting? Oh, that blessing therefore shall
infallibly come to all the favoured objects of his choice, for there
the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. And we note this, that if the
Lord has commanded the blessing, well then it cannot be by works,
it must be by grace. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy upon whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion
upon whom I will have compassion so then it is not of him that
willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that showeth mercy
Paul had previously said them in Romans, therefore it is of
faith that it might be by grace. To the end, the promise might
be sure to all the seed. That the promise might be sure
to all the seed. And the promise is sure to all
the seed because of the power, indeed because of the omnipotence
of the One who has promised. For there the Lord commanded
the blessing, even life forevermore. Now when did the Lord command
this blessing? It was before the foundation
of the world, before the world was even made. Paul writes to
Timothy, not according to our works but according to his own
purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the
world began. That's when it was given. but what is the blessing what
is this blessing which the Lord has commanded where we're told
we're told in the last clause of the verse for there the Lord
commanded the blessing even life forevermore that is the blessing
which the Lord has commanded even life forevermore eternal
life eternal life And so Paul writes to Titus, in hope of eternal
life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world
began. This is the blessing. This is
the blessing. It's the blessing which Pilgrim
saw, didn't he? And that blessing which he so
much desired in Pilgrim's progress by Bunyan. You remember the story. This is what Bunyan writes. He
says, So I saw in my dream that a man began to run. that the
man began to run. Now he had not run far from his
own door, but his wife and children, perceiving it, began to cry after
him to return. But the man put his fingers in
his ears and ran on, crying, Life! Life! Eternal Life! So he looked not behind him,
but fled. Are you fleeing? Are you fleeing
to Him who is the only Saviour of sinners and who is eternal
life, in whom dwells eternal life, who gives eternal life,
who has procured eternal life, even our Lord Jesus Christ? John
in his first epistle says, and this is the promise, that He
has promised us even eternal life. Again he says later on
in that epistle, and this is the record, that God has given
to us eternal life and this life is in his son Jesus himself has
testified I am come that they might have life and that they
might have it more abundantly all this is the blessing and
it is revealed in the gospel eternal life in and through the
only begotten Son of God the Lord Jesus Christ. Now think
for a moment, what is the opposite of blessing? What is the opposite
of blessing? Surely it's the curse. It's the
curse. All men by nature that they are
born into this world are under the curse because of the transgression
of the head of the race, Adam. Sin is imputed to us and sin
is implanted in us. Cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do
them. no one has continued in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them and so all are under the
curse and the curse is summed up in the words of Genesis 2
verse 17 thou shalt surely die that's the curse of the law the
soul that sinneth it shall die but then we read in Galatians 3 Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse
for us, being made a curse in our place, in our stead. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. When man fell in the garden,
the very ground was cursed for his sake, wasn't it? And unto
Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy
wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake. In
sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns
also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. And you remember
when the holy, harmless, undefiled Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ,
was hanged on the tree, nailed to the cross between two malefactors,
and so numbered with the transgressors. Oh, they placed a crown of thorns
upon his head, a fit emblem of the curse. Cursed is everyone
that hangeth on a tree and so he was made a curse for us he was made a curse for us that
we might receive that blessing which God has commanded from
all eternity even life forevermore by his death and by his resurrection
from the dead Jesus has procured everlasting life for all his
dear elect, his church. Because I live, ye shall live
also, he said. And as long as Christ shall live,
so long shall his people live. I give unto them eternal life,
Jesus said. And they shall never perish.
And they shall never perish. This is the blessing then, which
God has commanded. For there the Lord commanded
the blessing, even life forevermore. Let us go on to consider where
the Lord has commanded the blessing. We read here, For there the Lord
commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. Where? In the
Gospel Church. The place where brethren dwell
together in unity. Where brethren dwell together
in that unity of the Spirit. The Lord has commanded the blessing
in and upon the church. Christ loved the church and gave
himself for it. We read in Ephesians chapter
5, and again in that chapter, Christ is the head of the church
and he is the savior of the body. The blessing resides in and upon
the Church. Outside of the Gospel Church
there is no blessing, there is no salvation. I must make myself
clear here, of course. Don't misunderstand me. When
I say that there is no blessing, no salvation outside of the Church,
I mean that it is only the Church which is saved. It is only the
Gospel Church which is redeemed. It is only the Gospel Church
which is given eternal life. It is only the Church which receives
such a blessing as this. And of course to this truth,
all the Holy Scriptures abundantly testify. In Psalm 3, for example, salvation Belongeth unto the
Lord, thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. There is no salvation in the
church in the sense the church cannot save. There is no saving
virtue in any of her ordinances. Her ministers cannot save. Salvation
is to be found in Christ alone and thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins." The
recipients of divine grace, the blessed recipients of the blessing
of God, are the members of Christ's mystical body, the Church. Outside
of that elect body of Christ, which is the Gospel Church, there
is no blessing, only the curse. For there the Lord commanded
the blessing, even life forevermore. Now by way of conclusion, there
are two inferences which we may gather from the things which
we have considered this morning. Firstly, how important it is
for those who know the Lord or rather are known of God, to cultivate
a unity with the Gospel Church. It behoves all those who have
believed on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to join a local
church. We have the example of those
who were converted on the day of Pentecost. In Acts chapter 2, verse 41, and they that were gladly received
his word were baptised and the same day they were added unto
them about three thousand souls. Now what were they added to?
It says they were added to them about three thousand souls. Well
what were they added to? We're told later on. Verse 47 of that chapter. And
the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. We also have Paul's example in
Acts chapter 9. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem,
he asked they to join himself to the disciples. Remember Mr
Matronola speaking of this, possibly more than once, but I certainly
remember it at least once. The word join, there in the Greek,
comes from a word meaning to glue, to glue together, or to
cement, to fasten together. It's a very strong word. There
must be the joining of the believer to the Gospel Church. Consider for a moment what it
is to be outside the gospel church. God's blessing resides in and
upon his church, for there the Lord commanded the blessing,
even life forevermore. Remember the fornicator in the
church at Corinth. He was to be put out of the church
until such time as he repented. And see what strong language
Paul used to describe this action against the man. 1 Corinthians
5 Verse 5, to deliver such an one unto Satan, for the destruction
of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the
Lord Jesus. All to be excluded from the church
was to be handed over to Satan. So it was with Hymenaeus and
Alexander as Paul writes to Timothy 1 Timothy 1 verse 19 holding
faith and a good conscience which some having put away concerning
faith have made shipwreck of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander
whom I have delivered unto Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme
in other words they were put out of the church To be outside
the church, to be excluded from the communion of saints, is to
be delivered unto Satan. Calvin says that, and I quote,
delivering over to Satan is an appropriate expression for denoting
excommunication. For as Christ reigns in the church,
so Satan reigns out of the church. or how we need to cultivate then
that unity with the gospel church and to seek to be joined to her
if we are true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The good news,
of course, in the case of the incestuous Corinthian man, as
we see from Paul's writing to the Corinthians in his second
epistle, the good news was that this man was brought to repentance
and he was received back into the church, so that contrary,
sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted
of many, so that contrarywise ye ought rather to forgive him
and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed
up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech ye that ye
would confirm your love toward him. He was to be received back
into the church. This is the first inference then,
that we must cultivate a unity with the church. And then secondly,
the second inference, which we may gather from the things which
we've considered this morning, is this. How important it is
to cultivate unity in the church. Yes, we are to cultivate unity
with the church, but also in the church. And I'll remind you
again of what Paul writes under the inspiration of the Spirit
of God to the Ephesians. Ephesians chapter four. I beseech I therefore the prisoner
of the Lord beseech you that he worthy of the vocation wherewith
ye are called, with all loneliness and meekness, with long-suffering,
forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace, there is one body and
one Spirit, even as ye are called, in one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who
is above all and through all and in you all. part of our walking worthy of
the vocation wherewith we are called, is our endeavouring to
keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. And this
we may do positively and negatively. Negatively, not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is. Positively,
but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the
day approaching. Again, Paul writes to the Philippians,
and with this I conclude. Philippians chapter two. If there
be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of
love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same
love, being of one accord, of one mind, Let nothing be done
through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind let
each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man
on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
May the Lord grant us grace so to do, and may he grant us each
grace indeed to cultivate that unity with the church and in
the church. May the Lord bless to us his
word, and the preaching of it for the glory of his thrice holy
name. Behold, how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious
ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's
beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments, as the
Jew of Hermon, as the Jew that descended upon the mountains
of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing. even life forevermore. Amen.