I hope to be thankful today for
such things as the Lord is pleased to teach us. I thank the Lord that He's given
Brother Al the understanding of the Scriptures to be able
to deal with difficult passages of Scripture and to see Christ. in the midst of it, because that's
really the only message that we have. You know, we're not
able to tell you exactly how you ought to do everything. Some
folks, they have great wisdom in this way, and they write books
telling you how to do about everything. I can't tell you how to do much,
but I can tell you this, and that is that Christ Jesus the
Lord is the Savior of sinners. And He saveth such as be of a
broken and contrite heart. And He calls men to Himself.
And He saves men to the uttermost. And He is the Savior and there
is none else beside Him. And so I hope that in all that
we would set forth to, set before you, that that message might
be ringed out, that it might be that only one that you hear,
and that He be the only one that you give glory to. This is Psalm
125 that we're looking at, another of the Song of Degrees. Psalm 125, they that trust in
the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but
abideth forever. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth
even forever. For the rod of the wicked shall
not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous
put forth their hands unto iniquity. Do good, O Lord, unto those that
be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts. As for
such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall
lead them forth with the workers of iniquity, but peace shall
be upon Israel. Now the promises of God are sure and steadfast. And the
promises of God are made to Christ. To Abraham and his seed were
the promises made, not to seeds as of many, but to Christ. All of the promises
of God are found in Christ. He is the epitome and he is the
repository of all the promises of God. And as such, he is the
savior of his people because he owns the promise, belongs
to him. The father said, ask of me and
I'll give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. And he has
indeed gained the heathen. For He has a people, as we read
in the book of the Revelation, He has a people out of every
kindred, tribe, and tongue that surround His throne and praise
Him night and day. And so He is the Savior of the
world. There's not a locale on the earth,
there's not a country, there's not a people that the Lord does
not have a people among. Now I don't know all of them,
neither do you. And some of the civilizations
that have been in the past are no longer with us. But out of all of them, according
to what scripture says, the Lord has a people, belong to him. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. Now, you remember when the Lord
told Peter that he would call his name, Thou art Peter, Cephas. He said, Thou art a stone, Thou
art a rock. But he said, or he said there
aren't a stone. That's what the word Cephas means,
it means a stone. But he said upon this rock will
I build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against
it. Now there are some who take that to mean that he was speaking
of Peter, that Peter was the rock, Peter was the stone. Christ
is the rock. Now, when I think of that, I
think about the Rock of Gibraltar. And, of course, it used to be
some program on TV when I was a kid that was always They were
the sponsors of some program, I don't remember, but I can remember
seeing the Rock of Gibraltar. But when I think of Christ as
that rock on which he would build his church and the gates of hell
would not prevail against it, I often think of that rock because
it is an iconic symbol of endurance. I don't know how long it's been
there. I know the Lord made it, and it's been there as long as
he wanted it to be there, and it'll be there as long as he
wants it to be there. But I do know this, that when
the rock of Gibraltar has crumbled into the sea, and is no more,
the rock of Christ will be standing. He is that one who will not be
moved, and because he cannot be removed, because Christ is
the embodiment of his kingdom, he cannot be removed, and all
of those who are hidden in Christ cannot be removed because he
cannot be removed. And so for a man to endure, he
must be in Christ. And all those who are in Christ
shall be those who come to that place where they trust in the
Lord, for they shall be as Mount Zion. They shall be as Mount Zion,
which cannot be removed. The people of God cannot be destroyed. Job knew it. He said, though
the skin worms eat my flesh, yet in my flesh shall I see God. He knew that because he trusted
in the Lord. Now how does a man come to trust
in the Lord? Is that just a natural tendency
of man to trust in the Lord? Now, men call on the Lord when
they get into a bind, don't they? I mean, every man, I doubt there's
probably anybody that hasn't at some point in time in his
life called out to God in some fashion. Is that what it is to
trust the Lord? No, that's just a natural reaction. That's what we call natural faith.
I mean, men do have natural faith. There is such a thing as natural
faith. That's not saving faith, however.
I mean, men have faith in all sorts of things. People have
faith that what they believe is correct. That won't do you
a bit of good, because what's true is true, and if your faith
is not built on that which is true, then it will fail, because
faith, the faith of God's people is Christ. See, we're not trying
to get faith. Now, we desire that the Lord
might increase our faith, give us greater understanding, move
us closer to Him, But we cannot increase in faith in the sense
that we can, by our own efforts, come closer to Him. But that's
how men think of it, you see. Well, if I could just get more
faith, if I could have more faith, I could be this, or I could do
that. The Lord taught men how much
faith they had. when he said, if you had faith
as grain with mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, be
removed and cast into the sea. Now what was he telling them?
Now a lot of people say, well, see there, if you just increase
your faith, you could cause that mountain to move into the sea.
No, he was telling them, look, you don't have any. Because if
you said, if you had one speck of faith, you could do that.
He says, you don't have any. Because brethren, our faith's
not in our activity, but our faith is in what the Lord has
called us to trust in, which is Christ. He is our faith. And because he is our faith,
that cannot be moved. You see, our faith cannot be
moved. Now, men might cause me to doubt. My own flesh causes me to doubt.
I find myself often in fear and trembling and all kinds of things
until such time as the Lord says, hold on. I'm the one who is your faith. See, He's
our trust. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as mountains high, which cannot be removed and abided forever.
Brethren, that's what we need today is the faith of Christ. Not just faith in Christ. It
is good to have faith in Christ, but dear brethren, we must have
the faith of Christ. That is, which is Christ in Christ
alone. Not just some doctrine or something
that we've heard somebody tell us. But that which is written
in the tables of our heart, the fleshy tables of our heart, that
which is wrought in us by the Spirit of God, they that trust
in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed,
but abideth forever as the mountains around about Jerusalem, so as
the Lord is round about His people from henceforth forever. That's
why we trust in Him, because He is. is as those mountains
that surrounded Jerusalem. Now, you know, when you think
of the mountains, I've never been to the Grand Canyon, but
I've seen pictures of it, and I'm sure that it would be a spectacle
that would take your breath away when you would be there in person
to see it. But when you think of Mount Everest
and you think of all these different geological formations in the
earth, the thought that comes into your mind is how long they've
been here. They've been here ever since
God made them. Now exactly how many years that is, I'll leave
that up to other people to determine. I don't have any idea how long
they've been here. They've been here ever since
God made them. I do know that. And I do know
that he formed and fashioned them just exactly like he would
have them to be. And so as those, as we read this
and we think about that, as the mountains around about Jerusalem,
we think about the mountains as they've just always been there. I don't know of a time when the
mountains hadn't been here. I know there was a time when
the mountains weren't here because the Lord brought forth the mountains.
But the point I'm making is that as the mountains around about
Jerusalem, that is from ancient times. Now you and I are not
eternal. We had a beginning. By the grace
of God, we won't have an end. But you see, all flesh has an
end. Men are not eternal. Men are
finite creatures. They're made by God. They're
creatures of a span. But those who are given eternal
life live forever. What a glorious thing. But as
we think about that, as the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so
the Lord's round about His people from ancient times. See, eternity
cannot be described by men. The only way that you can describe
eternity is in the context of God himself. He said, I am. He inhabits eternity. He dwells
in the light to which no man can approach. That is eternity.
See, you and I cannot really comprehend the eternal nature
of God. I mean, all we can think of is
time, can we not? Because we're creatures of time.
And so the only thing we can think of is that it's a long
time. And such it should be, because
the scripture says, in the ages to come. Now, as far as God's
concerned, are there any ages? I mean, God doesn't age. He is. But you see, in the ages to come,
now I don't know what all will occur in the ages to come, but
I do know this, that in the ages to come, those people who are
in Jesus Christ are going to be set forth as the trophies
of His grace to magnify His glory. What a wondrous thing. as the
mountains are round about Jerusalem. So the Lord is round about His
people from henceforth even forever. He surrounds them. And you know,
when you go up to the mountains, I have been up to the mountains
of Tennessee and North Carolina, and as you Look, and I have been
to see the mountains in Hawaii. I mean, it's an amazing thing,
because it's nothing but a big volcano, I guess, that, you know,
that the island surrounds all these different volcanoes and
stuff, ancient volcanoes. And it's just one big rock. And
as you look, everywhere you look, you can't escape looking. at
those rocks. You can't be in Hawaii and not
look and see the mountains except you look to the ocean. You're
either going to see the ocean or the mountain. You can't get
away from it. And as the mountains are round about Jerusalem so
the Lord is round about His people, they can't escape. Now that's
a glorious thing, is it not? to know that we are held in the
hand of the Lord according to his mercy, and we cannot be plucked
out. He said, no man can pluck them
out of my hand. We can't even pluck ourselves
out. You know, I'm glad that the Lord
is the only one that has a free will, because if that was left
up to me, I would choose not to follow the Lord. That's what
my so-called free will has led me to my whole life, is away
from the Lord. Only by the mercy of God is a
man called to come to the Lord, as the mountains around about
Jerusalem. So the Lord surrounds His people even forever, and
He keeps them. They cannot escape. For the rod
of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous.
Now listen to this. For the rod of the wicked shall
not rest upon the lot of the righteous. Now, the lot of the
righteous is the, you could insert the word fate into that. In other
words, that's our lot in life. And the scripture says here that
the rod of the wicked, that is the dominion of the wicked, shall
not sit upon the people of God. Can't do it. That's not what
they are ordained unto. We're ordained unto what? Good
works. I mean, the Lord has before ordained
that we should walk therein. That's what the scripture says.
And so it is that the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon
that which God has ordained for the people. God's people cannot
be brought under the dominion of that which the Lord has set
them free from. Well, listen to this, because
he says that won't happen lest, because he says, because of their
nature. See, we don't serve the Lord
by our nature, we serve the Lord because the Spirit of God dwells
in us. By nature, what are we? The children
of wrath, even as others. I mean, we're not a speck different
from any man on the earth. The only reason that we would
trust the Lord or desire to obey the Lord is because of the mercy
of God having caused us to do that by the indwelling of His
Spirit. You must be born again. And the Spirit of God dwells
in the people of God and constrains them. And he says here, the rod
of the wicked will not rest upon the people of God, lest they
put forth their hands to iniquity. I mean, if the Lord left us to
ourselves, what would we do? We would go right back and be
destroyed. But because He's merciful, Do good, O Lord, unto those that
be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts. As for
such as turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them
forth. Now, you know, the scripture's a very
practical book. Men, you know, men take the grace
of God and they will turn it into lasciviousness by nature.
I mean, that's the path men always go down by nature. It's because
God surrounds us with mercy that the flesh says, well, oh, that
sounds good. I can't escape from the Lord,
so I'll go out here and serve the flesh. Well, there are some
who do so. But what they prove themselves
to be are those who never knew the way of God. And they are
those whom the Lord will say in that day, though they say,
Lord, Lord, have we not done many wonderful works in thy name?
And he will say to them, depart from me, I never knew you, ye
that work iniquity. People of God are not called
to sin. People of God are not called to lasciviousness. People
of God are not called to corruption. People of God are called unto
cleanness. Now the Lord didn't set me up
before you to define every jot and tittle of what that has reference
to. But I can tell you this, that
God's people are called to walk in paths of holiness. He said, be ye holy for I the
Lord your God am holy. I mean, why would the sons of
God desire to walk in the darkness? He said, don't be yoked with
unbelievers. Don't be walking with those who
hate the way of God. Why would we? How could we? I mean, if the Spirit of God
dwells in us, does He not constrain us under that? When we read in
the Scripture, mortify therefore the deeds of the flesh, Do we say, oh, well, that's not,
I'm not gonna do that. No, we know that is the right
way, do we not? And we lament the fact that we
are not more moved in our heart to do so. But we know that is
the right way. Why do we know that? Because
the Spirit of God teaches us. And the Spirit of God gives us
desire to walk in that way. The Spirit of God teaches us
how far from that perfection we are. You know, that man that
thinks he's being, is daily getting closer to perfection is the man
that's the furthest from it. Because when you start to see
yourself as making some progress, brother, You missed the boat. Our progress is Christ. And only
as a man is brought to trust in Christ as his righteousness
is he walking in the way. I mean, as long as a man's thinking
he's doing something that's earning him favor with
God, He's actually walking in error. All of our righteousness is found
in Christ. And the righteousness which is
found in Christ is that which constrains us to walk as Christ
walked. I mean, that's what Peter said,
did he not? That he walked and we are to
walk in his steps. May the Lord give us grace to
do so. For such as turn aside under their crooked ways, the
Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. So that,
you see the Lord, as Brother Al pointed out very clearly,
the Lord makes a difference between His people and those who are
not His people. He said, come out from among
them and be ye separate. the Lord will cause a separation
to occur between His people and the people of the world. Now
different people have different ideas about how that's manifesting
and I fully understand that. But I know this, that the Lord
causes His people to love righteousness, to love His way, to read His
Word and seek to to emulate the things that are
in this Word. Now the Lord has given to every
man a measure of faith. In other words, a measure of
understanding. We're not all the same, but we
all have the same faith, which is Christ. Now our measure of
understanding Christ may vary by a great deal. But Christ himself,
who is our faith, does not. And it is in him that we seek
to walk. The Lord shall lead them forth
with the workers of iniquity, but listen to this, but peace
shall be upon Israel. The Lord said, my peace give
I unto you. The Lord gives peace to his people
because he calls them to rest in him. And so that the further
that a man goes in this life, I remember this one time, Brother
Dale Hammonds, that we used to, years ago, there we were meeting
before, some meetings to pray. And we'd all get together and
pray. And there was this one old gentleman
that was really a godly man. I mean, the Lord had blessed
him and taught him some things. And I remember, of course, we
were just ignorant. I still am, but more ignorant
then than now. I remember Brother Dale Hammonds
asking Brother Dykes, whom we considered to be a real godly
man. He said, Brother Dykes, he says,
doesn't it get easier to follow the Lord the older that you get?
He said, Dale, he said, the older you get, the harder it is. And you know, that puzzled us
all at the time, but I understand it. Because what he came to understand
that there is absolutely no righteousness in us. And all of our righteousness
is in Christ. And if we look, if we get to
thinking that somehow or other we're going to be better next
year than we are this year, then we're missing the boat. Because
Christ is our righteousness. And oh, that the Spirit of God
might give us the peace that passeth understanding, which
is to flee to Christ, to be done with religiosity. Religion has
killed more people than anything else in the earth. The Lord told
Pharisees that very thing. He said, search the Scriptures.
He said, there it is, here, take the Bible, read it. He said, you think you've got
eternal life because you're reading this Bible. But he said, they
are they which testify of me. Father, from the lips of our
Lord, he said this word testifies of him. Everything that we're
taught in this word brings glory to him. And he would have us
to bring glory to him. Oh, that He might work in us,
His perfect work. And oh, that He might cause us
to tremble when we think about what we are by nature. You know, if you're not dissatisfied
with who you are by nature, then I don't believe you've been born
again. Because as the Spirit of God teaches you what you are,
He causes you to look to Christ. Because He's our righteousness.
He's our hope. He's our Savior. In Him we trust. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as mount Zion which cannot be removed but abided forever. May the Lord help us and teach
us and lead us to that one rock which is higher than I. He's always higher than I. Some
people think they can get to a place where they can kind of
just sit down with him across the kitchen table and just, you
know, they're just there with him. Well, that's not the way
it is. He's higher than I. And we look to him. We desire
to be like him, to walk like he walked, to talk like he talked.
When men revile us, they're not revile again. You know, just when you think
that you're getting a handle upon your temper or your, you know, you think, well, man,
I'm making a little progress here. Yeah, the Lord will show
you just how far you've come. You know, somebody will cut you
off in traffic and the first thing that comes into your mind
You know, it's not to pray for them that's probably usually
is it? Christ is our righteousness. May we be found in Him.