Let's turn back now, if you will,
to Psalm 48. Psalm 48. Everyone has a God. Everyone has a God. And our God is either the true
and living God, or he's a God of our imagination.
And of course, the atheist is the one who's made himself to
be his God. But Psalm 48 is written to the
children of the true and living God. Children, listen up. Listen up. In verse 14, we read, ìFor this
God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even unto
death.î What God is our God? The God described in Psalm 48
is the true and living God. He is the God of the children
of God. It may seem to us, as we read
Psalm 48 or as Luke read it to us, that what was being described
was more like a place, a city, than a person. But in Revelation,
heaven is described as a place, a city, and yet heaven is only
heaven for one reason. Do you know why that is? That
is where Christ is. You take Christ away and heaven
is not heaven anymore. So Christ is heaven. And we can
only imagine the glory of heaven, I realize. We can only imagine
and believe of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. So to help
us in our poor minds, our weak minds, our Lord is compared to
a great city or a fortress or a castle that we might better
into better enter into and believe what we have and what we are
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because God's children dwell
in that city, which is Christ. So let's go back up to verse
1 and find out what this means when it says, For this God is
our God. And let's read about it. It says
in verse 1, Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in
the city of our God. in the mountain of his holiness.
Many people think that the creation of the universe or the creation
of man, that those are remarkable achievements, which they are.
But these only foreshadow the greatest of all the works of
God. And the greatest work was that he took some sinners, that
which is less than nothing, and made them one with his Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And when I said Adam's creation
was miraculous and amazing, it is. Because what God did, he
took what? He took some dirt, some dust, and gathered it up
and formed something, and then he breathed life into it. And
that's only a picture of what he's done for each of his children.
Every sinner he calls, that he chose, he calls, and he breathes
life into them. We're a new creation in Christ
Jesus. He took vile nothings and made
them holy in Christ. That's greatness. Who sees this
God as the great God? Those for whom He's done this
great thing and revealed it to them. Who will praise this God? Will greatly praise this God?
Those who see Christ as He is. He's great. He is great and greatly
to be praised. And I love this phrase, in the
mountain of His holiness. I wonder if I can illustrate
this for you. One time I was on an airplane flying to Seattle,
Washington. And it was one of those days
where the whole earth, or this North America, was covered with
clouds. But when the plane got above those clouds, the sun broke
out. It was a glorious day. And I was napping as I went along
in my window seat. I knew we were getting kind of
close to Seattle, but I looked out the window a little bit,
and up ahead it looked like I could see something, but I dozed back
off. In a few minutes, the pilot said,
folks, we're making our approach from the north side of Seattle,
and you can get ready to land or whatever. And I opened my
eyes like this and looked out, and wham! Mount Rainier was right
there. I don't know how close we were,
but let me tell you, that's a big mountain. I was impressed. It stuck out. Nothing for hundreds
of miles could be seen anywhere, but just a snow-capped, massive
mountain there. That's the holiness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's a mountain of holiness. And you know, that's the city
we dwell in. It's built on a mountain of holiness. You say, the holiness
of Christ is nothing to most folks. But you know what it is
to God's people? It's as vast as the tallest mountain
on this planet. Why? Listen to me. It took a
mountain of holiness to put away my mountain of sin. Everyone who has had their mountain
of sin put away and believes they live in a city on a mountain
of holiness, they praise God. They praise Him. They go, He
is great and greatly to be praised. Look at verse 2 with me. Beautiful
for situation. The joy of the whole earth is
Mount Zion on the sides of the north, the city of the great
King. You know what life without Christ
is? People are confused about this.
Life without Christ is going from one bad, sad situation to
the next bad, sad situation. And that's all life without Christ
is. There's no joy, no peace, no
real happiness. It's just going from bad to bad
to worse. And then when it all comes to
an end, men wake up and find out they're in a situation they
could not even imagine, condemned by a holy God. That's what life
without Christ is. But you know what life in Christ
is? I really like this. I hope you
do, too. The first phrase there, life in Christ is beautiful for
situation. Some situations, No, all situations
are made beautiful in Christ. All? All of them? Well, the scripture
Luke quoted, listen, this is either true or it's not. All
things work together for good to them who love God and are
called according to his purpose. It's either all things or no
things. Which is it? Well, it says right
here, our God. He makes every situation beautiful.
That means all things. And we can rest in that knowledge
and assurance. There have been some things in
my life and I didn't think they were too beautiful at the time.
And can't you attest to the same thing? You've had some things
in your life and you thought, boy, This doesn't feel good,
and it doesn't seem too beautiful right now, and I'm not much enjoying
it, and this is tough, and they're called trials and tribulations. But you know what the problem
was? I just couldn't see the whole situation. You see, God
sees the end from the beginning. And I'm just in this itty-bitty
little situation of mine, and I don't see the whole situation.
If I could, I thank him for everything that ever came my way, because
all things in Christ are beautiful for situation. And the scripture
tells us that joy cometh in the morning. Well, that means it
not necessarily is going to come at night. But with our God, you
can write it down, joy is coming. It's coming. In Zion, in Christ,
he's the joy of the whole earth, verse 2 says. We live on the
north side, the sheltered side. Zion, Jerusalem was built on
Mount Zion, the city of God. And do you know where the stronghold
was? Where the impregnable part was? On the north face. And that's
what we are in Christ. We can't be touched. We can't
be gotten to. We're in the safest place there
is, in Christ. We live in the city, in the person,
of not just a king, but it says the great king. You see capital
K there in verse 2? The Lord Jesus Christ is not
just some king. He's the great king. And look at verse 3. It alludes to the same thing.
God is known in her palaces for a refuge. Now, a refuge is a
place that not everyone has access to. The only people in the palaces
of God, that is, in Christ. are those who are chosen and
called. No one else even dares to approach, and therefore we're
safe. And this is emphasized by reading,
look at verses four through seven with me, about our safety, our
refuge in Christ. It says, for lo, the kings were
assembled and they passed by, notice that's little k kings,
the kings of the earth. were assembled, and they passed
by together. They saw it, and so they marveled. They were troubled
and hasted away. Fear took hold upon them there,
and pain as of a woman in travail. Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish
with an east wind, as the little kings of this earth gather themselves
together." Do you know why they do that? And let me ask you this. Have you ever had them gather
outside your door? You ever had somebody gather
outside your door and wants to do you in? If you haven't and
you're a child of God, you will. That day will come when the little
kings, that's the rich, the powerful, the very educated, the skeptics,
the cynics, the clever, the cunning, the selfish, the perverse, the
vile, they gather together. And we recognize them. They're
all the things we used to be outside of Christ. If you want
to know who the evil ones are, well, just look back over your
shoulder or in your own heart. And that old man, that's what
we are by nature, too. But these kings who will not
have Christ reign over them, they gather to attack or survey
for an attack, but they pass us by. Do you know why? Well,
it tells us here they marvel at the one who protects us. They
fear and run away. This thing of a woman in travail.
You know, pain is a frightening thing, not just in its intensity,
and I can't really speak directly to the travail of a woman, though
I've seen it, observed it up real close, and it's pretty frightening. But you can correct me if I'm
wrong, but I think the greatest fear of the pain of childbirth
for a woman is her fear that something's going to happen to
her baby, her prized possession, to what she went all through
this for. Those who would attack us, us
the children of God. God fends them off with their
fear of loss. They won't risk their stuff.
If they dare to attack, they'll be defeated handily. You know
why? Their vessels are like the ships
of Tarshish. And you know what that is to God? You can blow
wind, and just like you take one of those big, long pretzels
and just go, pop, and break it in two. He'll break anybody who
attacks the children of God. He'll break them, their ship,
just like a pretzel. And they sense it and know it,
and they run away. They run away. Look at verse
8 with me. Here's where our confidence is.
As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord
of hosts, in the city of our God, God will establish it forever. God has enabled us to hear and
to see and believe that whatever God says, whatever He promises,
that's what comes to pass. What He says, that's what happens.
What He plans, it's going to come. It's going to come. And
that's our confidence. When the Scripture says that
God's people are in Christ just like a city, a stronghold, it's
so. It's just how it is. It cannot
be attacked by anything outside. It cannot be overcome. It's a
refuge. We're safe. And then the Scripture
says, Seelah. Think about that, what that means. Think about that. Charles Spurgeon
said about verse 8, We have seen, he said, where God is most seen,
He is best loved. I pray He'll enable us to see
Him tonight. Verse 9, read with me. We have
thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple."
The lovingkindness of God. He so loved his people, he gave
his son to die in their place at Calvary. Now, I wouldn't embarrass
anyone here, or I wouldn't want to be embarrassed myself by having
to answer this question out loud. But I'll ask it and see if you
find pretty much the same answer I would have to give. How often
on a typical day, not a day like today or yesterday when I'm studying
and in the Word all day preparing, and not a day when I have the
reading out here or back there, but just a typical day. How often
do you and I contemplate the loving kindness of God? I'm so
ashamed because my answer is not very much. Not very much. or for that matter, any other
attribute of God. So what does that mean? We're
lost? We're just worthless? Well, that's
true, we are worthless. But it doesn't mean we're lost. Do you know what it means? The
old man is so often and so easily distracted. We've got so much
to do, don't we? So many places to go. So many
things to be concerned about. And that is why we need to come
often to the one place where we are most likely to think of
Christ. You see where it is in this verse?
It says, in the temple. You know where you are right
now? You're in the temple of God. We tonight are in the temple
of God, in the midst of the temple. You know, that's where God is
exalted. That's where Christ is preached. That's where the
Spirit is uplifting. Sundays and Wednesdays are the
best days, because we are in the midst of the temple. And
for a while, we come apart, don't we? And we consider the loving
kindness of God. And he will cause us to do that.
What a blessing that is. Look at verse 10. We have thought
of thy loving kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. According
to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth.
Thy right hand is full of righteousness. It says, according to his name.
Well, what's the name? When Moses said, Who shall I
say sent me? He said, Tell them I am. Don't
tell them I was. Don't tell them I will be. You
tell them I am. I'm from there to there in both
directions. I reign and rule. I'm the great
king. Tell them I am. Well, so shall his praises be.
They'll be eternal. And the right hand of God, it
says here, is full of righteousness. Thank God when the Lord Jesus
Christ comes before His Father to present Himself and therefore
present His people. Do you know what? He doesn't
come empty-handed. Do you know what He has with
Him? His hand is full of righteousness. The Scriptures describe all men
by nature as full of sin. But our Lord and us are full
of righteousness. We're full. Could not hold any
more, not another drop, We in Christ are perfectly righteous.
Our pastor has been really, really getting this over the last weeks
and months, that we are so righteous that God doesn't see any sin
in us. That's amazing, isn't it? Did you live today like I did? Even doing what I was doing,
I was like, oh, what a mess I am. So full of sin. Thank God. Christ doesn't take me like that
before the Father. No, He took all of that for me
and put it away, Calvary, so that when He comes before His
Father, His hand is full of righteousness. And we're in Him, and therefore
we're righteous. Verse 11, Let Mount Zion rejoice,
let the daughters of Judah be glad because of thy judgments. Now, it used to be when a war
was fought that the men went off to fight and the women stayed
home. The mothers and the daughters,
they stayed home. And if the men won the war, so
did the women, even though they didn't actually bear arms or
participate in the battles. That's the picture here. Our
Lord came down as a man to do battle with our sin. And you
know what? He overcame it. He got the victory,
and so do we in him. He bears the scars of warfare,
and we bear the crown. He died that we might live. He
suffered that we might rejoice. And it says, because of thy judgments.
You see that phrase? Plural. There's two judgments.
One judgment is what Christ endured. He was tried and found guilty
and punished, crucified and died. And that's the judgment you and
I deserve. And He took care of that judgment.
So that the second judgment, when He brings us, we have nothing
to be judged for. We don't have any sin anymore.
It's all gone. Christ put it away. We'll rejoice indeed. And then
let's read verses 12 and 13 together. walk about Zion, and go round
about her, tell the towers thereof, marquee well her bulwarks, that's
the walls, consider her palaces, that you may tell it to the generation
following." Again, in olden days, wall cities were vital to the
safety of cities. Every city had a big wall around
it with parapets and bulwarks and all this, and it was imperative
for the safety of those inside. Well, if this is a picture of
Christ, the city of God and his people, are the inhabitants safe? Well, I invite you to do this
tonight. Just what it says here. Walk about. Walk about. Walk about. Here's how God's
people walk about. And how do we walk about? We
look in here. We listen to the gospel being
preached. We walk about. Look at the foundation. Examine
the towers. Diligently look at the cornerstone.
Consider the palace heights and the thickness of the walls. Do
so, listen to me, as if your very life depended on it. Because
it does. It does. We need to be careful
who we listen to and listen to what they say. If it is not the
truth, run. Run. Flee away. Every time we
open this book or come to hear the gospel preached, we are walking
about Zion. What a privilege to see, to examine,
to consider, to diligently look into the very heart of God, His
truth, His righteousness, His mercy, His salvation, the mountain
of His holiness, how God chose the people and put them in Christ,
redeemed them by His blood, arose at the right hand of God where
He awaits their arrival one by one. Examine these things. You know how? As if your very
soul depended on it. Because it does. It absolutely
does. Turn to Psalm 102 with me. Just
a little bit over to Psalm 102. Do we need another reason to
look, to hear, to listen to the gospel being preached and to
examine the Word? To learn and see and hear of
Christ? Well, let me give you another
reason, and I hope every parent will look up here for a minute.
You want a reason to be diligent in this business of coming to
the temple of God and to worship him? Don't turn back there yet. I want you to stay in Psalm 102.
But the last phrase I read to you in the last verse 13 was,
Do this that you may tell it to the generation following. I promise you, if you don't bring
your children to hear the gospel, most likely they're not ever
going to hear it. Do we love our children and grandchildren?
I know you do. We can't tell them of one of
whom we do not know. And the purpose of this book,
why it's written, here it is in Psalm 102. Look at verse 18
with me. for the generation to come. There
it is. There it is. Your children. That's why this
book was written. And the people which shall be
created shall praise the Lord. God's chosen a people. He's going
to call them. He's going to create them. He's
going to give them a new nature. For he hath looked down from the
height of his sanctuary, from heaven did the Lord behold the
earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose those
that were appointed unto death, which is what we all deserve.
to declare the name of the Lord in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem,
when the people are gathered together in the kingdoms to serve
the Lord." We're gathered together tonight to walk about Zion. So
you can tell your children about him at some point. That's why
we're here. And then let's go back to Psalm
48. We'll look at verse 14. It's
been just a minute or two there. We read, ìFor this God is our
God forever and ever, and will be our God even unto death.î
Everything weíve read about here, this God is either our God or
we have some other God, and weíre in trouble. But if this God is
our God, if He is, you know what He is? Heís your God forever
and ever, it says. Now, we always think, don't we,
when, at least I do, I think, well, something's forever. Well,
it's forever, right? It's going out there in the future
somewhere forever. Well, this does mean that, but
did you notice there's two evers? There's a forever and another
forever. And you know what that means?
It not only goes that way, it goes that way. We he's been our
God. If He's your God, this God, He's
been our God forever that way. It's just before the foundation
of the world. What was that? I don't know. These scientists
have all this way they go. We've been here, you know what
I mean, Earth's been here for 20 billion years. Maybe so. I don't
know. If it has been 20 billion years ago before that, forever
before that, God chose His people to be in Christ. And now, Let's
not just look that way. Don't look this way. Forever. Forever. He's our God. Now, if you've got a God who's
not this God, I think we've got a problem. Because from what
I read here, all the other gods, they don't deserve any praise.
Why? Because they haven't done anything.
They haven't done anything. Do you want that God they're
preaching across the street and in most places where the Lord,
they call him Jesus, is walking back and forth and he's just
wringing his hands because people won't let him do what he wants
to do. He won't let him into their life. And he can't do anything
unless you walk down the front and shake my hand and join up.
Is that the God we want? That's a helpless God. That's
not this God. That God, the way they make it
is like the day I decide, that's when He starts being my God.
Not the true and living God. He chose you before the foundation
of the world, and He'll be with you as far out there a billion
years from now. Or more. Forever. That's who
this God is. And now this last phrase. is perhaps the sweetest phrase
of all. It says, He'll be our guide even unto death. Now, that ought to concern some
of us. Mine's not that gray, but I'm getting really old and
feeling it all the time. And there's plenty of gray hairs
here. And death's not that far away, I don't think, for a lot
of us. And young folks aren't immune to it either. But thank
God it says, He's our guide even unto death. Now, what is a guide? First of all, it's someone. It's
not a compass. It's not a map. A guide is someone. It's a person. And it's someone
who directs the way to a place they know how to get to. Did
you get that? A guide is someone who directs
the way to a place they know how to get to. Well, who needs
a guide? Someone who doesn't have a clue
how to get where they really need to be. Is that clear? It describes me really well. I remember, do you? When I didn't
have a clue how to get where I really needed to be. I was
really lost. And all men by nature are lost.
Absolutely clueless as to how to get to God. You know what? Jesus Christ agreed to be the
guide for a people to show them the way. And guide here means
three things, and I'll cover these quickly. But each one is
distinct and all included in this. Look over to Matthew 4
with me. The first meaning of to guide
is to lead. To lead. Moses is a picture of
Christ. What did he do? He led Israel
out of Egypt to the promised land. And the Lord Jesus Christ,
he will lead his people through this world, even death, and get
us to our promised land, our promised place with him. And
a great leader always has folks who follow. And Jesus Christ
commands that very thing of all of his people. Have you got Matthew
4, verse 17? From that time Jesus began to
preach, and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee saw two brethren,
Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into
the sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, two words,
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And what did
they do when he said that? And they straightway left their
nets and followed him. And going on from thence, he
saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John
his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets,
and he called them. And they immediately left the
ship, and their father followed him." You know what God's people
do? They follow Christ. They follow
him. They follow Him. By nature, there's
not a thing in us that makes us want to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because you know what? You know what goats do? They
won't follow anybody. They refuse to follow. And by
nature, we're goats. Okay? We're goats. We will not
follow. You know what He does? He gives
us a new nature. Because you know what sheep do? They follow. They have a nature
to follow. When he leaves and the great
shepherd leaves, she follows. And he gives all of his people
a heart that desires to follow him. When he calls, they follow. That's what we do. Now, the problem is that men
by nature, even believers, are not always very good followers.
Is that hitting anybody else between the eyes? When I wrote
that down, I re-read it, and I went, yeah, that's me. That's
me. Oh, we'll follow our natural
and vile instincts all right, and we'll follow the path of
least resistance. Our children are good at that,
aren't they? The way of the world. Well, the old man always thinks
that my way is better than any other way. And at times, we all,
even believers, listen to me. willfully resist going his way. We do that now. Well, what then
happens? He says, well, I've had enough
of you. Is that what happens? Is that what our God does? You've got to just find your
own way, the rest of the way. I've had enough. It's up to you
now. Is that what he says? No. You know what our Lord will
do? He'll guide in the second meeting. And you know what it
is? It's to drive. It's to herd. hurt us back into
the way. Now, sheep are given a nature
to follow, but listen, when you read about sheep in the scriptures,
do you know the other thing they'll do? Is they'll wander. They'll
wander. And they must be driven back
to the fold. You say, well, how does Christ
drive us? And y'all listen very carefully here, because I want
to be very careful that you get the principle I'm teaching and
not another principle. Okay? When we wander, The way
Christ drives us is that he chastens us. The way to Christ, to heaven,
is not by us doing or not doing anything. Our salvation is not
dependent on how well we follow. You hear that? What we do or
don't do. Obedience to any law or anything
else. Thank goodness it's not dependent on that. It's dependent
on what Christ did. Because he followed the law of God perfectly
for us. So it's not dependent on us doing
that. All right. But we wander, and
when we do, he chastens. Now, the confusion most folks
have, and let's get this right, that does not mean punish. Chasten
is not the same thing as punish. If we got punishment, you know
what we get? Punishment would be that when
we wandered off, he went, leave him there. Just abandon them
and let them be devoured. That would be punishment, wouldn't
it? Is that what he does? No. You know what he does? He comes back, finds us where
we've wandered, and he'll drive us. He'll guide us by chasing
him. Now, that raises this question.
If things aren't going quite so well for us, and that will
happen to us, won't it? Maybe we need to ask the question,
am I not following very well? And I don't know the answer to
that in your case and sometimes even in my own. But I still want
to know that and ask God, Lord, if I'm not following, will you
fix the problem I've got in my heart? Will you get me back in
the way? If you have to chasten me, so
be it. Don't want trials and trouble, don't want difficulties,
but Lord, if that's what it takes, chasten me. But give me a heart
to follow thee, willingly. The third meaning of guide is
to lead and to drive. At other times, we do a most
foolish thing. This is my last point. We take
our eye off our guide. We look up. Sheep, when they
graze, if they don't have a guide or they're not paying any attention,
do you know what? This sheep goes off eating this way and
this one goes off that way. If you don't have a guide, if
you don't have a shepherd, you know what you'll do? You'll wake
up on the far side of the mountain. You'll have wandered away. We
look up and realize we've wandered off on our own. This is less
willful and more a matter of negligence and apathy than it
is willfully getting out of the way. And we can really get ourselves
in a mess, can't we? But our guide, if it's necessary, You know what
he'll do? Here's the third meaning. He'll
carry you. He'll come get you, put you on
his shoulders, and carry you. What Christ will not do, ever,
is abandon you. If you're one of his sheep, don't
worry. I mean, I've been out in the
field. I don't like it out there. I'm
ashamed I ever got there. And I'm grateful for this. He came and got me and put me
on his shoulders and brought me back into the way. And if
you've been there, don't stay away. Start following him again. Come to where the Gospels preach.
We've all been there. He'll never abandon us, even
when we're willful. And if necessary, he'll come
where we are and carry us all the way. The best way to follow is just
as close as you can get. You say, where's that? All I know to tell you is we're
right here. Right here. You know where sheep want to
be? Where other sheep and the shepherd is. You know where the
shepherd is? That's where the sheep meet.
He's got his promise, don't we? Where one or two of my sheep
are gathered, I'll be there with you. You want to be close to
him? You want to follow him? Come
hear the gospel preached. Who needs a guide? Well, lost
people, certainly. Who does not need a guide? And
this is very, very sad. Folks who are lost but don't
know it have no use for a guide. That's a sad thing, isn't it?
Let me make this one more point. Turn over to Revelation 21. There is also, there comes a
day in every believer's life when he no longer, listen to
me, needs to be led or driven or carried. You know when that day is? The
day you die. If you're in Christ, the day
you die is the last day you'll have to be led driven or carried. Those who arrive at their destination
by grace, wisdom, knowledge, loving care, diligence, provision,
work, and sweet providence, it was all done of their guide.
But once there, our guide who has gone all the
way with us, you know what he will do? We now see, you ever
take a shower and you look through the glass door and you go, I
can't see very much through there? That's how we see Christ right
now. I've knocked myself out to try to glorify Christ in what
was read in this psalm tonight, and can't touch it. Because I just see through a
glass dimly too. But the instant you die, you're
going to see Him. You're not going to hear me telling
you about a mountain. You're going to see that mountain. You're not going to hear me talk
about the walls and the fortress and the greatness of our God. You're going to know Him as He
is. You're going to see Him as He
is. You're going to join the chorus. Great is the Lamb. Glory to the Lamb that was slain. And this is just something too
wonderful to almost enter into. We're going to be just like Him.
Just like Him. We're going to be glorious. We're going to be as much in
Christ. We are Christ. I can't comprehend
it. I know it's true. But we have to die to get there. Don't be afraid of that. It's
not a bad thing. Not a bad thing. Not a bad thing. When we arrive in the heavenly
city in Christ, we'll no longer see Christ as a God only. We'll
see Him as He is. And let me confirm this. You
say, how did I know this business about describing Psalm 48 as
a city is the same as Christ? Because John went there and saw
it. And then he came back and wrote
Revelation. And look what he wrote in Revelation
21, verse 1. He said, And I saw a new heaven
and a new earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And
I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God
out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Now,
when did a city, when did anybody marry a city? Nobody ever marries
a city. You might marry someone in the
city. You know what Christ did? He married everybody in the city.
He married every one of them. And we are all his bride. And
that is what John saw. And in verse 3, he said, I heard
a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and we will dwell with them, and they shall be
his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. For the former
things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne
said, Behold, I make all things new." You know who that includes?
That's you and me. He's made us new. And he said
unto me, Write, for these words are true and faithful. Write
it down. If you get a little afraid of
what's coming, re-read this. God's people have nothing to
be afraid of. If this God is your God, you
have nothing to be afraid of. Have every reason to rejoice,
have every reason to praise him. This God, he is God. Listen to this. We're going to
sing a hymn in just a second, and I want to read a couple of
verses to you because it seemed appropriate to me, and then Mitch
will come and lead us in this. But listen to this. Keep us,
Lord, O keep us cleaving to thyself and still believing till the
hour of our receiving promise joys with thee. Then we shall be where we would
be. Then we shall be what we should
be. Things that are not now, nor
could be, soon shall be our own. Soon this won't be something
we believe that we're one in Christ. We will be. We will be.