Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Psalm 48, the second psalm
that we read, and reading for our text, verses 12 and 13. Walk about Zion and go round
about her, tell the towers thereof, mark ye well her bulwarks, consider
her palaces, that he may tell it to the generation following. Psalm 48 verses 12 and 13. We have in our text a message
to tell to a generation following. And I wonder what we would say,
what we would say to our children or to our grandchildren about
the Church of God, what message would we have to bring? Well,
if we were casting in our minds as to wonder what to say to them
about the Church and its state, its condition, its continuing,
our text tells us that there is something
that we need to do before we even have a message to tell them. There's something that we ourselves
need to look at and observe. And the message is, walk about
Zion, go round about her, tell the towers thereof, mark ye well
her bulwarks, consider her palaces, that ye may tell it. to the generation
following. So there's that to do first. Well, what is Zion? What is it
to walk in this way about her? Well, we think of it in a literal
place first, and Zion was Jerusalem or Jebus when David took it,
from the inhabitants of the land. We read of that in 2 Samuel and
chapter 5. And when they came against the
Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, they said, except thou
take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither,
thinking David cannot come in hither. That is the place were
such a natural fortress and strong that their suggestion was that
even if there was the blind and lame there, they could defend
that city. Yet we read in the very next
verse, And so, Jerusalem, the City of David, a literal
place, a literal fortress, a place that became the City of David
and was defended against many adversaries that came against
it. And we may use this time, this
illustration, picturing such a city with towers, with bulwarks,
with defenses. and how one would go round about
that city and look at the fortifications and especially if one was expecting
an adversary, Hezekiah did it in his day and he rerouted the
waters so that the enemies couldn't find much water and he strengthened
the defences. We would do that, any commander
would do that to the city that he is protecting. You'd be mindful
also of what was inside that city, the palaces in it, the
beauty in it, the king in it, what the enemy was trying to
get at, what he was trying to destroy and to take away. So we have the literal, but we
want to go past that to think of this as the church of God. the Church of God, God's redeemed
people, not a building, not to go around our chapel walls and
look at them, but to consider the Church of God. In Isaiah, we have many beautiful
illustrations to the Church of God as being the city of the
living God, and told in Isaiah 32, behold, a king shall reign
in righteousness, princes shall rule in judgment. We have the
pictures that are set forth before us in Isaiah 40. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
crying to her that her warfare is accomplished. Her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. And then we read in verse 9 of
chapter 40 of Isaiah, O Zion, thou that bringest good tidings,
get thee up into the high mountain. O Jerusalem, thou that bringest
good tidings, Lift up thy voice with strength, lift it up, be
not afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah,
behold your God. And then we have the beautiful
illustrations of the Lord as a shepherd gathering his lambs
and pointing to Zion as the church of God. the Lord's people, the
Lord's chosen people. And it is in that way, it's how
we've sung of it in our first hymn, sung of it in the second
hymn as well, the defence of the Church of God and her strength. And so it is in that way I want
to speak this morning. There are many discouragements
at this time. and yet we may see in the words
of our text that which may be an encouragement to us. Before
we come to look more carefully at its defence and its beauty,
yet there are several things we may really notice from the
text straight off. And the first is this, that the
Church is to expect attack. That's why we have the towers,
the bulwarks, why we have the picture of it as a fortified
city. And that's why we have the illustrations
with the times that Judah, Jerusalem, literally, especially, were attacked. May we never doubt that to the
end of time, The Church of God will be under attack, under persecution. She is a target for Satan, for
the world, for the ungodly. We are not to have any illusions
about that. Errors, Satan, the world, they
will all attack the Church of God. The second thing is, that
the Church of God does have a king, and she does have palaces. Before
we even look at exactly what those are, this is set before
us to expect that. Even Balaam, when he came to
curse, but God turned his curse to a blessing when the children
of Israel were on their way to Canaan, He said, there is the
shout of a king in her, with a king of Zion, is our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. And he dwells in the church of
God. So we have here palaces that
are therein, and we have that expectation of seeing her king. But the third thing is this,
that there shall be a continuance. Many times in the history of
the church, history of the children of Israel, it seemed like there
was to be an extinction of that line that led to Christ. Certainly when Assyria came against
Jerusalem in Hezekiah's day, and Hezekiah sick and told that
he would die at the same time, He did not have a son, he did
not have an heir, and the line to Christ would have been put
out. Many times it is thought that
surely there would not be another generation following. And yet
with our text it says that ye may tell it to the generation
following. And in Acts we read the promise
that is unto you and your children even as many as the Lord thy
God shall call. And the promise is that, lo,
I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. So there's
an encouragement there that there will be a generation following. I want to look then with the
Lord's help at three points. Firstly, the telling of the towers,
going about Zion, walking about the Church of God, and just numbering
or seeking to number, which is what the word tell means, the
towers of Zion. And then secondly, marking well
or noticing well what her bulwarks are. And then lastly, considering
or contemplating her palaces. And with all of these three points,
it is with the aim that ye may tell it to the generation following,
that there is something to tell. Really, the word this morning
that is preached is the word to a generation following. But firstly, the towers, they're
all. Tell the number of the towers. What is a tower? What is a tower? We read in Proverbs 18, this
word, In verse 10, the name of the
Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. And really we may say that in
all these defences, towers or bulwarks or whatever, they all
point to the Lord Jesus Christ, the graces and the blessings
that flow forth from him and his defense of his people. But when we look at the illustration
here of a tower, a tower is to give advance warning. And in the war years in this
land, there was given to us to invent the radar, which gave
us advance warning of the enemy. And it was always an advantage
to have that. Now, the Lord knows better than
ever man can of where the enemy is likely to attack. He knows
how to give warning and to prepare his people. We think of even
the animal kingdom. that will often have warning
from birds flying in the air of where a hidden enemy is, or
they'll post sentries. We think of, even in wartime,
the posting of sentries and the whole idea is that they be not
caught unawares. In the days of sailing ships,
they used to send the look out up to the top of the mast so
that her horizon would be greatly increased. They could see much,
much further from a height. And so the blessing for the Church
of God is that she has the Lord that knows the end from the beginning,
knows all men's hearts, was able to warn through the prophet to
Jehoshaphat, as to where the enemy was going to be. We have
the time that Elisha constantly warned the king of Israel so
that the Syrians, they thought they had a spy in their midst
because every time their plans were found out. But it was God
warning Israel where they would come down. And this is what the
church has in the Lord as a tower, is not left to our own eyes,
our own wisdom, to know where the adversary will come. The
Lord knows, and he is our strong tower, he is our defence, our
refuge, as well as the one that will forewarn. Our Lord in his
ministry and what is recorded in the Word of God warns us,
warns us of men that shall take you before synagogues, before
rulers, for my name's sake. Not only is the Lord a warning,
but he is an example as well. Our Lord in his time upon earth
had those come against Him, they persecuted Him, they spoke against
Him, they called Him the Prince of Devils, they at last crucified
Him and said, away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him. And when our Lord was going to
the cross, He turned and said to those that were weeping and
following Him, weep not for me, but weep for you. and your children. If they have done these things
in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry? If they have
persecuted me, they will also persecute you. You might say
to the church or to our children, what comfort is that? Well, the
comfort is this, that when persecution and troubles come, Instead of
being dismayed, instead of feeling that we are out of the way, we
are not of the Church of God, we remember what the Lord has
said. And these things are coming to
pass as he has said. And so, not being discouraged,
but encouraged that our Master stood that fiery test, he endured
it, he walked that path, and what he said about us, and walking
that path is come to pass. It is true. And we read in many
parts of the last days that men shall be lovers of pleasure more
than lovers of God, that perilous times shall come. And these things
are warned to us in the word of God, the Lord himself telling
to his people what shall come to pass. And he says, fear not
them that kill the body, and after that there is nothing more
that they can do. But fear him that after hath
killed hath power to cast both body and soul into hell. Yea, fear thou him. And so these things are told
us, and they are a defense, they are a help. I have told you,
the Lord said these things, I have forewarned you of these things. And so we have the case with
the Apostle Paul and how the Apostle was persecuted, he was
cast into prison for preaching the word, but he says himself
that many of the brethren were actually encouraged by seeing
what happened to Paul and to be encouraged to preach and to
testify the truth themselves. And so in this way, the Lord
is a tower. Not only is that the case, but
the Lord is the author and finisher of faith. And faith is that which
sees afar off and sees what cannot be seen by the natural eye. John says in his epistles that
this is the victory of which we overcome the world, even your
faith. And so as a tower of strength,
the Lord has given to his people faith that shall overcome the
world and overcome those that assail the Church of God. The
Lord has also given watchmen. Where we have a tower, it's not
much good if there's no one on that tower, and so there were
watchmen. When David and his men had fled
from Absalom and then were fighting with Absalom, And David was waiting
for news from Joab as to how the battle had gone. The watchman
over the wall, they could see two men running. And one of the
watchmen, he said, I think the running of the foremost looks
like the running of a Heimerhans. And we all know what it is. If
we know someone well, we know their gait, we can see them a
long way off, just a silhouette, and recognize who it is. by how
they're running. And again, we have a severe warning
to watchmen or to the Lord's servants, to ministers in Ezekiel,
where if a watchman sees the enemy coming and he does not
warn, then the blood of those people that he is to warn shall
be on his head. But if he does warn and the people
don't take warning, and they're still slain or injured or taken,
then their blood shall be on their own head. And so in the
ministry, as we see those things happening, and remember our Lord
said of his own generation, that they can discern the face of
the sky. They could say that, or the saying
as we would have it, red sky, at night, shepherds delight,
red sky in the morning, shepherds warning. We have the same saying,
discerning the face of the sky. And yet the Lord said that you
cannot discern the sign of the times. They couldn't, they didn't
know Christ's first coming. And these last days, these days
from Christ to the end of the world, And in all the ungodliness
and all that is happening, we are to be warned these are the
last days, they are gospel days, but they're days of much ungodliness
and anti-Christ against the Lord Jesus Christ. His word is hated,
his name is hated, and This is warned and we are to warn as
ministers of this. There's a woe upon everyone when
all men speak well of you, for so they did to the false prophets
which were before you. So when we go about Zion, when
we look at the Church of God, we have the Lord Jesus Christ
as our strong tower, as a refuge, We have him as one that shall
forewarn us, one who is set watchman in the Church of God, one who
has given us faith, so that instead of being overcome by things that
we actually see, we look to the Word of God and believe that,
have faith in God, and that that overcomes the world. These things
are what are set before us in towers and it is a fact of the
strength and comfort of the Church of God. We may look at the Church
and be very dismayed, think it's very weak, it's not standing
against the world, that it will finish soon, that it has no defence
and that the Lord doesn't know about it and doesn't and hasn't
forewarned us, but he has, and he's told of these days just
as they really are. But the second thing is to mark
well the bulwarks, the general defences of it. And here again,
we are not left in any doubt as to what those defences are
if we turn to Isaiah chapter 26, then we have in the very
first verse, in that day shall this song be sung in the land
of Judah. We have a strong city. Salvation
will guard a point for walls and bulwarks. Salvation. Of course, the children of Israel
often use songs and with the psalms, the psalms that we read,
the psalm where our text is, that were sung to generation
from generation to tell them the truths of God. So with salvation,
what is salvation? Salvation is deliverance from
hell and deliverance to heaven. It is everything in God's plan
of saving his church. The church of God was lost and
ruined in the fall, and the Lord Jesus Christ undertook that he
would be their surety, that he would pay their debts, that he
would become their substitute and endure the wrath of God,
that he would then give them his own righteousness, his own
perfect life and obedience, so that they would stand before
God faultless. And he did that at Calvary. He
accomplished, he finished the work his father gave him to do
in redeeming his people and setting them free by the payment of a
price, which was the price of his own heart's blood. And then
in time, as each one of his people are born into this world, then
they are made known by His work in their hearts. Bring them to
the Word of God, opening their eyes, giving them eternal life,
and showing them their need of a Saviour, and bring them to
faith in that Saviour. And that work is God's work,
and it will go on in spite of all that goes against it. No one will ever prevent the
Lord from bringing his people, his redeemed people, home to
glory with him. We have in Paul's writing, second
epistle to Timothy, the kingdom of God standeth sure, having
this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. The Lord's knowledge of his people,
knowledge of Abel, Adam, and knowledge of the ones that shall
be on the earth When the Lord returns at the last day, every
one of them is known. And we read this too, and let
every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. The Lord is to save his people
from their sins. We read in Psalm 89, a very clear
defense declaration as well in verse
18. For the Lord is our defence,
and the Holy One of Israel is our King. Then thou spakest in
vision to thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that
is mighty, I have exalted one chosen out of the people. Now
that is pointing to our Lord Jesus Christ. pointing to him,
the type is David, but what is spoken of here, mentioning David
as his servant, can never be spoken of, of one that shall
perish, but one that is eternal. And so, when he says, also I'll
make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth,
he's pointing above David. His seed also will I make to
endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. And so
we have set forth before us in Psalm 89, the Lord Jesus Christ
and how he shall deal with his children and his people, and
the strength of the Church of God, her defence in the Lord
Jesus Christ. In John chapter 10, our Lord
says that none shall pluck his people out of his hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. Remember, the Church of God is
a gathering of the people of God. It consists of individuals
Redeemed individuals united together by love, joined together by God. Chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world and saved with an everlasting salvation. The Lord
says, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of mine hand. He also says,
because I live, ye shall live also. The Church of God has a
living defender, has one that is able to defend them. Remember with Israel and the
trial on Mount Carmel with Elijah was the test between the God
of Baal and the true and living God. Baal did not exist. He was an idol. He wasn't a living
God. He couldn't defend Israel. He couldn't send fire from heaven. But the living God could send
fire from heaven and was able to defend his people. And how
wonderfully that was seen in Hezekiah's day. Hezekiah, Judah,
stood out as a little blot, as it were, on that whole area,
when the king of Assyria took all the nations round about,
but not Judah. And Hezekiah didn't rely on those
strong walls and on his defences. The Lord said, I will defend
this city. The Sennacherib, he will not
come here. He will not shoot an arrow here.
And the angel of God went out and slew 185,000 of the enemy. They're all dead men. The Lord
defended it. And the Lord is the defence of
his people, of the Church of God. He loved it. He gave himself for it. It is
his inheritance. It is his will that he'd have
it and have his people with him in heaven. Father, I will that
they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. that they
may behold my glory." And so when we speak to our children
and children's children, we are to tell them this. We are to
tell them that we have a living King, a God of salvation. The Church of God is not weak. It may look weak and contemptible
and despised by the world, but when we view it in the eyes of
the Word of God, and of the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ and
what the church is to him. It is his bride, he is the bridegroom. Then we must not have small thoughts
of the church of God, of the people of God. They are precious
to the Lord and they are in a very, very strongly defended position. So we are to mark or notice well
the bulwark and I hope we are helped to do this, to tell or
number the towers and to mark the bulwarks with this intention
that we may tell it to the generation following. There's one other
thing that we are to do, and that is to consider her palaces. What is the beauty of the church? What is the glory? of the Church
of God. Now if we were to go to Babylon
in its height, then you'd see all the hanging gardens and all
of the beauty of Babylon. And we know how Nebuchadnezzar
was brought low as he boasted of how great that was. But if
we were to go there now, and not long after really that beauty,
how soon it was brought down, and brought down low. But when
we consider the palaces of the Church of God, or consider where
the Lord reigns and what is the beauty and blessedness of the
Church, the Lord dwells with his people. The Lord has said
that the Father and the Son, they shall come and dwell with
the believer and be in them. that they are, as the apostle
says, to be found in him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is of faith in Christ. So with the Church of God, where
in all the universe, where in this world, is there ever a place
that is so exalted or so made beautiful by the Lord's presence
himself? The Lord dwells in Zion. He is the glory of his church. And there cannot be found another
place where that glory is. God has chosen it for his habitation. He says, where two or three are
gathered together, there am I in the midst. Unto him shall the
gathering of the people be. And it is the church. We gather
as local churches, individual churches. There is one church,
one worldwide church. Now part of that church is not
yet born. Part is in this world. Part are now in heaven. But one day they shall all be
in heaven. And at the moment on earth, there
is individual churches, ordained by God, appointed by God, in
every nation, kindred, and tongue. In this land, I don't know how
many churches of England there are, but of the non-conformist
churches, there are some 21,000 of them just in England alone. And each one, a little type of
Christ, a gathering together as the church, a professed church
of God. The Lord knows his true church,
his people. And if Elijah, in his day, thought
he was the only one left, and yet God said that he'd reserved
7,000 that had not bowed the knee to Baal, the Lord knew those
7,000, and he knows you. And he knows the people of God,
where they are, in their twos and threes and scattered in every
nation, kindred and tongue. But when we come to the Church
of God, we see what her beauty is. His people even are set forth
and made as kings and priests unto God. We read that in Revelation
1, to be king over self, to reign over their sins. Sin shall not
have dominion over you. You're not under the law, you're
under grace. His people are made what the
Lord makes them to be. But not only that, in the Church
of God, redemption is there. Where is there redemption? From
sin, from the grave, from condemnation, but in the Church of God. Where
is there peace? The Lord said, in me you shall
have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation,
but in me you shall have peace. That is the glory of the church,
that the Lord dwells in the church and in him they have peace. Where
is there grace? The Lord said to the apostle,
my grace is sufficient for thee. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Where is there mercy to be found? Blood-bought mercy. But in the
Church of God, the true Church, in the Lord, that blesses His
people with mercy. Where is there love to be found?
By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples indeed, in
that ye love one another. We know that we have passed from
death unto life, in that we love the brethren. And what are the
brethren? The Church of God. You have a
beautiful picture in the Word of the Church as being a body
and the Lord the Head. And the Head supplies all of
the Church, all of the body. And if one member, however small,
hurts, well we know if we hurt our finger, our head feels the
pain. And that is so. In all their
affliction, He was afflicted. Where do we find such a sympathising
High Priest? such a one as in the Church of
God. Life is there, eternal life is
there. I give unto them eternal life. Note then, they shall never perish. That is found in the Church of
God. The joy of the Lord is there.
David, when he had sinned, when he had sinned in murder and in
adultery, his cry in Psalm 51, restore unto me the joy of thy
salvation. In the church of God, in her
palaces, in her glories is the joy of salvation. A joy, a comfort that this world
knows nothing of. And yes, while the church is
here below, she is chosen in the furnace of affliction. She
must need, through much tribulation, enter the kingdom. And many times
she struggles against winds and tides and feels embattled, but
her King is in her, and those blessings are there. And not
Satan, not the world, not ourselves, none can change and take away
from Christ's chosen bride, His Church, are those blessings of
grace, of person, peace and mercy and love and eternal life. Those
blessings belong with her. Her palaces are hanging with
them. The Lord's glory is there. Know
that our eyes will open more to see it. To see it personally,
to feel it, and to be able to point point to our children,
our grandchildren, the generation to come of the beauty and greatness
of the Church of God. The very words and implication
of our text is that we could easily just bypass it, give it
a cursory glance and have nothing to say, nothing encouraging to
say. But when we look carefully, when
we consider a little of her beauty and what is inside the church
and her defences, then we do have something to say. And may
it be something to say to us and to encourage us. For we need
encouragement and we need strengthening in the Lord. At the end of this
psalm, really it sums up what the strength and beauty and blessings
of the Church of God is. For this God is our God forever
and ever. He will be our guide even unto
death. May the Lord grant us to know
this God, to know the Church of God as it truly is, in the
sight of God and the blessing of the Lord's presence in her,
and have something something encouraging, something to tell
to the honour and glory of God to a generation following. Amen.