Good morning. Let's open this
morning's service with hymn number two in your hardback hymnal,
number two, Love Divine. Let's all stand together. Love divine, all loves excelling,
joy of heaven to earth come down. Fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus, Thou art all compassion,
pure unbounded love Thou art. Visit us with Thy salvation,
enter every trembling heart. Breathe, oh breathe, thy loving
spirit into every troubled breast. Let us all in thee inherit. Let us find that second rest. Take away our bed to sitting,
Alpha and Omega be. End of faith as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty. Come, Almighty, deliver, let
us all thy life receive. Suddenly return and never, nevermore
thy temples leave. Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above. Pray and praise thee without
ceasing, glory in thy perfect love. Finish then thy new creation,
pure and spotless let us be. Let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee. Changed from glory into glory. Till in heaven we take our place. Till we cast our crowns before
thee. Lost in wonder, love, and praise. Please be seated. We're going to be in Psalm 107
this morning. If you'd like to turn with me
there in your Bibles. We've been in Psalm 107 for the
last couple of weeks, and I want to pick up where we left off
Wednesday night and go to the end of the Psalm. So I pray the
Lord will show us what it means to be shut up to Christ. That's
the message, to be shut up To Christ to be brought by God Spirit
to our wits end so that we have no place else to go but to Christ. Coming to the Lord Jesus Christ
is not a choice. It is not a decision. It is. It is the only thing that we're
able to do when God shuts us up to all other options. And
it's not an invitation. Coming to Christ is not an invitation.
It's a command. And what God commands, God provides. And he brings his people to faith
in Christ. What a blessing it is to be brought
to our wit's end. To our wit's end. And before
we get into that, I want to make a couple of comments about what
we're experiencing in our world today. I talked to Angus Fisher
last night and they're having a real problem there. They have
a lot of people that travel back and forth from China to Australia
and they're expecting a real problem in Australia. So I want
to say that we need to pray for our brethren in Australia. Nothing
happens outside of our God's sovereign purpose and control. Our Lord doesn't allow these
things, he actually purposes them. Everything that happens
is purposed by our God. Amos put it like this, he said,
shall there be evil in the city and the Lord hath not done it? Now that's a rhetorical question.
Has there been evil in the city and the Lord has not done it?
And one of the things I'm not hearing from the, from the religious
pundits and from the leaders is that this is a work of God. It's a work of God. He hath done
whatsoever he wills. With the armies of heaven and
with the inhabitants of the earth, no man can stay his hand and
no man can say unto him, what doest thou? Not only is this
this pandemic the work of God, but everything in your life and
in my life in this world. and in the minutia of our own
personal lives is ordained by our sovereign God. What comfort, what peace we have
in knowing that our God reigns. He's on his throne, he's in control,
and he works all things together for the good of his people. We might say, well, why would
the Lord do something like this? I don't know the mind of God,
except that I know he has two agendas, his glory and our good. That's it. And in eternity and
in maybe perhaps in time, we'll be able to look back and see
that all these things work together for good, for them that love
him and those that are the called according to his purpose. Isaiah chapter 45 verse 7 said,
this is the Lord speaking, I form the light, I create darkness,
I make peace, and create evil. I am the Lord and I do all these
things. Ah, child of God, rest. Rest in hope that our God does
all things well and that he is in control. Turn with me to Romans
chapter 11. Hold your finger there in Psalm
107. Romans chapter 11. And look with me at verse 33.
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God. How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord or who hath been his counselor or who hath first given
to him that it should be recompensed unto him again? Who's going to
obligate God? Now, that's a free will religion.
works religion, I'll do this and God will be obligated to
save me and that's exactly what the Lord's saying is not going
to happen here. For of him and through him and
to him are all things. Of him, he's the cause of all
things. Through him, it's his purpose
that they say and to him, it's all according to his will. are
all things, all things. Now, does that mean that we just
become fatalistic and don't take precautions? No, it doesn't mean
that at all. If there was a hurricane coming,
you would do some things to prepare your house for that, would you
not? Scripture says that we're to
meet one another with a holy kiss. It'd probably be a good
idea for us not to do that today and maybe wait for a time before
we go back to hugging and that sort of thing. So we'll use reasonable
precautions, but in all of that, we'll know that our God reigns
and that he is shaking the things of this world He's shaking the
things of this world. I mean, you know, the days of
plagues, biblical plagues are not over. Our God could take
this whole world out and, well, he's going to one day, isn't
he? He's going to with fire. This is just a small demonstration
of the power of our God and our need to bow in submission and
in worship to him. One other passage of scripture
I want to read is found in Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. Look at verse, look at verse
25. See that you refuse not him that
speaketh. Our God speaks, don't refuse
him. For if they escaped not who refused
him that spake on the earth, much more shall not we escape
if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven. The Old
Testament Israelites did not escape the judgment of God for
their unbelief. Now the word of God has come
from heaven. The word has become flesh. And
he has dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory as the glory
of the only begotten of the Father. He's the one who's full of grace
and full of truth. He's come, and he's brought us
the gospel. Don't refuse him. Whose voice
then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying, yet
once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this
word yet once more signify the removing of those things that
are shaken. That's what our God's doing.
He's removing from our confidence and from our hope, those things
that are, that are unstable. He's shaking the things of this
earth. Why? That those things which cannot
be shaken may remain. What is it that cannot be shaken?
Salvation can't be shaken. The work of Christ cannot be
shaken. The sovereign election of our God cannot be shaken.
Those things that cannot be shaken. He shakes all the things that
can be shaken in order to prove the eternal stability of those
things that cannot be shaken. We receiving a kingdom which
cannot be moved. The kingdom of God cannot be
moved. It is sure, it is steadfast, it is eternal. And all these
temporal things of the world are being shaken in order to
show God's people that you have an eternal home in glory, which
cannot be moved. Let us have grace. In light of
this glorious truth, let us have grace whereby we may serve God
acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God. Our God
is a consuming fire. I hope that that will be an encouragement
to us to rest our hope in the sovereign God of glory. who controls all things according
to his will and purpose for his glory and for our good. All right, will you go back with
me to Psalm 107? Shut up to Christ. Shut up to Christ. As I said
a few moments ago, the gospel's not an invitation, it is a command. And it's not a choice. It's not
a choice. If you have a choice between
Christ and something else, you will always choose something
else. The only way a sinner will come
to Christ is when he is shut up to Christ and he's got no
place else to go. And that's what it means to be
at your wits end. The word wits is the word for
wisdom. Here it is. Look at our text.
Look at verse 27. They reel to and fro and they
stagger like a drunken man and are at their wit's end. Now we use that phrase when we
get frustrated or aggravated with our circumstances. I can
remember my mother raising three boys and my father often away
on deployment in the military. would say to us boys, you boys
are bringing me to my wits end. And I'm sure we probably did,
but she wasn't at her wits end. She always had an option. You
see, whenever you have some other choice or some other option,
you're not at your wits end. When you're at your wits end,
it means you've got no place else to go. All other choices, all other
options, all other way out are taken away. And that's what the scripture
teaches. It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth. In other words, it's not by man's
decision. That's what we hear in religion,
don't we? Won't you accept Jesus? Won't you let Jesus come into
your heart? What a weak God who's in the
heavens wanting men to let him have his way. A salvation that's
determined by the will of man is not a salvation. It's not
the truth of God. It won't save. It's men creating
a God in their imagination and then imagining that He is like
them and that He needs them. No, our God reigns. It's not
of him that willeth, nor is it him of runneth. It's not of him
that works, that does something to obligate God, but it is of
God that showeth mercy. Therefore, the scripture says,
I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy and whom I will, I
will hardeneth. That's the God we serve. And
God's people bow, say, oh, Lord, have mercy upon me. Have mercy
upon me. The Lord, in his mercy, must
bring us to the end of ourselves, the end of our wisdom, the end
of our choice. There is a way that seems right
unto man. But in the end, that way leads
to death. Man's always got a scheme. He's always got an idea. He's
always got a plan. You even hear people in religion
talk about God's plan of salvation. God doesn't have a plan of salvation.
God has a purpose of salvation. You know, plans are what we have
because things come into play that change our plans, don't
they? But God doesn't plan anything. He purposes everything. Now notice what he says and what
the Lord tells us in verse 25. For he commandeth and raiseth
the stormy winds which lifted up the waves thereof. They mount
up to the heavens. They go down again to the depths.
Their soul is melted because of trouble. Now this is a description
of the, of the conviction of the Holy spirit and the, and
the, and the inability that we have to have any control over
our sin. It's, it's the raising it's when
the spirit of God comes and he convicts us of our sin. Because
we believe not on him of righteousness, because I go to my father and
of, and of judgment, because the Prince of this world has
been judged. This is not just the trials and troubles of life. All men go through those things. This is what God does in the
heart when he causes us to realize, Lord, if you don't save me, if
you don't have mercy upon me, if you don't bring me to my wit's
end, if you don't take away my sin, If you're not satisfied with
the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ made on Calvary's cross
for me, I'm going to hell. I am a hell deserving sinner. And that's the storm that never,
that never goes away. Lord, you're going to have to,
you're going to have to keep saving me. Robert and I were
talking this week and we were, we were talking about how You
know, sometimes it's hard to identify when exactly the Lord
saved you. And Robert said, I've given up
on that. He said, I've figured out that the Lord's saving me
every day. And that's so true, isn't it? We continue to come
to the Lord because of this storm that rages in our flesh, our
sinful nature. is always needing to be saved.
Lord, have mercy upon me." And so he says, they reel to and
fro. They stagger like a drunken man
and are at their wits end. They've got no place else to
go. They cannot save themselves. They cannot do anything about
their sin. Then they cry unto the Lord. Look, They cry unto the Lord in their
trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He calms
the storm. He causes us to see. You know,
if you look for assurance of salvation, you're going to do
nothing but doubt your salvation. You're not going to do it. You're
looking for assurance of salvation is looking for something, some
evidence of salvation in yourself, isn't it? Assurance is the byproduct of
looking in faith to Christ. Look to Christ. Rely upon his
atoning sacrifice on Calvary's cross for the putting away of
your sin. And he will calm the raging storm. He make it the storm a calm so
that the waves thereof are still. When God gives faith to look
to Christ, he causes us to see that death has been conquered. The grave has been conquered.
Satan has been defeated. Sin has been put away. I mean put away. Put away once
and for all by the sacrifice. The law has been satisfied. The
judgments and curses of the law have nothing to say to those
who are able to look in faith to Christ. Those who've come
to their wits end and are relying upon Christ alone for their salvation. They realize that God is satisfied
And I'm sanctified. And you know what it means to
be sanctified. It means to be without sin, to be without sin. And that's where we are in Christ.
He that sanctifyeth, that's the Lord Jesus Christ, and they that
are sanctified are all as one so that he's not ashamed to call
them his brethren. He hath sanctified us. He hath
made us holy. He hath put away our sin. That's what, that's the real
problem, isn't it? You know, I was thinking sin's
a lot like this virus in that, in that sin itself is invisible. That's right. You say, well, it doesn't seem
invisible to me. No, that's the consequence of
sin. It's like a person gets exposed
to this virus and they get infected with the virus, the manifestation
of that infection may not come for some time, but when it comes,
that's just a manifestation. You see, the behavior that sin
brings is the manifestation of something that men can't see.
We've got a sin problem. The difference between sin and
this virus, this virus may have a 2.5% death rate from what I
hear. Sin's got 100% death rate. 100%. And we've all been infected
with it. Don't look at the manifestation
of your sin as the problem. The problem is the sin nature
and only the Lord Jesus Christ can give us a new nature and
put to death that old nature so that we're not under the condemnation
of the law. We're not under the judgment
of God's wrath. The raging storms have been, the sea's been calmed. Remember there were disciples
on the boat in the Sea of Galilee and they thought they were all
going to drown. And these were experienced fishermen. It must've
been quite a storm. And the Lord stood and spoke,
peace be still. And they all looked at each other
and said, what manner of man is this? That even the winds
and the waves obey his voice. Yes, even the sin and the law
obey the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he makes, look at
verse 29. He maketh the storm a calm so
that the waves thereof are still. Now this is not a promise to
take away the trials and troubles of this, of this life. This is
a promise of God to take away, which he has done. He has done
through the sacrifice of Christ once and for all. He has silenced
the law. He has put away the sins of his
people. He has calmed the storm. And when he brings us to our
wit's end so that we've got no place else to go but Christ.
Coming to Christ is not our choice. It's where God brought us. Now,
the storm, we look to Christ. Lord, penalty's been paid. Law's been satisfied. Justice
has been upheld. Christ has been successful and
he is successful and he's seated, he's seated at the right hand
of the majesty on high. Look at, oh, don't fear the terrors of
the storm, my brethren, the Lord Jesus Christ. has calmed those
winds, settled those waves. Look at verse 30. Then, then
are they glad because they be quiet. Oh, ain't it good to be quiet?
To be still and know that he is God. To not have anything
to say, to not have any defenses. You know, the Lord shut Job's
mouth, didn't he? When the Lord finally revealed
himself to Job, Job said, I had heard of thee by the hearing
of mine ear, but now mine eyes have seen thee and I abhor myself
and repent in dust and ashes for surely I had spoken without
knowledge. I didn't know what I was talking
about. Didn't know what I was talking about. The Lord shut
his mouth. They are glad because they'd
be quiet. So he bringeth them, he bringeth
them into their desired haven. What is your desired haven? What
is it? Is it to be without conflict
in this world or is it to be peace with God? Is to have, is
to have the friendship of the world and the friendship of men
or is it to have friendship with God? Is to have the prosperity
of this world? or is it to have the riches of
grace in your heart in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ? What
is your, you see, when God brings us to our wit's end and he calms
the storm of sin by enabling us to look to Christ and realize
that Christ was successful in satisfying the demands of God's
law and in satisfying God's divine justice and in satisfying the
heart of the Father, and gives us quietness of soul so that
we can rest and makes us to be glad, then we're in our desired haven
and we know. That that ultimate haven or heaven. Is secure for us. For the was
the Lord Jesus Christ that said I go prepare place for you and
everything necessary for our eternal salvation is already
been prepared. It's done, it's finished. Nothing
else for us to do. See, that's what it's. That's
what it is to be at your wits end. I can't contribute anything. I can't add to what Christ has
already accomplished. I can just rest. Rest in Christ. Rest in His finished work. Rest
in His glorious person. Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Look at verse 31. Oh, that men
would praise the Lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works
to the children of men. He gets all the praise, he gets
all the glory, he gets all the honor for his goodness. It's the goodness of God that
brings us to salvation. It's not the threat of wrath
and the threat of judgment that brings a person to salvation.
That might make a person reform their life. It might make them
turn over a new leaf. It might make them get religious.
But it's not going to save their soul. It's the goodness of God
that brings us to repentance. It's the love of Christ that
constraineth us. Oh, that men would praise the
Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful, and we use that
word pretty loosely, don't we? We finish a good meal and we
say, well, that was wonderful. Or we see something, we say,
wasn't that wonderful? Now, there's only one thing that's
really, truly full of wonder, and that's the works of God.
They're beyond our understanding their past finding out they're
beyond our, our ability to comprehend. They're full of wonder. His works, his works are perfect. Let them exalt him also in the
congregation of the people. And that's what we're doing right
now. We're exalting the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of
Man be lifted up. And I, if I be lifted up, will
draw men to me. That's what he does when Christ
is lifted up. That's why Paul said, we preach
Christ. We're not trying to engage in
some sort of psychological warfare here or some sort of feel-good
experience. We're lifting up Christ. And
men, when they look to Christ, they see that he's all and he's
in all. And he's been successful in satisfying
everything that God requires for them. Let them exalt him
also in the congregation of the people. And let me say this,
the congregation of the people is the only place where the Lord
Jesus Christ is being exalted. One of the blessings today for
me driving here, was seeing some of these religious clubhouses
shut down and large numbers of people not blaspheming our God. That's a blessing. You see, it's only in the congregation
of God's people that Christ is exalted, that he's believed on. Praise him in the assembly of
the elders. Now I want you to look at verses
33 through 38, because these verses tell us that God takes
a well-watered, fertile land and turns it into a desert for
the wicked. And then he takes the desert
and turns it in to a well-watered, fertile land for his people.
Now the point of these verses is, is that the message of the
gospel is a savor of life and a saver of death. Notice verse 33. The scripture says that the message
of the gospel is to them that perish foolishness. So he turneth
the rivers into the wilderness and the watered springs into
dry ground, a fruitful land in the barrenness for the wickedness
of them that dwell therein. Now what that means is that the
glorious truth of the gospel becomes a stench in the nostrils
of the unbeliever. He doesn't want anything to do
with the gospel of God's free grace in the accomplished work
of Christ. It robs him of his glory. He
has no interest in it. It's foolishness unto him. And he turneth the wilderness.
Now that's where you and I live. We live in a dry and thirsty
land. We live in a world that has no hope for salvation. There's
no message of redemption in this world other than the gospel,
which is found among God's people. He turneth the wilderness into
a standing water and dry ground into water springs and there
he maketh the hungry to dwell that they may prepare a city
for habitation and sow the fields and plant vineyards which may
yield fruits of increase. You see, we live in the same
world that the unbeliever lives in. To them, the world is their watering
hole. It's the wellspring of life.
For us, it's the gospel. It's the gospel. To the sinner,
to those who God has made to be hungry, blessed are those
who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. The Lord Jesus Christ said, if
any man thirst, let him come unto me. and out of his belly
shall flow rivers of living water. You see, the child of God cannot
find anything to quench the thirst of his soul in this world. We have a lot of things in this
world we enjoy, but when it comes to having our sin put away, we
look around the world, it's just polluted, broken cisterns, isn't
it? We need a, what'd the Lord say
to that woman at the well? Well, the verse I was about to
quote, if any man thirst, let him come into me and out of his
belly shall throw liver rivers of living water. And the woman
at the well, when the Lord asked her for, for a drink, she said,
she said, the well is deep and you've got nothing to, to, to
draw with. Yeah, it is a deep well. And
he's the only one that can draw the water out. And what did he
say to her? Oh, if you knew the gift of God
and who it is that saith unto thee, give me to drink, you would
ask of him and he would give to you living water. If only when the Lord shuts us
up to Christ, are we brought by the spirit of God to know
who it is that saith unto us, give me to drink. Lord, I've
got to have you give me to drink. When the gospel of God's grace
is preached, it's like that alabaster box of precious ointment that
was opened and the, and the, and the aroma filled the whole
room. But here's the thing about it
to some. It is a stench to their nostrils. They don't want to hear about
it. They don't want to have any interest in it. Why? Because God hadn't brought them
to their wits end. They're still scheming. They're
still planning on how they're going to be right with God and
how they're going to put away their own sin. But to the people of
God, turn to me to second Corinthians chapter two, second Corinthians
chapter two. Verse 15, for we are unto God
a sweet savor, now that word savor means aroma, smell. We are unto God a sweet savor
of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish. To the
one we are the savor of death unto death and to the other the
savor of life unto life And who is sufficient for these things? Who's sufficient to know these
things, to figure out these things, to earn these things, to be able
to declare these things? Who's sufficient for these things? For we are not as many which
corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity, but as of God
in the sight of God speak we. And that little Preposition in
is most often translated of, and it would be better translated
of here, I think. We speak of Christ. We speak
of Christ. So this gospel message, I mean,
you've heard the illustration, the heat of the sun, bearing
down on a lump of clay and on a lump of wax will have two different
effects, won't it? The clay will become hardened
and the wax will become softened. Who maketh thee to differ? Who
maketh thee to differ? What do you have that you did
not receive? You see, if we've been brought
to our wits end, if the sun of righteousness bearing down on
our souls in the gospel of God's free grace melts our hearts. That's the Lord that's made us
to differ from the Egyptians. He made the Israelites to differ
from the Egyptians, didn't he? Look at verse 38. He blesseth
them also so that they are multiplied greatly and suffereth not their
cattle to decrease, my God shall supply all your needs according
to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Everything we have is
supplied by Christ. You say, what about, you know,
what about the trouble I'm going, well, what did the Lord say to
the apostle? The Lord doesn't tell us, scripture
does not tell us what Paul's thorn in the flesh was, for good
reason. For a good reason. You know,
we'd get hung up on that one particular thorn. We all know
what it means to have a thorn in the flesh, don't we? And Paul
prayed, the scripture says he prayed three times, Lord, remove
this thorn, take it away. Take it away. What'd the Lord
say? My grace is sufficient for thee. And whatever that thorn was,
the apostle Paul spent the rest of his life having it pricking
his body. And every time it pricked him,
and every time it pricks you, and every time it pricks me,
the Lord says, my grace is sufficient for you. That's your reminder
that you need me. And that's what he goes on to
say, look, look, again, they are minished and brought low
through oppression, affliction, and sorrow, verse 39. He pours
contempt upon princes and causes them to wander in the wilderness
where there is no way. You know, how many times do we
wander around in the wilderness looking for a well, spring of
water, and we find none? he brings affliction and troubles
and trials and and and notice notice verse verse 41 yet said
it said if he the poor on the high now what is it to be set
on high what well let me ask you this first what does it mean
to be poor it means to be shut up to Christ it means you don't
have anything it means you can't do anything it means you don't
know anything blessed are the poor in spirit For theirs is
the kingdom of God. Blessed are those who are poverty
stricken." And he sets the poor on high. And what is it to be
set on high? Well, the scripture says that
we are seated right now in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Because
of the successful work of Christ, the word of God, the living word
did not return void. He took with him the names of
those for whom he lived and died. And God's people who have been
shut up to Christ are lifted up on high. They're brought out
of the afflictions of this world and they're caused to see who
they are in Christ Jesus. And now all is calm. The storms
have subsided. And I'm at rest, looking to Christ. Now you see that word from? Look it up. It is actually the
word after, which from can mean also, but it's the word after. David said, before I was afflicted,
I went astray, but now I've kept thy word. You see these thorns
in the flesh and these afflictions and these, and these wilderness
wanderings that God gives to his people are all for the sake
of bringing them back to Christ and setting them on high places. Look at what he says. Yet set
a fee, the poor on high after affliction and make it him families
like a flock. He gives them brethren that can
identify with him. You see what we're talking about
right now is every believer's experience. You're not indifferent. I'm not indifferent. This is,
this is God's word to every one of his children. And in that regard, we have a
familiar relationship. That's what family means that
we don't have with anybody else, even blood family. Because the
Lord has taught us, he shut us up to Christ and he's taught
us that Christ is all I have and he's all I need. The righteous shall see it. Can
you see this? Can you see what God's saying?
If you can, that's pretty good indication that the Lord's made
you to be righteous. The righteous shall see it and
rejoice and all iniquity shall stop from her mouth. In other
words, you won't hear the righteous talking about their works or
their decisions. You won't hear a child of God
say, well, I accepted Jesus. Or I let Jesus come into my heart
or I'm doing this and that for God. They're not going to talk
like that. All iniquity shut. They don't talk that that's iniquity. Who so is wise and will observe
these things. Even they shall understand the
grace of God, the grace of God, the loving kindness of the Lord.
All right, let's take a break.