May it please the Lords to bless
us together this evening as we turn to his word. Let us turn
to Psalm 87, and we'll read verse three. Psalm 87, and reading
verse three. Glorious things are spoken of
thee, O city of God, Selah. These are very simple words,
but they are very precious words, and they are the words of God. And it speaks, I believe, in
three ways. The glorious things are spoken
of thee, O city of God, with reference to the city of God,
Zion, and Jerusalem, in a physical way, which directs us to a spiritual
situation, and then to Jerusalem as the living church of God,
and then as Jerusalem in glory, as heaven itself. So I believe
we have here these three situations which we can follow in these
words. Glorious things are spoken of
thee, O city of God, Selah. And Selah, of course, really
means to pause. But it is worth pausing as we
consider such a statement as this. And the truth of these
words are important. And we read further on in this
little chapter, And of Zion it shall be said, This and that
man was born in her, and the highest himself shall establish
her. Zion, the city of God, the city of David, which was really
the forerunner of Jerusalem. And we know that Jerusalem itself
was a very blessed place, a very special place. And it was a glorious
place because it housed the temple. When Solomon built that temple,
what a wonderful occasion it was. It took the place of the
Tabernacle, which had been used for several hundreds of years
since it was erected in the wilderness when Israel traveled through
the wilderness. It was the center, the place
for worship, and it symbolized the Lord Jesus Christ in so many
ways. And we must realize that now
we have the whole counsel of God and the whole Word of God.
Israel in those days did not possess that. They did not have
the blessings that we had. And yet they would look at the
tabernacle and they would see the glory in measure that was
displayed there. And then in Jerusalem, when the
temple was built there, to observe the great glory of that building. I mean it was truly a magnificent
building naturally. It was made to the highest standards,
to the highest detail. because it symbolized in so many
ways Almighty God. But perhaps more especially,
the glorious things which were spoken of were the actual holy
place and the most holy place. And where those sacrifices were
offered up, the sacrifices on the altar, the sacrifices of
the animals, and then the altar of incense in the holy place. all these things directed the
worshipper to the Lord Jesus Christ. And surely therefore
such a statement like this is so true. Glorious things are
spoken of thee, O city of God. The place spoke of the glorious
things of God. They set before the people the
most important necessity of sacrifice and the death of the animal for
that sacrifice. And in order for that to be completed,
the shedding of blood, which indicated the death of the animal. And then there was no access
into the holy place without blood, without blood being sprinkled
on the high priest and on the mercy seat as the high priest
entered into the holy place. Now these things were so important
to Israel of old, so important to the worshippers as they came
up to worship, especially year by year on that great day of
atonement. What a wonderful occasion it
was and no doubt they came with heavy hearts because of their
sin, because of the burden which it was upon them. Then as they
viewed these things, set before them in the temple, and the ceremonies
which were carried out so meticulously in accordance with the law of
God and the word of God, to direct them to the forgiveness of sins. And the only way that was to
be achieved was through the shed blood, the sacrifice, the substitution,
It was all set before them in those symbolic actions which
were carried out for so many years. And no doubt it was therefore
a glorious place. We can imagine, can we not, how
people look forward to those times when they can enter in
and observe the temple. and see those things which were
to be performed. They weren't of course allowed
to go into the holy place, but nevertheless they were able to
observe the sacrifices and what a blessing it was. And what a
relief it must have been in their hearts as they fulfilled the
commands of God, believing that through those actions their sins
were taken away, they were washed away. Now we know of course nothing
in their sacrifices was perfect. were imperfect, but they set
before the Church of God the perfect sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Glorious things are spoken of
thee, O City of God. And the chapter began with, His
foundation is in the holy mountains. We know that Jerusalem was built,
of course, upon a mount. And it was a holy foundation. And the Lord loveth the gates
of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. The gates which entered
into, as it were, the Jerusalem and the gates which entered into
the temple. They were gates which were loved,
and they were far more important than all those dwellings of Jacob,
all those places which were outside. This was the place where God
had ordained that he would come down and meet with the high priest
above the mercy seat. Well, glorious things are spoken
of thee. They were spoken, by God to Moses. They were fulfilled by Moses
in that tabernacle. And then they were spoken to
David and to Solomon and very clear directions were given to
them with regard to the construction of the temple. And it was all
fulfilled in accordance with the will of God. And it was acknowledged
to be good and right by the blessing of the occasion when the work
was complete and the Lord came down and fill those places with
His glory. Well, glorious things are spoken
of Thee, O City of God, Selah. Just stop, just think, just pause,
remember these days so many years ago, and by comparison, perhaps,
think of our great blessing today, and the freedom we have, and
the access that we have today. Wonderful favour, is it not?
Do we really appreciate the blessing which is ours? When we think
of Israel of old and how they blessed God for these things
and spoke of it in this way, the glory of it, glorious things
are spoken of thee, O city of God. And then perhaps we may
think then of spiritual Jerusalem. church of God. Glorious things
are spoken of thee, O city of God. Well, as we look back in
history, there are many glorious things which are spoken of about
the church of God, the people of God who form that church,
Jerusalem. What a wonderful thing it is
to think and to know that you and I are part of that company. Because as glorious things are
spoken of those who have gone before, not to produce any pride
or elevate any individual for natural things, but because in
their lives, in our lives, may be observed the glorious work
of the Holy Spirit showing to us, declaring to us the preciousness
and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we observe the work of God
displayed in the life of one here and one there, and displayed
of course in the lives of those recorded in the Word of God,
those who received the grace of God. Do we not glory in those
things? Glory in those appearances of
the Lord, the wonderful work of God? And you know, what it
comes down to really is this. As we read in this chapter, the
fourth verse tells us, I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon
to them that know me. Behold, Philistia and Tyre with
Ethiopia, this man was born there. That's a glorious word, isn't
it? This man was born there. And of Zion it shall be said,
this and that man was born in her. And the highest himself
shall establish her. The Lord shall count when he
writeth up the people that this man was born there. Selah. Well, not a natural birth,
a spiritual birth. How important it is you and I
are born again in the Spirit of God. Glorious things are spoken
of thee, O city of God, and every new birth is a glorious thing
to be spoken of, because it sets forth the work of God. Not the work of man, it's the
work of God. And is it not a glorious thing
which is spoken of, And do not our hearts rejoice when we hear,
when we learn of the greatest work of God, glorious things
which they are? And as we read the word of God,
are our hearts not warmed as we observe God's glorious work,
glorious work in redemption, the glorious work in directing
and blessing and awakening his people? You can think, can we
not? of the long history of the patriarchs,
we can go back and we can think of Noah. We can think of the
faith given to him. Yes, the new birth given to him,
which produced that God-given faith in him to do those things
which appeared so foolish and so impossible. And yet, there
were those words spoken to him commanding what to do, he obeyed
the word of God. Is that not a glorious account?
We read of glorious things and spoken of thief. He was part
of the church of God in that true church as it were in Jerusalem. Glorious things are spoken of
thee, O city of God. And then we can follow that line,
can't we, of Noah and see how the patriarchs came into the
picture and how God was gloriously gracious to them. We see his
wonderful works, his wonderful works of compassion, of mercy,
long-suffering. We can think of Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob, I mean, they all had faults in their lives. And yet
we see how God was gracious. Do we not see the glorious work
of God then, in his amazing love, fulfilled in their lives, fulfilled
in the lives of the Church of God, and my friends, surely no
different to us today, fulfilled in our lives. if we are amongst
the Church of God. And are there not therefore glorious
things which are spoken of thee? These things bring forth glory
to our God, his work, his glorious work. And surely all his work
is glorious because all God's work is perfect. There's no fault
with God's work. There's much fault with our work.
We make many faults in life's journey. the Lord's work is perfect. As for God, his way is perfect,
as David said. And David's life wasn't a smooth
life, was it? There were many difficulties
in his life, many falls and slips in his life, and yet he's able
to look back and say, as for God, his way is perfect. And do we not trace out in the
life of David the glorious things which were spoken of him? how
God did appear for him, how God answered his prayers in amazing
ways, fulfilled the promises which God has spoken. God is
faithful. Glorious things are spoken of
thee, O city of God. And we have Isaac, we have Joseph. Yes, we have the leadings of
the Spirit with them. and the mercy of God toward them,
and surely it brings in our heart thankfulness and praise. We realise
how the Lord has worked and how the Lord has appeared at times
when things seem to be impossible. The things which are impossible
with men are possible with God. And isn't that a glorious truth?
Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God, the truth
of God, the work of God, worked out in so many ways, O that you
and I had more spiritual eyes to discern more and more of God's
gracious work and the things which concern him, which are
indeed worthy to be spoken of. Glorious things are spoken of
thee. And we think of the people then
down through the ages, in the centuries which have come to
pass since the Lord was on the earth, and how they responded
to the great and glorious truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. What things were spoken of him? What things were spoken of him
throughout the Word of God? Glorious things, which again
the Church of God must have hung to, hung on. Those prophecies
would regard to the Messiah. Their hope was in those statements. They were glorious things spoken
of God. And they hung on those things.
their salvation depended upon the fulfilment of them, and they came to pass. Every prophecy spoken in the
Word of God with regard to the coming of the Saviour came to
pass, in every detail. And they were glorious things,
perhaps at the time many people did not recognize how glorious
they were. But now surely today as we look
back we can observe how truly glorious those statements were
which spoke of the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ, where he would
be born, what he would endure, what he would face, spoken so
clearly in that 53rd chapter of Isaiah. detail of it, speaking
of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now my friends,
they are very wonderful, they are very glorious things, are
they not? And it's good if you and I can
actually be thankful for them and truly recognise they are
glorious things, because without them we would have no hope. And to think that That way that
was ordained for the Lord Jesus Christ was the perfect way, in
so many details. We would never have planned that
way ourselves. We would never have been capable
of producing that glorious solution that Almighty God did, that the
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, came into this world and lived
such a humble life and a life of such opposition, so low, we
would never have thought of that as a glorious solution to the
plan of salvation. But now, as we know what occurred,
we can observe the wonderful work of God, we can bless God
and glorify God because of the life of the Saviour in those
very details, in that humble life, in that humble birth, in
the agony of his life that he faced, and especially in those
last years and the last days of his life, what agony they
were, and then that terrible death of crucifixion upon the
cross. was glorious things spoken of
thee. And it had to be that way. And what it showed was the complete
satisfaction to the holy law of God, by the Lord Jesus Christ
submitting himself to the will of God and offering up himself
as that one complete and totally sufficient sacrifice upon Calvary's
cross. Their fulfilment of all those
years of that which had been symbolised in those many offerings
put up on so many occasions to the Lord. And now, outside of
Jerusalem, the Lord had to suffer outside the gate. Yes, and there
he was crucified. And he died so that you and I
might live. And the cost was his life. And the death that was caused
was through that agony and that crucifixion. And the effect was
to produce that shedding of blood, that important symbol, which
is set before us right through word of God from the beginning
when Abel offered that more acceptable sacrifice, or we can really go
back further to the Garden of Eden when the Lord slew those
animals and took those skins to clothe Adam and Eve. You see,
blood was so necessary. Glorious things are spoken of
thee. We today can trace back that
wonderful plan right from the days of the Garden of Eden, right
up to the time of Christ's glorious death upon the cross. Glorious
things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Do we not concur tonight? I hope we do, and I hope we bless
God for them, because there is our hope. Our hope resides in
what Christ has done, what Christ fulfilled upon that cross at
Calvary. And of course, he died. Glorious death. A glorious death. And then, he rose again. A glorious resurrection. Important are these things, so
necessary. If Christ had not risen from
the dead, there would be no hope for us. Because Christ would
have perished. Christ conquered. He conquered
sin and therefore he rose from the dead a conqueror over sin
and over death and over the grave. Yes, death could not hold him,
the grave could not hold him. He was almighty God. He rose
from the dead a conqueror. And again we have glorious things
were spoken of him after his resurrection, the very clear
evidence that he did rise from the dead and showed himself to
a number of people on a number of occasions in those 40 days
that he was on the earth after his resurrection. And then the
Blessed Saviour was taken up into heaven. He ascended up into
heaven, there to intercede for his people. Glorious things are
spoken of thee, O city of God. His church surely today rejoices
in the blessed high priest that we have. My friends, without
the Saviour there would be no access, There would be no answer to our
prayers, because they would be full of
sin. But the Lord Jesus Christ, as
our Advocate with the Father, He takes our prayers, presents
them to His Father, and presents our case, presents our case. What a glorious thing this is
to think. that we have such a glorious Saviour. He is risen and ascended
and now seated in his rightful place at the right hand of God
the Father until he comes again, when he rises up to once again
come when the end of all things will occur, when time shall be
no more. And so, glorious things are spoken
of thee. Yes, we have a great Saviour,
who we can come to in prayer. We can come to our Father through
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only way. I am the way, the truth and the
life. Glorious things are spoken of
thee by the Church of God. Do we not speak of him? I hope
we do, I hope we have much cause to praise him for all that he's
done and all that he's doing. All that he's doing perhaps for
us today, as we may have come to him in prayer. We may have
perhaps breathed out, we may have sighed before our God, and
he may have come down and heard our cries, heard our groans. glorious things have spoken of
thee. Surely we have to say, what a saviour! To think that
almighty God condescends to worms of the earth, sinful worms of
the earth, you and I who are unworthy, utterly unworthy of
any notice, and yet to think this great God takes notice of
us and hears answers, our prayers. Glorious things are spoken of
Thee. We have reason, do we not, to
speak these words and to glorify God for all of His great and
glorious work. And to remember what the psalmist
says here, this and that man was born in her, every living
child of God, is born by the Spirit of God, and it's the blessed
work of God, and it's a glorious work to bring life into that
which is dead. We naturally are thankful and
we marvel at natural life being given, don't we? As we see little
ones being born to this earth, it's a great work of Almighty
God. My friends, greater is the work
of grace brought to dead sinners, those who are without any hope,
those who are lifeless, dead in trespasses and in sins. Why are we made alive? It's because of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is our life. Our life is hid with Him. My friends, what an important
thought it is to know that we possess that life given to us,
that new life, which we could not produce ourselves. We couldn't
make ourselves alive, could we? No, we were helpless, lifeless,
dead. Do you know when the Lord passed
by, And as we read in Leviticus, he saw us in our blood and said,
live. Live, that means born again by
the Spirit of God. Well, is that not a glorious
thing? Glorious things that are spoken of by God to think that
he's passed by and caused us to hear his voice, that life
which he's given, live. Well, have we heard that voice? We live naturally. Do we live
spiritually? As the Lord convinced us of our
desperate condition, of our lost condition, of our helpless condition,
and then passed by and said, Live, O glorious things are spoken
of thee, O city of God. And the whole church of God joined
together, did they not, in such a word as this, for the great
salvation which has come. What a mercy it is then to be
part of this family, part of this church, part of this Jerusalem,
you know, Jerusalem was a city, not only did they have the temple
in the middle, they had a wall around it to safeguard them and
to keep them in. My friends, the Church of God
not only have the blessed Lord Jesus Christ as the centre, we
might say Jesus in the midst. There's also, as it were, a wall
around us. to protect us, his love, his
mercy, his compassion, to protect us from all the evil. The devil
will try all he can to captivate us. He may throw his darts at
us. Yes, they may pierce us. They may make us uncomfortable.
They may have some effect upon us, but they can never kill us. He can never take us out of Jerusalem,
because we are part of the Church of God. Those who have received
this new birth, those who are amongst those who were born in
her, they are eternally alive unto God. Yes, they cannot be
taken by Satan. They are eternally secure. Glorious things are spoken of
thee. Eternal safety, eternal security
is a most blessed doctrine and comforting to the living Church
of God. Once in Him, in Him forever. Yes, eternal safety. It's because
of His everlasting love. You see, the love of God doesn't
vary. His love is the same yesterday and today and forever. Yes, it
is everlasting. And if you and I possess this
new birth, it's because of His love toward us. Because His love
was so great that He laid down His life for us, that we might
be given this life. because of his love. What a wonderful
thing it is. Glorious things are spoken of
thee. No greater glorious thing to speak of, really, than the
love of God, the love of Christ, the love of God the Father, the
love of God the Son, the love of God the Holy Spirit. They're
all united together in that great and glorious work of salvation
for poor unworthy souls. and to think that that is an
eternal safety. God's arms are around us and
he will not let us go. He loved us with an everlasting
love and with loving kindness has drawn us. It's his love which
has drawn us to himself. It's not us, we have no power,
we have no desire by nature. It's God's amazing love. Glorious
things are spoken of thee, O city of God. And then just finally
to think of that heavenly Jerusalem. Glorious things are spoken of
thee. And we can look forward, can
we not, to that Jerusalem which is heaven itself. That place
of peace, that place of joy, that place of happiness, where
there is no sin, That place of glory, what a glorious place
that is. And the Apostle John, he had
a little view of this, and he tells us a little bit about it.
And he said in 21st of Revelation, 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. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he 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. And he said unto me, Write, for
these words are true and faithful. Well, the prospect of glory is
a wonderful thing for the suffering Church of God. As we battle on
through life in the warfare that we are engaged in, with a continual
difficulty day by day, opposition from all around, opposition from
our own selves, from our own heart, to be able, as it were,
to come aside and to view the glorious things which are spoken
of thee, O city of God, the glorious things which are spoken of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and those things which are to be enjoyed
by the living Church of God. The Apostle was told to write,
and he was spoken too, and is told it is done. I am El for
only Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him
that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit
all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.'
Now we only overcome in one way. And they overcame through the
blood the Lamb. We only overcome through the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't overcome because
of our own strength, because of our own ability, but we overcome
through the blood of the Lamb, and as we know that was a sufficient
sacrifice, we know that this is true. He that overcometh shall
inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my
Son. Wonderful is it not to think
of eternity then? Eternity. It's a tremendous sound,
it's a fearful thought to those who know not Christ, out of Christ
is the most terrible thing, but to be in Christ is the most wonderful
thing, and it's a glorious thing to be able to anticipate the
glory of Emmanuel's land, where the Lamb is all the glory. Yes, that Lamb which is the blessed
Saviour himself, that Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world, that Lamb of God that has taken away our sin.
Glorious things are spoken of thee, surely in heaven itself
glorious things will continue to be spoken and sung throughout
eternity. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,
will be the song of the redeemed, is the song of the redeemed,
is the song, I believe, of the Church of God while upon earth.
They do come willingly and say from their heart, yes, worthy
is the Lamb, worthy is the Saviour who has done such great things,
glorious things, are spoken of thee, O city of God, and it is
reserved for those who come out of great tribulation and have
washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. It's reserved for
those who have been redeemed, those for whom Christ has died. There is a place then in glory
reserved for all his people, a special place reserved There's
no possibility of not arriving in heaven and finding there's
no place. No, when we get safe home, there
is a place reserved for the Church of God, for every member of it,
to be found then around that throne of God in heaven. Glorious
things are spoken of thee, O city of God, Selah. Surely you have
reason to consider, to pause, and to think of the glory these
things, as you and I travel on through this wilderness, through
this rugged, through this waste-hounding wilderness, to sometimes pause,
as it were, in our journey, and to consider such things, glorious
things, are spoken of thee, O City of God. And the end of the psalm
tells us as well the singers, as the players and instruments
shall be there. All my springs are in there.
Yes, there will be music and there will be singing, there
will be wonderful praise in glory. And as we know, as the Psalmist
says, all our springs are not in ourself, they're in the Lord
Jesus Christ. All, everyone, all my springs
are in thee. Another great reason While we
may come and say, along with the psalmist, yes, glorious things
are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah. Amen.