you Let us commence our service this
evening by singing together hymn number 365 to the tune Trawdon
425. where shall we go to seek and
find a habitation for our God, a dwelling for the eternal mind
amongst the sons of flesh and blood? Hymn 365. ? God shall reign over us ? ? With
mercy and right ? ? The power of his name ? ? Shall rule over
all of us ? ? And the kingdom of heaven be ours ? eternal life, and loves us all
to this end time. There on a day as good as now
or day, a star like heaven full of its ancient rays, ? And my heart is bledding still
? ? It can't be still ? ? Its present breath ? If in thy foot thy praises crowned,
Thou canst make the days of old He shall my God and God behold,
and blessed shall the Son of Man be. Here will I be, ever grateful,
and fill this soul with healing grace. In this moment, before my door,
This sweet perfection of regret. Heaven with truth, heaven full
of grace, Thy peace shall be, peace shall shine, All day and night His cross He
dressed, Angel of fear and sorrow He guided. As it was in the beginning, is
now, and ever shall be, world without end. This world of mine, it is now
mine, And I am triumphant again. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God from two portions. The first is Psalm 132, and then
secondly, Isaiah chapter 62. Psalm 132. Lord, remember David
and all his afflictions, how we swear unto the Lord, and
vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob, surely I will not come
into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed. I will
not give sleep to mine eyes or slumber to mine eyelids, until
I find out a place for the Lord, and habitation for the mighty
God of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it at Ephrata,
We found it in the fields of the wood. We will go into his
tabernacles. We will worship at his footstool.
Arise, O Lord, into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy strength.
Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let thy saints
shout for joy. For thy servant David's sake,
turn not away the face of thine anointed. The Lord hath sworn
in truth unto David, he will not turn from it. Of the fruit
of thy body will I sit upon thy throne. If thy children will
keep my covenant and my testimonies, that I shall teach them, their
children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. For
the Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation,
This is my rest for ever. Here will I dwell, for I have
desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. I will also clothe her priests
with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There
will I make the horn of David to bard. I have ordained a lamp
For mine anointed, his enemies will I clothe with shame, but
upon himself shall his crown flourish. Now let us read together
the prophecy of Isaiah in chapter 62. For Zion's sake will I not hold
my peace, And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the
righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation
thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy
righteousness, and all kings thy glory. And thou shalt be
called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.
Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more
be termed forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate,
but thou shalt be called Hepzibah, and thy land Beulah, for the
Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For
as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee.
And as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy
God rejoice over thee. I have set watchmen upon thy
walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor
night. Ye that make mention of the Lord
keep not silence, and give him no rest till he establish, until
he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth, The Lord hath sworn
by his right hand and by the arm of his strength, surely I
will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies, and
the sons of the strangers shall not drink thy wine for the which
thou hast laboured, but they that have gathered it shall eat
it. And praise the Lord, and they that have brought it together
shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. Go through, go
through the gates, prepare ye the way of the people, cast up,
cast up the highway, gather out the stones, lift up a standard
for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed
unto the end of the world, say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold,
thy salvation cometh. Behold, his reward is with him
and his work before him. And they shall call them, the
holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. And thou shalt be called
sought out, a city not forsaken. May the Lord bless those portions
of his most precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Gracious, merciful and eternal
God, we do desire to bow before thy great majesty, to call upon
thy great and thy holy name. And we do desire, yea, plead
with thee, that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the
love of God our Father, and the sacred fellowship of the Holy
Spirit, may rest and abide upon us, that we may be led and taught
of Thee, guided and directed by Thee, that we may know the
divine and sacred drawings of our eternal Father, for none
come except the Father draw. Oh, to feel that sweet drawing! Yea, I have loved Thee with an
everlasting love, that therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
Thee. Oh, that it may be so tonight
as we gather round thy word. May we feel the divine power,
the heavenly unction of the Holy Ghost. May he breathe life into
our souls. May he breathe life into the
pulpit, into the ministry. Oh, gracious God, do come. Draw poor sinners unto Christ. Open the deaf ears and open the
blind eyes and loosen the tongue. O gracious God, make the lame
to walk, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak. Even as thou didst
when here upon earth, thou canst do it now, Lord. And we pray
that thou wouldst do it now, and that thou wouldst work mightily,
powerfully, and effectually among us to the great glory of thy
holy name. Lord Jesus, Son of God, most
high, we pray that thou wouldst come and stand in our midst,
that we may behold thy glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. O gracious Lord, do
come and speak to our hearts, as thou hast said in thy word,
my sheep, they know my voice and they follow me, O that we
may hear that voice of our Lord Jesus Christ tonight. My beloved
spake and said unto me, Gracious God, O do grant that it may be
so. And we read, O Lord, he cometh
skipping upon the mountains and over the hills. O do be gracious. It is the voice of my beloved.
O do graciously speak to us tonight. Bless us together. Open the word. Open our hearts to receive it.
We come as poor, needy, wretched sinners before thy great majesty,
truly feeling that we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity. We're unclean and unrighteous
in every part, but we have an old man that is corrupt. Oh,
most gracious Lord, we do pray to be delivered. We do pray that
thou wouldst graciously draw us unto thee, and that thou wouldst
reveal thyself, Lord Jesus, thy precious blood and righteousness.
Take us away all sin, close the poor sinner to stand in thy presence. Oh, that we may experience that
at this evening hour, it is he. Instead of me is seen when I
approach to God. Oh, that it may be so, Lord.
We do humbly beseech Thee in that we may set our affections
on things above and not on things of the earth, that we may be
drawn toward Thee. And Lord, those things that would
intrude, we pray to be delivered from them, those corruptions
of the flesh and those temptations of Satan. Lord we pray that whether
he comes as a roaring lion to devour or as an angel of light
to deceive we pray to be delivered from his power and from his influence
we do humbly beseech of thee thou alone are able and thou
has promised in thy word that when the enemy comes in like
a flood the spirit of the lord will lift up a standard against
him Sometimes he comes, O Lord, like a flood. Sometimes there
are overwhelming temptations. And solemnly, Lord, he knows
the weaknesses of our flesh, of our carnal mind, and he brings
those temptations to bear that suit our flesh. Gracious God,
preserve and keep us. May the Lord Jesus Christ be
exalted, that glorious standard of the gospel, May we be lifted
high on the gospel pole. May we be determined to know
nothing among men save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Bless
our beloved brethren the deacons, give grace, give wisdom, give
help in all their responsibilities among us and also among the churches
of God and gird them day by day with all sufficient grace. And
oh gracious God we do pray that thou wouldst bless each one of
our brethren and sisters in church fellowship. Unite our hearts
to thee, dear Lord, and unite our hearts to each other, and
grant that we may love each other, serve each other, bear each other's
burdens, and thereby fulfilling the law of Christ. Guide us,
O thou great Jehovah, pilgrims in this barren land. We are weak,
but thou art mighty. And does not thy word declare,
when I am weak, then am I strong? Weak in myself, in him I am strong. Gracious God, grant that we may
feel that strength, and that the strength of Israel will draw
near to us even tonight. And as thy servant of old says,
for he would put strength in me, And we pray that it may be
so with us at this evening hour, and that thou wouldst be gracious.
We pray, O Lord, that thou wouldst bless us as a church and as a
congregation. We pray for the little babes
and the children that gather with us, that thy blessing may
rest upon them, the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich
and addeth no sorrow with it. We pray that thou would be with
them in their young and their tender years and keep and preserve
them from all evil. That the fear of the Lord that
is the beginning of wisdom may be in their hearts. We pray that
thou would bless the dear young friends as they stand on the
threshold of life's journey. And as they go forth, we pray
that they may be brought to living faith in Jesus Christ. that they
may become true followers of thee and of those who through
faith and patience inherit the promises. Gracious God, do incline
thine ear. We do humbly beseech thee. And
do bless the dear young friends. Be with them in all the paths
of providence. Help them to commit their way
unto thee. Trust also in thee. Grant them
a Partner in life's journey, gracious God, we do pray thee,
grant that they may be guided and directed by thee, and that
thou wouldst hear their prayers. We pray that there may be a generation
that shall follow on to know the Lord, that shall call thee
the Redeemer blessed. Gracious God, As promised in
thy word, instead of thy father shall be thy children, whom thou
mayest make princes in all the earth. We pray that the prodigals
may return, that we may see that wonderful grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ stopping them in their mad career, bringing them to
return unto the sanctuary. Lord, there is nothing too hard
for thee, none are beyond the power of thy grace. and we earnestly
petition thee to lay hold of them as thou alone canst. Thou canst reach them, Lord.
They can never go beyond thy power and beyond thy grace and
thy love and thy mercy. May that appointed time roll
on apace, not to propose but call by grace, to turn their
feet to Zion's hill. Hear us, Lord. do beseech of
thee for thy great name's sake. Send out thy light and thy truth
into this village and the surrounding villages around us and pull down
the strongholds of Satan. Set up the kingdom of our Lord
Jesus in the hearts of sinners. O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel,
O thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth before
Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, and come and save us, O Lord,
we beseech thee. Let thy hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, the Son of Man, whom thou madest strong
for thyself. Thou hast promised, I will bring
thy sons from far and thy daughters from the ends of the earth, and
they shall come from the north and from the south and from the
east and from the west. Gracious God, we wait and we
watch and we pray and we plead with thee for such a day to see
those Precious souls returning, gathered in, brought to living
faith in Jesus Christ, that thou wouldst fill this house of prayer
with hungry, longing souls pressing into the kingdom of heaven. Thou
hast said, O Lord, open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. And
thou hast said, as we've read in thy word, I will abundantly
bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. O Lord of hosts, we do beseech
thee that thou wouldst hear us, and that thou wouldst have mercy
upon us, and that thou wouldst return to Jerusalem with mercies. We pray, dear Lord, that thou
wouldst graciously hear prayer for all in the midst of the journey
of life. We would especially remember
parents, that they may be given grace and wisdom to bring up
their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and
that thou wouldst graciously give guidance and direction in
all matters. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
for those of us in the evening time of life's journey. And we
pray that thou wouldst graciously grant thy divine support, that
as the outward man perisheth, the inward man may be renewed
day by day. Graciously hear us. O Lord, we
do beseech thee for thy great name's sake. And we pray, O Lord,
that thou wouldst hear prayer for those that labour in word
and doctrine upon the walls of Zion. Grant them the fresh anointing
of thy spirit. Grant the spirit of power. We
do beseech of thee signs to follow the preaching of the word. And
we pray Thee, the great Lord of the harvest, to send true
labourers into the harvest and to build the walls of Jerusalem.
They shall prosper that love Thee. Oh, that we may be enabled
to say from the very depths of our soul, I have loved the habitation
of Thy house and the place where Thine honour dwelleth. And, O
Lord God, we do pray that thou wouldst graciously hear prayer
for our nation, that thou wouldst turn back the tides of iniquity,
that thou wouldst give wisdom and guidance and direction to
our leaders. We're thankful for that word
by thee, King's reign, and Prince's decree justice, and we commit
all these things into thy kind and gracious hands. Bring to
naught the counsel of the ungodly. O Lord, we do beseech thee. Bless
our beloved Queen and remember the Royal Household, we humbly
pray. We thank Thee for every mercy
and every favour and every blessing. Thy mercies to us are new every
morning and great is Thy faithfulness. We thank Thee, most gracious
Lord, for the wonderful, sacred and profound glories of our Lord
Jesus Christ. the great king and head of the
church, the eternal son of the father, the judge of all the
earth. Oh, we do bless thee for what
he has done, made of all who are made under the law to redeem
them that are under the law. We thank thee he lived as a man
here upon earth, fulfilling and honouring, magnifying that holy
law and bringing in everlasting righteousness. We thank Thee
for Calvary, where the Lamb was slain, where sin was put away,
where divine justice is satisfied. Gracious God, do hear us as we
beseech Thee. Do be with us now as we turn
to Thy holy Word. Do come and touch one's lips
with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask, with
the forgiveness of all our sin, for Jesus Christ's sake, Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 360. The tune is Warrington 432. God in his earthly temples lays
Foundations for his heavenly praise He likes the tents of
Jacob well But still in Zion loves to dwell Him three hundred
and sixty O come all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave ? His mercy reigns in every place ? ? Amen, amen,
amen, amen ? ? To praise your name ? ? The Lord
is come ? ? He shall reign forevermore ? ? Yet now the sun goes down ? ?
And the city of the poor remains ? ? I pray to thee, O Lord ?
? The child of the free Egypt land
? ? Egypt, the child of the free Egypt land ? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? ? O praise God the highest above
? ? O praise Him, praise God the highest above ? ? Hear me, O God of Israel ? ? That's why I'm here, O God of
Israel ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to Psalm 132,
and we will read verses 13 and 14 for our text. Psalm 132, verses
13 and 14. For the Lord hath chosen Zion He hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever. Here
will I dwell, for I have desired it. Just to, what we might say, put
the word into context, this psalm was written by David when the
Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of the whole Earth was returned
to its rightful place at the center of the life of the children
of Israel. The Ark of the Covenant that
was among the children of Israel that was raised up by Moses in
the wilderness, there was the outer coating of it of badger
skins and then in the centre of it was the golden mercy seat,
and the golden cherubims, that is angels, with golden wings
overshadowing the golden mercy seat. And this is very beautifully
typical of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Badger skins are not something
that is particularly beautiful, but what it does is it represents
the sacred holy human nature of the son of God that he assumed
in the womb of the Virgin Mary. And in Isaiah chapter 53 the
prophet says that there is no form nor comeliness in him that
we should desire him. And those badger skins represent
Christ as a man here upon earth. And the golden mercy seat and
the golden cherubim, gold represents deity. And that represents the
sacred, divine nature of the Son of God. Moses was commanded that the
high priest should go in there once a year and he would take
the blood of a sacrifice and he would sprinkle it seven times
before the golden mercy seat. And the Lord said, there will
I meet with thee, there will I commune with thee, You see
beautifully pointing us to the time when Christ would come.
That blood of sprinkling represents the precious blood of Christ,
the sacrifice offered represents the sacred sacrifice of Christ
on Calvary. There will I meet with thee,
there will I commune with thee. There is none other name given
under heaven whereby you must be saved but the name of Jesus
Christ. There is one God and one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus who gave his life
of ransom for all to be testified in due time. There will I meet
with thee, there will I commune with thee. Now the Ark of the
Covenant of the Lord of the whole Earth was removed from its place
in the days of Eli when His foolish sons, as he
says himself, they were the sons of Belial. In a superstitious
way, they took the Ark of the Covenant and carried it into
the midst of the battle with the Philistines. This is recorded
in the Book of Samuel. And when one came back from the
battle to speak to Eli, he told him that both his sons were slain
in the battle. And when he told him that the
Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of the whole Earth has been taken
by the Philistines, we read that Eli fell backwards and he break
his neck and died. You see my beloved friends, that
was so highly symbolic of the presence of the Lord Jehovah
among the children of Israel. Now it remained in what is called
Kirjath Jirim, the City of Woods, It remained there for 66 years,
all the days of Samuel, all the days of Saul, up until David
became king. And you'll notice here, as we
read together this evening, that the desire of David's heart,
the beginning of this psalm, he was desiring to bring the
Ark into Jerusalem. He made an area for it, a tabernacle,
so that he could bring it and place it there. Lord, remember
David and all his afflictions, how he swear unto the Lord and
vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob, surely I will not come
into the tabernacle of my house. You see, the very first thing
he did when he became king in Jerusalem was to gather that
ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth to bring it
where it should be. It had been hidden from the children
of Israel. No longer were the services of
the sanctuary. For all that long period, had been hidden and taken away.
It was of course a sign of the Lord's disfavor toward them because
of their idolatry etc. He gave them Saul for 40 years. I gave them a king in my wrath,
he says. Saul was a disobedient king.
Then he raised up David and it says the man after God's own
heart. David's desire was to the Lord
God of Israel. It was to his house. He says,
surely I will not come into the habitation of my house nor go
up into my bed. I will not give sleep to mine
eyes or slumber till mine eyelids until I find a place for the
Lord and habitation. for the mighty God of Jacob. What a mercy, my beloved friends,
if there is in any church precious souls that put Christ first,
that put the house of God first. That is their chief desire, their
chief concern. Zion, the church of the living
God, that's what they live for. They desire its prosperity. above
everything else. Even as our Lord Jesus Christ
himself says, seek ye first. See what David did. This is how
we see that he is a man after God's own heart. Seek ye first
the kingdom of heaven and my righteousness and all these things,
that's all providential things, all these things shall be added
unto you. You know friends we can very
easily get the balance wrong, and so that
our chief concern becomes providential things. Our work, our career,
or whatever it is, it comes first. But you know, my beloved friends,
may the Lord so teach you. May the love of Christ be so
shed abroad in your heart that He might come first, that you
might desire to put Him first, and to seek first the Kingdom
of Heaven. and my righteousness and all
these things. You can leave that in the Lord's
hands. Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in Him and He
shall bring it to pass. He will. Not you. Not you. And so, David, he goes on here
in this psalm. I've preached from it on a number
of occasions. Verses 6 and 7. Four very blessed
points in there. Lo, we heard of it at Ephrata. We found it in the fields of
the wood. We will go into his tabernacles.
We will worship at his footstool. There are four very blessed points. We heard of it. Faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the word of the law. We found it. Then that seek me early shall
find me. We will go. thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power, we will go into his tabernacles,
we will worship. What a wonderful thing, when
the Lord gives us a spirit of true worship. Can you look back,
some of you, to that time when Christ was first made precious?
When his love was shed abroad in your heart? When he came first? When his house came first? When
his people came first? You see, my beloved friends,
they're very special occasions. We will go, we will go, made
willing to follow the Lord, to serve the Lord in your day and
in your generation. We will go, made willing. You
think of that beautiful, very beautiful hymn by John Sennich.
He didn't write many hymns, that the hymns that he did write are
very sweet and very blessed. Jesus my all, to heaven has gone,
hymn 144. He whom I fix my hopes upon,
his track I see and I'll pursue the narrow way till him I view. That's the desire of the living
soul. The way the holy prophets went,
the road that leads from banishment, the king's highway of holiness,
I'll go. for all his paths are peace.
This is the way I long have sought and mourned because I found it
not." What a blessed thing, my beloved friends, when we find
that way. Jesus said, I am the way, the
truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. I am the way. You see, and flowing
from this, David He speaks of his heart is enlarged. Verse
8, he says, Arise, O Lord. He's thinking of Zion, the church
of the living God. Arise, O Lord, into thy rest,
thou and the ark of thy strength. He's desiring the Lord's presence
and blessing in Zion, in the church of the living God. And
he prays, and we don't have priests in the day in which we live,
but we have ministers, as we've read together in Isaiah 62. Let
thy priests be clothed with righteousness and let thy saints shout for
joy. For thy servant David's sake
turn not away the face of thine anointed, thine anointed is Christ. The Lord has sworn and this is
the promise of David. It was to David that of his seed
Christ would be born. We've often pointed out to you
the amount of times in the New Testament when those that came
to him, you think of blind Bartimaeus, Jesus thou son of David. The same with that Canaanitish
woman. Jesus thou son of David, have
mercy upon me. It was revealed unto them. And
the Lord says here, the Lord has sworn in truth unto David,
he will not turn from it of the fruit of thy body. will I set
upon thy throne. That's the promise of the coming
of Christ by the seed of David. Indeed, you know, friends, in
that very well-known chapter in Isaiah chapter 9, and we read
there in verses 6 and 7, Isaiah chapter 9, for unto us a child
is born, unto us a son is given. and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.
Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom to order it,
and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth,
even forever, the zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.
So Christ came at the appointed time here upon earth. There were those that were waiting
for him. There were those that were watching for him. We read
of Simeon and when Joseph and Mary brought that holy child
up to do according to the law, the circumcision etc. and Simeon
was brought by the Spirit in that moment into the house of
the Lord. And he took that little babe
in his arm. Now lettest thou thy servant
depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which
thou hast prepared before all people. You know, friends, we
cannot begin to comprehend what must have filled his heart, taking
that little babe, knowing that this was the Christ of God, the
Messiah, the Lord's anointed. as he took that little babe in
his arm. How precious that must have been.
How sacred that must have been. He desired to depart. Now let
us thou thy servant depart in peace. For mine eyes have seen. You know, it's like that sometimes
when the Lord blesses his people. But when you have a revelation
of Christ, When the love of God is shed abroad in your heart,
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes
have seen thy salvation. What a precious time that is.
There was a time in great affliction when I was so blessed in Psalm
23, and I really thought I was going to die. I've been exercised
about the ministry for a number of years. But you know that was
all taken away and I really thought I was going to die. And the Lord
brought me into Psalm 23 so that I could truly say the Lord is
my shepherd. I shall not want... You know
friends, Christ was made so precious to me. I dearly loved my wife
and children but I could have left them. I could have left
them. I could have commended them to
the Lord. and to be with Christ which is
far better. It's unspeakably precious when
the Lord does that. Now let us come more closely
to our text. For the Lord hath chosen Zion. The Lord hath chosen Zion. The
church of the living God. That's what is meant by Zion.
We know that Zion is a a geographical place in Jerusalem. But when
the Word of God speaks of Zion it's speaking of the church. Not only the Old Testament church
but the New Testament church. As we often labor the point to
you that you know the New Testament church is the spiritual seed
of Abraham. When the Lord said to Abraham
thy seed shall be as the sand that is by the sea shore innumerable. He wasn't just thinking of the
children of Israel, he was thinking of the spiritual seed, the Christian
Church, in the New Testament. We're all the children of Abraham
by faith. By faith of Jesus Christ. Christ
was born of the seed of Abraham. We read in the prophecy of Isaiah
chapter 28, and verse 16, Isaiah 28 verse 16, Therefore thus saith
the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone,
a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. The foundation. What did Christ
say to Peter? when he confessed before Christ. Thou art the Christ, the son
of the living God. And what was the reply of Christ
to him? Upon this rock I build my church
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. They'll try
but they will not prevail against it. And they will not prevail
against you. You just think of that promise.
It's all fulfilled in Christ. When the enemy comes in like
a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against
him. That standard is Christ. It's
the glorious person of the Son of God manifest in the flesh. Wherefore he is able to save
to the uttermost and you may come to uttermost places in your
soul's feelings and in your soul's experience. and in your providential
pathway when you feel everything is going to be destroyed, everything
is going to be finished. When the enemy comes in like
a flood. Don't say if. When. He will come. He will assault
you if you're a true child of God. And sometimes you'll greatly
fear that he's going to overwhelm you. None shall pluck them out of
my Father's hands. I and my Father are one. The
Lord's people are secure. Why? Because they're chosen.
They're chosen by the Father. They're redeemed by the Son.
They are sanctified by the Holy Ghost. The gates of hell will
try and prevail against them, but they can't. They never will. You may fear they will, but they
never will. When the poor and needy seek
water and there is none, and their tongue fail if they thirst,
I the Lord will hear them, I will open rivers in high places and
streams in the desert. I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. He says, fear not, I am with
thee, be not dismayed. I am thy God, I will help thee,
I will uphold thee. I've often pointed out in that
verse that there are promise after promise after promise and
all those promises are fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ. This
is the rock upon which the church is built. Casting all your care
upon him, for he careth for you. Casting all your care upon him. Or as the Apostle puts it, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame
thereof, and is now set down at the right hand of the Father
of God in heaven. He's exalted far above all principality
and power, at every name that is named. He said to His disciples,
all power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. And it is. You may be shaken. You may think
that everything's going to come to naught. You may sometimes
feel perhaps the Lord has forsaken you. He never will. He's never
yet forsaken His people and He never will. Once in Him, in Him
forever, thus the eternal Covenant stands for the Lord hath chosen
Zion. You're in Zion because the Lord
chose you. He chose you before the foundation
of the world. It's very beautiful what the
Lord says through his apostles when they speak of the eternal
covenant and the eternal nature of that covenant. My mind in
particular just goes to the Ephesians, in Ephesians chapter one. And
there in Ephesians chapter one, we read, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, you
may feel just to be the opposite of that, to be unholy and unclean,
but in Christ holy, washed in the blood of the Lamb, clothed
in that glorious everlasting robe of His righteousness, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, to the
praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved. You'll never be accepted in yourself.
You're a poor, wretched, ruined sinner. You're a son or a daughter
of Adam, born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Your acceptance
is in Christ. It's in Christ. Look unto me,
O ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there
is none else. There is salvation in none other.
There is none other name given unto heaven, whereby ye must
be saved. Oh, my beloved friends, may the
Lord be pleased to breathe these precious truths into your heart
to confirm you in the faith. He will never leave. He will
never forsake. If you look at chapter 62 of
Isaiah that we read together, look at the sacred promises that
he makes to Zion there. As I was meditating in Psalm
132, this chapter seemed to present itself so prominently to me. For Zion's sake will I not hold
my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest until the
righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation
thereof as a lamp that burneth, and the Gentiles shall see thy
righteousness. We live in that day. When the
Gentiles see his righteousness, that righteousness that is in
Christ, and all kings thy glory, and thou shalt be called by a
new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. That's why
we're called Christians. And the disciples were called
Christians first at Antioch. Thou shalt also be a crown of
glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand
of thy God. Thou shalt no more. Is that how
you are feeling? Is that how you have felt? Listen
to what he says. Thou shalt no more be termed
forsaken. Neither shalt thou land any more
be termed desolate. But thou shalt be called Hepzibah,
and thy land Beulah. And the meaning of those two
words, for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be
married. The Lord says in Jeremiah, for
I am married unto you. It's an indissoluble union that
there is between your soul and Jesus Christ. It can never be
broken. He will not allow it to be broken. And so he goes on, as we see
in our psalm, he says here, for as a young man marrieth a virgin,
so shall thy sons marry thee. This is Zion, the church of the
living God. And as the bridegroom rejoices
over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. I have
set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never
hold their peace, day nor night. David was such a watchman, and
that's why he breathed this prayer in Psalm 132. He was watching
over Zion. He was longing and yearning over
Zion. And there are those of the Lord's
watchmen today that are doing the same. I have set watchmen
upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their
peace, day nor night. Ye that make mention of the Lord,
keep not silence and give him no rest till he establish, till
he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. For the Lord hath
chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation. This seemed
to stand out to me in these two verses, you know, second part
of verse 13 and the second part of verse 14. He hath desired
it for his habitation. Here will I dwell, for I have
desired it. Here will I dwell. In Zion, in
the Church of God, by His Spirit. He sets His servants as pastors,
as ministers in the Church. He desires Zion. He anoints them
with the Spirit. He opens the gospel unto them
so that they're able to speak and preach the word of his grace.
And precious souls are attracted to Christ and drawn to Christ. They love him. They love him,
they desire to follow him, they desire to serve him in their
day and in their generation. For the Lord hath chosen Zion,
he hath desired it for his habitation. Here will I dwell. for I have
desired it. What a precious thing that the
Lord desires Zion. Still does. He still does. He still sends forth his servants. He still settles pastors in the
churches. He will to the end of time. It
says in his word when he sends forth his disciples to preach
the gospel. He says, Lo, I am with you always. even unto the end of the world.
He's with them always. And He will bless the Word, the
Word of His grace. He says, this is my rest, here
will I dwell. What a precious thing when we
really feel that. When we really feel a love to
Christ. When the love of Christ is shed
abroad in our heart. when he becomes so precious to
our soul. And then we say from the very
depths of our heart, hear my best friends, my kindred dwell,
hear God, my saviour rise. Hear, this is my rest forever. I have loved the habitation of
thy house and the place where thine honour dwelleth. It's a
great mercy, friends. You may be very young in the
way, but if you have this love in your heart, if you feel a
love to the Lord's people, you feel a desire to the house of
God, you feel a desire to the ordinances of the sanctuary,
those sacred ordinances of believers' baptism and of the Lord's Supper,
you feel a yearning, a longing, and you desire to be united to
the Lord's people. I've often told you of my late
pastor, Mr John, and when he was burdened and exercised about
baptism after the Lord had blessed him. One particular Lord's Day,
a first Sunday, and he saw the Lord's people sitting around
the table of the Lord and he said, I saw them in Christ, perfect. Oh, I felt such a love to them,
and I longed to be with them and join to them. And the late
pastor, my grandfather, Jabez Field, he read the text that
the ordinance would desire, have I desired, to eat this Passover
with you. He said it was sealed into his
soul. He had to go forward. He had
to speak of what the Lord had done for his soul. He had to
be united to the Lord's people because he loved them. David
says, doesn't he, here in Psalm 116, I love the Lord. I love
the Lord. It's a beautiful psalm. It's
the language of a living soul. I love the Lord because he hath
heard my voice and my supplications because he hath inclined his
ear unto me Therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. And
then he gives us the reason why he loved the Lord. The sorrows
of death compassed me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble and sorrow. Then
called I upon the name of the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee,
deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord. This was
his experience. And righteous, yea, our God is
merciful. And then he says here, return
unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully
with thee, for thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes
from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the
Lord in the land of the living. I believe, therefore have I spoken. You see, what shall I render
unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I would take the cup
of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord, I will pay
my vows unto the Lord now, in the presence of all his people.
And then in verse 18 and 19, I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now, in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the
Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye
the Lord. For the Lord hath chosen Zion.
He had desired it for his habitation. You know, in the New Testament
church, we've spoken of the Lord's presence in the temple, in the
tabernacle. In the New Testament church,
a building is just a building. There's nothing holy about it.
It's merely a convenient place to worship. The Lord dwells in
the hearts of his people. Not in a building, but in the
hearts of his people. and they are brought to love
him and serve him and follow him. And one of the hymn writers
said that such coming bring them with him and going they take
him home. See, he never forsakes his people. He never leaves his people. His
people may leave him, his people may fall into sin, his people
may backslide, but he will never leave them. He never will. He
never has, and he never will. You know, David, the man after
God's own heart, we've seen how he so grievously sinned. Grievously
sinned. The Lord marked him the rest
of his days because of that grievous sin, because he openly brought
shame upon the name and house of God. But he never forsook
him. He said to David, thy sin is
forgiven. Hence David can say in Psalm
130, But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be
feared. There is forgiveness. The Lord
hath chosen thine. You see, the rock of this word
and this unchanging grace is that the Lord hath chosen you.
The Lord hath chosen thine. He had desired it for his habitation.
This is my rest forever. It's an unchanging love. Yea,
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Nothing can change that.
Therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. It's an everlasting
love. This is my rest forever. Here
will I dwell, for I have desired it. His desire is desire and
it's to his people. It always has been and it always
will be. And it will never leave and it will never forsake. No. Mine is an unchanging love. It is. It's an unchanging love. Unchanging compassion. We cannot
even begin to comprehend the magnitude of the love of God.
High beyond imagination is the love of God to man. God so loved
the world he sent his only begotten son to redeem and deliver her. God did. God was manifest in
the flesh. God lived as a man of sorrows
and acquainted with it. God suffered and bled and died
for the sins of the church. They are purchased with something
that is so precious. They are the blood of the lamb. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. They are clothed in that glorious
everlasting robe. What is that robe? It's the glorious
righteousness of Jesus, the Son of God. Jehovah said, can you? The Lord, our righteousness. For the Lord hath chosen Zion. He hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever, here
will I dwell, for I have desired it. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 372 to the tune Austria 625. Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion city of our God, he whose word cannot be broken, form thee
for his own abode, On the rock of ages founded, what can shake
thy sure repose? With salvation's wall surrounded,
thou mayst smile at all thy foes. Hymn 372. ? For you have saved me from the
cross ? ? This I cannot be worthy ? ? Worthy for eternal rest ? O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, ? And crowned with brotherhood. ? ? Safe as trails on barren
waters, ? ? Streaming from eternal water, ? ? Through the range of soldier
river ? ? Hail, all the bravest men of the war ? Grace which I have known for
ever, ever past, always to remain. Proudly driving, nation glorious,
See thy glorious pride appear. O'er the glory and the glory
during and the glorious day, ? I'll see my dear from the banner
? ? Light my night and shade my day ? ? Shade my day and shade my
day ? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? Wished in heav'nly returns of
triumph, Worshipped in the greatly outdone. ? Jesus, Lord God, so dear are
you ? ? Praise Him, praise Him, praise to God ? ? Teach each of His people, religions ? ? High above the spell, they reign
as kings ? ? Heaven and earth are treated, so are the praises rejoiced ? Now, may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each, both now
and for evermore. Amen.