Let us turn then to God's Word
and once again directing your attention to the words of Psalm
23. We come now to the final words,
the end of the Psalm, the last clause of verse 6, and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. in Psalm 23 and the last part
of verse 6. And so we come to the end of
this short series. I think ten sermons will be on
this particular psalm. We sort of say something with
regards to God's keeping, the divine keeping of the sheep,
and then the divine restoration, the divine righteousness, the
Divine Presence, the Divine Comfort, the Divine Provision that God
makes, the Divine Anointing, the Divine Cup. And then last time we were looking
at the Divine Preservation that we have in the first part of
this sixth verse, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all
the days of my life. Now, significant is that opening
word in the verse, surely, surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me all the days of my life. The preservation of the saints
is sure and certain because of God, because of what we read
previously in the psalm there in verse 3, for His name's sake
says David, he leadeth me in the path of righteousness for
his name's sake. God's name, of course, is a revelation
of himself, a declaration of his character. And we are told
he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. Has he not given his word of
promise? Has he not confirmed that promise
with an oath he has sworn by himself, he has magnified his
word above all, his name, and if God's word fails God himself,
has failed, God ceases to be, which is of course an impossibility. or the sureness of the safe keeping
then of his people. Surely goodness and mercy, David
says, shall follow me all the days of my life. We think of
the words of the Lord Jesus concerning the sheep, and this of course
is that Psalm that speaks so particularly of Christ in his
office as the shepherd, the Lord is my shepherd, and what does
Christ say concerning his sheep? I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish. No man shall pluck them out of
my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all. No man can pluck them out of
my Father's hand. that preservation then, it really
is divine. It is sure, it is certain. And so also when we come to consider
the divine glory that is laid up in heaven for those who are
the sheep of Christ. David says, surely I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever hasn't the Lord Jesus himself
gone to prepare that place the familiar words there at the beginning
of John 14 let not your heart be troubled ye believe in God
believe also in me in my father's house are many mansions if it
were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for
you that where I am there ye may be also surely David says I will dwell
in the house of the Lord, in the house of the Lord forever. And what is this house of the
Lord? Well, it's that house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens, that house that the Apostle speaks
of there in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. And again, the Lord Jesus
himself tells us, the servant abideth not in the house forever,
but the Son abideth ever. It is where Christ is. As he
says there in that 14th chapter of John, that where I am, there
ye may be also. Are not those who are his sheep
the same as are spoken of as heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ? Here then is the assurance of
heaven for those who know the Lord. Here is that divine glory. And this is the theme I wanted
to take up tonight, the divine glory that is laid up for the
children of God. I will dwell in the house of
the Lord forever. Now, two things, these two things
are necessary for this inheritance, and this is the subject matter
that I want to take up for a while. First of all, there must be a
title, a title to heaven. And then secondly, there must also be a meekness
forever, for heaven. they must be prepared to dwell
in that blessed abode. These two things then, I say,
are necessary in order to this inheritance. Firstly, a title
to heaven. And the title to heaven, again,
is twofold. Firstly, we see that the title
is in the eternal purpose of God. when he comes to the end
of time when the whole of this present creation is folded up
and we know that there is to be such a day the one who is
the creator of all things the one who at the beginning spoke
and all stood fast by the word of the Lord were the heavens
made remember and all the host of them by the breath of His
mouth. He spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast. The One who has created all things,
and created time itself, has also ordained that there will
be the end of all things. There will be that day of judgment,
and the Father, we're told, has committed all judgment into the
hand of the Son. And at that judgment we're told
how the Lord Jesus Christ will come again and then he will make
the final separation between the sheep and the goats. And
as he makes that separation, what will he do? He will speak
of what God himself had purposed. from all eternity, what God himself
had prepared. We have the language of it there
in the Gospel in Matthew chapter 25. Remember how the Lord speaks
of these things. Verse 31, When the Son of Man
shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him.
Then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him
shall be gathered all nations. And he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, and put the goats on the left. Then shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my father,
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world." Here is their right, you see. Here is their right
for heaven. It is after God Himself as prepared. This is what the king is to say
unto his sheep. Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. It is the great purpose of God
that will then be seen to have its final accomplishment in that
dreadful separation. And as you know, as there are
vessels of mercy, so there are those who are spoken of as vessels
of wrath. There is in that sense then clearly
a double predestination in the purpose of God. Some are familiar
with those words in that great ninth chapter of the epistle
to the Romans. There, verse 22, what if God,
willing to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured
with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction,
or as the margin says, made up to destruction, and that he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy
which he had aforeprepared unto glory, even us whom he hath called,
not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles." Here is that,
you see, that God Himself has prepared. It is the great purpose
of God. Heaven is to those whose names
are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. And we read those portions,
did we not, earlier in our scripture reading in both the 7th and the
21st chapter of the Revelation. And there at the end of the reading,
verse 27 in Revelation 21, "...there shall in no way enter into it
anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination
or maketh a lie, but they." which are written in the Lamb's Book
of Life. What is their title to glory? What is their title to have an
entrance into heaven? It is the purpose of God. It is clearly that great purpose
that must have its accomplishment. It is those whose names are written
in the Book of Life of the Lamb from the foundation of the world. Here then is the first aspect,
we might say, of their title to enter into heaven. But then I said there's a twofold
aspect. The second is this. It is the
person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ alone that gives
them the title to go to heaven. Doesn't God's purpose altogether
center in Christ Jesus. Is he not spoken of in Scripture
as God's first elect? Behold my servant whom I have
chosen, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth, he says. He is the first elect. And we
know from what we are told in Ephesians chapter 1 that all
the election of grace are chosen in him. are chosen in Him before
the foundation of the world. There is an eternal union between
Him who is the head and that church which is His body. There
is a union between Him who is the great shepherd of the sheep
and those who are His sheep. The believer's title for heaven
then really is to be discovered in Christ, in the blood of Christ. and in the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Those who go to heaven must be
fitted for that blessed place, must they not? And of themselves
they are so unfit. By nature they are such as are
dead in trespasses and in sins. They are those who are not deserving
of the blessings of God, they are only deserving of the wrath
of God. Not an eternal enjoyment of the presence of God is what
they deserve, but only to be eternally separated from God.
Well, here we see the importance then of that work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That shedding of His precious
blood. Remember, without the shedding of blood there is no
remission of sins. Without the shedding of blood
Why we're told are we not, for the life of the flesh is in the
blood. Therefore, without the shedding
of blood, there is no remission of sins. This is the demand that
the Holy Lord of God makes, that the soul that sins is to die,
that the wages of sin is death. And what does the Lord Jesus
Christ do? These are themes that are so familiar to us all, are
they not? He came to pour out His soul
unto death. That's the language of the prophet
there in Isaiah 53. Christ poured out His soul unto
death. He who was and is the eternal
Son of God in the fullness of the time appears here upon the
earth as a real man he has a true human nature that holy thing
that was to be joined to the eternal son of God the body the
soul of the Lord Jesus Christ and in his accomplishment of
all that work that he had engaged to fulfill in the eternal covenant
as he comes to accomplish it, what do we read? He became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Now the Lord is well
pleased for his righteousness sake. We're told he will magnify
the law and make it honourable. Oh how He is magnified and honoured,
the Holy Lord of God. He was not only made of a woman,
He was made under the law. He was subject to that law. And
He came to satisfy that Holy Lord of God when in His own person
He was pleased to die as the substitute. There He was as that
one who was in the room and scared of all His people. the great
doctrine of substitutionary atonement. All the Lord is well pleased.
Why? Because He has satisfied the
law in terms of all its terrible penalties. He has borne that
punishment in the place of His people. But He is not only obedient
in dying, We read of him as that one who was obedient unto death. He's obedient throughout the
whole course of his human life. And so there is that sense in
which he has also satisfied the law in terms of its precepts. He's not just, if we might use
the expression, wiped the slate clean. No, He has fulfilled all
righteousness. He has wrought the righteousness
throughout His holy and obedient life. This is that justifying
righteousness, is it not, that is reckoned to the account of
all His children, imputed to them, even the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, by Him all that believe are justified
from all things that they could not be justified from by the
deeds of the law. This is the great apostolic message,
the gospel as we see it being preached by the apostles there
in the Acts. They preach the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ to justify the sin. And so again, what do
we read of those who are to enter heaven? There in Revelation chapter
19 and verse 8, to her was granted that she should be arrayed in
fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness
of saints. Oh, here is their title, you
see, not just the great eternal purpose of God, what God had
prepared for His people, from before the foundation of the
world, but the way in which the Lord Jesus Christ has come and
has accomplished a salvation for those who were only deserving
of the sufferings of hell and that eternal separation. No,
Christ has come. And so those who enter heaven,
they are clothed in those garments of salvation, they have upon
them that robe of righteousness. Surely, David says, I will dwell
in the house of the Lord forever. And why will David dwell in the
house of the Lord forever? Because David is the man who
is so much aware of this righteousness. See how he can speak of it in
another of the Psalms, in Psalm 71, does he not speak of it, here is David, as
an old man, grey-haired. The psalm is so suitable to read
to aged saints of God. And look at what David says,
verse 15 of Psalm 71, My mouth shall show forth thy righteousness
and thy salvation all the day long. For I know not the numbers
thereof. I will go in the strength of
the Lord God. I will make mention of thy righteousness,
even of thine only. O God, thou hast taught me from
my youth, and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also,
when I am old and grey-headed, O God, forsake me not. until
I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power
to every one that is to come." And then when we come to the
end of the psalm, the last verse, verse 24, "...my tongue also
shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long. For they are
confounded, for they are brought unto shame that seek my help."
Oh, what was David's title for heaven? It was Christ. Christ in his person, Christ
in his work, it was David's greatest son himself, even the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so he makes his boast there
in Psalm 71 of that righteousness. That is the righteousness of
saints. That, I say again, is the believer's title to heaven. Surely I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever all friends what a precious gospel it is
that God has favored us with when we consider the sureness
and the certainty of these things we do not deal with ifs and buts
and maybes and possibilities probabilities and chances no
all the promises of God in the Lord Jesus Christ our God and
in him there are men who are told to the glory of God by us
this is David's confidence in as he comes to the end of the
psalm he anticipates heaven itself and he knows what are the real
grounds of that blessed hope he has a title for these things
and that title is altogether found in God himself in the eternal
purpose of God the Father and in that great redeeming work
that was accomplished by God the Son, even the Lord Jesus
Christ. But then besides a title for
heaven we said that there must also be this, there must be a
meekness, a meekness for heaven. Paul, when he writes to the church
at Colossae, Colossians chapter 1 verse 12, speaks of giving
thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet, which hath
made us meet, or fit, to partake of the inheritance of the saints
in life. How we have to be made meet to
go to that place. And what does it mean? It means
we have to be all together conformed to the likeness of the Lord Jesus
Christ John says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God and it
is not yet to be what we shall be but we know that when we shall
see Him we shall be like Him when we see Him as He is we shall
be like Him you see besides that outward righteousness which we've
just spoken of that great work of the Lord Jesus in the justification
of sinners, besides that outward righteousness, that righteousness
that is imputed to the child of God, there must also be an
inward holiness. Isn't this really the believer's
meekness for heaven? There must be a sanctification.
And we read of it concerning the bride of Christ. in Psalm 45 verse 13 we're told the king's daughter
is all-glorious within her clothing is of wrought gold she shall
be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework the virgins are
companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee with gladness
and rejoicing shall they be brought they shall enter into the king's
palace here they are you see those who are to enter into into
heaven to come into the king's palace and we have here the bride
the king's daughter clothing wrought gold raiment of needlework
that speaks to us, does it not, of that righteousness of saints,
that righteousness of Christ that's imputed, that's reckoned
to her accounts, but then also she is spoken of as one who is
all glorious within. Oh, there is that that must take
place, you see, there must be those holy desires. And isn't that the case with
regards to the people of God? They're born again. They have
a new nature. It's spoken of as a divine nature.
It's that seed that's in them that cannot sin. They cannot
sin because they're born of God, the old nature. is still there,
of course, and so there is this fearful conflict between the
two. And the flesh is lusting against
the spirit and the spirit is lusting against the flesh, says
the apostle, and these are contrary one to the other, and ye cannot
do the thing that ye want. Oh, how the believer knows it,
you see. This is part of God's dealings
with his children, is he not? Oh, they grieve over themselves,
they grieve over their sins, and they want to see the deeds
of the flesh mortified, put to death. Oh, we read those words,
solemn words. We've already made reference
to them at the end of our reading in Revelation 21-27 concerning
those who enter into heaven. They have to be meat for that
place. And there are those who are not meet, they are not fit
in any sense. There shall in no wise enter
in anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination
or maketh a lie. None of these things can enter
therein. And yet, when we look to ourselves, do we not feel
it so often? That sin that clings and cleaves
to our nature. We need to be those who understand
something of the Lord's dealings with us in the way of those correctings
and chastising, teaching us the folly of our sinful ways. Are
we those who really want to be delivered? Or remember what dear
Ralph Erskine, that great Scots minister said, or that I had
not a myself. Or that I had not a myself. He
felt it, you see, the old nature in him that was ever clinging
and cleaving to the ways of sin, and he wanted rid of it. Isn't
this what makes heaven such a desirable place to the child of God? Isaac
White says in one of his hymns concerning that place, saying,
My worst enemy before shall vex mine eyes and ears no more. My
inward foe shall all be slain. nor Satan break my peace again."
Oh, the believer is one then who longs to be in that place
where sin can in no wise enter. He wants to be free from it.
He wants to be engaged, you see, in the service of God forever.
He wants to be worshipping God for a never-ending eternity. And isn't that the great business
that's taken up? by those who are in that blessed
abode. God's Church is brought before
Him to worship Him. And how David longed and yearned
to worship God. We see it in so many of the Psalms.
Psalm 84 he says, How amiable are thy tabernacles! O Lord of
hosts, my soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the court of
the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth
out for the living God. Oh, we understood, you see, that
truth, did you not, that man's chief end is to glorify God and
to enjoy Him. That's what heaven is really.
It's the enjoyment of God. And what does God do here on
earth? Why, in a sense, He is preparing His children for heaven. He prepares His children for
heaven. And now, this day, the Lord's
Day, is a blessed part of that preparation. What a wonderful
provision it is that God has granted to His people, that we
should have such a day, a Sabbath day, one day in seven, in accordance
with the divine ordinance that we see there at the creation
when God sanctified the seventh day. We don't observe the Old
Testament Sabbath, but we believe that there is a day to be observed.
There is a Sabbath yet remaining, as we can read there in Hebrews
chapter 4, a Sabbath yet remaining for the people of God. And we
keep this day, the first day of the week, because we remember
a greater work that God had finished and completed. There in the creation,
of course, the seventh day is sanctified because God had accomplished
all His great work of creation in six days. But what has Christ
done? Why, that is a new creation that
Christ accomplished when He died upon the cross, and then when
He rose again on the third day, which was the first day of the
week, and so we keep the day. And we forsake not the assembling
of ourselves together. And what should our services
be as we come into the Lord's earthly courts? It should be
surely an anticipation of heaven, that place where congregations
ne'er break up, and Sabbaths have no end, and so the poet
speaks of heaven. no breaking up of the congregation
of God while they are there with Him forever and ever and it is
one continual Sabbath day, not an idle rest that's not the rest
of the Sabbath day, is it? All our faculties today should
be engaged in that blessed subject of God Himself, yes, when we
come together we worship Him but we should be those who desire
to use the hours of the day profitably to be those who would think upon
Him and meditate upon Him and dwell in His words. Oh, that's
the business of heaven, and I say again, friends, that the Lord
prepares His people. Can we say in all sincerity before
God that the highlight of the week for us is the Sabbath day?
It's the one day we look for and long for. It's the great
day of the week. because it is for us an anticipation
of heaven, that place of uninterrupted worshipping. We read it there,
did we not? Concerning their service in that
seventh chapter of the Revelation. Chapter 7 and verse 13. One of the elders answered, saying
unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? Whence
came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great
tribulation, and have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. You see, the great
tribulation is all that conflict really that we have with sin. with the sinful world that's
all around us, with that sin that is within us. But we come
out of that, you see. They came out of great tribulation.
They washed their robes, made them white in the blood of the
Lamb. Therefore are they before the
throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple. They
never cease serving. They serve Him day and night
in His temple. And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them." They are constantly serving Him. They
are serving Him day and night. And if you look at the margin
here, back in our text in verse 6 of Psalm 23, I will dwell in
the house of the Lord forever. The margin says, to the length
of days. All our days dwelling in the
house of the Lord. serving Him day and night forever
and forever. You see, that service is not
unlike the service of the angels. We read of the angels, do we
not? We read of cherubim and seraphim, those seraphim, the
burning ones, They round about the throne of God when the prophet
Isaiah, we made some reference this morning to Isaiah chapter
6 and his call, his commission to be the Lord's prophet. But
when he sees the throne of God, he sees that throne surrounded
by the Seraphim. And what do we read? Isaiah 6
verse 2, Above it stood the Seraphim. Each one had six wings, with
twain he covered his face, with twain he covered his feet, and
with twain did he fly. And one cried unto another and
said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts, heaven and
earth, full of his glory. Here they are, they're before
the throne of God. It's holy ground, they cover
their feet. Just as Moses at the burning
bush must take his shoes from off his feet, the ground is holy.
And it's even holier, you see, for these Seraphim. Their burning
ones are pure creatures. They've never known sin. They're
elect angels. But they must cover their feet
in the presence of God. They have two wings with which
they cover their faces. They cannot bear the sight. All
the uncreated glories that belong unto God alone. but they have
two wings with which they fly and they fly at his bidding they
serve him they serve him day and night in his temple the service
of the angels and those you see who go to that blessed place
even elect sinners will be serving him no idle rest as we said no
idle rest but all the delight that is theirs is as serving
God forever and forever. And there in heaven it is one eternal unbroken season
of communion with God. That really is the significance,
is it not, of those words that we read in that 21st chapter. concerning God's tabernacle.
Revelation 21 verse 3 John says, 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. You know
how the imagery that we have in the Revelation is time and
time and time again taken from what we have in the Old Testament.
And here is the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle of God is with
men. Now remember what was said when God first gave instruction
and direction to Moses concerning the Tabernacle. And that that
stands at the very heart of the Tabernacle is the Holy of Holies.
It is the Ark of the Covenant and upon the Ark there is the
Mercy Seat and the Cherubim, one on each end of that Mercy
Seat. And what does God say? What is
God's promise? I will meet with thee and I will
commune with thee from above the Mercy Seat from between the
two Cherubim. We know how that mercy seat speaks
to us so clearly, of course, in type. It's a wonderful type,
the mercy seat of the Lord Jesus Christ. How it covers the ark,
you see. I don't want to repeat what I've
said, but we've spoken of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
How He was made of a woman and made unto the Lord, and how in
His life and in His death He has honoured and magnified that
Lord of God. And how we see it so wonderfully
in the Mercy Seat. You read it there, back in the
Book of Exodus, Chapter 25. How that the Mercy Seat is a
perfect fit to cover the Ark of the Covenant. And what does
the Ark of the Covenant contain? It contains the tables of the
Covenant. It contains the Ten Commandments.
But it is a Mercy Seat. how the Lord Jesus Christ, you
see, has covered all those commandments. He so magnified the Lord of God
by that life and death of perfect obedience. And it was there,
of course, at the Mercy Seat that on the Great Day of Atonement
the High Priest was to go and to take the blood of sacrifice
and to sprinkle it upon the Mercy Seat. and to sprinkle it before
the mercy seat. And God promised, you see, there
He would meet with the children of Israel, there He would commune
with the children of Israel, there they had the Shekinah glory
in the midst of the people. Oh, but there, you see, when
we come to that verse in the 21st chapter of the Revelation,
God's tabernacle is with me. That's heaven, it's there forever.
Now the Psalmist recognizes these things again, those words that
we have in the in the 80th Psalm, Givea, O Shepherd of Israel,
thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, thou that dwellest between
the cherubim. Shine forth before Ephraim and
Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up thy strength, He says,
and come and save us. Turn us again, O God, and cause
thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Oh, this is the God
you serve, the God of salvation, who is there in heaven. You know
that lovely hymn, The Sounds of Time of Sinking. Based, of
course, on the letters of Samuel Rutherford, all those stanzas.
Mrs. Cousins has taken those letters
and the truth contained, precious truths contained in Rutherford's
letters. Mr. Spurgeon considered that to be
the nearest thing he ever found outside of Holy Scripture that
was inspired. That's what Spurgeon said of
it. Rutherford's letters, the nearest
thing to inspiration, outside of the scripture itself. And
we're familiar, I'm sure, with the verses of that lovely hymn. I can't remember now how many
stanzas there are in the original, I think probably as many as 17.
Constantly it speaks of the Lamb, there in Emmanuel's land. The
Lamb is all the glory, in Immanuel's land. For this is what David
was anticipating, you see. What would heaven be if there
were no Christ there? It is Christ who makes heaven.
And here is David's confidence concerning that great salvation
that he sees in his own offspring, his greatest son. Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. May the Lord be pleased
to grant that we might have a real interest, a saving interest in
these things for His namesake. Amen. Peace be with you.