If you take your Bibles and turn
me to Psalm 46. Psalm 46. I want to go through
this psalm with you, and I really wanted to get to verse 8 through
verse 11, and we'll see if we can do that. But I want to start
out at the beginning of this psalm and take you through this
psalm, I think we'll just end wherever we end. How about that?
We'll just end it. If I can make it through, thank
the Lord. If I don't make it through, the
Lord, I pray, gives you what you need. Now, I've entitled
this message, Holy Confidence. And this Psalm of David was rightly
titled by Spurgeon with that title, and I like it. Holy Confidence. What believer in Christ Living
in this world does not need confidence. Confidence, not in themselves,
but confidence in the salvation that is in Jesus Christ. It's
for this purpose, I believe, the Spirit of God has given us
this scripture, that we would have confidence in the midst
of our troubles, simply by fixing our eyes on God, fixing our eyes
on Jesus Christ. Now, look at verses 1 through
3 with me, if you will. The psalmist begins this with
the confidence of a refuge. He says, God is our refuge. And what is God? He is our strength. And God is a present help in
trouble. Consider this tonight, you who
are believers in Christ. God is your refuge. God is your refuge. This we know is speaking of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
refuge in this. that God the Father hath made
Him to be surety for us. He made Him to be the representative
man of all His elect people, and then in grace put us in Him. Matter of fact, for refuge to
be viable, don't you have to be in it? Don't you have to be
in it? What good is a refuge if you're
outside of it? You must be in the refuge. So
He's speaking to us who are in Christ. And we who are in Christ
recognize this. To God be the glory that we are
in Christ. The Scriptures are clear. But
of God are you... Where? Where are you? In Christ. And what did God make Christ
to be? Our refuge, He made Him to be our wisdom, our righteousness,
our sanctification, and our redemption. The whole of salvation is what
Christ is made to be for us. God made Him such. And therefore,
He is our refuge by the sovereign, eternal election of grace. Adam himself was a representative. Adam was our federal head. But
what happened to us who were in Adam? We died. We died. Adam was a federal head. He represented
all the race that was in him. The Scriptures are clear, wherefore,
as by one man, one man. You got that? Satan didn't bring
sin into the world. Satan is the father of sin. He
is the father of lies. He is the original sinner. But
he represented no one. He was in the world in the form
of the serpent, but yet he brought no sin into this world. He represented... Adam represented him. represented
his race and this world. And so, therefore, by one man,
sin entered in the world. And what is after his sin? Death.
Judgment came. Swift judgment. Immediate justice
fell. When Adam sinned, he immediately
died. And his whole posterity died
in him. Wherefore, death passed on all men. immediately passed
upon us, for all had sinned. But yet before this, God had
already given His elect a representative, which is Jesus Christ, a federal
head. Even so, in Jesus Christ, the
scripture says, all that were given to Him, all His chosen
race, all who were in Him were made righteous, made righteous. By the act of one, we were made
sinners. But yet God, decreeing before
sin, gave us to Christ, and Christ, by His righteousness, by His
righteousness, made us righteous. Made His elect righteous. Romans 5, verse 18 says, Therefore
by the offense of one judgment came unto all men unto condemnation,
even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon
all men to justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous." Oh, friends. So then when Christ came into
the world as our representative and obeyed the law, He was not
doing it for Himself. He was doing it as your refuge. He was obeying the law of God
in your state. And not only this. So when Christ
came and at Calvary and died. He died also as your surety. For unto us, a child is born
unto us, a son is given his humanity and his deity are mentioned by
Isaiah there. And the government shall be upon
his shoulders. What does that mean? The weight
of his kingdom, the responsibility of the salvation of his people
rested solely on the shoulders of Jesus Christ. And so when
he died, when he came upon a Calvary tree as our refuge, he died under
the justice of God. Isn't that what a refuge does?
Doesn't a refuge endure the rain, the storm, the elements,
so that the people inside would be free from it? If it rained
tonight, we were in this building, the building would endure the
rain. We would be Truly in the rain. We're in the rain, but we're
shielded from it. We're at refuge. Even so was
Christ. He endured the wrath of God. The illustration surely is the
ark, isn't it? What a beautiful picture the
ark is. Noah and his family were in the ark. They did not escape
the flood. God did not take them to another
planet and put them on another planet. They actually endured
the flood. But it was in the ark. Therefore, the ark endured the
wrath of God so that they should be saved. What a beautiful picture
of what Christ did at Calvary for us. God is our refuge. Refuge from what? Refuge from
God. God is a refuge from himself. His justice. His wrath. His vengeance. Christ endured
that. And so now we who are in Christ
are made righteous in him. Scripture says that he was made
sin for us. Who knew no sin. Why would the
Son of God be made sin for us? That we should be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Therefore, believer, have confidence
in your refuge. Have confidence. Was he successful? That's a question, isn't it?
What good is a refuge if it collapses? If we're in this building and
a storm comes, it's pretty good. But what if the building collapses?
What good is a refuge that crushes the people in it? Christ is no
failure, friends. He is a strong refuge. He was victorious at Calvary's
tree. He endured the wrath of God in
our stead. How do you know God raised Him
from the dead? There is an empty tomb to prove
God was satisfied with our refuge. Are you troubled by sin? Are you troubled with guilt?
Here's some confidence. Christ is my refuge. Christ is
my refuge. Are you accused by the enemy?
Does he make accusations against you? Don't fight with Him. The Lord rebuked thee. What does
that mean? Go take it up with Him. You call me a sinner, I confess. Will I die in my sins? No. Take
it up with Him. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. My refuge is sure. Your refuge
is sure. He has completely removed our
sins. from us. He endured God's justice
and we shall never endure the justice of God again. Secondly, God is our strength.
God is our strength. How did God find you? When God
found you, He found us without strength. Now what's the weakest
type of person you can think of? A dead man. Don't you think that's
the weakest fellow you can find? A dead man. What could a dead
man do? Nothing. He's without strength.
He's without strength. That's exactly how God found
us. Without strength. If you go to Romans chapter 5
and verse 8, I think it is. Romans chapter 5, it said, But
God commendeth his love toward us. Listen, and while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us. Christ died for us. We were without sin. We were,
we were, uh, Sinners, we were without, oh, let's see, verse
six. Yeah, for when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Scarcely
for a righteous man would one die. Yet perventure for a good
man, some would even dare to die. But God committed his love
toward us in that while we were yet vile rebels, Christ died
for us. When we were without strength,
we could not save ourselves. We had no strength. We were dead
in sins, and yet God commended His love toward us. He is our
strength. He came to us when we were without
strength. And what did He give you? He
gave you strength. He gave you strength. He gave
you life. He gave you life. He gave you faith. That's the
evidence of life, isn't it? And you hath he quickened who
were dead in trespasses and sins. And what's the evidence of that?
For by grace you are saved through what? Faith. Faith. Faith is the evidence of the
quickening power of God in us. So what is God to you? What is
Christ to you? He is your refuge. And He is your strength. He is
your life. He is the source of your faith.
In that what Hebrews says that He is the author and finisher
of what? Our faith. How is it that you
still are here believing on Christ? It is because He is your strength. Have confidence in this. That
He who was your strength is your strength. And He who is your
strength shall be your strength. I get tired. I get tired. If I would have to hold you up,
I could not do it very long. Yet consider the strength of
the One holding you. Consider His strength. Do you
realize He has sustained the worlds and all in them since
it began, and He has lost no strength? How many believers has He sustained
before you? Paul said, we've got a cloud
of witnesses. Look at their lives. Look how
He sustained them. Those men in Holy Scripture,
He sustained them throughout their life. This gives us confidence
of this, that He that hath begun a good work in you shall perform
it unto the day of Jesus Christ. Peter said that you are kept
by the power of God. Unto when? Unto you mess up? Unto you sin really badly. Is
that how far He keeps you? No. Unto the day of Jesus Christ. Listen, when our mortal frame
falls into the dirt, don't you realize that that dirt is kept? Preserved? I think it's funny
how superstitious religion... I think it was Wycliffe. I can't remember exactly who
it was, but he was one of the writers of the New Testament
in the English language. They hated him so much, they
killed him. And then years later, they hated
him so much, they dug up his bones and burned them. They wanted
to make sure that he wasn't going to get into heaven. The ashes
are still preserved to this day by God himself. The place is
known. I saw the dead, both small and
great, stand before God and the sea gave up their dead. And death and hail delivered
up the dead that were in them, and they were judged according
to the books and whosoever was not found written in the book
of life were cast into eternal damnation. Everyone written in
that book, every particle of your being is kept, kept, preserved
by God. That's strength. How much strength
do you have? Do you keep yourself We dare not say such a thing. I'm so thankful I don't have
to keep myself. I'm so thankful He is my strength. You know, the gods of men have
to be carried. You know that? They've got to
be carried about. Take a man, he carves a statue
of a god, and he sets him on that table, and he doesn't move.
Not until the man picks him up and carries him over to another
place. See, the gods of men have to
be carried. They're a burden. But our God carries us. He said, which of you, having
a hundred sheep, does not leave the ninety and nine and find
the one that's lost? And when you have found Him,
He puts Him on His shoulder and carries Him. Tonight I am being carried by
Jesus Christ. He is my strength. He is my strength. And look at
this, He is a present help. He is a present help. When is
He a present help? In trouble. He is a present help. Believer, are you not constantly
in trouble. In trouble. You know, usually,
if we're not in trouble, it's because we don't perceive what's
going on around us. We're really in trouble. Danger
lurks on every corner. You're driving along, you don't
know the semi-truck that almost ran you over. You may not perceive
all of the millions of things that could have caused you harm
that didn't. But we are constantly in trouble. I want to talk about just trouble
you know about. Are you in trouble that you know about? Does sin
perplex you? Are you in trouble concerning
the providence of God? Well, listen to this. God himself
is a present hell. an ever-constant, perpetual,
present help. You know why? Because He lives
in you. God is omnipotent. He's omnipresent. He's everywhere
at once. But in a very special sense,
God resides in every believer. The Holy Spirit lives in every... If any man have not the Spirit
of God, Paul said this, he is none of His. There are people
who actually believe that you can be a believer in Christ and
not have the Holy Spirit. That's not true. Like I said,
Paul said that if any man have not the Spirit of God, he is
none of His. So we have the Spirit of God living in us. Therefore,
we know this, nothing, no trouble is able to touch us without His
consent, without His decree. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night." Without His consent. And so all
that does touch us, all trouble that does come to us, we have
this confidence that God who brought it will help us through
it. God who has allowed our trouble,
ordained our trouble, will bring us through our trouble. He is a constant help in trouble. He will help us to endure our
afflictions in faith. Look at Isaiah. Go to Isaiah
chapter 43. Isaiah chapter 43. Scripture says, But now thus
saith the Lord that created thee. O Jacob, he that formed thee,
O Israel. Now listen to what God said. Fear not, for I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. Now there's the refuge I'm talking
about. He's our Redeemer. He's our creator. He's given us a new nature. He
resides in us. He has called us. He has redeemed
us. So then he says now he speaks
to us in Providence. He said when thou passes through
the waters. I will be with thee. Through
the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
on thee. And notice He said, when you
pass through. Don't you know that these waters,
these rivers and these fires are ordained? When you pass through
them. No one who is redeemed, no one
who is called, no one who is created of God escapes the waters,
the rivers, or the fire. God said, when you pass through
them, they shall not overflow thee.
In other words, they will never remove you from Christ. Are you
in a fire? How then will that affect your
relationship with Christ? How can that remove you from
Christ? Is it possible for you to be
unjustified? If God justified you, is it possible
for you to be unjustified? If Christ redeemed you, is it
possible to be unredeemed? No. No. You can't unredeem somebody. They're redeemed. They're bought.
They're justified by God. Who then shall separate us from
the love of God that is in Christ Jesus? So tribulation, or persecution,
or stress, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Nothing shall be able to separate
us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Why? He said,
For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. Listen what I've given you. I've
given for you. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Sheba for thee. Since thou was precious in my
sight, thou has been honorable. Did you hear what he said? Did
you hear what he said? He said, Thou has been honorable.
You were precious in my sight. Scott, how in the world have
you been honorable? How in the world were you precious? Because you were in Christ, who
is precious and honorable. You were in union with him. Therefore,
you are precious. You are honorable in the sight
of God. What did he do? He said, I give
everything for you. Everything that is happening
right now is for you. Look how few we are. And yet all this world is moving
for our good. Because you were precious. Because
you were honorable in Christ. I gave Egypt, Ethiopia, and Saba
for thee. I have loved thee. Therefore
will I give men for thee. people for thy life. We cannot fathom what God gave
so that you should come to faith in Christ. All of the providences
that took place so that you should believe on the Son of God. How
many people had to die? Consider those people that would
have drove you, would have pulled you down to hell with them, and
God killed them and saved you. Consider. You were loved. You were loved. I gave men for thee and people
for thy life. What's the conclusion here? Fear
not. I am with Thee. Right now, He is with us. He is a present help. I am with Thee. I will bring
Thy seed from the east and gather Thee from the west. I will say
to the north, give up. Keep not back, bring my sons
from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone,
not one I'm missing, everyone that is called by my
name. For I have created him for my
glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him. Go back to your
text. God is our refuge. Christ, our
federal head, is our refuge. Endured the wrath of God in our
stead. Saved us from our sins. He is
our strength. He called us. He quickened us.
He gave us life. And He is by His Spirit and ever-present
help in trouble. Here's the conclusion. Here's
your confidence. If you're confident in this,
this is always going to be the conclusion. Therefore, will not
we fear? Though the earth be removed. Though the mountains be carried
in the midst of the sea. Though everything you think is
sure and stable. Though it be removed. How then
shall that affect you if God is your refuge? If God is your
strength? If God is present and helping
you, how then would that affect you? It won't. It won't. He is a present help in trouble. Though the waters thereof roar
and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Verse 4, look at this. There
is a river. There is a river the streams whereof Make glad
the city of God. The psalmist here in these verses
gives confidence by the picture of the river. Here you have the
city of refuge. The city of God. The city of
refuge in which all of the elect reside. And in the midst of the
city of refuge, there is a constant, perpetual stream a stream of
water. This water is a picture. It is
a picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a picture of the
blood of Christ that constantly, perpetually provides nourishment
and cleansing for God's people. It is a water of life. It is
the water of life. Look over in Isaiah chapter 55.
Isaiah chapter 55. God says this. Oh, stop a minute. Listen. Everyone that thirsteth, come
ye to the waters. He that hath no money, come ye
buy and eat. Yea, buy wine and milk without
money and without price. Wherefore do you spend your money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfieth not? Hearken diligently to me, and
eat that which is good. And let your soul delight itself
in fatness, incline your ear, and come unto me. Hear, and your
soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Christ, through the gospel here,
Pictured as the water. He is the water of life. And
God says to those who are thirsty, come drink. How much does it
cost? Scott, how much does water cost?
It's free. Come without money. Come without
price. Come without works. Come without
merit. In fact, come with your debt. drink and your soul shall live. This is the river of water of
life. And what is its source? It's God. God is the source of
this gospel. God is the source of this fountain. I like that him, there is a fountain
filled with what? Blood. There is a fountain filled with
blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunge beneath
that flood, lose all their guilty stains. Listen to me, are you
unrighteous? God said this, there is a fountain,
in that day there shall be a fountain open. For what? For sin and ungodliness. Are there any sinners? I'm not talking about, are you
a bad person? I'm saying, are you a vile person? Are you a leprous person? Are
you an unholy person? Are you a corrupt person? If
you are, this fountain was open for you. Now listen, I know it
was open for only the elect, but you know who the elect are?
They are the vile ones. They're the ungodly ones. They're
the ones who need the fountain. They need this water of life. Are you unrighteous? Then come
now and drink. What is it to drink? It's not
a physical water. It's not a cup of wine. It's
faith. It is to believe on Jesus Christ. That's what he meant by eat my
flesh and drink my blood. It is to believe on Christ. And all who believe on Christ
drink of this fountain, and they live. They live. And I want you to know this.
Those who drink do so because they need it. If I were to take
a glass of water and put it right here, you can measure that water. measure the size of it, you can
analyze the content of it, you can test the purity of the water,
you can measure the beads of water that come off the side
of the glass. But what good is that water if
you're not thirsty? See, I can show you Christ. I
could put Christ before you. I can show you his perfect life,
his perfect death, his perfect ascension and resurrection. I
can show you where he's at. He's on the throne of God, ruling
all things after the counsel of his own will. He is saving
his people from their sins. I can show you everything about
the water, but only God can give you a need for it. And if you're
thirsty, what are you going to do? You're going to drink because
you're thirsty. It's not a choice. It's a necessity. Same way with faith. Faith. I believe in Christ because I
must believe in Christ. It's not a choice. It's a necessity. I still believe in Christ because
it's a necessity. I must have Him. Therefore, this
river, I'm so glad that this water I'm talking about is a
constant, continual flowing river. It's not said to be a pond. Pond
stagnant. This is a river of water of life,
whereof its streams make glad who? The city of God. Tonight this river is flowing.
It's a river of confidence. Confidence in Christ. And what
do we do? Drink it. Drink it. It does you no good to measure
it. Drink it. It does you no good
to think about it. Drink it. Believe it. And what's the result? They make
glad. I tell you what, I'm tired of
being sad. Sometimes I just get sad and you just get tired. Why? Drink and be glad. Drink and be glad. Rejoice. Rejoice. Streams of this river
make glad the city of God. Now then, notice this last thing
here. God is in the midst of her. God is in the midst of her. Those
who are in this city and drink of this river, listen to me,
God is always in the midst of us. He is in us. He is with us. Always. How many times you not feel it? I seem to spend most of my life
not being able to feel His presence. What does that have to do with
this text? Does it say God is in the midst
of her when she feels it? God is in the midst of her when
she does good? No, just simply this, God is
in the midst of her. Why? Because she is in the midst
of him. Aren't you in him? Where else
are you going to be? But with you. He's with you. And what's the result of this?
She shall not be moved. Who? Who? can in thy presence
stand and match omnipotence. Unfold the grasp of thy right
hand and pluck the sinner then." Who? Who can take you from Him? Again, the Spirit's writing this
for your confidence. Well, you might say this, well,
you know what? I just really have Messed up. I've, I have sinned and surely
now I have taken myself out. No. God says she shall not be
moved. Now you may fall and you may
be broken, but you will not be removed. When did God put you in Christ? It was before the world began
He put you in Christ. You were in Christ when Christ
came and accomplished your salvation. You experienced it when He called
you, and now you're experiencing it even now by continual faith
in Christ. Let me ask you this, believer,
can you not believe? Is that possible for a believer to just
stop believing? No. Why? Because God says you shall
not be moved. Therefore, you can conclude this.
You shall not be moved. God is your help, and listen,
that right early. Early. I pray God give you confidence. I know I wouldn't get nowhere.
I thought I'd get to my text. I didn't. But I hope the Lord
bless you anyway. considering the holy confidence
that you have in Christ. He is your what? Refuge. He is your strength. He is your
present help in trouble. The stream that flows is the
stream of grace and we drink of this grace constantly. We
are constantly drinking for forgiveness and pardon and mercy. Makes us
glad. You know what? We're not going
to be moved from it. Nothing will take us from Christ. That
is our confidence. Now, what do you have to do with
it? What do you have to do with this
refuge? Did you build this refuge? Did you help in this strength? Are you helping God help you? No, I'm just the object of His
love and affection. I'm just the object of this strength,
the object of this help. out of free grace and mercy.
Would to God everyone would drink of this of Christ and believe
and find confidence in Him.