Psalm 125. And I've entitled this message,
Comfort and Instruction for the Journey. Comfort and Instruction for the
Journey. Very short psalm here, but there's
much here. There's much here. Scripture says a song of degrees. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth
even forever. For the rod of the wicked shall
not rest upon the lot of the righteous, lest the righteous
put forth their hand unto iniquity. Do good, O Lord, unto those that
be good to them that are upright in their hearts. As for such as turn aside unto
their crooked ways, The Lord shall lead them forth with the
workers of iniquity. But peace shall be upon Israel. Now, as we have seen, these psalms,
this psalm is one of these songs of degrees, sung by the children
of Israel as they journeyed to Zion. And so this morning I would
remind you believers again, we are on a journey. We are marching to Zion. Therefore we should have our
eye fixed on heavenly Jerusalem, our end goal. And this journey, was not prepared
or purposed by us, but rather by God. He purposed our salvation
before the world was made. He purposed alone. He purposed
the way of this journey, hasn't He? What is that way? We know
it is Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way, the truth. and the life, no man comes to
God but by me. And before we even began to walk
in this way, God purposed and kept us and
guided us until we began this journey. And the day we began
this journey was when? When we believe. When God, by
grace and power, came and gave us faith, it was that day we
began to live and walk by faith in Christ. The just shall live
by faith, walking constantly in this journey. That's the way.
That's the way. We were once lost in the wilderness. We were once without a way. Isn't
that what a lost person is? Someone who has no way? We were lost and blind and never
could, by grace, never by any power of ourselves, save ourselves.
We could not find the way. Not by intellect, not by knowledge,
not by our wisdom. We could have never found the
way. But at the appointed time of
God's grace and power, He came and He stripped us of everything. Everything we thought was the
way, He told us was not the way. Our righteousness became sin.
Our religion became paganism. Our thoughts and ideas of God
were nothing more than idolatry. He stripped us of everything. He exposed our nakedness. Can you imagine if your mind
was viewed by everyone around you? Can you imagine if your thoughts
were open to every eye? And yet the God who sees all
things saw every sin. saw every evil thought, word,
before it was even spoken and said or done or felt. And He
began to reveal that to us. He began to show us these things. And I tell you, I've not yet
fully reached the bottom of this evil man, but he begins this. And in this moment of power and
grace, the Gospel was preached, and we believed on Christ. We
forsook our way. We abandon our dreams of pleasing
God, and by faith we begin our journey towards Zion. He found
us in the desert, in a waste-toweling wilderness, and then what? He
led us about, instructed us, and kept us as the apple of His
eye. The reason you are still here
today walking in this journey is because He has kept you. Because
you are His people. You are chosen. You are redeemed. You are called. You are His,
and He keeps you. The power of this journey is
not by flesh or by might of the man. It's by the power and wisdom
of God we are kept in this journey. And I don't know if I said this
in my notes, I want to remind you, but I don't suppose I have
to. I'm just saying something you already know. This way is
not easy. There is only one way to God,
but this way is not easy. I've told you this many times,
and I've said it many times, and I don't fully think I know
the fullness of what I said. When you believe on Jesus Christ,
you will suffer. And now what he tells us, in
this world you shall have tribulation. Our cheer is, I have overcome
the world. That's what He said to us that
gives us any hope of ever finishing this. He that hath begun a good
work in you shall perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.
But other than that word, there is no comfort here. There is
no joy here. There is no peace here in this
world for the believer. It's suffering. This way is hard. Jesus said, Enter ye into the
straight gate. For wide is the gate, and broad
is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many be that go in thereat,
because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth
unto life." What did he mean by that? Well, he didn't mean
this is a tightrope into heaven. He's not talking about you obeying
the law, and trying to keep yourself in the faith, and you're just
walking this narrow way. That's not what he's saying.
He's saying it's the only way. It's narrow because there's no
other way. Jesus is the way. He is the gate. And I'm telling you, going the
broad way and the wide gate is easy. Why? You can make it up
as you go. Isn't that right? A man says,
well, I think if you go to heaven, it's got to be by your efforts. You just got to really be sincere.
Well, that opens it up pretty broad, doesn't it? Because that
could be any level of sincerity you mean. And so it's easy. You could just
adjust your level of sincerity and adjust God's justice based
on what you think. And so the broad way anybody
can make it that way. But Jesus said no. No one goes
to heaven but by this way. By me. By me. And so then the just shall live
how? How are you walking this journey? By faith. but just shall live by faith,
walking only by faith. And this way is not smooth, it
is not easy. This way of Zion is laden with
snares and difficulties. We are surrounded by enemies,
vexed without and vexed within constantly, daily vexed. Isn't that what happened a lot? Their evil conversation vexed
His righteous soul every day. The world is no friend to the
church. I want you to know that. Listen to me very carefully.
The world is no friend to you. I don't care how kind they treat
you. I don't care what they do for you. They are not your friends. The world is not your friend.
Worldliness is one of the most dangerous enemies of the believer. We are drawn in by the world's
way as it appeals to our very nature. Believers often struggle with
worldliness that attracts our lusts, our wanton desires of the flesh. Worldly wisdom always undermines
the gospel of Christ. Worldly intellect, manners, and
politics tickle the mind of the flesh. What good is it? What ultimate good is it? to
speak of these things, to think on these things. They are luring us away from
what is good and right and true, the gospel of Jesus Christ and
faith in Christ. That's all they do. And they're
constantly, perpetually bombarding us daily. What then is the greatest and
most influential enemy you face? Who is it? It's me. It's myself. Satan would have no hold on me
if it weren't for my flesh. The world would have no attraction
if it were not for my flesh. Philpott, he calls the flesh,
he said this devil self can wear such masks and assume such forms. Anybody putting on a mask we do put on a mask try to hide
this thing called self this serpent self can so creep and crawl can
so twist and turn and can disguise itself under such false appearances
that it is often hidden even from ourselves Who is the greatest enemy we
have to fear in our journey? We all have enemies, but the
greatest is self. And God is determined to stain
the human pride and glory. God will never let self wear
the crown of victory. It must be crucified. It must be denied. It must be
mortified. Now this self must be overcome,
and the way to overcome self is by looking outside of self
to Christ. Looking to His crucifixion, to
receive His image on our heart, to be clothed in His likeness,
to drink His Spirit and receive out of His fullness grace for
grace. So when Satan has tempted us
and the world has allured us and we have fallen into grievous
many sins in the way, when we are laid out, like that woman
taken in adultery. She was stripped without excuse. I want to be thrown in the same
place she was. I want to be found at his feet. If I am to be thrown down, let
me be thrown down stripped at his feet, because I will find
there the same thing she found, mercy. Let him that is without sin cast
the first stone. Woman, where are thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? No man, Lord, neither do I condemn
thee. Go in peace. Isn't this what grace teaches
us? Isn't this what grace... For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation is appeared to all men, teaching us. What does it
teach us? Does grace teach us to sin that
grace may abound? God forbid, as we journey in
this world, we know the guilt and stain of self and sin. We know the vileness of our nature
as we journey. And what is our hope? What is
our light? It is faith in Christ. It is
looking to Him. The grace of God teaches us, denying ungodliness, denying
the worldly lust, that we should live soberly. How are you walking? Soberly. You know what sobers
us up is to really experience the pain of our nature. It sobers
us. Grace teaches us that. That we should live soberly,
righteously and godly in this present world. Here it is, looking
unto that blessed hope and glorious appearing. Don't you see it's
a journey? Don't you see it's laden with difficulties and snares
and trials? What do you need on this journey
then? I'll tell you what I need. I need comfort. I need comfort. I need assurance. I need help. I need strength. This is where God has stored
up all of those things. In His Word. And this Word has
one object. Christ. Christ. Now this morning,
let's look at this as we make our journey, as we are journeying
to Zion, and you may be this morning ensnared, you may be
afflicted, you may be cast out. But here is your comfort on your
journey. Verse 1, "...they that trust
in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed,
but abideth forever." As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,
so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth even forevermore. Now, this comfort is not given
to all men, is it? Because not all men's on this
journey. Only Israel was on this journey, and only Israel receives
this comfort. And here is the evidence of Israel. They that
trust in the Lord. That's who this is for. No one
else. They who trust in the Lord. Let me tell you something about
those who trust in the Lord. First of all, they don't trust
themselves. Don't you realize that? You can't
trust the Lord and yourself. You will either trust the Lord
or you will trust yourself. But you cannot trust them both.
Most religion has some measures by which a man may fulfill his
salvation. What are they doing? They are
trusting in themselves. These men trust in their will
to start salvation and their obedience to finish it. Like those Pharisees, Paul said
they had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For
they going about to establish their own righteousness have
not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God. Why? They
are trusting in themselves. But in opposition to those people,
all the elect of God, at the moment of their new birth, we
cease to trust in ourselves. From that moment that God gives
me faith in Christ, I abandoned all hopes of self. We cease to look to anything
but this. Salvation is of the Lord. I trust
the Lord. And so then all who trust, they
don't trust themselves, they trust the Lord for their salvation. Now this word Lord, you know
it is the all capital there, it's Jehovah. And this, when
I see this, I'm automatically reminded of the three persons
of God. This is all-encompassing God,
Jehovah. I'm reminded of the Blessed Trinity
of His persons. And don't you know this? That
it took all of God to save us. The Trinity of God undertook, purposed, accomplished, applies,
and keeps all our salvation. Isn't this an awesome truth that man by nature just can't
believe? He just can't believe this. that salvation is so far
beyond the power of man that it required all of God's grace,
all of God's power, all of God's love, all of God's justice, all
of God's mercy, and all of God's wisdom to do it. It required all of God to save
us. Nothing more and nothing less
than God. could save a sinner. Therefore,
we trust that our salvation was purposed of God the Father, wasn't
it? Our salvation was purposed. We were not saved. We didn't
begin this journey on accident. Remember, He found us wandering
around chasing our tail in the wilderness. He found us dead
in our sins, and He put us in the way. And this was on purpose. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ according as He had
chosen us on purpose. Particularly chosen us. He had chosen us in Christ before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy without blame. Behold the infinite wisdom and
grace and love of the Father that before there was ever sin
and death, that He put us in a safe place. He put us in Christ on purpose. I know this doctrine is utterly
detestable to those who will not bow to God's sovereignty. The message that they despise
the Gospel, How weak is such a God who chooses
but leaves salvation to the works of man. Isn't that a weak God?
Isn't that a God that requires to be mocked rather than a God
to be praised? But we trust not in a God like
that. You see, we trust the Lord, that means that we trust our
Father has purposed this salvation. He's purposed it. And whatsoever
our Father hath purposed, what is the end result of all that
He hath purposed? He said this, My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all My pleasure. And behold the will of the Father,
you that trust in Christ." I want you to see this. The will of the Father is this,
that all the elect should have all those blessings He gave them.
That's the will of the Father. We trust that God the Father
has put us in Christ and made Him to be surety. Now, that's
what it is to trust in God. It is to trust that Christ has
made surety. Now, what is surety? It's that
same thing that Judah was for Benjamin. He said this, "'If
I bring not the lad to thee, let me bear the blame.'" That's
surety. So Christ says to the Father,
If I bring them not to Thee, let me bear the blame." This
is what it is to trust in God. It's trust in this, that the
Son of God took all the responsibility of salvation to Himself. That's
what it means to trust in God. That my salvation was never dependent
upon anything I could ever do, think, or feel. And we know that this Son of
God, being our High Priest from eternity, that God purposed Him
to come into the world and perform a work. Listen to what Paul says
in Hebrews 8. He said, "...but now hath He,"
Christ, the High Priest, "...obtained a more excellent ministry." See, those priests in the Old
Testament had a work, didn't they? They had a ministry. Paul
says, no, this ministry is much greater. It's more excellent.
because he's a mediator of a better covenant established on a better
promise. Believer, look to Jesus Christ
and trust Him. He, our High Priest, represented
us before God and obtained. He fulfilled that excellent ministry. He was made flesh. God the Son
was made flesh so that He might be our High Priest. that He might
represent us before God, that He might obtain for us an eternal
righteousness, an eternal redemption. We trust that Jesus Christ, as
the surety for all the Father gave Him, did actually accomplish
The full and perfect righteousness and redemption of all the elect
of God by this, by His obedience and by His death. That's what
we trust. See, people put that on the back
of their money and say, God we trust. They don't have any clue
about this stuff, do they? They don't know anything about
that. They're all fighting just to put it on the back of a coin.
having no clue what it means. I know what it means to trust
in God. It means I trust the Father saved me on purpose. I
trust this, that Jesus Christ actually did accomplish my redemption
on the cross. I know that by His own blood
He entered once into the holy place, having obtained. You know what that means? It means
He got it. He did it. He accomplished it. What'd he do? What'd he get?
Eternal redemption for us. Eternal redemption. So that's
what it is to trust. It's to trust that salvation's
of the Father. It's to trust that salvation is of the Son,
in whom we have, what Paul says, redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins. Now listen, I'm going to ask
you this, believer. Is it any wonder why you trust Him? I tell you,
there's no wonder at all why I trust Him. He is the best. He is the only hope. There is
none other name given among men whereby we must be saved. I like that. Don't you must be
saved? Don't you realize you must be
saved? You must be saved. If God purposed it and Christ
accomplished it, this is the way. This is the way we journey.
There is none other name given among men whereby we must be
saved. Must be saved. We must be saved
because His work was perfect. And I'll tell you this, anybody
that adds anything to His work, God will destroy you. Anyone
who suspects that his work is not sufficient. Remember Uzzah,
that man? People, you can try to think
ill of this man if you want to. I believe he had a sincere heart
trying to help God. I really do. Most religious men
in this world, I think they really have a sincerity about them.
They do. Like those Pharisees, they really
have a zeal for God. I bear them record of that. I
think they're really sincere in what they're trying to do.
But Uzzah, when he put his hand to the ark, God killed him. And
if you put your hand to the work of Christ, if you add anything
to his work, God will kill you. Well, listen, what have I got
to add? God, when he brings a man to Christ, he strips him of everything.
He has nothing to add. We trust in Christ. And the third thing about trusting
in Christ is really trusting that our salvation was applied
by the Spirit of God. That's trusting God, isn't it?
That's trusting the Lord that my salvation didn't begin with
me, and listen, it's not kept with me. This is the work of
God the Holy Spirit. How did God find you before you
were in this way? He found you dead. He found you
lifeless. And He found you because He chose
you. He found you because He redeemed
you. And by the power and work of
the Holy Spirit, He raised you from the dead according to His
own purpose and will. You know, when Jesus told Nicodemus
this, He said, You must be born again. Now, I like this. Nicodemus
was a chosen vessel of God. He was one Christ redeemed. Now, he wasn't telling Nicodemus
something he must do. He was telling Nicodemus what
he was going to do for him. You must be born again, and the
Spirit of God will do that. That's what he was telling him. Go to John chapter 1. You that trust in the Lord, and
see if this is not you. Verse 12, but as many as received
him. To them gave He the power, the
right to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on
His name, which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man." Now
listen, I preached to you this morning of the victory of Christ.
Everyone heard me, didn't they? That I said He's victorious,
that I said He actually accomplished redemption. He did. He actually accomplished redemption.
I preach this to everyone. And I preach this, that sinners
must receive Him. You must believe on Him to be
saved. He that believeth and is baptized,
what? Shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. Faith is necessary. Faith is
necessary. Now the word receive. The word
receive here is active. It is something you must do. Look at this. See this? If this
water is here, I must actually to receive it, I have to take
it. Is that right? That's what the word means. To
receive it. To take it. I've got to undo
this and I've got to put it down the throat. Receive. I did it. You know why I did it? I was
thirsty. My mouth was parched. I couldn't
go a step further. And it's a good illustration.
But that's exactly what the Word means. You must receive Him. You must take hold of Him. You
must believe Him. You must trust Him. And they
that receive Him, to them, only them, gave He the right to become
the sons of God. Now, when I say receive Him,
I did not say accept Him. Big difference. Big difference. When one accepts something, they
may also reject it. Accepting something is a take-it-or-leave-it
principle type thing. You may want it, but you don't
really need it. So you accept it like you accept
those fruit cakes on Christmas. You know, the thing that sits
out on your counter and nobody eats. You accept that. Not because you need it, but
because you just want to make somebody feel good about it.
That's how they think about Jesus. Well, we just want to make Him
feel good about Himself. You know, poor Jesus. You know, we'll
accept Him. This word receive is very powerful
because it is as though a thirsty man, somebody who is
dying of thirst, and you give them water, would they accept
the water as a take-it-or-leave-it principle? Well, you know what?
I may like the water, but I don't know if it's the right kind of
water for me. You know? No. Whatever kind of
muddy water you gave him, whatever it is, he would drink it because
he's thirsty. There's a need for Christ, and
that need, how does that need come about? How does the power
to receive Him come about? You must receive Him. You must
receive Him, but in order to receive Him, you must need Him.
And in order to need something, you have to be alive to need
it and receive it. That's why he said, which were
born. You see, now he gets to the root
cause as to why they received him, which were born not of blood. Children, look at me. You will
not receive Christ because I am your Father. He will not save
you because you're my children. Not by blood. Not by the will of the flesh.
That does away with every free will, works, religion, church.
It crushes it. Completely destroys their religion.
I don't care who they are. Not by the will of man. That
destroys all potpourri. That destroys all Catholic religion. Not by the will of some other
man are you born again. But by the will of God. By the power and grace of the
Holy Spirit of God, we trust the Lord. We totally depend on
Him for everything. For life, for breath, and especially
for our salvation. We trust the Lord in every providence,
in everything. thing that happens to us, we
lay ourselves out trusting Him. Now that's to who this psalm
is written. Is that you? That's me. I trust Him. I trust Him. Oh, how I trust
Him. You know what I want? I want
to trust Him more. I do. I don't trust Him enough. Do you? I don't love Him enough. I don't serve Him enough. I spend
too much time serving self. I don't want that. I want Him. So this is to you. And here's your instruction.
Here's your comfort. Go back to your text. Here's
your comfort. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as mountain Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. As the mountains round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth
even forever. Two things here, two things here,
a foundation and a covering. foundation They that trust the
Lord shall be as Mount Zion Now what is a mountain a mountain
is something immovable? Something that no force could
move a mountain a It's strong, it's sturdy, it's rock solid,
it's immovable. But how much more immovable was
this mountain, Mount Zion? Because that's where God dwelt.
That's where the atonement was made. It was Mount Zion. It was
the only place where God was satisfied. It was the only place
where man and God could meet together on a sure foundation,
based upon a sacrifice offered by the high priest. Isn't that
what it is? When we trust the Lord, we trust
Him meeting on the ground and the foundation of Jesus Christ.
Based on what He has done, I can meet with God. I can be accepted
with God. And God says this of His people,
you are as rock-solid sure of heaven as Mount Zion. You are
founded on a rock, a solid rock, that can't be removed, listen,
forever. Forever. You who are in Christ are founded
upon His righteousness and blood. Your standing, your whole standing
with God is based on His righteousness and blood. Now listen, your assurance of
that is only based on how you view His blood and righteousness,
isn't it? If you think His blood and righteousness is not sufficient,
you're not going to be assured of anything. But if His blood
and righteousness are sufficient, you may have all the assurance
you want. God says this, you will not be
moved. I don't care what happens. God
says to His people, you won't be moved. This is the greatest comfort
for sinners. If you're in Christ, our salvation
is not established by a man. It's not founded by works. It
is established firmly on the rock of ages. I can think of
no greater thing to preach to the saints who have fallen into
vile transgressions and sins. Can you? Can you think of anything
better you want to hear when you're in your transgression?
It's to know this, that not even your transgression shall remove
you. I tell you, it should humble
you. You should cast it off as a garment
spotted and stained and filth. You should cast it off and mortify
the deeds of this body. But listen, your foundation is
not based on your mortification. It's not founded because God
had already made provision for the sin. so that you cannot be removed. Secondly, a covering. Look at
verse 2. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people henceforth from
evermore. You know, this city of Jerusalem,
I've told you this many times, it's always a good picture. This
city was surrounded by mountains. Can you imagine how beautiful
that is? It's on top of a mountain, surrounded by mountains. And there's only one way in and
out of this city. There's a gate to the north.
There's a north side entrance by which everybody goes up to
this city. Come on, it's dripping. The picture
is just beautiful. It paints itself. Christ is the
only way into this city. And once in the door of this
city, you are surrounded by the mountains of His righteousness,
covered with the blood of His sacrifice so that God cannot
see anything in you but good. Why do you think He says, Oh
Lord, do good to them that are good? Now who could say that?
Who could want that but good people? And yet we know that
in ourselves we're not good. I'll tell you how you can say
it, because God made those that trust Him, God made them good.
God gave them an upright heart. And so then you, my friend, are
protected. God says, I am around you. I
am your refuge and strong tower. So then not Satan, not men or angels, not circumstances
or providences, not anything in this life or even in our death
will be able to separate us or remove us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus. Not even my sin. You know, that only makes me
despise sin. Grace makes me despise it. Loathe
it. Therefore, the Scriptures tell
us in Christ there is therefore when now and now and in eternity of
now there is now no condemnation can you imagine that? god will never condemn me You might. And I'd say you were right. If you were to condemn me, I
would have to bow my head in shame and confess. I have sinned. But God says, I will not condemn him. In fact, I'm supporting him And
I'm surrounding him. Now, how long? Look at it. How long? Forever. Just in case you missed
it, he said it twice. He abided forever. He is with
us forever. There's a lot of instruction
here, isn't there? Isn't that a very practical instruction?
As you walk by faith in Christ, as you walk by faith in Christ,
He is always with you. In fact, if you are walking,
it's really not you walking, it's Him. You're being carried. You and I are just being carried.
That makes a difference between every false god and the true
god, doesn't it? Every false god must be carried. The true
god carries. And he carries us all the way
to Zion. Let that be your comfort in this
journey. I have much more. There's much more instruction
here. If God's willing, I would like to continue this. God speaks
of chastisement in this, because He knows His people will see
it in this world and fall in this journey. And so He instructs
us later on in this verse about chastisement. What a lesson we
need in that, isn't it? It is. But I pray God will bless
this. Do you trust in Him? Listen,
if you do not trust in Him, may God give you strength even now
to do so. Believe on Him, receive Him as
you have need of Him. You have need of Him, receive
Him. And those who receive Him, He said this, you're founded
on a rock that cannot be moved. You're surrounded by my righteousness
and you will abide forever. That's a comforting promise on
this journey. I pray God will help us.