Psalm 123. And I've entitled this message, Looking
to the Risen Savior. Looking to the Risen Savior. The psalmist here begins with
the title, Song of Degrees. And we'll read these verses here.
There are only four in this chapter. We'll read these together and
then we'll begin to open them up. Unto thee lift I up mine
eyes, O thou that dwellest in heaven. Behold, As the eyes of
the servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the
eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes
wait upon the Lord our God until that he have mercy upon us. Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have
mercy upon us. For we are exceeding filled with
contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled
with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt
of the proud. Now, this here is the fourth
psalm with this title, Song of Degrees. As we've been going
over these songs of degrees, we know that these songs were
sung by Israel as they marched to Jerusalem, as they were to
attend those feast day worship services. There were three feast
days in which every male Israelite was required of God to go up
to Jerusalem. And these are the songs that
were sung in degrees as they went up by steps. as they went
up to Jerusalem, they sang these songs. And remember, the first
one was Psalm 120. It was a song of distress. In
my distress, I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me. They were
surrounded by foes as they marched to Zion, as they went up to worship,
and they needed deliverance in order to make it. And the second
song is one that moves their hearts to lift up their eyes
to the hills. Psalm 121, I will lift up mine
eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. Now remember,
that's where the sacrifices were made. That's where God dwelt. That's where the atonement was
made. And where were they looking? They were looking to the atonement.
They were looking forward to worshiping God through the offerings. And from this, they found security. They found safety in their faith
looking toward that sacrifice. And the third song of degrees
is Psalm 122. And this is a joyful heart of
every one of them as they went up. He said, I was glad when
they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord. Now, are not all of these songs
of degrees spiritual pictures of the true Israel of God? Where
are we marching? We are marching to Zion, aren't
we? Beautiful, beautiful Zion. And as we march, we are surrounded
by enemies. So what is our cry as we go up?
Lord, deliver us from the hand of our enemies. And what is our
hope? Our hope is this, the atonement. I will lift up mine eyes unto
the hills from whence cometh my help. I will lift up mine
eyes unto Christ and his blood, his righteousness as my only
acceptance before God. By this comes my safety, my security,
my comfort as I march. And what does this move us to
say? I am glad to come. I was glad when they said unto
me, let us go up to the house. I was glad when God brought us
to hear the gospel and love the gospel. And I am glad when we
are brought this morning together. No one offends me by asking me
to come worship God. I love to worship God among the
saints. And so even so now, this psalm
of degree is no different. This is applicable not only to
the nation of Israel as they march toward Zion, but it is
applicable to every believer as we march to spiritual Zion,
to heaven. It's very instructive, very helpful
for us in our journey. Now I've got three points that
I see in this psalm that are very helpful, very helpful. Who does not need help in this
march? Who does not need help as we
journey onward to heaven? And this is a glorious help.
And I've separated these. The first point is this, the
determination of faith. The determination of every believer
in Jesus Christ. What is that? I will lift up,
unto thee will I lift up mine eyes, thou that dwellest in heaven. The second point is the dependence
of faith, as servants depend on their masters, even so every
believer is totally dependent upon Christ. And the third point
is this, the cry of faith. What is the cry of faith? Have
mercy upon me, O Lord. Have mercy upon me. And so let's
look at each one of these individually. First of all, the determination.
As we go up to Jerusalem, what is the determination of every
believer as we walk? It is this, unto thee, unto thee,
unto God, unto the Lord I will lift up mine eyes. Well, who
is he? Thou that dwellest in the heavens. Now, every believer daily, constantly,
is looking unto our faithful high priest. Every day we are
looking unto our faithful high priest, the one who made the
offering for our sins. We were by sovereign grace chosen
of the Father. We were by sovereign mercy redeemed
by the blood of the Son, by the one offering of Christ. Therefore, in the fullness of
time when God was made flesh, God was manifest in the flesh,
what was His purpose when He came into this world? Thou shalt
call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. This was His purpose. This was His whole reason for
coming into the world, to save His people from their sins. Now, you who are believers, this
is a very simple question for you. I'm sure it is complex for
a religious man, but not for you. Did he accomplish the work? Did he actually redeem everyone
he intended to redeem? Was God completely, absolutely
satisfied with his offering for sin? Yes. Yes, your heart cries. Yes. Total victory. Complete victory. Absolute redemption. Absolute reconciliation was made
by the blood of Jesus Christ. Listen to this. Once for all. Once forever it was made. That
is the heart of the Gospel, isn't it? It is the heart cry of every
believer. Would to God that sinners would
see their need of it. I preach to God's people. But
you know who I preach to? I preach to sinners. And God's
people confess, that's what I am. And because I know what I am,
I know what I need. I need His blood to cover me. to wash me, to cleanse me. And so, from the moment of our
birth, new birth, we begin to see our need of Him. And as we
journey, does this need lessen as we go to Jerusalem? As we
go to Mount Zion, does this need of His blood and righteousness
ever diminish? No, it only increases. The more
I grow, the more I know I'm a sinner. And the more I need His blood
to wash me, cleanse me, purge me. And so daily we do. Just like
He says in Psalm 121, I will lift up mine eyes, where? Unto
the hills. I will lift up mine eyes to the
offering of Christ, to the blood of Christ, to the righteousness
of Christ. But notice in our Psalm, The
psalmist does not look up onto the hill. He looks past it. He looks into heaven itself. He says, unto thee will I lift
up mine eyes. O thou that dwellest where? In
heaven. This speaks to us who believe
and trust in the blood of Christ. This speaks to us of looking
not just to the crucified Lord, but to the risen Lord. Our Lord was crucified, but He
is not on the cross. He was buried, but He is not
in the tomb. He is risen. Is this not one of the greatest
themes that separates Christianity from every other religion? Our God is living. Buddha? Dead. Confucius? Dead. Mohammed? Dead. Christ? Alive. Risen. Risen. Our Lord is risen from
the dead. This is, if you read the book
of Acts, I want you to, when you take the time to go through
the book of Acts, I want you to know this. The blood is a
center of the gospel. It is. It's preached every time,
but the resurrection is preached more in the book of Acts. The
resurrection of Christ. Why? Because the resurrection
proves the sufficiency of the blood. Without the resurrection,
the blood would not be sufficiently... We could not testify that the
blood was sufficient if Christ was still in the tomb. But because
He is risen, we know that the blood was sufficient. The resurrection
is proof. Let's go over to Acts chapter
2. Look at Acts chapter 2. Peter preaching the Gospel to
these on the day of Pentecost. Acts chapter 2 and look at verse
22. He said, You men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth,
man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs
which God did by Him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also
know. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, You have taken him by wicked
hands, have crucified and slain." Notice he did not stop there,
did he? No. "...whom God hath raised up,
having loose the pains of death." Here's why. Because it was not
possible that death, that he should be holden of it. It was not possible for him to
remain dead. Why? Because he expiated all
the sins that were laid on him. Every sin that God imputed to
his son, he paid in full. And therefore, death could not
hold him any longer. The glory of Christ's resurrection
testifies of the complete success. Remember, we believe in a complete
successful redemption. Why? How do you know it was successful? How do you know it was effectual? How do you know He actually redeemed?
Because of this, I will lift up mine eyes unto thee that dwellest
in heaven. Because of the resurrection,
we know that the blood was effectual. Why is there death? Because of
sin. And if there was no sin, there
would be what? No death. And so because Christ
bore our sins in His own body after God had fully exacted justice,
death was actually The sentence, and it was paid. Christ really
died. He really died. His soul went
unto the Father for three days. Then it returned unto His body,
and He rose again from the dead. Why? Because there was no sin
left in Him. There was no sin, and therefore
justice demanded a resurrection. It demanded he live. And God
raised him from the dead. Look at verse 34. For David,
now he proved this by scripture, by David's prophecy, and he said,
David, not speaking of himself, David, the Lord said unto David,
the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, till I
make thine enemies thy footstool. Therefore, let all the houses
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made this same Jesus,
whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ." So when we
lift up our eyes, what are we seeing here? We are seeing the
victory of the cross, and we are seeing this, that He is Lord. Why do you lift up your eyes
unto Christ? Why do you look to Him? Why do you pray to Him? Because all power and authority
is given to Him. Now listen, if you want a million
dollars, you wouldn't come to me. Isn't that right? You're my friends. You know me. And you know I don't have it.
That's why you wouldn't come to me. You wouldn't come to me
if you had a need of it, because I don't have it. You'd have to
go to somebody who has it. And listen to me, I go to Christ
because He has all power. I lay out all my needs before
Him because He has all authority. I lift up my eyes to Christ. You know those, so many fools
would say this, and this is religion. You need to make Jesus your Lord. Well, Ralph Barnard said that
years ago. I think it was him. People credit him. He said, God
beat you to it. God hath already made him Lord
and Christ over who? Everyone. To those of us who
believe and know Him to be Lord, yes, we bow to Him, but our bowing
does not make Him Lord. He was Lord long before we bowed,
and He'll be Lord long after we leave. He is Lord of both
the living and the dead, the righteous and the unrighteous.
I don't care what men say, He is their God, He is their Lord,
and they will bow to Him, either in this life or the next. That's
why I look up to Him. He is worthy to be looked to.
He is worthy to be believed. He is the risen Christ. Risen
Lord. No man could make Him Lord and
no man could make Him Christ. God did. God made Him both Lord
and Christ, even so no man can make them Make Him their Lord,
because God already did. And for what purpose? For what
purpose was Christ crucified and then raised? In John chapter 17, our Lord
in His high priestly prayer said this, He lifted up His eyes. I like
that. I don't have time to go into
that, but He lifted up His eyes to the Father, and He said this,
Father, the hour has come. glorify thy son that thy son
may glorify thee as thou has given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to
as many as thou hast given him This world spins on its axis
at the sovereign will of Christ. The planets move in their orbit. The seasons change. The leaves fall. The snow drifts. The rain descends. Fruit is brought
up out of the earth. by the sovereign decree of Jesus
Christ alone. Not a sparrow falls to the ground
without His direct command. Thou hast given Him power over
all flesh. And so then all things in providence,
all things in heaven, all things in earth, all things in time,
all things in eternity, every providence, every circumstance
is directly and sovereignly controlled by the will of the risen Christ. And it is for this one purpose
everything moves. That He should give eternal life
to as many as the Father has given Him. There is no other
purpose than that. He is moving all things for that
purpose. Why? Because that purpose gives
Him all the glory. All the glory. Have you believed
on Christ? You've believed on Christ. Why
is it you've believed on Christ? How is it that you have come
to Christ? Because He who was risen, He who was crucified,
has been risen from the dead. And His purpose, His purpose
was to give you eternal life. You could have never missed it. You couldn't have missed it.
The whole world was spinning for it. Everything in history
was moving towards it. Every providence, every circumstance,
every birth, every death, every life, every sickness, every disease,
everything that happened was moving so that God would intersect
you at a given point with the gospel of Jesus Christ and you
should believe. Is it any wonder why we lift
up our eyes to Him? I will lift up mine eyes to Him.
Why? He dwells in Heaven. He dwells
there as my Savior. Behold, He who loved us and gave
Himself for us is now sitting on the throne of all authority
and power. Our friend, our brother, is king. People get so excited. I remember,
Joanne, you had somebody visit you that knew the president. Exciting. You should tell her who you know. I know the king. The king. In fact, he's my brother. He's the lover of my soul. The
prince of peace. Is it any wonder The psalmist
lifted up his eyes unto him. And this is the determination
of everyone who believes on him. Do you need help? Do you need
deliverance? Where will you go? Lean not on the arm of flesh. Trust not in men. Look to Christ. Call on Him who
sits in power and dominion in heaven. This is the determination
of faith. And I have good hope in this.
He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it. How do I know that? He sits on
the throne of heaven. Is there anything that will deter
Him? Is there anything that will move
Him? Is there anything that will thwart His purpose? Our God is in the heavens and
hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. And what is He pleased
to do? It is your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. I don't feel like it's His good
pleasure. It don't matter. Don't matter what you feel, or
how you think, or how you feel, or what happens to you if you're
sick, or you're healthy, or you're... If you live or you die, Christ is on the throne. Look
unto Him. That's the determination of faith.
Secondly, the dependence of faith. Look at verse 2, the eyes of the servants look
under the hand of their masters as the eyes of the maiden look
into the hand of her mistress so our eyes wait upon the Lord
our God until he have mercy on us every believer in Christ you
you believers tell me if this not so we are slaves Slaves are people who are bought,
all right? They're bought. Slavery has a negative connotation,
surely, in our generation by people who have no experience
of slavery. They condemn God in the Scriptures
for slavery. They say, I won't serve a God
who believes in slavery. I will. You know why? Because you're a slave no matter
what. You're either a slave to sin or to God. There is no other
kind of person but a slave. You are owned, my friends. God
made every one of us and he owns the whole lot of us. And what have we done? We have
sold ourselves into slavery. Our father Adam sold us all into
slavery after the lust of his own flesh. He rebelled against
God and sinned. And we were all born slaves.
I don't care what color you are. You're born slaves, every one
of you. Slaves to sin. Chained by the
justice of God under the condemnation of God. Slaves. A preacher, I'm not a slave.
That's what the Jews said. Jesus said this, if the Son shall
set you free, you shall be free indeed. And they said, we'd be
not in a bondage into any man. I'm not a slave. How dare you
tell me I'm a slave? Listen, only slaves are set free.
Never been a slave, you'll never be set free. Jesus came to save slaves. Slaves
to sin. And once we have been saved,
how were we saved? We were bought. That's what slavery
is. It is someone who is bought. And that's what Peter said. You
have been bought with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You've been paid for. We were
like Gomer in the slave market of prostitution. We prostituted
ourselves for sin and the religion of this world. We could not break
free. Let a man try to break free.
Can't do it. Let a man try for a day not to
sin in his heart and his mind. Impossible. Can't break free. What then is the hope? The only
hope is this, you're bought with the precious blood of Christ.
And once we were bought, we were bought long before we experienced
this, right? We were bought by Christ long
before He came to us, but He did come to us in that slave
market of sin, and He brought us out. He delivered us from being a slave to sin to
being what? A slave to Christ. Is there anything else you want
than to be? You know what? A slave, then,
he has no real income, does he? He has no ability to earn income. He's bought, he's paid for, he
is owned by his master. And therefore, who is responsible
for his care? Who is responsible for his feeding?
Who is responsible for his protection? Who is responsible for the slave?
It's the master! You as believers in Christ. Who
is responsible for your care? Our Master. Who is responsible
for the feeding of our flesh as well as our souls? Our Master. Oh, this is good. Who is responsible
for our protection? Our shelter. Our refuge. Our Master. And that's good because
our Master is not one that serves sin, but one who is free from
all sin. He is the Good Master. The Good
Shepherd. Jesus Christ. And so what do
we as servants do? We look unto Him and we wait
for His mercy. His mercy in what? Everything.
What do you have that's not of mercy? If you get what you deserve,
what would it be? It'd be hell. But praise God, I don't get what
I deserve, I get what he deserves. I get life. Not only life, but
love. Do you realize that as our Master
loved us, His love never changes for us? Our Lord said this, if a son
would ask his father for a piece of bread, would he give him a
stone? If he asked for a fish, would he give him a scorpion?
He said, if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more your heavenly Father? give his holy
spirit to them that ask him we are totally completely depended
upon him for everything you know if i if i believe on christ when i
leave this pulpit it is because If I ever love him at all, it
is because of him. He is the vine, and we are the
branches, and as the vine branches receive everything from the vine,
so we receive everything from him. And this last point is this,
the cry of every servant in trouble. What is it? Have mercy upon us,
O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we are exceeding filled with
shame. What believer is not completely
filled with shame concerning his own flesh? When Christ saved
us, He did not eradicate the old nature We're still constantly
afflicted by the flesh, struggling in the flesh constantly. So what do we need? We need constant
mercy and deliverance from self. Self. I remember J.C. Philpott once
said this, self-inflicted wounds are the worst. And most of our wounds are self-inflicted,
aren't they? So what do we need mercy from?
Self. God save me from my self. Have mercy on me. Have mercy
on me. And not only self, but look at
this, our soul is exceeding filled with the scorning of those that
are at ease and with the contempt of the proud. I'll tell you what, the only
people who have trouble with sin are God's people. The rest of the world is pretty
at ease. They think they've got this religious
thing down. They've done this, they've done
that. Everything's well with them. They've got a list of things.
So they're just kind of coasting along. Everything seems to be
well. Providence even seems to be going their way, doesn't it? Asaph, he got envious of that. I'll tell you this, we're prone
to envy them, aren't we? It's scornful to our very souls
to watch men as they have no bands in their death. He said,
they're not afraid of death. They're not afraid of anything.
They have no fear. Their eyes are filled with fatness. And God's people are suffering.
He said, I don't understand. What do we need when we have
such scorn inside of our own souls? We need mercy. Have mercy on us, oh Lord, have
mercy on us. We are often, we were cast down,
when we first came to Christ, how did we come? As a publican,
right? Have mercy upon me. Be perpetuous
unto me. And Jesus said, that man went
down to his house justified. But you know what? I guarantee
you next week he was doing the same thing. Mercy on me, Lord. Have mercy on me. I know he was
doing it for the rest of his life. Why? We are servants dependent
upon Him. And what is the solution? I will
lift up mine eyes to Thee. Christ is all God's mercy toward
me. And because He lives, I know
this, I will live. He lives, I live. Paul said,
for me to live is Christ. Isn't that right? For me to live
is Christ. And then to die is what? That's
gain. That's just a cherry on the top. May God help us to always look
to the risen Christ. Because that's the proof of our
salvation. Of our redemption. He is risen. I'm so glad He's risen. so glad
that he gives us his word to remind us he sits on the throne
of authority and he will save his people. I pray God will bless
it.