All right, if you'll take your
Bibles and turn with me to Psalm 126. Psalm 126. We'll be looking at the first
three verses in this Psalm tonight. Psalm 126, verses 1 through 3. The title of the message is Captivity
Turned to Liberty. Captivity Turned to Liberty. The scripture says, when the
Lord turned again, the captivity of Zion, we were like them that
dream. Then was our mouth filled with
laughter, and our tongue was singing. Then said they among
the heathen, the Lord hath done great things for them. The Lord hath done great things
for us, whereof we are glad." Captivity turned to liberty.
Now this 126th Psalm is the 7th Psalm in the Song of Degrees. You remember the Song of Degrees
is a song of steps, or as the Israelites journeyed toward Zion
during those feast days, they were singing these songs as they
went to Zion, as they went to worship God. And as they sing
this psalm of worship, The people of Israel were reminded of God's
turning of their captivity. That word turning, it means to
cease. It means to cease. They were
reminded of God's ceasing their captivity, ending their captivity. They were reminded of how God
in grace chose them as a people, a nation, above all the nations
of the earth. And as they sang this, they were
reminded that as His people, God had graciously many times
turned their captivity into liberty. Stop their captivity and set
them free from their oppressors. Why? Because God loved them. Go over to Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy
chapter 7. Look at what the Lord says concerning
Israel. Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 6. God says concerning Israel, He
said, For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord
thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself
above all the people that are upon the face of the earth. The
Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you, because
you were more in number than any people, for you were the
fewest of all people. But because the Lord loved you,
and because he would keep the oath which he hath sworn unto
your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and
redeemed you out of the house of the bondman from the hand
of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Israel, as they sang this psalm,
they were reminded that they were God's chosen people. They were reminded that God loved
them because He would. God says, I loved you, not because
you were the greatest. I loved you because I would love
you. I love you because I would love you. It was God who chose Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. It was God who gave them the
covenant promises that through them would come the Messiah.
Therefore, God delivered them from all the bondage of Pharaoh
because he loved them, because he would redeem them with a mighty
hand. The Lord turned their captivity
into liberty. He delivered them from bondage
and destroyed all their enemies. Now imagine the nation of Israel
as they were trapped at the Red Sea with the mountains on the
right hand and Pharaoh coming from the center and the left
and they had nowhere to go. And God parted the Red Sea for
them. Can you imagine their fear? Their intimidation as those great
walls of water were parted and they walked through on dry ground.
Sure, they feared. I'm sure that they had troubles
as they were going through, but when they reached the other side,
how happy do you think they were? When they made it through the
Red Sea, and they made it through the other side, and they saw
Pharaoh coming behind them, was stuck in the middle. They couldn't
go back. They couldn't go forward. The
walls of water were about them. And when the walls collapsed
on their enemies and crushed them, I'm sure that this second
verse here in our text is what happened. Then was our mouth
filled with laughter. Then our tongue was singing. We know this, they rejoiced when
their enemies were destroyed. They rejoiced that God had got
them the victory. We know this because in Exodus
15 we read of their song. Moses sang a song. I'll read
some of that to you in Exodus chapter 15. Listen to the joy
they had when they got to the other side. Then Moses sang to
the children and the children of Israel this song unto the
Lord. And Spake saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath
triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath
he thrown in the sea. The Lord is my strength and my
song. He has become all my salvation. He is my God. and I will prepare
him in habitation. My Father is God, and I will
exalt Him. The Lord is a man of war. The
Lord is His name. Pharaoh and his chariots and
his host hath He cast into the sea. His chosen captains were
drowned in the Red Sea. The depths have covered them.
They sank to the bottom as a stone. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become
glorious in power. Thy right hand, O Lord, hath
dashed in pieces the enemy. What a glorious triumph the nation
of Israel had. And they sang this song for centuries. This victory that they had. They were given this victory
and this psalm was a reminder to them of God's glorious love
and victory for them to set them free from the bondage of their
enemies. Now, if natural Israel rejoiced,
If natural Israel rejoiced in their deliverance from bondage
of Egypt, which was truly an act of God's power, how much
more should we rejoice and remember God's spiritual deliverance of
us who are the true Israel? You who are believers in Jesus
Christ, you are Zion. You are God's people. And we have been delivered by
the hand of Jesus Christ, our Savior. And I truly hope that
God would fill our mouths with laughter and joy. Because our
enemies have been destroyed. All our enemies have been destroyed
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now as we are marching to Zion,
we are marching not to a physical city. We are marching to a heavenly
Jerusalem, not made with hands. We are marching, journeying through
this world as pilgrim and strangers in this land. And I tell you,
we become very weary in this land. I become very weary in
this land, just like you. Many times we are discouraged,
distressed, and depressed. Many times we are troubled, tried,
and tired. Many times we are cast out, cast
down, and cast aside by this world. It's then we need to sing
this song to remind ourselves of what great things God has
done for us. We should sing this song because
we need to remember that God has delivered us from all our
enemies. God has delivered us from the
bondage of sin and Satan and death and has by His grace and
mercy set us free. Free. So as we look at this psalm,
when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, as we remember
how the Lord turned, stopped, ceased our captivity and set
us free, we must remember, first of all, that God did this on
purpose. This is a glorious thing. God
did not save us on accident. God saved us on purpose. Christians who are called and
redeemed and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved on
purpose. Romans 8, 28, we know, not we
guess, we know that all things work together for good to them
that love God. Well, who are they? They are
the ones called. The called according to what?
His purpose. Purpose. This is the reason men
are saved. Men are saved because God willed
them to be saved. If God had not willed anyone
to be saved, no one would be saved. But, praise God, He has. He has on purpose saved us. No man is saved by chance or
accident. No man is saved by decision or
determination. even because no man can believe
except God give him faith. You believe? You believe on the
Son of God? Well, that is a gift. That is
a gift of God's grace. It is not something that we can
come up with. You can't come up with enough
faith. God must give us faith and He gives it on purpose. Go to John chapter 6. John chapter 6 and look at verse
41. Now Jesus had just told them
that he was the bread of heaven, that he was come from the Father. And the Jews, they murmured against
this. They said, verse 41, then the
Jews murmured at him because he said, I am the bread which
came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus,
the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it
that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered
and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves. In other words,
don't fret about this. Don't try to reason this in your
mind. No man can come unto me except the Father which hath
sent me draw him. and I will raise him up at the
last day. As it is written in the prophets,
they shall all be taught of who? God. They shall all be taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. You who
believe on Christ, why is it that you have come? Are you more
intelligent than others? Are you more gifted than others
in the Scriptures? Are you just so wonderful that
God just looked at you and said, well, man, that guy is pretty
great. I'm going to give him some faith. No. God didn't say
anything like that. No man can. No man has the ability
to come unto God except God draw him. How does God draw him? By
teaching him. By giving him something that
he doesn't have. Faith in Jesus Christ. A new life. God does this on
purpose. For by grace you are saved through
faith. And that faith is not of yourself. It, faith, is a gift of God.
Not of works. lest any man should boast. Believer in Jesus Christ, let
us remember that all our salvation is on purpose. We who believe on Christ, we
are the true Israel of God, the spiritual Israel that was pictured
by this national Israel. The physical Israel was given
a special blessing by God. They were given The presence
of God in that tabernacle. They were given the Word of God
and no other nation had that. How much more has God chosen
us to be His holy people? Do you know you're peculiar?
You're a peculiar people. Why are you a peculiar people?
Because God made you a peculiar people. You're peculiar because
you're holy. And God didn't do that on accident.
You're not going to trip up and be holy in heaven. No, God did
that already. God purposed for you to be holy. He purposed to set us apart from
eternity by giving us to His Son. This was a willful act of
God to choose us. And not only choose us in love,
but to give us to His Son. To be our surety, our redeemer,
and our mediator. God says, yes, I have loved you
with an everlasting love. Therefore with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. Has he not drawn you with lovingkindness? Was faith something that had
to be drilled into you? Or was it something that moved
you to run to Christ? Was it your own choice or was
it something God put in you that made you hunger and thirst for
righteousness? We know it's something God did
to us, God did for us, and He drew us with loving arms. 2 Timothy 1.9 it says, Who hath
saved us and called us with an holy calling, not according to
our works, but according to His own purpose. According to His own purpose.
Why are you called? Because God purposed it. God
purposed it. He purposed His own purpose and
grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. All of Zion, all of spiritual
Israel are the objects of God's love. And He has purposed, willed,
and decreed that our captivity from sin, from Satan, and from
death be turned. willed that you should be free
from sin, free from death, free from the
law. He willed it so. And so as we
go along in this journey, let us remember that it's the Lord
who turned our captivity, who stopped our captivity and set
us free. Second, remember, believer, that
Jesus Christ has already won the victory to set us free. This is not something we have
to fight for. It's not something we have to
earn through our merits. This is something that Jesus
Christ has already accomplished for us. Jesus himself said, if
the sun shall set you free, you're going to have to work really
hard to set yourself free. Is that what he said? No. If
the sun sets you free, you'll be free indeed. Now the religious
man says, well, we've not been in bondage. Oh, we have. You
bet we have. We who know what liberty is,
we first knew we were in bondage and needed to be set free. And
so we'd freely and gladly come to the Son of God to be set free.
And we know this, that He has set us free. Wasn't this His
message from the beginning? Over in Isaiah chapter 61, We read the same message the
Lord preached in Luke's gospel. He said, The Spirit of the Lord
God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good
tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me to bind the brokenhearted. Here it is, to proclaim liberty
to the captives. Now, friends, you don't proclaim
liberty unless liberty has already been set, unless you've already
accomplished liberty. I'm sure that our founding fathers
in this country didn't run around proclaiming liberty without winning
it. They had to have it. We wanted
liberty. They had to fight for it. And
only when they won it could they proclaim to be free. But I tell you this, Jesus Christ
has already proclaimed us to be free. He says, I've come to
tell you I've set you free. And if I set you free, you've
been made free. You've been set free. And we who have been set free,
we know this. We were born in bondage. We know
what it's like to be in bondage. We know what it's like to be
captive to Satan and sin and to the lust of our minds and
our flesh. We were by nature, the children
of wrath. even as others. You couldn't
tell us apart from any other creature. We were lost, dead,
and captive. We had no knowledge of spiritual
things. We could not know the things
of God because we were spiritually discerned, spiritually judged
in our father Adam when he fell. We fell in him and the whole
race was judged. We were under the curse of the
law that said, for it is written, cursed is everyone, everyone,
everyone that continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them. Not only were we captives to
sin, but we reveled in it. We rejoiced in our chains. We murmured against God. And
not only murmured against God, we were willful rebels and haters
of God. But behold the grace of God to
send Jesus Christ to deliver us from our sins. To break the bars asunder. to break the chains that bound
us and to set us free, who were all our lifetime, through fear of death, all our
lifetime subject to bondage. You see, it was by a representative
man we were put under bondage. It was by our father Adam. It's
by his sin. Wherefore, by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all
men. How do you know? For all have
sinned. All have sinned. That's how we know that death
passed from one generation to the next. Our children have not
missed this. We can see it in our children.
We can see it in ourselves that we have not been passed over,
that this spiritual decay has passed down to us. It was by a representative that
sin and death came, that led the whole human race into captivity. Even so, must it be by a representative
man that righteousness and freedom come? It must be by a representative
man that sin is to be removed and death conquered, so that
men can be set free. Romans 5.19 says, For by one
man's offense were many made sinners, so by the obedience
of one shall many be made righteous. God deals with us in a representative. Isn't that wonderful? That's
good for us who have Christ as our representative. He deals
with us in a representative. He dealt with us in Adam. But
we who are in Christ We have such a man, such a one that is
our representative man by which we are made righteous before
God. Behold Jesus Christ, God's prophet,
priest, and king, who was set forth from eternity to be our
representative. Remember that the Father purposed
for us to be a holy people. How did He purpose that? He purposed
our holiness to be wrought in His Son's work. By His Son's
work. God purposed us to be holy. And Jesus Christ as our representative
has obtained all that we need. All that we need to be free. Remember that Jesus has set us
free from the law by fulfilling our righteousness. God purposed it to be so, and
now Christ has come and delivered us by his obedience to God. Go to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3. Before I read this, let me ask
you this. Does your faith trouble you? Because my faith is weak. I feel like my faith at times
is just non-existent. If I try to grab it, it just
crumbles in my hands. If I lean on it, I'm sure to
fall. But see, my righteousness does not come by my faith. Praise
God. I'm so thankful. Look at this. In verse 2021, it says, But now
the righteousness of God without the law is manifest, witnessed
by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God,
which is by faith of... Who? Faith of who? Jesus Christ. Unto all and upon
all Them that believe. Now there's our faith. That's
the faith given to us by grace. We believe, but truly our righteousness
that is the righteousness of God comes by the faith of Jesus
Christ. It was by His faithfulness. He
obtained righteousness for us. It was by His faith. Go to Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2, verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of who? By the faith
of who? Jesus Christ. There it is again. We are justified. How are we
justified? By the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ. Now I'll tell you this, no man
who is saved is without faith. I believe on Jesus Christ, you
believe on Jesus Christ, but truly our faith does not provide
our righteousness. It was his faith in God. His
faith in God. Go over to Galatians chapter
3 in verse 22. Galatians 3.22, But the scripture
hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of
Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. The faith
of Jesus Christ. That's the faith we've been given.
The faith of Jesus Christ. See, our faith is not our own.
It's a gift of God. Who was it made by? Made by Jesus
Christ. What did His faith do? It obtained
righteousness for us. All of Zion, therefore, are free
from sin because Jesus Christ is our righteousness. How will
you be accepted of God? I'll be accepted by His righteousness.
not my own. I'll be accepted by His. And
His righteousness has been given to me, so it is truly mine because
He gives it. But I didn't earn it. He did
it. He did it for me by His faith and obedience to God. Remember
that. Remember that. As you journey,
remember that Jesus Christ is all our righteousness. Second
of all, remember that Jesus Christ has set us free from death and
hell by his one blood offering. Our sins against God, even though
we were chosen and redeemed, Even though Christ has obtained
our righteousness, listen, you and I would never be allowed
to enter heaven if our sins were not punished. What would happen if Christ were
to give you His righteousness without the payment of your sins?
Would you be accepted? No, because we would attain His
righteousness. I keep thinking of a man in a
white linen suit, if they were to give us a white linen suit
and we were to walk into it, we were all, say we just came
out of a coal mine and we were all dark and dusty with coal
dust all over us. If someone were to give us their
white suit, we would mess it all up. That's what happens if
Christ gives us His righteousness without paying for our sins.
There's no hope. But Christ did come and set us
free by the payment of our sins. God declares of Himself that
He will by no means clear the guilty. Well, how then can God
be just and justify the ungodly? Let me give you one word, substitute. If you're troubled, remember
Christ is our substitute. Jesus was a perfect and willing
substitute. to whom God imputed all the sins
of His people, so that Jesus Christ should die in our place,
that He should die in our stead. that the just should die for
the unjust, that He might bring us to God, that we might be reconciled
to God. How are we reconciled to God?
By the death of our precious Savior, by His precious holy
blood. Behold the mystery of the cross. The Holy Son of God was made sin for us. The depth of that, I'll never
know. I'll never know. I'll never know the suffering
that he endured. If you want an illustration,
you think of Barabbas. There was that murderer. Now,
I'll tell you, that man was a rebel, he was a hater, he was a malicious
man, and he would spit and cuss all the way to his death. That's
a picture of us. Do you suppose Barabbas was looking
for Jesus to take his place? Do you suppose that he knew that
Jesus would come and say, well, I'm worthy that Jesus would take
my place? No, he was not worthy and neither
were we. But like Barabbas, we were sentenced
to death and defiant, rebellious, And yet God in grace sent His
Son to take our place. And I tell you, just as sure
as Barabbas was set free and Christ took His place, that's
what happened to us spiritually. Jesus Christ took our place as
our substitute. He died for our sins on the cross.
He suffered all the punishment due to yours and my vile behavior,
all of our vain and empty thoughts, all of our sin, adultery, idolatry,
everything we've committed, Jesus Christ suffered under the wrath
of Almighty God for our sins and paid every last bit so that
we might be set free. This is the only way. Jesus Christ, the Holy Son of
God, bear our sins in his own body on the tree Jesus who knew no sin who did
no sin I tell you that on the cross he was made sin but he
was the Holy Son of God He committed none of those acts,
but I tell you, He was made to bear the guilt of all of them. Look and see that Jesus Christ,
remember that Jesus Christ has paid your sin debt. There's nothing like being debt
free. There's nothing like being debt free. and Christ hath made
us dead free. We owe nothing to the law of
God. He paid everything. He paid everything. All our sins, just like those
soldiers that Moses sank, the soldiers, those armies and chariots,
he said they sank to the bottom of the sea. I tell you, my sins
have sunk to the bottom of God's forgetfulness. And God on purpose says, I will
remember them no more. Now what's important here is
that God remembers them no more, not you. You remember them every
single day. You remember them and they are
brought to your conscience at the moment you commit them. They are constantly refreshed
in our minds and our conscience constantly condemns us Our family
condemns us. Isn't that right? When you do
something wrong, somebody's always quick to say, Ah! Look! You see?
Look what they did. Look. Our sins are always brought to
our mind, but the important thing is that God won't remember them. Why? Because they're not there. They're not there. And to condemn me is to condemn
His Son. To judge me is to tell me that
Christ did not pay at all. I tell you He did. God says He did. I wouldn't dare
say a thing like that unless God said it. I will remember
their sins no more. Believer, are you troubled by
your sins, condemned by your conscience or man, condemned
by Satan? Then I tell you to remember at
once that you have been set free and point them to the Savior. If you've got a problem with
me, go to Him. If you have something to say
against me, then you have something to say against the one who sits
on the throne ever living to make intercession for me. Jesus
has gloriously delivered His people perfectly, completely,
and fully from all the guilt of all our sins. He has delivered
us from the power of our sins. And I tell you that God will
one day come and deliver us from the presence of sin. There are some times that I feel
great joy when I'm able to experience what God has done for me. When
I'm able to enter in what Christ has done for me. There are some
times that I can't speak because the joy is so vivid, so real. I'm like these people in our
text, it says, we're like them that dreamed. Sometimes I'm like
that. It's like, this is too good to
be true. You delivered me! And can it
be that I should gain an interest in His blood? Died He for me
who caused His pain, for me who Him to death pursued? Amazing
love, how can it be that Thou, my God, hast died for me? Long
my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night.
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray. I awoke. I awoke as one
that was in a dream. But I tell you, one day it's
going to be like that forever. One day God is going to come
and deliver us from this body of death, this mortal flesh, And He's going to deliver us
to a place prepared for us from before the foundation of the
world. And I tell you, not one sin will molest our thoughts
again. Not one sin will enter into His
kingdom forever. Why? Because He set us free.
He set us free. And one day, I know this, we
will be free indeed. Is this not the experience of
our joy that God has set us free by his grace, that God loved
me? Is that not amazing to us, that God would send his son to
die for me? And I tell you, since the first
time I experienced this grace, how many times since has He delivered
us from many troubles? Can you count how many times
He's delivered you? How He's brought you from one
trouble into the next, one trouble He's delivered you out of. You
and I make a mess, and sure enough, He's delivered us out of it.
Can you count? No. I stand amazed that His mercies
are new every morning. His mercies are new every morning.
He purposed to save us. Christ has saved us. Therefore,
then, our mouth is filled with laughter, our tongue with singing. Those who are delivered and set
free are full of joy. that we cannot contain it or
express it completely. Can you fully express what God
has done for you? I tell you, I get tongue-tied
trying to express to others what God has done for me. Believers, let us keep our eyes
and hearts upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us continue to trust
Him as we walk through this and remember Don't forget what great
things God has done for you. If God be for us, who can be against us? What will separate us from Him? What will stop Him from bringing
us to Himself? Who will accuse us of sin when
Jesus Christ has already died? And what will restrain us? What
should restrain us from our joy? I tell you nothing. The Apostle
said, Rejoice. And again I say, Rejoice. Isn't
that something he has to tell us, Rejoice twice? But he does. Rejoice in Jesus
Christ. Now, as you see, it says, Then
said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things
for them. When this world sees what God
has done for you and how He set you free, I tell you, when the
world sees it, they'll hate you for it. The world will not rejoice with
you. Don't expect them to. you'll
be disappointed. They will not rejoice. They will
not have this joy that you have. They will hate you because they
hate the gospel. They love bondage. Have you not
found that true to be with the lost? That they love bondage?
They love their sin? And when you tell them, that's
sin! Oh, how dare you judge me? And they'll huff off. It will
huff off. I know what sin is because I
was in bondage too. But Christ set me free. Remember believer that you were
bound and now you're free. You were dead but now you're
alive. Do not fear them. But rather look what we are to
say. The Lord has done great things
for us. They'll say, the Lord did great things for them. I
hate them. We'll say the Lord did do great
things for us. The Apostle said that who maketh
thee to differ from another? What hast thou, thou hast not
received? And if thou hast received it, why do you act like you don't?
Should we pretend like we haven't received freedom from Christ?
No. When you start talking about
election, people think you're haughty, you're arrogant. No,
I'm just telling you what great things God has done for me. If I've received it, shouldn't
I just tell the truth? Yeah, I should. And so we should
tell what great things God has done for us, whereof we are glad. I'm glad. I am glad that God
has done great things. He's turned my captivity, and
now I have liberty. I'm set free from sin, death,
hell. I've been given the righteousness
of God by the faith of Jesus Christ, and now I've been given
faith in Christ. And I know this, that He will
keep us. If He set us free, He will keep
us till He brings us to Himself. Just keep that in mind as you
go, as you walk. And may God give us glad hearts.
Let's stand. We'll be dismissed in prayer. Our gracious Father, we thank
You for Your Word. Thank You for Your blessings that You have
given us, Father in Jesus Christ our Savior. Lord, I'm thankful
for your freedom. I'm thankful that you've set
us free from the law, that you've set us free from sin and death. And father, you've delivered
us into the kingdom of your dear son. And father, I pray that
you'd continue to give us faith to trust you, to look to you
and father that you'd forgive us of our sins. Even now, we
ask this in Jesus name. Amen.