Turn with me, if you would, back
to Psalm 3. Psalm chapter 3. I was talking to a brother Monday
morning, and we were talking about how
good the Lord is to us. Just how good the Lord is to
us. And the fact that we have so much to be happy about. We have so much to be happy about. I know that's like a revelation
to us who wallow in our sin, We have so much to be happy about. We have so much to be thankful
for, just so much. And that conversation led me
to this verse of scripture. Verse eight, Psalm three, verse
eight says, salvation belongeth unto the Lord. Thy blessing is
upon thy people. Thy blessing is upon thy people. It really is, isn't it? It really
is. Salvation belongs to the Lord. It really does, doesn't it? And His blessing is upon His
people. It really is. It truly is. In verse one, David said, Lord,
how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up
against me. The heading under Psalm three
says, David wrote this when he was fleeing from Absalom, his
son, his son was trying to kill him. His son had men after him
trying to kill him. He had an actual army. He had an actual enemy against
Him. But God's people don't need a
physical enemy pursuing them to enter into this. All they have to do is enter
into their own sin. Concerning our own sins, can
we not say with David, verse 1 says, Lord, how are they increased
that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against
me. It's just getting worse and worse
and more and more. Verse two says, many there be,
which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God. As I
look at the multitude of my sins, I think, how could God have mercy
on a sinner like me? I am convinced of this fact. I'm honestly convinced of this
fact that the longer we live on this earth, the more the Spirit
of God will reveal. Of our sin to us. the longer
we go on this earth. If anybody here is struggling
a little bit to enter into this feeling, when we talk about the
wretchedness of our sin, just loathing what we see in ourselves,
because see, the flesh loves itself. The flesh loves to look
at itself in the mirror and hear the sound of its own voice. The flesh is very happy naturally
with what it sees in itself. So if anyone cannot enter into
this experience of just utter loathing of everything that you
see in yourself and all the wretchedness of your sin and just the disgusted
state, just wait a little while. If anybody cannot enter into
it, just wait a little while. If we belong to the Lord, He
will reveal it to us. Just live a little longer. If we do belong to Him, He will
bring all of His people to a place where they say in verse one,
Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? I don't feel
like I used to have this much trouble over my sin. I don't
feel like I spent this much time just plagued by my sin, but it's
like it's growing. How are they increased that trouble
me? Many are they that rise up against
me. Many there be which say of my
soul, they're speaking to my soul. They're telling me there's
no hope for you in God. There's no hope for you. As long
as we're looking to our flesh, that's all we can say. It's all
we can see and that's all we can say. There is no help right
here in God. There is no hope before God,
none. But if God will turn our eyes
to the Lord Jesus Christ, we will say, we will see, if you'll
turn our eyes to Christ, We will see and we will say, verse three, but thou, O Lord, art a shield
for me. I love that. I love that. All the fiery darts, fiery darts
of the wicked, just the, everything come, the enemy of sin, just,
but thou art a shield for me. My glory, he went on to say,
and the lifter up of mine head. Many are troubling me. Many are
rising up against me, but Lord, you're my shield. I'm hiding in you. I'm hiding
in you. There's nowhere else to hide.
Where else can I hide? You're my hope. You're my help. You're my defense from everything
that brings me down. Can't we say that? He is our
defense from everything that brings us down. Everything. Verse three says, but thou, O
Lord, art a shield for me, and you're my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
The Lord told Abraham, He said, I am thy shield and thy exceeding
great reward. I'm your shield and I'm your
reward. Lord, you are the reward, you're
glory to me. You know what our reward is?
Glory, that's the reward, glory. Lord, you're the reward, you're
glory. You're my comfort. And this is
so, for a child of God, this is so. You are my comfort. You are my peace. You are my
encouragement. You are the lifter up of my head. Well, my head is just hanging.
I mean just hanging down low. When my sorrow overwhelms me,
when I get to that place where nothing and no one else can help
me, there's you. There's you. Verse four says,
I cried unto the Lord with my voice and he heard me out of
his holy hill. How amazing is it? Honestly,
that the cry of a child of God reaches all the way into the
holy hill of Zion. Just think about this. What we
want as God's people is to be in glory with him. We're marching
to Zion. We can't wait to get there. We
just want to be there with him in body, in person, in reality. We're not there yet. But the
prayers that we pray are, they go there. They go all the way
there. The cry of a child of God just
continues. It keeps going. It just keeps
going through the room and the sky and the firmament and the
heaven and the heaven of heavens, the third heaven, the seat of
the throne of God. When we pray, Just see if you can enter into
the reality of this. When we pray from the heart in sincerity,
that literally reaches the throne of God, the ear of God Almighty
Himself. Verse 4 says, I cried unto the
Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill. I laid
me down and slept, I awaked for the Lord sustained me. David
said, I found peace. I found peace in the middle of
the enemy's attack. I found peace to just lay down
and sleep. I found peace to wake up and
know that the Lord sustained me. He protected me. He watched over me all through
the night season. Verse six. I will not be afraid
of 10,000s of people that have set themselves against me round
about. Over in Psalm 23, he said, yea,
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will
fear no evil because you're with me. That's the reason why. Thou art with me, thy rod and
thy staff, they comfort me. Verse seven, he said, arise,
oh Lord, save me. That's the cry of salvation. Arise, oh Lord, save me. Salvation is of you. Salvation
is of you. If I'm gonna be saved, you're
gonna have to save me. Like Peter cried, Lord, save
me. Verse seven says, arise, O Lord,
save me, O my God, my Lord and my God. I just love this. Verse seven says, arise, O Lord,
save me, O my God, for thou has smitten all mine enemies upon
the cheekbone. He said, thou has broken the
teeth of the ungodly. That means victory is yours. Victory is yours. Verse 8 says, Salvation belongeth
unto the Lord. Thy blessing is upon thy people. Our Lord has won the victory
over sin and death, which is the enemy of all of God's people.
And along with His victory, His blessing is on every single one
of His people. We have so much to be happy about. We have so much to be thankful
for. Now, in dwelling on the fact
that the Lord's blessing is on His people, His blessing is on
His people, in just dwelling on that, I looked up some scriptures
that tell us about His blessings, what they are. And I just want
us to read a few of them and think about them for a second,
okay? Don't turn, but Ezekiel 34, 26 says, the Lord said, I will make my people and the places
round about my people to be a blessing. He said, I will cause the shower
to come down. There shall be showers of blessing. That's his decree for his people
and for everything around his people. There's gonna be showers
of blessing. Let's just read a few of them,
beginning with this. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter
one. Ephesians 1 verse 3 says, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Where are all blessings
from God found? I hope we get to a place one
day where all of our children know the answer to this. Where
are all the blessings from God found? Every blessing that God
bestows on his people, how do they get them? Where are they found? Every single
one of them is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one of them. Every single one is because of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Every single one is by way of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Every spiritual blessing that
comes from God to his people, it comes to him in Christ. And
what that means is when we say that, what that means is he gets
all the credit and the glory for the blessing. That's what
it means, our blessing. The only reason that God gives
blessings to us is because of Christ. It's the only reason. It's because of what he did for
us to include us in God's blessing. What did he do for us? Verse
four says, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. What a blessing election is. God's blessing is on His people.
He's going to shower them with blessing. What a blessing election
is. Chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. Why did He choose us? Because
He looked at His Son and He said, Behold My servant. I choose Him. we were chosen in Him. What a
blessing. Verse 5 says, having predestinated
us. Aren't you so glad you are predestinated? Aren't you so thankful for the
fact you don't have a random outcome? What a blessing. I want to be predestinated. While
the world hates that, that's my glory. Predestinate me to
what? The adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will.
To the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath made
us accepted in the Beloved. Acceptance. What a blessing.
Yeah, come on in. Accepted in Him. Accepted with
Him. Chapter two, verse one goes on
to talk about, you know, how dead we are dead and trespasses
and sins, children of disobedience, children of wrath. Verse four
says, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love with,
he loved us. Even when we were dead in sins,
He quickened us together with Christ. By grace, you're saved.
He raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God. You talk
about blessed. What all did He do for us to
receive the blessing? He did everything. Everything
that had to be done. All because of Christ, we receive
all the spiritual blessings of God. Every one of them are in
Him. Now, turn with me for a minute. Let's go to Galatians 3. Galatians 3, verse 13. It says, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for
it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree, that
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ. He did that, He endured that,
so that the blessing might come on the Gentiles through Jesus
Christ. And what was the blessing? That we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith. Faith, the ability to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, that is a great blessing from God.
People take that for granted. People assume everybody has it.
Everybody doesn't. Everybody does not. We just read,
it's not of ourselves, it's the gift of God. It is the blessing
of God on a wicked sinner. Here is faith. Believe on Christ. He gives it to those who could
not believe. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Without faith, it's impossible
to see Christ. It's impossible to look on Christ. It's impossible to cast our all
on Christ. It's impossible to beg him for
mercy without faith. We can't beg God for mercy without
faith. If we've received faith, we're
a blessed people. That's one of the great blessings
that God has showed to his people. Turn with me now to 1 Corinthians
10. 1 Corinthians 10 verse 16, it says, The cup of blessing which we
bless, is it not the communion of the
blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is
it not the communion of the body of Christ? Are we not so blessed
to have fellowship? That's what the word communion
means. Everybody hears that word communion.
It means fellowship. Aren't we so blessed to have
fellowship in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? That is our
fellowship. That's our communion. Fellowship
with the blood of Christ and fellowship with each other in
the blood of Christ. That's the blessing of God on
His people. That He would give us a union with the blood of
Christ. Unite us with the blood of Christ. And unite us in the blood of
Christ. A lifetime is not long enough
to describe the indescribable blessing of having the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Eternity is not long enough to
describe the blessing We will forever cry, bless God because
he blessed us with his blood. And a lifetime is not long enough
to describe the blessing of having each other because of that blood. I am so
blessed. to have you. Again, I was having
this conversation talking about, we just have so much to be thankful
for, so much to be happy about. We're just so blessed. And I really dwelt on the fact
that one of my great blessings in life is you. Can we not say that with each
other? Having fellowship and having union in Christ and in
the blood of Christ. I'm so blessed to have you. I'm
so blessed to know you. We're so blessed to have each
other. Communion with God's people in
and around the blood of Christ, that's one of the greatest blessings
we will receive on this earth, is another soul that we can have
fellowship with in and around the blood of Christ alone. The
glory of Christ. I'm a blessed man. I really am.
I am sincerely a blessed man. God has given me fellowship with
you. Turn with me to Romans 15. Romans 15 verse 29, Paul said,
Romans 15 verse 29, Paul said, And I am sure that when I come
unto you, And I am sure that when I come unto you, I shall
come in the fullness I shall come in the fullness of the blessing
of the gospel of Christ. of the blessing of the gospel
of Christ. How blessed we are to have the
gospel. How blessed we are to have the
gospel. I'm entering into this more as
time goes by. I remove myself from this equation. I don't care who's preaching
it. Honestly, I don't. We are so blessed to have the
gospel. I enter into just how much life this is. I don't know how to say this.
I enter in more and more to just how necessary, just how This is life. This is life. It'd be kind of like if you got
a hold of the fact all of a sudden that I can't do without air.
This is life. This is life. We are so blessed
to have the gospel. And I mean that in every way,
removing me from the man standing up preaching it. I just, the
true declaration of Christ, what he has done, the finished work
of what he has done. We're so blessed beyond measure
to have the gospel and to have faith, to believe the gospel. These are blessings that that
we will receive from God as his people to the day we leave this,
this world. He said, I'm going to shower
my people with it. Just shower my people with it. And let me show you two more.
Okay. I'll be done. Let me show you two more. Go to Psalm 133. Psalm 133 verse 1 says, Behold
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity. It is like the precious ointment
upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard
that went down to the skirts of his garments, as the dew of
Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion, For
there the Lord commanded the blessing. And what is it? Life forevermore. Life forevermore. Eternal life. That is the blessing that God
has bestowed on His people in Christ. In Christ. Only in Christ. God has blessed
His people with something called eternal life. Eternal life. It's His to give,
it's His to take away. And He has blessed His people in giving it to them. That is
the blessing of God on His people in Christ. Life evermore. And not just Life evermore, but a spotless life evermore. A holy sinless life evermore. One more, go to Psalm 24. Psalm 24 verse 3 says, Who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy
place? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor
sworn deceitfully. That's what it's going to take
to have eternal life with God. It has to be spotless. It has
to be sinless. It has to be holy. Verse 5 says,
He shall receive the blessing from the Lord. And what is it? Righteousness from the God of
His salvation. Righteousness from the God of
His salvation. In Christ we have been blessed
with righteousness. I don't want to be a sinner anymore. I'm sick and tired of it. I'm done. Now, I'm not done. I'll be a sinner until God removes
me from this body of death and this world of sin. But I'm ready
to be done. And the great blessing of God
on His people is He is going to remove that sin and in its
place, give them righteousness. Righteousness. In Christ, we've
been blessed with righteousness. We're gonna be so pure. We're
gonna be so spotless. As pure and spotless as God Himself. He has blessed us with something
that we don't have in ourselves, but we have it in Christ. We
have it in Christ. That's what it means to hound,
in Christ, in Christ. When we don't see it in ourselves,
just look to Christ and we'll see it right there. We haven't
earned it, but we've been blessed with it because Christ earned
it for us and He gave it to us. Our text said, salvation belongeth
unto the Lord. And it does. And thy blessing
is upon thy people. And to both of those, we say,
amen. Thank God, we have so much to
be happy about. We have so much to be happy about
and to be thankful for in Christ. It's all in Christ. Let me close
by reading an article to you that our brother Bruce Crabtree
wrote. It comes, he wrote it from the
verse of scripture that says, there's one God and one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. He said, I must
approach unto God by Christ Jesus because I am unholy. I must approach
God by Christ Jesus in Christ because I'm unholy. God must
approach unto me by Christ Jesus because He is holy. In Christ Jesus, I, a poor sinner,
and God, a holy and heavenly Father, have an honest and sincere
communion one with another. His holiness is not violated,
and my sin is not imputed, but all is washed away." And here's
how he closed his article. He said, oh, sweet fellowship,
oh, holy union, Oh, easy walk. Our Lord said, you let yoke up
with me. It's easy, it's light. Oh, sweet
fellowship. Oh, holy union. Oh, easy walk. Oh, joyous friendship. And then
he said, oh, happy me. Oh, happy me. We have so much
to be happy about. Lord, make us happy in Christ.
All right, let's all stand together.