Go with me if you would back
to Psalm 46. Psalm 46. I came into the study Monday
morning so thankful to be there. I was truly so thankful to be
there. The flu is not how you want to take a break. It's just
not. And I was ready to come back. I was so weak. I was so physically
weak last week, I just could not study. I tried and I tried. And I just couldn't. I couldn't
think. Studying is pretty difficult. It takes a lot out of you. I just could not study, but I
did have a lot of time to think. A lot of time to just sit there
and think. And one of the things that I
thought about is I am so glad that our God is in
absolute control of everything. I mean that. I'm in a moment
of honesty at the moment. I am so, so glad for that. I don't want to be in control
of anything. All I want to do is look to Him. I mean that. I mean that. Has life ever gotten hard enough
where you say, boy, it wasn't so bad at mom and dad's house.
I'll just take the family and we'll go back over. Let him worry
about it. We'll let him pay the bills.
We'll let him, you know, some problem comes along right there. I don't want to be in control
of this ministry. I don't want to be in control
of my family. I don't want to be in control
of myself. And thank God I'm not. That is
so relieving to me. I am not. I can rest and you
can rest in him. You can rest. You can rest. Verse 1 right here in Psalm 46
says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present
help in trouble. You know what that means? That
means He's right there. He is right there, a very present
I am so weak. I am so physically weak. I am
so spiritually weak. I was reminded of that last week. I am not a spiritual person. I don't, I don't, you understand
what I'm saying? I don't just float in the Word
of God at all times. I am physically weak. I am spiritually
weak. I am weak in the heart. I'm weak
in the mind. I'm weak in faith. I am weak in prayer. You know when I pray? When God
puts me in a position where I can't do anything else but start crying,
God help me. And when you preach, that's all
the time. As soon as you finish a message, you're an empty vessel. You have nothing, because you're
not a spiritual person who's just floating around in the Word
of God. And as soon as you finish a message, you are unemployed
again. You have nothing, and you're
crying, God help me. God help me. I am weak in fervency. You know that fervent, fervent
heart. I'm weak in that. If I could be attacked by any
adversary, you know, we don't wrestle with flesh and blood.
We wrestle with spiritual principalities and powers. But I mean any adversary,
any worldly adversary. If I can be attacked, I'll fall. That's all there is to it. Sometimes God allows us to just
get out just far enough to remind us. that if I'm out there on
my own I will be attacked and I will fall. I will. And what does that make us want
to do when we get a glimpse of our own weakness and we get a
glimpse of how vulnerable we are and how I'm no defense for
anything. What does that make us want to
do? It makes us want to run to our refuge and our strength and
stay right there. Just stay right there. Verse one says, God is our refuge
and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will
not we fear. That's the reason. Charles Spurgeon
said about this verse right here, he said, with God on our side,
I love this, he said, with God on our side, how irrational would
fear be? With God on our side, how irrational? would fear be. He said, where
He is, all power is. And that is so true. The Apostle
Paul wrote in Romans 8, if God be for us, who can be against
us? Who could be against us? That's
a reality we can rest in. I mean, we can rest in it. No
matter what we see happen. Verse 2 goes on to say, though
the earth be removed, Though the earth be removed,
though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though
the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains
shake with the swelling thereof. In that word, Selah, that's stop
and think about this. Stop and think about this. If
all of a sudden the earth disintegrated and it was no more. I mean, if it was completely
removed, the mountains were cast into the sea, the water just
swallowed them right up. If that happened, it wouldn't
affect us one bit. Not God's people. If the entire earth were removed,
it wouldn't affect God's people one bit. God has his hand on
us. And no matter what goes on around
us, we're safe. Our refuge, our strength, our
very present help is in absolute control. I am so thankful. I'm just so, it's so restful
to me. Turn back a few pages to Psalm
27. Psalm 27, verse one says, the Lord is my
light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? When
the wicked even mine enemies and my foes came upon me to eat
up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp
against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise
against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired
of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty
of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of
trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion. In the secret of his
tabernacle shall he hide me. He shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted
up above mine enemies. Who is our head? Christ is. We are his body. He is our head,
and David said, my head is lifted up above all my enemy. Verse
six, now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about
me. Therefore will I offer in his
tabernacle sacrifices of joy. I will sing, yea, I will sing
praises unto the Lord. He said right here in verse five,
in the time of trouble he shall hide me. He'll hide me. This is what every soul must
know who does not see Christ to be his refuge, his strength,
his help. Trouble is coming. Trouble is
coming. God's vengeance and wrath against
the sin of this world is coming. But he said back over in Psalm
46, back over in the text, he said in verse 2, though the earth
be removed, the earth is going to be removed. It's going to be. But though
the earth be removed, and he went on to say, though the mountains
be carried into the midst of the sea. And though the waters
thereof roar and be troubled, and though the mountains shake
with a swelling thereof, he said in verse four, there's a river.
There is a river. The streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the
Most High. This earth, either we're going
to see it in this lifetime, Or our God is going to resurrect
us to see it when He returns. Either He's going to return in
our lifetime or He's going to return at some point. But this
earth is going away. Every bit of this is going away.
I was reading something earlier today talking about man, he's
running all over this earth like ants on an anthill. Constantly
stirred up and just going nuts. All of this is about to be blown
away. So concerned about everything, it's all going away. And we know this, we have seen
this. And here we sit in perfect peace
about the matter. Do any of us doubt that the earth
is going away? It's all going away. Judgment's
coming. Fire and brimstone is coming.
And yet here we sit in perfect peace over it. And the reason
is because there's a river. There is a river that makes God's
people glad. The city of God. You know how the city of Kingsport
got its name? Now, I read this. If you guys
have lived here forever and I'm wrong, then you can write the
guy I read who wrote this. Kingsport has a river that runs
right through the middle of it, the Holston River. And before
this was a city, there was a guy up on the north side near the
Netherland Inn who had a ferry, and he ferried people back and
forth from one side of the Holston to the other. The man's last
name was King. And as people traveled up and
down the Holston River, it became known that this guy, Mr. King, had a dock. and you could
stop and have a place to tie off at Kingsport and you could
trade your goods. You could buy things and you
could sell things. The life and the support and
the nourishment and the sustainment of every city back then was the
river. They were always built around
rivers. Isn't that right? The life was
in the river. Well, there is a river that runs
right through the center of the city of God. The life of the city comes from
that river. The sustainment of the city,
the support of the city comes from that river. That river is
Jesus Christ. That river is the blood of Jesus
Christ. That river is the peace that
comes through that blood. I mean, it creates absolute peace. You know why we have peace? Do
you know why we have peace, such peace? The blood of Jesus Christ. That's the whole reason. That's
why we can sit here and announce this world is ending. Destruction
is coming. There is a hell and God is putting
people in it. And we can sit here in total
peace. It's because of that river. That river, the life that comes
through that river of blood, the forgiveness, the fulfillment,
the comfort, that river makes God's people glad. He said in verse five, God is
in the midst of that river. I love how 2 Corinthians 5 says,
God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. God did
this. Therefore, he said, that river,
that city rather, is not going to be moved. She shall not be
moved. God shall help her in that right
early. That's a river of peace. That's
a river of peace. I love this, verse 6 tells us
what man did and what God did. Very directly, what man did and
what God did. Verse 6 says, the heathen raged. The kingdoms were moved. He uttered
his voice, the earth melted. Let the heathen rage. Let them
rage all they want to. God is not at war with heathen
man. God is not at war with the world
of men who are against Him. Look quickly with me at John
16. John 16. Our Lord said in verse
33. These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. I've already overcome it. I've
already overcome man. I've already overcome sin. It's a done deal. Sin lifts up
its voice in rage against the anointed and against His people.
But He has already spoken. The earth is melted. The earth
is melted. Look what it says back in Psalm
46 verse 7. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. And then there's another Selah.
Stop and think about this. What makes us worthy of his kindness
and his mercy? What makes us worthy? I think
about this all the time. I'm constantly writing notes
talking about man's sin and God's hatred of it. He cannot clear
the guilty, will not, will by no means clear the... Why is
he going to show mercy to us? Why us? The only answer there is, is
that river. That's the only answer there
is. The river that God in mercy,
instead of crushing us, plunged us into. It's a mystery. You talk about
a mystery of godliness? The mystery of salvation? Can
we, by searching, find out God? Thank God for that river. The
God of Jacob, it says, the God of the sinner is with us. So verse 8 says, come behold
the works of the Lord. What desolations he hath made
in the earth. Just come behold what he has
destroyed. Just be in awe of what he has
destroyed. the desolations, come behold
his works." That's all we're here to do, isn't it? We're here to behold his works. We're not here to add anything
to his works. We're not here to take anything
away from his works. We're just here to behold them.
Just behold Him, His glorious desolations He's made in the
earth. Verse 9 says, He maketh wars to cease unto the end of
the earth. He went to war with our sin and
that war's over. That war is over. I love the
song Brother Mike Bartram sings talking about the war that Christ
fought. against the sin of his people
on Golgotha's hill. It says, the earth shakes with
the conflict, and the sun refuses to shine, for there hangs God's
son in the balance. And then, through that darkness,
he cries, it's finished. Battle's over. No more war. The end of all conflict. It is
finished and Jesus Christ is Lord. Every single battle that
you and I could ever have, he fought for us and won. All the
wars are over and now we can just rest in him. We can just
rest in him. Rest in the peace that he's made
for us. I love how Moses told the people,
he said, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. He
said, the Lord shall fight for you and you shall hold your peace. You're not going to have to do
anything but enter into peace. That's it. Solomon, it says of
Solomon, go with me real quick. I'm almost done. Go to first
Kings four. This is just too good to not
see it. 1 Kings chapter 4. 1 Kings 4 verse 20 says, Judah
and Israel were many as the sand which is by the sea in multitude,
eating and drinking and making merry. And Solomon reigned over
all kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines unto
the border of Egypt. They brought presents and served
Solomon all the days of his life. And Solomon's provision for one
day was 30 measures of fine flour and three score measures of meal,
10 fat oxen and 20 oxen out of the pastures. and in hundred
sheep beside harts, and roebucks, and fallow deer, and fatted fowl. For he had dominion over all
the region on this side of the river, from Tispha even to Asa,
over all the kings on this side of the river. Now watch this.
And he had peace on all sides round about him. And Judah and
Israel dwelt safely Every man under his vine and under his
fig tree from Dan even to Beersheba all the days of Solomon. That
sounds wonderful, doesn't it? That's what God's people have
in Christ. That's what we have in Christ.
We have refuge. We have strength, we have help,
and we have peace on all sides. Peace on all sides. You know,
sometimes it may not feel like it, but we do. We do, it's there. The reason is because the King
is in control. The King is in control. Solomon
said there's going to be peace, and there was peace. There was. Go with me back over to Psalm
46. Psalm 46 verse 9 says, He maketh wars to cease unto
the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth
the spear in sunder. He burneth the chariot in the
fire. He destroyed all the weapons.
No more need for weapons. Every weapon there was, he destroyed
it. He broke the bows, cut all the spears in half, burned all
the chariots. There's not going to be any more
war. We don't need them. We don't need them. In Christ,
there's no more war. So we said in verse 10, be still
and know that I am God. What a thing to do at all times.
I mean at all times. For the rest of our days on this
earth, Whatever it is that comes, and I can just tell you, stuff
is coming. Whatever it is that we feel like
we've been thrown into the middle of, this is all we need to do. That's all we need to do. That's
the only way to handle everything. Be still and know that He is
God. Just be still and know that He
is God. He is God and beside Him there
is none else. He is the all-wise God, whatever
the situation is. Remember this. He's the all wise
God. He is the all knowing God. He is the absolute sovereign
God. He's the good and kind God. He's the compassionate God. He's the holy and right God. And he's our God. He's our God. Verse 10, he said, Be still and
know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth. Let's remember that everything
that happens is for our good and His glory. Everything. Things are going to happen, we're
not going to understand them, we're not going to like them,
we're not going to see the good in them, but it's there. Everything
is for our good and His glory. He must be exalted, and He will
be exalted. And I just can't imagine a better
way to end this, a better note to end on. This is the most glorious
thought. I was looking over this in the
study and I thought, I wish I could enter into it and I wish I could
preach it like it is. This is the most precious, the
most settling thought that there is. Verse 11 says, the Lord of
hosts is with us. He's on our side. I mean the Lord of all the hosts. Every single thing that is. The God of Jacob. is our refuge. Just stop and think how wonderful
that is. Man, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. I'm going to
close right here, go to Isaiah 7. Isaiah chapter 7. Isaiah 7 verse 10 says, Moreover
the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the
Lord thy God. Ask it either in depth or in
height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask,
neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear ye now, O house
of David. Is it a small thing for you to
weary men? But will you weary my God also?
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. You know what the name Immanuel
means? God is with us. God is with us. God came down to be with us. The God of Jacob is with us. He is in control. He's with us. All we have to do is rest in
Him. That's it. All we have to do is find refuge,
find strength, find help, find peace right there in Him. Alright, let's all stand together.