Psalm 126. Psalm 126. I titled this message. It seems too good to be true. It just seems too good to be
true. The gospel seems too good to
be true to a guilty hell-bound sinner. It just sounds too good
to be true. Eternal life instead of eternal
death. All my sins are forgiven and
gone. They're all gone. I'm going to rise from the grave,
this body. When I die, I'll go to be with
the Lord and bury this body. But I'm going to have a new body,
spiritual body. It's going to be a real body.
It's going to be like this body, except it's going to be without sin.
And I'm going to be forever with the Lord in paradise. As he said
to that thief today, shalt thou be with me in paradise. living on a new earth wherein
dwells righteousness, sin, Satan, death will never be an issue
again. Never. Never. That sounds too good to be true,
doesn't it? It really does. That's one of the reasons faith
is a gift of God, because it just sounds too good to be true.
But it is. Sounds like a dream. But it isn't. It's real. It's real. All this is real and much more.
We haven't even began to scratch the surface of glory. What that's
going to be. Verse one, when the Lord turned
again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.
I just and it's interesting. I just finished reading Ezra. where Cyrus told the Jews they
were free to go back to the homeland. They go back and they rebuilt
the temple. And then this psalm came up. And most, most of the
writers say that this is what this was written about. But you
know, it doesn't matter if it's that particular time, because
God's people has been in captivity many times over the years. It
can fit every captivity of God's children. But notice here that all this
good news starts with the Lord. It starts with the Lord. All good news starts with Him.
It doesn't start with me and you, it starts with Him. Salvation,
Jonah said, is of the Lord. Spurgeon gave this outline Concerning
that that title salvations of the Lord that Jonah had cried
out It's of the Lord in its planning. He purposed salvation It's of
the Lord in its execution in the fullness of time the Son
of God came into the world Took upon himself flesh went to the
cross Redeemed us cried is finished. I It's of the Lord in its execution. It's of the Lord in its application.
He brings salvation to us and he applies it to us. The Holy
Spirit takes the things of Christ and shows them to us. He gives
us a new birth, a new heart, a right spirit, and he teaches
us and shows us, reveals to us the things of Christ. It's of
the Lord in its Application it's of the Lord in his sustaining
power. We are kept by the power of God through faith But God
sustains us He keeps us or we wouldn't we wouldn't hang around
would we? The Lord keeps us and then it's
of the Lord in its ultimate glory Everyone for whom Christ died
will ultimately be in glory Every one of them. I don't know how
long this world will stand, but I do know this. However long
this world will stand, God has a people. And every one of them
is going to be saved. Every one of them are going to
stand in glory, and they're going to glorify and praise and sing
praises unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one of them. Salvation
is of the Lord. the Lord," he said here, when
the Lord turned again to captivity. God's people also have been a
captive people. God has never saved anyone, anyone
of that whole host of heaven that was not in captivity, every
one of them. He saved us out of captivity.
I didn't even know I was in captivity until God saved me. Then I realized
I was a captain to sin, to Satan. I wasn't my own. I had a sin
nature that ruled me. It was the king. It ruled me.
It was like a master whistling for his dog. And when it whistled,
I came. God's people have been a captive
people. When Adam fell in the Garden
of Eden, all his children fell, and all God's chosen people that
were in Adam failed. In Ephesians 2, it says, we were
children of wrath by nature, even as others. We were as bad
as anybody else. We were just as bad as anybody
in hell. You know that? Boy, when you
sit and think about that, there's no one in hell any worse than
I am. By nature, not by nature. God's people were captive, but
God has saved them from their captivity. Someday each individual
member and the church as a whole is going to be delivered from
this Babylonish world. We're going to be delivered and
that church will finally be, the body of Christ will finally
be delivered completely out of Babylon. Now, when we heard this, when
we first heard the gospel and God made us to understand
our captivity, He made us to understand our captivity to his
law. I never understood that until
God saved me. The law of God never bothered me until God saved
me. I remember after the Lord had
saved me, after I had heard the gospel and I believed the gospel,
I remember reading in the Old Testament, and for the first
time, I was stricken in my heart. Every time I'd read, I'd be guilty,
guilty, guilty. I'm guilty of everything. I've
either thought of it, I've either thought it or done it. Just guilty. I thought, wow, you're in trouble.
You're in trouble. And then to hear, to hear that
there's freedom, to hear there's pardon, there's forgiveness,
there's justification, there's righteousness to everyone whom
the Lord sets free. That just seemed too good to
be true. Even now, sometimes, sitting in my study. Believing and understanding that
God has saved me seems too good to be true. To know that I'll
stand in glory someday through no fault of my own seems too
good to be true. Because many of them have perished
and there's no reason I didn't perish except that God loved
me. Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. God had every reason Because
of who I am to hate me. He had every reason to do it.
And yet God loved me. And everyone whom he saved, he
loved them. He didn't save them because he
had to. God saved you because he loved
you. He loved you with an everlasting love. That's astounding. And he said here, he says here,
when the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like
them that dream. Can this be so? Can this be so? I can just imagine somebody,
someone who's been told that they have, you know, they have
cancer or they're a month to live. And then they go to the
doctor and it's gone. It's gone. It's just, it's like
a dream. He said, really? I mean, can
it be? And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's
blood? Don't we sing that? We ought to sing that with such
heart that I found an interest. Can, can it be that I, a rich
like me should find an interest in the Savior's blood? That's just like a dream, like
a dream. When the Lord turned again the
captivity of Zion, we were like them that drink. 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. If you'll notice here in verse one and two, notice
the two words, when and then, when and then. This is the order
of all things. When God moves, when God moves,
then things happen. When God moves. When God says
live, then the sinner lives. You're not gonna talk someone
into salvation when God saves them. When He says live, then
they'll live. When God calls you by His grace,
when He called me by His grace, then we responded. Then we believed. Then we came to him. When he
called us, then we came. We would not have come had he
not called us. When God says, set the captive
free, then the captive goes free. Does not the captive go free? When the Lord says, set him free.
I found a ransom. Set him free. It's not when you do something.
It's when God does something. Then you do something. You and
I respond to what God does. He does a work of grace in us,
we respond in grace. And when God sets us free, then
our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue was singing. I
can just see the Israelites in captivity in Babylon, or they
was in captivity in Egypt, you know, they'd been in captivity.
God's people have been a captive people. But when Cyrus, you see,
when Cyrus came out, they'd been, I think they'd gone through a
couple kings, but when Cyrus came in and conquered Babylon,
he made this proclamation, go free. He just came out and said,
you're free. Go back to your homeland. Build
the city again. Build the temple. And they ended
up building the wall. You know what all that happened.
But Cyrus came out, and he declared freedom. He declared the captives
free. Just free. And he said, our mouths
was filled with laughter. It was mourning, but now it's
laughter. Really? Free? We can leave. We can walk out of the city.
You're free. Those whom the Lord says free
are what? Free indeed. You're free. You are free people.
You are free people. Nobody on this earth is free
except those whom the Lord has saved. You are free people. Nobody else is. Nobody else. I've never, listen here, then
was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue was singing. I've
never met anyone whom God has saved. I've never met anyone
that was mad because God saved him and set him free. I've never
met anyone. He didn't make me mad. No. But notice here, our mouth
was filled with laughter instead of mourning. Where there's real
conviction of sin, There will be real mourning over sin. You
and I don't realize or didn't realize we were in captivity
until God saved us. And then we began to mourn over
our sins. But when God turned us to Christ,
when the Holy Spirit turned us to Christ and showed us in Christ
our salvation, our freedom, when He did that for the first time,
we found real joy in the Lord. I mean real joy. Real laughter and real singing. Have you ever just thought about,
I mean, really sit down and thought about the gospel, thought about
Christ, or even sat under and listened to a message when the
preacher's preaching? You just want to laugh. I have. I want to just laugh. Look at
what the Lord has done. It's a joyful laugh. It's a joyful
laugh. Instead of, woe is me, it's,
oh, happy day. When Jesus washed, the Lord Jesus
washed my sins away. They're gone. Listen to Isaiah
35, 10. And the ransom of the Lord shall return. and come to Zion with songs and
everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Has the Lord made
you glad? Has he really made you glad?
Is salvation in Christ, is it really real to you? Has he given you, has he put
a song in your heart? Has he really? even the heathen noticed a difference
when Cyrus came. And here's something interesting.
Christ is our Cyrus. He's our Cyrus. He's the one
who's declared liberty. He's the one who set the captive
free. But I was reading in one of the Commentaries, I don't
remember which one and it said Daniel It was probably Daniel
that read the prophecy of Isaiah to this man And when he read that prophecy
he went out and set the people free And when he did this listen
when he did this They said among the heathen the Lord have done
great things for them. Even they recognized that Even
they recognized that God, their God is special, and they are
special. Then said they among the heathen,
the Lord hath done great things for them. Even the Babylonian
had to confess that the Lord had done great things for them. God's not gonna save anyone and
there not be a difference. And your old worldly friends,
your family, They will recognize the difference. They will recognize
the difference. I wrote this down today. I said,
I wonder, do my old worldly friends and unbelieving family see a
real difference in the God I worship and the one they worship? There's
a real difference. There's a real difference. But
here's our response to what they, you know, the heathen said, well,
the Lord's done great things for them. He has set them free. They recognize the Lord set them
free. But listen to hear what the Lord's people say. The Lord
had done great things for us. Yes, you're right. You're right. The Lord has done great things
for us, whereof we are glad. You see, salvation is experience. He has done great things for
us, and we are glad. Loved me, chose me, redeemed
me, intercedes for me, coming for me, prepared a place for
me, and you too who believe. He went back to glory to prepare
a place for us. And now he's going to come and
get us one by one and take us to that place. I don't look at believers when
they die. I don't look at it as death. It's just a transfiguration.
It's just changing places. You just went from here to there.
You went from a bad place to a good place. You went to paradise. Paradise. The Lord's done great things
for us. Well, he has, hasn't he? He has. The testimony of the captive
set free is this, the Lord has done great things for us. You
know what a true testimony is? And Jeremy, my youngest son,
called me some time ago. And he asked me about witnessing
to people, people he worked, places he did business, he goes
to. And he says, they say something. He said, I'm at a loss for words.
Well, first of all, when you're a young believer, just, and here's
what I told him. Here's what I told him. Just
tell what the Lord's done for you. Just that, that's it. What did the woman at the well
do? Come see a man that told me everything I ever did. That demonic man whom the Lord
cast out, the legion, he wanted to go with the Lord, and the
Lord said, you go back home. You go back home. You tell what
great things the Lord's done for you. That's it. The best testimony you can give
It's not a theological outline testimony. It's just telling
what God did for you in Christ. Love me in Christ. Chose me in
Christ. Christ came into this world,
lived for me, died for me, rose for me, intercedes for me, and
is coming back for me. Did you hear me say I did anything?
Or you did anything? He did it all. That's the gospel. It's not he's done all he can
do. Now the rest is up to you. None of it's up to you. It's
all in God's hands. So it was all, I have laid help. God said, I have laid help upon
one that is mighty. And it ain't me. It's his son. It's his son. It's not telling
what you've done for the Lord is telling what he's done for
you. And note, the Lord had purposed their deliverance long before
they knew it. And then in the fullness of time,
he made it happen. Cyrus, whose name means son, S-U-M,
but his name means son. And the deliverance he gave to
Israel, you know that was mentioned? almost nearly 200 years before
he was born. 200 years. You know, this is interesting. You know, anybody can pick up
the Bible and read that story and read where God said Cyrus
is going to deliver. He's my shepherd. I'll read this
to you in a minute. He's my shepherd. He's going to deliver. And then
200 years goes by. Cyrus comes along and delivers
Israel. Well, isn't that incidental? No, it's not. It's providential.
It's not incidental. It's providential. Nothing's
incidental. It's all providential. Look over
in Isaiah 44. Look in verse 24. Isaiah 44, 24, Thus saith the
Lord thy Redeemer, He that formed thee from the womb, I am the
Lord that maketh all things, that stretcheth forth the heavens
alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself, that frustrateth
the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad, that turneth
wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish, that
confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of
his messengers, that saith to Jerusalem, thou shalt be inhabited,
and to the cities of Judah, ye shall be built, and I will raise
up the decayed places thereof, that saith to the deep, be dry,
and I will dry up the rivers, that saith of Cyrus, here's a
prophecy of Cyrus, he's my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure,
even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built, and to the temple
thy foundation shall be laid. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I have upholding." Now can you imagine,
can you imagine Daniel reading this to Cyrus? All of these,
these triumphs that he's had, all these wars that he has won,
And then, if this be so, if Daniel reading this to him, he said
here, whose right hand I have up, I have holden to subdue nations
before him, and I will loose the loins of kings to open before
him the two lead gates, and the gates shall not be shut. And
then it goes on there, but Christ is the one spoken of here. Christ
is our Cyrus, our deliverer, our king, and the one who sets
the captive free. He's our Cyrus. That's just interesting. The Word of God is so accurate. You have to be a fool to say
it's not. It's so accurate. And the great
things that the Lord has done for us in Christ were purposed
and set forth in eternity. Throughout the whole Old Testament,
what do we read of? The Lord Jesus Christ. We read
of someone coming. We read of him in types and pictures
and then Then he comes. Then he comes. The Lord Jesus,
as I've said, is our Cyrus who was spoken of long before he
came into the world. Long before he came, he was spoken
of. This struck my mind today. You know, he was a man. He was
a real man. He's real human. The scripture
says he grew in wisdom and in stature. Our Lord did. As a man, he did. As God, he
knew all things. We know that. But as a man, he
learned all things. He learned growing up. And it
just struck me today, because I know it had to happen at an
early age, because at 12 years of age, he's in the temple. But here he is reading the scriptures,
or the scriptures being read to him, and he's reading it,
and it's revealed to him, that's me. That's me, I'm the Lamb of God.
I'm the sacrifice. I'm the sacrifice. I'm the high
priest. I'm all these things. That's
me. It's like when Cyrus looked and
he read this, it's like, that's speaking of me. And I know, I
know our Lord, as a man, learned. He learned all things. yet learned
he obedience by the things which he suffered and he learned he's the messiah he's our he's he's the messiah
and then it's written in the scriptures concerning the lord
jesus christ listen here isaiah 61 1 the spirit of the lord god
is upon me because the lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings
unto the meek and hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison
to them that are bound. He's our Cyrus. He's the one
who set us free. Our Lord did. And then he says
in verse four, turn again our captivity, O Lord, as the streams
in the south. You know the Lord has to keep
turning us, doesn't he? He has to keep turning us. Listen
to this Psalm. Turn us again, O God, and cause
thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Turn us again. That's
in Psalm 80, verse 3, verse 7, and verse 19. He says it three
times in that Psalm. Turn us again, and we shall be
saved. Turn us again, and we shall be saved. always bringing
us out of captivity always turning us you know salvation works like
this i have been saved i'm being saved and i shall be saved that's
the operation of salvation in us i shall be saved and he speaks
here of the south the rivers of the south streams in the south
the south was dry, it was dry land in the summertime. The riverbeds would dry up, but
when it would rain, those riverbeds would fill up and everything
would green up and it would be beautiful. It'd be beautiful. And the Jews here desired that
their desolate country might soon be repaired and that through
the power of Almighty God, they would flourish again. You know, do we not have spiritual
dry times? Do we not have spiritual dry
times? Are we not in the South sometimes? I mean, other than
this South. But are we not in the South? In the creek beds
dry spiritually? We have to cry unto God, Lord,
send the rain, send spiritual blessings. Revive us again, O
Lord. How many times do we need to
be revived? Return us and we shall be turned, the psalmist
said. Turn us and we shall be saved.
Lord, keep turning us. You see, we pray for spiritual
blessing. We pray that the fruit of the Spirit might grow in us
and that the church would grow. And we pray thy kingdom come,
Lord bless thy church. I pray all the time. And this
is according to God's will, whether he does it or not, but I pray
all the time. Lord, fill this place up for Christ's sake. He
deserves, the Lord Jesus Christ deserves all the praise and all
the glory. These walls are a ring. with
the praise and the glory of that man who lived and died for us,
rose again and coming for us. Turn again our captivity, O Lord,
as the streams in the south, as you do in the springtime when
you send the rains and the streams are filled up. Lord, bless us.
Bless us, bless, give us spiritual blessings. Then he says, they
that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Sowing here is an act
of faith, isn't it? If you don't believe, you're
not going to sow. You're not going to sow. It's an act of
faith. It's seeking the Lord in prayer
for mercy and forgiveness. You see, we've got to seek the
Lord for forgiveness. We've got to seek Him for mercy.
We've got to seek Him to reveal Himself to us, make Himself known
to us before we can go forth bearing precious things, before
we can go forth with the gospel. If we don't know Him, how are
we going to tell people about Him? How are we going to do it? How can we talk about the human
depravity if we don't know it ourselves? How are we going to
talk about sin if we don't really know what sin is? How are we
going to talk about God and holiness if we don't know who He is? We go before Him in prayer, weeping,
in tears for mercy and forgiveness that He would reveal Himself
to us. The tears of a believer are different than the tears
of the world. They are spiritual tears. They're spiritual tears
brought on by the work of the Holy Spirit. They are tears of
repentance over sin, tears of failing, There are also tears of joy in the salvation of the Lord.
The Lord has saved me. Sometimes it's really hard to
believe, but as I've gotten older, I have learned to take God at
His word and not my feelings. One day I feel saved, one day
I feel lost, one day you feel that. I take God at His Word. The foundation
of my hope, my faith, my confidence is the Word of God. The object
of it is Jesus Christ. He's the object of it. And here's a promise. They that
sow in tears shall reap in joy. Our seeking the Lord in tears
will not be in vain. The Lord didn't tell us to seek
him in vain. He said, he that seeks me with
all his heart shall what? Find me. He said, well, I can't
find the Lord. You're not seeking him with all
your heart. You're seeking something from
him and not him. If we can just get to him. You
know what that woman said with the issue of blood? If I can
but touch the hem of his garment, I'll be made whole. She didn't
say, if I can just get from him, if I can just get his attention
and talk him into, no, she said, if I can just touch him, if I
can just get to him, touch the hem of his garment, I'll be made
whole. I'll be made whole. Those who, they that sow in tears
shall reap in joy. Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning when the son of righteousness
rises with healing in his wings. And then in verse six, this is
preaching the gospel to others. He that goeth forth, let me read
it this way, he that is sin of God, he that is sin of God and
weepeth, you know, our Lord wept over Jerusalem, didn't he? He
was sin of God and he wept over Jerusalem. But he that goeth
forth and weepeth, his heart is in it. His heart is engaged
in it. You know, Paul said, no, the
terror of the Lord, I persuade men. Persuade me. You know, and he and he wept
over the churches. He wept over their failings.
He wept over them, prayed for them continually. Our heart is in this, if God's
God's man, the man whom God sins with the message, the precious
seed, the gospel. God works on his heart. A man
asked me some years ago, he said, how do you go about preparing
a message? I said, I really, really over
the years, I have found out that the best messages are the ones
he said, how do you go about working on a message? I said,
I have found out over the years that the best messages are the
ones that work on me. Those are the best messages. I go forth and weepeth. I read
the word of God and, you know, I come out here. I want you to
hear what God has to say. I want to hear what God has to
say. I want us to grow in grace and in knowledge of Christ. There's
nothing more discouraging to a pastor than when you preach
and you preach and you preach and. Somebody is not hearing
you, some somebody comes along, you know, it's been sitting and
listening to you and you you think they haven't heard a thing. That's sad, that's heartbreaking.
It's heartbreaking. But he that goeth forth and weepeth,
his heart is in it, bearing precious seed. This is the gospel, the
gospel. That's the precious seed. You
see, he doesn't say bearing precious seeds. It's the seed, it's the
gospel. Shall doubtless You don't have
to go. I don't have to I don't have
to come out here in doubt God's going to send his word. He said
my word will not return to me boy God's Word is going to have
its effect on every person here tonight every person And some way more knowing someone
even though there's gonna have its effect shall doubtless come
again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. The sower
goes forth to sow his, I thought this, I thought, his tears, his
tears are like spiritual fertilizer. He's sowing that seed in tears. It's like fertilizer. His tears
are like spiritual fertilizer as he sows. I don't want someone
to preach to me theologically. I don't want to hear someone
speak to me like I'm sitting in a college class getting a
speech. I don't want that. I want the man speaking to me
to speak to me from God's heart to his heart to my heart. That's
how I want to hear preaching. I want from his heart to my heart,
not just intellectual. I don't need that. I need something
that's been bathed in tears. Here's a promise of success. They shall doubtless come again
with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. He might be
three or four sheaves. He might be 400 sheaves. I don't
know. Whatever it is, it's what God's
given, isn't it? Paul said one sows and the other
waters, but God gives the increase. God will do the saving. He's the one who does the saving.
This is what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 2, 19 and 20. What is our hope,
or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ His coming? For ye are our glory
and joy. You are our sheaves. When the Lord turned again the
captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream, it just seemed
too good to be true. That's what I wrote up by this
verse, seems too good to be true. He could have passed by me, could
have. Then was our mouth filled with
laughter and our tongue was singing, not mourning, not murmuring.
laughter and singing. Then said they, among the heathen,
the Lord has done great things for them. He sure has. You're
right. You're right. He sure has. The Lord has done great things
for us, and we're glad. I'm happy the Lord saved me.
Happy, I've been happy ever since. I'm not saying I haven't had
a bad day or two. I have, but I'm happy. Turn again our captivity,
O Lord, as the streams in the south. They that sow in tears,
they'll reap in joy. God breaks your heart. He'll
make you laugh when it's over. He'll make you laugh. You'll
know what real joy is. He that goes forth and weepeth
those who preach the gospel from the heart to the heart, bearing
precious seed, gospel seed, shall doubtless come again. They're
going to come again with rejoicing. This is not in vain, what I'm
doing. If the Lord doesn't save another soul here, it's not in
vain. His word doesn't return. If you grow in grace and the
knowledge of Christ, every minute's been worth it. It's been worth
it. Doubtless, he shall doubtless
come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Sometimes it seems like a dream,
but it's not. It's real. It's