Psalm 118. Psalm 118. I'm going to pick
back up in verse 15 where we left off in verse 14 last week. 15-18. I titled this message, I shall
not die, but live. That's something to rejoice in.
That is true. I shall not die, but live. God's people are a joyful people. Though we mourn over our sins,
we rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice in the salvation
that we have in Jesus Christ, a complete salvation. a salvation
in which God can be just and justify a wretch like me. That's good news. That's something
to joy in. God's people rejoice because
they have been redeemed, they have been purchased by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have been given life, eternal
life, Now that's more than the length of it. That's the quality
of it. It's the life of God. Eternal
life is to know God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. When
we talk about eternal life, we are talking about the quality
of it, the life of God. And they have been saved in the
fullest sense of the word. Saved from sin, curse of the
law, Satan, death, saved by the blood of the crucified one. Now it says in verse 15, the
voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the
righteous. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. There
is a joy that the righteous have that the world knows nothing
of. And you know when I say the righteous, I'm talking about
those who have been made the righteousness of God in Christ. That's what I'm talking about.
And there's a real joy that they have that the world knows nothing
of. It is a spiritual joy, not fleshly, it's not of this flesh.
It's a spiritual joy. It's an inward joy. It's in the
heart. It's in the heart. And it's in
the Lord's salvation, in His eternal salvation of us, and
in His daily salvation of us. He saves us daily. Daily He protects
us. Daily He keeps us. This is so. You know that. The Lord has kept
you today. The Lord, here we raise our Ebenezer,
hither by thy help we have come." And we rejoice in that. And this
voice of rejoicing is in the tabernacles of the righteous.
Tabernacles here means dwelling places. It's wherever we live. It's where
we live. Wherever the Lord has put us,
wherever we tabernacle, dwell, there we rejoice. We rejoice in the Lord whether
it be a prison, a palace, or on Main Street, wherever He has
put us. John Bunyan spent 12 years in
prison, and for 12 years there he rejoiced in the Lord. It's called a tabernacle here,
or it's called tabernacles here, because this is not our home.
That's the reason he calls it tabernacles. It's a dwelling
place. This is not our home. Where we live is temporary. You
know that, don't you? And we know that. You know, one
of the things that really brought that home to me is when I was
probably in my 30s, late 30s, could have been early 40s, but
late 30s, my grandparents, both of them, finally had passed away.
I had gone to their home, visited there. Grandpa built the house,
and they lived there for 60 years. And one day, they were gone. And I've never been back. I've
never visited that place again. Where we dwell is a tabernacle. It's temporary, it's what it
is. Here we have no continuing home. We have no continuing city. We are literally pilgrims. Are we not? Listen to Hebrews
11, 9 and 10. By faith he, Abraham, sojourned
in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise. For he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Hebrews 13,
14, "'For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.'"
This is all temporary. It's all temporary. And that
doesn't bother us, does it? Does it bother you? It doesn't
bother me. There was a time it did, but not anymore. I have a home. I have a dwelling
place. Christ said, I go and prepare
a place for you, a place of acceptance. In John 14, a place of acceptance. We lost our place in Adam. In
Christ, it's restored. He said, I go and prepare a place
for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again
and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be
also. That's good news. That's good news. Now why such
joy? Why such joy? Well, because salvation,
listen, has come to your house. Sovereign grace. has come to
your house." Now God is not knocking, asking
if He can come in, because He owns your house. You read that
in Proverbs 60, all things are His. In Psalm 24, The earth is
the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and they who dwell therein. There
is not one thing that exists that does not belong to the Lord
Jesus Christ. All things were created by Him
and for Him. Whether I believe or not, I'm
for His glory, whether the glory of His grace or the glory of
His justice. It's one or the other. But here's why we rejoice
that salvation has come to our house. Remember what the Lord
said to Zacchaeus in Luke 19? He said, Zacchaeus, come down,
for this day salvation has come to your house. Your house. God has saved you. He's come
to your house. Your house has a divine seal
on it. You know that? He's given His
angels charge to watch over your house, to watch over you. Now
that doesn't mean, it does not mean that no trouble will ever
come to your house. But I tell you this, everything
that comes to your house is divinely appointed. It's divinely appointed. Nothing comes to your house except
God has appointed it for your good and His glory. You may be the only one saved
in the house. You may be the only one in the
house the Lord saves. But I tell you this, that house
is blessed because of you. You're in it. How many homes has God had a
child in and He's blessed the parents with good jobs and things
have gone well because He's got one child in that home? This world is blessed because
the church is in it. God has a people in this world
and this world is partaking of their blessings. That sun shined
the day for your sakes. And the unjust enjoyed it also. The Word of God says, all things
are for your sakes. And even those who don't believe
get to enjoy the things that God sends for our blessings.
The rain, the sun shines on the just, the unjust. It rains on
the just, the unjust. It rains because of you. And this, listen, this voice
of rejoicing and salvation, they always, always go together. Now God hasn't saved anyone that
didn't rejoice in it. That would be an impossibility.
And this joy has to do with the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says, "...the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly." Jesus
Christ is the right hand of God. He sits at the right hand of
power. He is the power. He's the power of God unto salvation,
it says over in Romans chapter 1. The right hand of the Lord does
valiantly in putting away our sins. Did Christ redeem or did
He attempt to redeem? He absolutely redeemed. Every
last soul, every last sinner for whom He died will be saved. They have to be. The law of satisfied. The law of God is satisfied.
And everyone whom God saves is nothing more than a sinner. He
died for the sinner. He said He died for sinners.
He died for the ungodly. But as Spurgeon said, it takes
God to make one. He said, A sinner is a sacred
thing, for the Holy Ghost hath made him so. You can't find one.
You can't find one. It takes God to convict a man
or woman of who they are or what they are. It takes God to do
that. That's a work of God. But the
Lord doeth valiantly in putting away our sins, in subduing our
sinful nature. It's too strong for us. That nature we were born with.
He doeth valiantly in bringing in an everlasting righteousness.
Aren't you glad you don't have to produce one because you can't?
You have to keep the law of God perfectly. And that starts from
within. You've got to love it perfectly
first before you can ever keep it perfectly. The Lord Jesus
Christ did both. He did both. He brought in an
everlasting righteousness. And listen, He does valiantly
in presenting us without spot or blemish. He's doing it. He's presenting
us before God without spot or blemish. Now that word valiantly
means in an honorable and excellent way. That's what it means. In
an honorable and excellent way. The salvation that we have in
Jesus Christ is an honorable and excellent way. He magnified
the law and He made it honorable. He's the only one who honored
the Father. And He is that excellent Way.
He said, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to
the Father but by Me. He's the excellent Way. He's
it. And this being so, let our voice
of rejoicing be heard in our homes, in our gatherings. Let it be heard in the workplace.
Let it be heard in the workplace. Don't get caught up with the
woe is me problems that the world has.
Don't get caught up in those things. I learned that some years
ago when I was working in a factory. I learned to just stay out of
the business of the world because it's nothing but trouble, trouble,
trouble. I just refused to let someone bring all their troubles
in there and then pull me into it. I have something to rejoice in.
I have something to rejoice in. The Lord Jesus Christ. Then he
says in verse 16, the right hand of the Lord is exalted. Exalted. There is no name like
His name. There's no name given under heaven
whereby we must be saved. Jesus Christ, is seated at God's
right hand, He is exalted to God's right hand, He's been risen,
He's exalted, He's Lord of all. He's Lord of all and Lord over
all. And again He says, "...the right
hand of the Lord doeth valiantly." But you know three times in verse
15 and 16, three times the right hand of the Lord is repeated. It's repeated. And I think it
may be in reference to the Trinity. For all three are involved in
our salvation. The Father chose us, the Son
redeemed us, the Holy Spirit regenerated us. All three are
involved in the saving of a sinner. That's why it's, I think, repeated
three times. And this threefold cord, listen, cannot be broken.
It cannot be broken. The Word of God says, If God
be for us, who can be against us? If God is for me, who can be
against me? Now, because the Lord is my salvation, because
He has done valiantly, I shall not die. You believe
that? I shall not die, but live and
declare the works of the Lord. This is a voice of faith. This
is a voice of faith. You know, these words I was reading
this week, these words were inscribed on the walls of Martin Luther's
study. They were inscribed on this verse right here. I shall
not die but live and declare the works of the Lord. I shall
not die, listen, I shall not die eternally for Christ took
away my death. He took away my death. There
is no death in the death of a believer. I shall not die, for Christ,
who is my life, is risen for me, and I am risen in Him." You
know, right now, every one of God's children are seated at
God's right hand, even right now. I mean, I know I'm on this
earth, and you are. But you know, at the same time,
in Christ, in our representative, in our federal head, we are seated
right there beside God in Him. That's so. We are seated in the
heavenlies in Him. I shall not die but live. This
is how we are to think and live in this world. The world lives
in fear of death. They live in fear of death and
dying and they do everything to keep from it. And I tell you
what, if you don't believe, do everything you can to keep from
it. But although I'll say this, our
times are in His hands. That's what David said. When
it's time to go, it's time to go. and nothing can stop it. But this is how the believer
is to live in this world. We are to live in the reality.
Now listen, get this. We are to live in the reality
of living, not dying. Live in the reality of living,
not dying. You know, David knew that what
he was going through would not take his life. But we know spiritually,
we know this spiritually, that nothing can take our life. Our
life is hid with Christ and God. That's what it says in Colossians
chapter 3, I believe it is. Our life is hid with Christ and
God. Nothing can take our life. But this is also the voice of
the Lord Jesus Christ speaking here. Even though He was going
to die, He knew death, death would not keep Him. He knew that he would rise the
third day. He knew that his flesh would
see no corruption. He told those Pharisees, destroy
this temple and in three days I'll raise it up. And they thought
he was talking about the temple. He was talking about his body.
He knew, he knew in three days. And he said this, I will raise
it up. You know how? You know why? You
know how he can say that? He's God. He's God. And as God, he is speaking. And
he says, in three days, you're going to destroy this body. You're
going to lacerate it. It's going to look, it's going
to be so, as Isaiah said, his visage was so marred more than
any man, unrecognizable, hanging on that cross. But he said, I'm
going to raise it up in three days. I'm going to do it because I'm
God. I'm going to do it. This is the voice of our Lord
speaking also. I shall not die, but live. And
listen, whatever belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ belongs to
those in Christ. Whatever belongs to Him belongs
to me. As heirs and joint heirs with
Him. As we live out our lives on this
earth, we live with a purpose. Everybody wants to find their
purpose for living. They go out in the woods, they go out and
they'll go take a sabbatical and stay for months trying to
figure out, what's my purpose in life? I know what mine is.
And I know what yours, you who believe. I know what your purpose
is and I can tell you what it is. To declare the works of the
Lord. wherever He's put you, wherever
He's put you, from the pulpit to the pew. I stand here and
I declare it, but you know, you support the gospel in supporting
me. You know that? In supporting me as your pastor,
you're supporting the gospel. And you are declaring the works
of the Lord by doing so. We support missionaries. And
by doing so, we declare the works of the Lord. And then, listen, in reference
to the church, she shall not die but live. How many times
has Satan and this world tried to put out that candle? How many
times have they tried to destroy the church of the living God?
It's not possible. It's not possible. She shall
live and declare the works of the Lord. Whether we're talking
about creation, she gives Him the glory. If we're talking about
providence, she gives Him the glory. If we're talking about
salvation, she gives Him the glory. Whatever we are talking
about, we give Him the glory, don't we? The providence that went on today,
all of it was for your good. God orchestrated every bit of
it. He orchestrated every bit of it. Each one has their proper place,
and we give Him the glory for it. But now listen. Though the Lord has blessed me,
and I shall not die but live and declare the works of the
Lord, yet in love He will chasten me. He will chasten me. It says in verse 18, The Lord
hath chastened me sore, but He hath not given me over to death, The Word of God says in Hebrews
12, 6, For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth,
that word means flogs, every son whom he receiveth. If we really understood the chastening
hand of our Father, we would rejoice and not despair or complain. If we really understood what's
going on. You see, the chastening hand
of God is evidence of sonship. "...scourgeth every son whom
he receiveth." He scourges every son whom he
receiveth. The chastening may be sore, even
severe, but it does not lead to death. There is no death in the chastening
hand of God upon His children. It's not. Now our Father chastens
us for some reasons here. Let me give you some reasons.
First of all, that we should not run with the world. That
we should not run with the world. The Word of God says evil companions
corrupt good manners, You see, the world has the same nature
that I was born with. So I have what they have, but
they don't have what I have. They don't have a spiritual nature.
But you and I are drawn by that old nature. We're still drawn
now. We're drawn to things. We're drawn to the things of
the world. You feel the pull of it. I'd have to lie if I said
I didn't feel the tug of it. As one preacher said, he said,
I still have one leg that wants to go dancing. Evil companions corrupt good
manners, and so he has to chasten us. He has to chasten us and
bring us back. Here's another reason why, second
reason, that we'd be not judged with the world. In 1 Corinthians
11.32, listen to this, But when we are judged, we are chastened
of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. We're His children. You know,
I have two sons, and they were grown up. I chastened them. I
didn't chasten my neighbor's son or daughter. I didn't chasten
them. I just told them to go home.
You're all going home. But now if my sons were acting
up, I didn't tell them to go somewhere, I chastened them.
Disciplined them, that's what it means, it's a discipline. Whom the Lord loves, He disciplines.
He disciplines. And then listen, chastening has
a cleansing effect. Proverbs 20 verse 30, The blueness
of a wound cleanses the way evils, so do stripes the inward parts
of the belly, the conscience. Now, I'm not suggesting that
you beat your children or anybody beat your children. And the word
of God is not saying that. But he is saying, here's what
he's saying. Love does not spoil, it preserves. It protects. You know, discipline
is a form of protection. Because if my parents had let
me go and go and go, I'd end up in a lot of trouble. But Dad had a strong hand, and
Mom did too. They both had a strong hand. Love disciplines. Love corrects. Love preserves and love protects. The Lord has chastened me sore."
Would you rather the Lord chasten you sore and bring you near to
Him, or just leave you alone? You know, one time the disciples
said to the Lord, the Lord had been speaking to the Pharisees,
and they said to Him, don't you know you offended Him? They're
offended. You know what He said? Leave Him alone. The last thing
you ever want to happen is God to leave you alone. You don't want that. Now in closing,
"...but he hath not given me over to death." He had disciplined,
he had chastened me sore, severe. It looked like he was against
me. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Outwardly, which one did it look
like he loved? Esau. Esau was rich. Esau had a big army. Esau had
the world. Jacob was always in trouble.
Jacob's father-in-law changed his wages ten times. I mean,
he was always in trouble. It looked like God loved Esau,
but He hated Jacob. But it wasn't. It's the reverse.
He disciplined Jacob that Jacob might know him. He let Esau go. I'm telling you the truth. I'd
rather be poor, living in a shack. Well, I'll tell you what. Let
me put it this way. Of course, you know the answer.
You've got the cheat sheet. You've got the word of God. Which would
you rather be, Lazarus laying at the rich man's gate or the
rich man? Now, if you go out on the street and you just give
people that picture without knowing the story, you know what they're
going to say? Every one of them, every last
one of them, I want to be that rich man. Not one of them want
to be Lazarus. But where's Lazarus? He's in
glory. That rich man lifted up his eyes
in hell, being in torments, he's still there. He's still there. "...he hath not given me over
to death, chastening..." Now listen, listen. Chastening does
not lead to death. God does not take our life because... Now this is an important statement.
This is important. And I don't want to make this
mistake of thinking that God taking someone who believed the
gospel, who confessed to believe the gospel and say, well, he
died early. God, you know, took his life
because of his some sin or something. God does not take our life because
of sin. Dying is not a dying is not punishment. It's a blessing. It's a blessing. Don't ever say
that a believer died because they had sinned or something.
No. No. How can you say that's a
blessing? You know the greatest blessing
right now, and I mean this, the greatest blessing, every believer
in here, the greatest blessing you could have right now is the
what? To die. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. This would all be over. No more
temptation. No more sorrow. No more tears.
No more dying. No more funerals. No more this.
None of it. Is that true or not? It's
true. There is no death in the chastening
hand of God. There's just correction, loving
correction, that He might bring you closer to Himself and walk
with Him. Walk with Him. As believers, we have much to
rejoice and give thanks to the Lord for. He is salvation. As God saved you, my soul, if
He hasn't, I'd run to Him. I'd flee to Him. He said, look
unto Me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth for
I am God and there is none else. Boy, sometimes it's hard to believe
that God has saved me. We have much to rejoice and give
thanks for if God has saved us, and we shall not die but live.
Christ said, because I live, you shall live also. We are not
going to die. We're going to be transformed,
transfigured, We're going to be changed. It's no more than
me going over here tonight and going to sleep and waking up
in His presence instead of waking up in this world. We have much to be thankful for.
I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord.