What's that song we sing that says a thousand sacred sweets
before we reach the heavenly fields and walk those golden
streets? There are a thousand sacred sweets in this text here
tonight. Four verses. Go back to Psalm
92. Psalm 92. The hill of Zion yields a thousand
sacred sweets before we reach the heavenly fields or walk the
golden streets. I hope this will be sweet to
you. I hope it will be sweet to God in our worship. Verses 12 and following, the
righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. They shall grow
like the cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the
house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth
fruit in old age. They shall be fat, spiritually
fat, flourishing to show that the Lord is upright. He's my
rock. There's no unrighteousness in
Him. Planted in the house of the Lord,
that's the title. David spoke of the house of the
Lord often. He loved the house of the Lord.
He's literally talking about the tabernacle where he went,
where the ark was, where the worship of God was, where Nathan
preached, where the sacrifices were made. He's literally talking
about that place that the Lord had chosen to put his name there.
He loved the house of God. He was literally speaking of
that. And look at, go back to Psalm 84, just back a couple
of pages, Psalm 84. And we believe he was on the
run at this time and wished he were back in Zion, the place
of worship. Psalm 84, he says, how amiable
are thy tabernacles, lovely, are thy tabernacles, O Lord of
hosts, my soul longeth, it even fainteth for the courts of the
Lord. How about you? My heart and my flesh, my heart
and my flesh, crieth thou for the living God. The envy of the
sparrow that found a house, the swallow a nest for herself. It
may lay her young, even the iron altars, O Lord of hope. My King
and my God, blessed, blessed, blessed are they that dwell in
thy house. And I like this, they will be
still. Praise Him there. Be still to
know that I am God. We come here and hear about our
God reigning and ruling Christ on the throne and we're in His
hands. They will be still praising Him. You could also read it this
way. They will be still praising Him.
All their days. Oh, look at verse 10. A day in thy courts is better
than a thousand anywhere else. Do you agree? I'd rather be a
doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of
wickedness. You remember Psalm 122. I love this. It says, I was glad
when they said unto me, let's go to the house of the Lord.
Listen, our feet shall stand within our gates, O Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, the church is built, it is a city compacted together,
vitally united, joined together, where the tribes go up, the Polk
tribes. Parks tribe, Sheasley tribe,
the Davis tribe, the Torrance tribe, Hudson tribe, the Ogle
tribe. Here we are. Why? The testimony
of Israel. Gospel. Give thanks. That's why
we're here tonight. And it goes on to say, pray for
the peace of the church. They'll prosper. They'll love
thee. So David does. Peace be within thy walls, he
said. Prosperity within thy palace.
For my brethren, my companions' sake, I will now say, peace be
within thee. Because of the house of the Lord
my God, I will seek thy good. I need this place. I need this
gospel. I need you. Do you feel the same
way? Pray for it. David prospered.
Then you remember Psalm 27 where David's one desire. Is this yours? One thing have I desired of the
Lord, and that will I seek after. That I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life. He's not only talking about
being with God in glory someday, but he's talking about being
planted in the house of the Lord now, till the day I die, that
I may die in thee. Believe Him. Hold Him fast. The beginning of my confidence.
Steadfast in Him. Is that your desire? Oh, to see
His beauty in choir and His temple. The house of the Lord is not
a building. This is not the house of the Lord. Okay? This is the
church house. The church is His house. The
people are His temple. When it says God, God said, I
don't dwell in buildings made with hands. But, He did. Only so long as His people were
there. If His people aren't there, He's not there. Okay? He's wherever
they are. It just so happens that God's
people, He gives them a place like this, a tabernacle, a tent,
and this one's coming down, like the temple of old. And you remember
in Gloria, it says there's no temple there. Right? Who's the
temple? Where's the temple? It's the
people. It's the people. They're the temple. That's where
God dwells. House of the Lord. Where God dwells with His people,
in His people. They with Him. They in Him. This
building is not the church. It's a church house. If you destroy
this building, the church will meet somewhere. The church will
still stand. They'll just meet in another
building. We treat this building with respect.
No, not reverence. It's just a building. It's just
wood, hay, and stone. But we treat it with respect,
with gratitude, diligently take care of it. And this building
is reserved for one thing. One thing, you see these so-called
churches everywhere, they've got their gymnasiums and they
have their flea markets out in the parking lot and their whatever,
they have their social event. Christ said, my house shall be
called a house of prayer. This building and the grounds
and everything about it is used for one purpose, to come here
and hear the gospel. That's it. That's how you know
the difference. Can you imagine in your wildest
dream people back then having a bake sale to church? No way. It's a house of worship,
house of prayer. It's not a social house. It's
God's house. All right? This message, we're
not going to glorify the church. Some do that. We're not going
to glorify the church. We're going to glorify the Lord,
the church's Lord. The church is not our savior,
Jesus Christ is. However, the Lord glorifies His
church. Yes, He does. He shed His precious
blood for the church. He loves the church. It's the
place where He is, it's where His gospel is. It pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching. He sends preachers, puts them
in a place, a fold, brings the sheep in, calls, saves, feeds,
and it's like a city of refuge where Christ has promised to
be. I love thy kingdom, God, the
house of thine above, the church, thy blessed Redeemer, saved with
His own precious blood. How about you? Love to be here. I was glad when they said unto
me, Alright, Psalm 92 is so full. Verse 12, here's where we pick
up. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. He shall
grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Who's that talking about? Psalm
1, it talks about the blessed man. Who's that talking about?
Well, Christ must have the preeminence. He is the first, isn't He? And
He's the last. The righteous. Christ is the
righteous one. It says, he shall flourish like
the palm tree. He is the tree of life, isn't
it? The first tree, when I mentioned
in the scripture in Genesis 1, let me just read it to you. Genesis
1, the Lord said, I've created, given you the herb bearing seed
upon the face of the earth and every tree in which is the fruit
of a tree yielding seed. He keeps talking about tree and
seed. Seed and tree. Seed and tree.
And then in chapter 2, he mentions a tree of life. Now, what is
that? It's not a what. It's who. In Genesis, the very beginning,
Christ is the tree of life, okay? In Genesis 22, the last chapter
in the book, you are going to read that. It begins with the
tree of life. The leaves of that tree of the
healing of the nations. That's Christ. He's the first.
He's the last. He's the tree of life. He's the
tree of life. His seed. He is the seed, isn't
He? He is the Word. He is the incorruptible
seed. The tree of life. Christ is that tree. He's the
tree of life. The root of the matter is in
Him. If you are in Him, the root of the matter is in you. Now
like any tree, It comes from seed, which comes from the parent
tree. And our Lord came from the Father.
That's what He said. I've come from the Father. I'm
in Him and He in them. Now look at this, verse 12. It
says in our text, He's like the palm tree. He'll flourish like
the palm tree. Oh, how the pleasure of the Lord
prospered in His hand. Did He flourish? Isaiah wrote
of God's elect, servant, he said, he shall not fail, he shall prosper
in a thing that which the Lord has sent him to do. The pleasure of the Lord prospered.
Our Lord was that mustard seed, you remember, who fell into the
ground and that grew up a great tree, the kingdom of God, with
the fowls of the air lodged in the branches. Oh, how he prospered. Oh, how he flourished. A root
out of dry ground. Let me tell you some things about
the palm tree, okay? He's like a palm tree. Now, this
is not the palm tree in Florida with the coconuts on it. This
is a date palm over in the Middle East. The date palms, fruit,
date palm, all right? I've never seen it, but it's
one of the most beautiful trees in all of the Middle East. Our
Lord is altogether loving it. like the palm tree. It's a tree
that you can lie under the shade of and rest. That's our Lord
Jesus Christ, our resting place. The fruit thereof, it produces
great fruit. And they say that the older the
tree, the more fruit it produces, that they begin to really produce
when they're 30 to 100 years old. So they live a long time. And one tree can produce as much
as 300 pounds of dates a year. Our Lord is that fruitful vine,
that tree. It grows in the desert. He was
a root out of dry ground. That tree, if you see a palm
tree in a desert, what else must be there? Water. The water. Wherever you see a palm tree,
There's water. Christ is the water of life.
And the Feast of the Tabernacle, the Old Testament, the booths
where they cut down palm trees and
they made little booths to dwell in as a picture of, they were
in temporary dwelling places. And they put these little booths
all around the Tabernacle of the Lord and they all like camping
out. and his little booth, and what they were covered with was
palm leaves. Are you with me? That's Christ. He's our cover. He's our refuge.
As long as we're here. Look at the next thing. He shall
grow like a cedar in Lebanon. A cedar. A cedar is an evergreen
tree. You know Psalm 1, don't you?
He started to quote it. Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. His delight is in the
law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
This is Christ. And he shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf shall not wither, and
whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. That's Christ. That's right. Evergreen. Cedar. Don't you love
cedar? Cedar is fragrant. Oh, the fragrance
of a cedar tree. We used to line closets with
it. Oh, the fragrance of our Lord
and His sacrifice. What color is that wood? Red. That's what the temple was built
out of. Inside the temple was adorned Cedar, blood-red wood. It's a picture of the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redemptor. Cedars resist decay. Impervious
to rot, it will not corrupt. That's our incorruptible Lord.
He shall flourish, Scripture says. He shall grow like a cedar
in Lebanon. That's our Lord Jesus Christ.
Other trees are spoken of throughout the Scripture. And they all speak
of Him. Listen to this, if I can find
it. Psalm 71 says in verse chapter 2, it says, As the apple tree
among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sun.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit
was sweet to my taste. You like apple tree. Whenever
you think of an apple tree, that's our Lord. That's our Lord. apple
tree, olive tree. The olive tree is spoken of so
much in Scripture. The lamp in the temple, all the
light inside that temple came from the oil of an olive tree. Christ is the light in it. He's
the light. The oil, the Holy Spirit through
Christ. The fir tree. Fir tree is mentioned
in Scripture. You know what's done with fir?
Every instrument of music David made was with a fir tree. The
fir tree was made for music, music. And all our songs run
to him, aren't they? All our songs are of him. All
the instrument, that instrument was devoted tonight to him. All these hymns. He tells us
everything that you play on, let it be unto Him. In the praise
of His glory. Then there's the teal tree in
Isaiah 6. That's an old tree, like the elm tree. The oak tree
for strength. Gideon met the angel of the Lord
under the oak tree. Deborah was buried under the
oak tree. The idols were buried under the oak tree. Oak tree
for strength. That's our Lord. Our Lord. planted in the house of the Lord.
Our Lord came down here. The Lord put him. He said, I
put a vine in Zion. I put my son. I planted him. A vine. And that's where he is.
But you know what? First John 4, 17 says this. Anybody quote that? As he is,
so are we in this world. Trees. Isaiah 61. Turn there with me. Turn there
with me. Isaiah 61. This is what the Lord says about
His people. This is what the Lord Jesus Christ
preached when He came to Nazareth. These very words. Spirit of the
Lord is upon me. Isaiah 61, look at verse 3. He
sent me to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion. Isaiah 61,
3. sent me to appoint unto them
that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil
of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,
that they might be called, that they might be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified. He has made unto us righteousness. And we are righteous in Him. The righteous shall flourish
because of Him. We're in Him, by Him. As the
palm tree, fruit. Fruit. God's people are saved
by grace, through faith. That's not of themselves. Not
of works, lest any man should boast. For His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. Unto good works which the Father
hath ordained that we should walk in. Herein is the Father
glorified that we should bear much fruit. Listen to this. I
love this. I pray this all the time. I pray
this verse all the time. And you do well to do the same.
Awake, O north wind. Come, O south. Blow upon my garden. This is where The Lord created
a garden and He put the man and the woman in it, and that's where
He was, walking in the garden. The woman in Solomon was looking
for her Lord, her beloved, and asked them, where is He? They
said, He's in His garden. That's where you'll find Him.
Where did the Lord resort to all the time with His disciples?
The garden of Gethsemane. God's people are His temple.
They are His garden where He dwells. Listen to this. Blow
upon my garden, O wind, O Holy Spirit. Let the spices thereof
flow thereat. Let my beloved come into his
garden and eat the pleasant fruits thereof. Let me bear fruit for
his glory. Let me love thee more and more.
Let me rejoice in the Lord. Peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, timber, O Lord. I want to bear fruit,
don't you? Verse 12 says that the righteous
shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that meditate in His Word, the Word
of God dwells in them richly, the peace of God ruling, they'll
grow, evergreen, they'll grow. A tree is a living thing, a tree
is a growing thing. Trees reach for the sun, don't
they? The wind blows, the tree clap
their hands. planted in the house of the Lord. All right, here
it is. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall
flourish in the courts of our God. That's where you'll find
the Lord's elect, where you'll find His people. That's where
they will be, that's where they're going to be, that's where they
want to be, in the house of the Lord. David said that. One thing by desire. That's what
I'm going to do. We go where we want to, we do
what we want to do. If this desire is in you, you're
going to be in the house of the Lord. And your desire is to be
planted there and not be moved away, literally not be moved
away. When we built this house here
in town, we cut down many trees and trees that I didn't plant. The scripture says, every tree
our Heavenly Father hath not planted. going to be rooted up,
right? But then I chose some trees to
plant. They were trees of my choice,
and I planted them around my house. They were my favorites.
I chose my favorite trees. And I planted them, some crape
myrtles, magnolias. One in particular, one little
Japanese maple called a coral maple. The bark is blood red
all winter long. The leaves turn gold in the spring,
and then they turn a bright green all summer long. Beautiful tree. I chose that tree. He didn't
choose me. I chose it. Okay? I bought that tree. It's expensive.
All right? I brought it home. I planted
it at my house. I planted it. And it's in a prominent
place. That tree is my favorite. I show
favor to that tree. Know what I mean? I nourish it.
I water it. The other trees might not get
some. I water that tree. That's my tree. Every day, nearly
every day, I go out and sit on the front porch and I look at
that tree. God's people are planted in the
house of the Lord. Planted by Him. And they're going
to flourish. They do flourish. They do flourish. One time when we had some acreage,
We did the same thing with cutting down trees. And you know how
you mark a tree with tape? We brought some timber men that
came in and cut some big trees. Well, you might know what color
tape I used to mark this tree. Red. Every tree I marked with
red tape is going to stand. Don't cut it down. And many of
those trees I chose were scruffy little, I did this on purpose.
I went around and chose some trees that weren't worth keeping
because I could. Because I would. I was merciful.
And I'd wrap a little scrubby whatever pine or a little tender
tree, red bud or whatever, with that red tape. Not going to be
plucked out. Not going to be cut down. Planted. And that's everybody that's redeemed
by the blood of Christ. Do not be rooted up, and be flourishing. Be flourishing. These planted
flourish in the courts of our Lord. Flourish. It says in verse
13, they'll flourish in the courts of our God. These little tabernacles
we meet in, these little churches, these little local churches are
like little small flocks here and there. I remind you what
Spurgeon said about this, and I agree with it. He was really
prophetic, what he said. That when the Lord fed the 5,000,
remember? He fed the 5,000. He purposely
had them separated into groups of 50. Remember that? Why did he do that? For ease
of feeding them? No. There's some significance
to that. Spurgeon said this. He said,
I believe. And you know, he had a large congregation. Mostly because he was a celebrity.
Mostly because people did that for entertainment back then,
they went to hear that. Mostly because he was well-known, okay?
When he left, like that. But he said, when this place
is gone, Metropolitan Tabernacle, I believe that most of the churches
of God will be 50 people or less. That's prophetic, yeah. I have
known a lot of churches in the United States, all over the world,
a lot of places. Mexico, most of them are small
little folk, little flock, little courthouses, little courtyards,
little courtyard. The big house, the holy of holies,
we're all going to dwell there together someday. We're all going
to be in the holy place together. Until then, we'll meet in these
little courts, these little tabernacles. And there ain't a beautiful place
to be in. Safe haven for God's sheep. And I want to dwell here
until the day I dwell there. And they'll flourish. It says
in verse 14, they'll still bring forth fruit in old age. Look
right there. That almond tree has flourished
right there on the third row. The almond tree has flourished.
Your hair was no color when I came here, Nancy. Been here a long
time. Flourishing. They'll still bring
forth fruit. Say, I don't bear fruit. Yeah,
you do too. Yes, you do. Fruit of faith,
fruit of faithfulness, fruit of love for His gospel, His people,
joy and rejoicing. That man never did preach a message. He didn't come up to me and thank
me. Thank you for this gospel. They'll still bring forth fruit
in old age. It'll be fat and flourishing. This is the kind
of fat you want to be. If you feed on God's Word, you'll
be fat spiritually. If you feed on this world, you'll
get fat physically. But if you feed on God's Word,
you'll flourish like a green tree. Remember Ephraim and Hosea? Old Ephraim said this about himself.
He said, what am I, what have I to do anymore with idols? Started
out, God said, leave him alone, he's gone to his idols. False religion, things of the
world, idolatry, covetous, he was given to that, to the Lord.
Said, I'm not going to give you up. I bought you." And he convicted
him and gave him repentance and faith and love. And then Ephraim
says he slapped his thigh like, what's wrong with me? What was
wrong with me? And in the end, the very last,
the very last thing that Ephraim says is, what have I to do anymore
with idols? I've heard him. He said, I'm
like a green fir tree in the house of God. I'm here to stay. He wasn't in the beginning. But
now he's planted, away from planting. And the last verse says, if you're
wise, you'll understand this, and you'll read this. Hosea.
Want something to read? Read Hosea. One of the greatest
gospel books of the Bible. He said, I'm like a green fir
tree. This is where I want to be. How
about you? In the courts of God. Fat and
flourishing. Tushar. The last verse. Why does
anybody flourish? Why is anybody planted? Why does
anybody stay? Why does anybody remain faithful?
Because he abides faithful. Because we're kept by the power
of God. To show that the Lord is upright,
he's just, he's true, he's promised. He said, he that believeth on
me, he'll never perish. He hath everlasting
life. And not come into condemnation.
To show that he's the rock. If we're standing on Christ the
rock, we won't fall. There's no unrighteousness in
him. None. He's just, he's holy, he's
right, he's true. You can believe him, you can
trust him. 30 minutes. Get anything out
of that? Stand with me. Now, bless the
Lord. Father in heaven, thank you.
Thank you for your word. Let it dwell in us richly. Oh
Lord, plant us, plant us in thy house. Oh, Lord, let us be not
moved away from the hope of the gospel. Let us not forsake the
assembly of ourselves as a matter of some end. Let's exhort one
another and so much more as we see the day approaching. We verily
believe that you'll come for your people like when you left
them, that they'll be standing, gazing, looking, waiting on the
Lord. And you'll come for your people
and gather them up into glory. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus.
But until then, Till then, feed us Thy Word. Cause us to lie
down in these green pastures. Cause us to return and rest.
And we'll be saved. We'll find rest. We'll find strength
in Thy Word. Let the peace of God rule in
our hearts and minds to which we're called. Let us be thankful.
Plant us in Thy house. Thank You for Your house. Thank
You for this place. Thank You for Your Gospel. Thank
You for Your Son. Thank You for Your mercy. Thank
you, thank you, thank you. In Christ's name, amen.