My subject tonight is Zion, the
Habitation of God. I'm not going to read all of
this Psalm, Psalm 87, but I do want to read the first three
verses, and as God leads, we'll get through these. His foundation
is in the holy mountains. That is the foundation of Zion. Zion being the people of God.
Zion being the city of God. Zion being all of those, the
church on earth and the church in heaven. Zion which is the habitation
of God. And then he says in the second
verse, the Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings
of Jacob. Glorious things. of Thee are
spoken, O city of God." And then he uses the word Selah. How blessed
we are to be assured from the Word of God that our Lord dwells
among us. He said, I'll never leave you
and I'll never forsake you. Though our mother and father
forsake us, though men and women and friends turn their backs
on us, God never will. He has loved us from old eternity. He loved us when we were dead
in trespasses and sins. He loved us when we had no love
for Him. and He will love us forever.
He loved us in Christ and therefore He gave us to His Son in covenant
love and grace. The Father, He Himself gifted
us to one who is mighty. One who is altogether faithful
and altogether lovely. One from whose lips grace flowed. One who came into this world
and laid down His life to satisfy God's law and God's justice. One who ever lives, who represents
us. There is right now at the right
hand of God, a glorious advocate. He is our Great High Priest. He is our Mediator. And He sits
yonder upon His throne of majesty at the right hand of God. Always,
always looking out for the welfare of His people. I speak to some people, perhaps,
whose hearts are heavy, whose hearts are broken. I think of
the song in our hymn book, Does Jesus Care? Oh, yes, He cares. I know He cares, for His heart
is touched with our grief. Others around you may not see
the burdens that you bear within you, but He does. He knows every thought that you
have. He knows the heaviness that you
feel. And He sticks with you closer
than a brother would. And He's always for you. And
so we read in Romans 8, if God be for us, who can be against
us? Our Lord is for Zion. He always
has been. Zion is the city of God. Now literally and physically,
Zion and the daughter of Zion, these terms are sometimes used
to denote the whole city of Jerusalem. Including, especially, a particular
mountain. That is Mount Moriah. Mount Moriah. That means, the word Moriah means
Jehovah is our instructor. Especially Jehovah is our instructor
in doctrine. Never be afraid of the word doctrine. Doctrine is good. The word doctrine
just means the teachings of God. That can't be harmful. There
are people who foolishly say things like, I just want to hear
about Jesus. I don't want to hear of your
doctrine. Well, let me tell you something. If you want to hear
about Jesus, you'll have to hear of His doctrine. Because that's
merely His teachings. He's the great teacher. And that
which He teaches, that instruction that He gives us, is His doctrine. and it drops down like the dew
of heaven to refresh our souls. Moriah literally means then,
Jehovah is our teacher. Take something else, this word
Moriah means chosen by Jehovah. Not only is Jehovah our teacher,
but Jehovah is the one who chose us. All of Zion, all of Mount
Moriah, spiritually now, these are the chosen of God. And then
if we go literally and physically, all of Zion, all of the daughter
of Zion, that is Jerusalem, all of Israel, they're the chosen
of God. Of all the nations of this earth,
God chose one nation through whom He would especially deal
and reveal Himself. To that nation He gave His Word. To that nation He sent the Law
and the Prophets. To that nation He gave the promise
of His Son coming into the world. Our Lord Jesus is the seed of
Abraham. He's the son of David. Israel
was a chosen nation. God, because He would, He chose
Israel to be a special people. Now, by that I do not mean, and
the Bible doesn't mean, that all of natural Israel were converted. They weren't. They weren't. But there was within Israel a
remnant according to the election of grace. But as far as the entire
nation, God said, this is My people. And they were typical
of a picture of spiritual Israel. God's people. God's nation. A holy nation that God chose
before the foundation of the world. And so this word, Moriah,
it means that Jehovah is our Teacher. And Jehovah is the one
who chose us. We need only go again to the
book of Ephesians chapter 1 and read that the Lord is... We're
to bless Him. We're to eulogize Him. We're
to honor Him. We're to exalt Him because He
had from the beginning chosen us unto salvation. He chose us
to be a holy people and predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ unto Himself. So, this word, Moriah, literally
means, and also spiritually means, chosen by Jehovah. When you feel down in the dumps, get worrying about yourself,
maybe you've got aches and pains, Who doesn't? Especially as you
get older. And things go wrong. And you
have troubles and trials. Just reflect on this. Jehovah
chose you to be one of His children. Now you meditate on that. You
dwell on that. You think of others in your family,
others that you come in contact with through the week who have
no interest in the gospel and perhaps they never will, or maybe
they will, it's up to the Lord. But look at you, interested in
the gospel, interested in God's glory, interested in the Word
of God. And when you hear of what God
in Christ has done for you, your soul just rejoices. There's a joy that wells up within
you. Jehovah chose me. And I know
sometimes people come to me and say, I don't know why the Lord
chose me unto salvation. Well, I don't either. Except... He willed to do it. It just pleased Him to do it.
That's the only answer you can come up with. The Lord hides
the truth from some and He opens the truth to others. And our
Lord Jesus said, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy
sight. Why did God choose you? It seemed
good in His sight. Now there is no other answer.
It isn't because of who you are in and of yourself or what God
foresaw that you would do or that God foresaw as you looked
down through the halls of time that you would believe Him. It's
not that at all because if left to yourself, you would never
have believed Him. He chose you because He loved you and He loved
you because He would. And we thank Him. I tell you, a right view of God's
election unto salvation, that we were chosen by Jehovah, it
humbles you. It humbles you. You say, Lord,
thank you for choosing me. Thank you for the effectual call
that came to me. Why was I made to hear Thy voice
and enter Father's room when thousands made a wretched choice
and rather starved than come? Was it the same love that spread
the feast that sweetly forced me in? I like that. Else I had
still refused to taste of the grace of God and perished in
my sin. Owe it all to the Lord. Our message
is just simply salvation is of God. Salvation is of the Lord
from beginning to end. So this word that is Moriah,
which was literally a hill in Jerusalem, in Zion, it means
Jehovah is our instructor. John chapter 6, they shall all
be taught of God. That's what it says. All of God's
people. And everybody that hath heard
and learned of the Father, you know what they do? They come
to Christ. Everybody who's heard from God,
God speaks to the heart. He speaks through His Word. He
speaks by His Spirit. He speaks in a way that we hear
Him, not in an audible voice, but He stirs the heart. And He
teaches us. And He teaches us because He's
Jehovah who chose us unto salvation. And Moriah has another meaning. Thirdly, it means what Jehovah
will make one to see. What Jehovah will make one to
see. So I'm going into this, and I
want you to understand, leaving or forsaking the subject of Zion. But what I want to say to you
is that Mount Moriah is Zion. It is Zion. It is the New Jerusalem. It is the city of God. And as
you go through the Old Testament, I'll just take some time here
to show you some passages of Scripture. Go back to Genesis
chapter 22. Now this is the habitation of
God. This is where the Lord told Abraham,
I'm going to meet you in the land of Moriah. Jehovah is our
instructor. Jehovah chose, the one who chooses. Jehovah makes one to see. Nobody
else can make you see spiritual things but Jehovah. The great
I Am. And that's a name Christ took
to Himself. Several times He said, I Am.
I Am. You'll recognize this passage
of Scripture. This is where Abraham learned
that Jehovah will provide the lamb for a sacrifice. And Abraham
learned that Jehovah is his teacher, his instructor, and God is such
an excellent teacher, He teaches Abraham about the necessity of
and the glory of substitution. And He is going to learn this
lesson well. Now listen, if Jehovah is going
to instruct you, you will be a learner. You say, I'm so hard-headed,
nobody can teach me anything. God can teach you. You see, by
nature, when it comes to spiritual things, all of us are hard-headed. And I'll throw in this, we're
hard-hearted. and our minds and our hearts
and our thoughts, we won't pay any attention to
the truth of God. Oh, we may give it some shallow
consideration, but there won't be any deep meditation and thinking
about the things of God. He has to teach us. God's going
to teach Abraham. And the Lord says to Abraham,
and you know the story, He says, take Isaac up on a mount that
I'll show you and offer him there as a burnt offering. Now look
at the second verse. He says, God says to Abraham,
take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah. Jehovah is the instructor. Jehovah who chooses. Jehovah
who provides. for us, the provider, the one
who will make us to see. And I won't read all of this.
I'll read a couple of other verses as I get further into this. And
you know the story, and for the benefit of those of you who don't,
this is a great chapter. There's no question about it.
This is a magnificent chapter of Holy Scripture, and you need
to get well acquainted with Genesis chapter 22. So Abraham, he takes
Isaac. They go out three days journey
as two servants that go along and then Abraham says to the
two servants, now you men wait here while I take Isaac and we're
going to go up on the mountain, we're going to worship. And then
Abraham said, and come back again. That's faith. He's going there
to carry out that deed that God had instructed him to do. Offer
his son as a burnt offering to the Lord. Isaac and Abraham walk
along. There's the wood strapped on
Isaac's back. There's the fire. Abraham has
the sacrificial knife. Isaac remembers what his father
said to the two servants, "'Abide ye here while I and the lad go
yonder and worship.'" And Isaac, you see, he understood what very
few people understand today, and very, very few preachers. There can be no worship of God
without the Lamb. You leave the lamb out, you can
have some kind of religious service, and you can have some religious
excitement, but you're not going to worship God. You can't. That's impossible. All over this
world, on this day, People have met together under the guise
of religion, and they're saying, we're going to worship God. And
they don't even mention the Lamb. Don't even mention His sacrifice. They don't talk about His blood.
They don't talk about His death that satisfied justice. They
don't even talk about men and women, boys and girls, being
sinners and needing a Savior. They leave out those things because
they're offensive to the natural man. And they have all but forsaken
the Lamb of God. Well, Isaac said, my father,
okay, here's the wood, fire, knife, where's the lamb? And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide Himself a lamb for the burnt offering. That's satisfied,
Isaac. He's satisfied. I'll tell you
when you'll be satisfied to come here and listen, or go and listen
to Brother Alan preach, or whoever it is. I'll tell you when you'll
be satisfied is when you fall in love with the Lamb of God.
That's when you'll be satisfied to hear about Him. And He'll
thrill your soul. So they go on. Abraham builds
an altar. Puts the wood down. Isaac, yes
father? Get up on top of that wood. And why, Abraham means business. And he takes that knife out.
And he raises that knife to do what God told him to do. And
the Lord said, look at verse 11. And the angel of the Lord,
this is the Son of God in pre-incarnate form, the angel of the Lord called
unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said,
here am I. And He said, "'Lay not thine
hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know your faith's been
proved, that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld
thy Son, thine only Son,' watch it, "'from Me.'" From Me. This is not a created angel.
This is the uncreated angel. This is the angel of the covenant,
the surety of the covenant. This is our Lord Jesus. And then
watch this. This is a beautiful picture because
the Lord is going to be the instructor. He's going to teach Abraham here,
and He's going to teach Isaac. He's going to teach them a lesson
that they will never ever forget. And let me tell you something,
if God ever teaches you the glory and the beauty of substitution,
you'll never get over it. Christ took my place. He died
my death. He bore the wrath of God for
me. If God the Spirit ever teaches
you that, you'll rejoice in that forever.
Forever. Watch this. When God spoke, that's
when Abraham lifted up his eyes. You see, God has to speak before
there's going to be faith. Abraham lifted up his eyes and
looked. When will a man look to Christ
the Substitute? When God speaks. And not until
then. when God speaks. And when he
looked, behold, be amazed, be startled, a ram caught in a thicket
by his horns. When he looked, he saw a substitute,
Christ the Lord. And he offered him up for a burnt
offering in the stead of his son. And God taught him substitution. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah-Jireh. The name of that place is Moriah. This is where Zion will be. This is where the city of God
is going to be. This is where Jerusalem is going to be built.
And I'll show you that. Abraham said the name of this
place is Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will see. He sees our
need. He provides the atonement. He
provides the righteousness we have, but we can't produce. And
the Lord will provide. He will provide all we need.
And all we need is Jesus Christ Himself. He's all we need. We are complete in Him. And the Lord will be seen as
our great Savior in the provision that He makes. Moriah. That's Zion. That's Zion. And then turn with me to 2 Samuel
chapter 24. 2 Samuel chapter 24. Let me show you something else about
Zion and Moriah. In 2 Samuel chapter 24, David, in his arrogance and in his desired
to manifest the greatness of his kingdom, he conducted a census,
he ordered a census taken of all of Israel. God was angry. Because David
didn't do it for the glory of God, David did it for the glory
of David. So the Lord sent an angel, the
angel of the Lord. Again, it's Christ. And He sent some sort of pestilence. Seventy thousand men died in
Israel from that pestilence, disease, or whatever it was.
And David was sorrowful. He said, I did wrong, don't take
it out on the people. And the Lord said to the angel,
it's enough. Don't kill anybody else. Issues
of life and death belong to the Lord. He said, it's enough. It's enough. And then one of
God's faithful preachers, a man by the name of Gad, Gad told David, here's what you
need to do. He's sent by the Lord. Go up
to a barn, a threshing floor owned by a man by the name of
Arona. And you go ahead and buy that
land from him, buy that barn, and build an altar there and
worship God. offer a sacrifice on that altar. You see, over and over again
in the Word of God, we find the remedy to man's sin is the sacrifice. Never anything else. It's always
the sacrifice. And so, David goes to this man,
the Jebusite, And he says, I want to offer a sacrifice to
God. The man said, you're the king. This is a privilege to have you
come on my property. I'll give it to you for nothing.
It's yours, free. Sign the deed right over to you.
David said, no. I'm not going to offer God anything
that somebody else has given me. I'm going to buy it." And
he did buy it for 40 pieces of silver. And he built an altar. Chapter 24, look at verse 24
and 25. And the king said unto Aronah,
Nay, in other words, I don't want you to give it to me. but
I will surely buy it of thee at a price. Neither will I offer burnt offerings
unto the Lord my God, of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing
floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David
built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings
and peace offerings. And so the Lord was entreated
for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission of sins. But wait. You know that ram that
was offered up for Isaac? Did that ram put away the sins
of Isaac? No. Did the offering up of these
burnt offerings, did they do away with David's sins and the
sins of all Israel? No. It pictured another sacrifice,
the great sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. Well, you say, what's
the significance of reading that passage? Well, I'll show you.
Go to 2 Chronicles 3. And here, I'm trying to weave
these things together. We're talking about Zion, the
habitation of God. And Zion literally was Moriah. That's where Abraham offered
up Isaac. That's where David bought the
threshing floor of the Jebusite, Arona, and then built an altar
and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord. Let's go to 2 Chronicles
3 and verse 1. And here, Orona, it's the same
man, but he has a different name. And then Solomon began to build
the house of the Lord at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah. Now we know that this is the
same location where he's going to build the temple where Abraham
offered up Isaac. And we get further information
here, it says, in Mount Moriah where the Lord appeared unto
David his father in the place that David had prepared in the
threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite. And then he began to
build the temple. So now we know where Abraham
offered up Isaac, and where David offered up the sacrifices unto
God on the threshing floor of that Jebusite, that's where the
temple was built. In Zion. In the city of God,
literally. That is, in Moriah. This temple is where God was
worshipped. And there is no way that we could
even estimate how many thousands and thousands and ten thousands
of animals died and were burnt on the altar there at the temple
on Moriah. But once again, all of them together
didn't put anybody's sins away. was instructive, but it didn't remove anybody's
guilt because the blood of bulls and goats can't do that. Now,
let's fast forward to the New Testament and our Lord Jesus
dying outside of Jerusalem there at Zion on the Mount of
Moriah. That's where He died. We call
it Calvary. But it's at Zion, there's Jerusalem, and just outside
the gates of Jerusalem, there on Mount Moriah, is where He
died. But his death was altogether
different from the deaths of all of those animals. What the
ram couldn't do for Isaac, what the animals of David couldn't
do for David or all of Israel, what all the sacrifices couldn't
do that were offered at the temple, There was a sacrifice offered
at Moriah, at Mount Zion, which fully and finally put away all
the sins of God's people and satisfied God's justice. Our Lord Jesus died. How could
the death of one man avail so much? How could His death satisfy
God? satisfied justice that demanded
death for sin because of who He is. He's God in human flesh. He's the God-Man. And by His death, He satisfied
God at the same location where that
ram died and Isaac's dead. At the same location where David
offered those sacrifices on the threshing floor. Same location
where the temple was built. Essentially the same location.
That's where Christ died. And settled the issue. Settled
the issue. I'll tell you something, Zion,
that's the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's the habitation
of God. O blessed Jehovah, He dwells
with His people because His law has been satisfied. That which
was a barrier, our sinfulness, our Savior removed it. So God
dwells with us. He dwells with you. Say, I'm
such a sinful person. Yes, you are. Yes, you are in
yourself and so am I. But washed in that fountain filled
with blood and robed in the royal garments of the King, you're righteous in God's sight. And the Lord says, you're Zion. You're Zion. You're the city
of God. And He's not ashamed to dwell
with us either. Sometimes people, even children
of God, can kind of get on the outs with one another and be
ashamed to even be seen with one another. That's a terrible
thing, but it happens. The Lord will never be ashamed
to be seen with you. And one day when we get to glory, He will put us all on display
before all the worlds, before all of the angels, both good
angels and fallen angels, and before all of the ungodly. He'll
put us on display. And we won't have trophies. We're not going to have trophies
that we've won. We are the trophies. We're the
trophies of His grace. And He'll present us unto Himself
a spotless people, glorious, beautiful, perfect, righteous. in the Lord Jesus Christ who
is Himself the Lord, our righteousness. I didn't get nearly as far in
this message as I thought I would, but I've done run out of gas.
That's about all I got. So, get your black folders and
turn to number 19. I like this song. Though troubles assail me, Look
at number 19. We'll stand and sing all these
verses. Number 19.