I'll lift up mine eyes unto the
hills. From whence cometh my help? My
help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. That's
our helping. That's who we look to, Christ
and Christ alone. Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Proverbs chapter 18. I got a call from a dear preacher
friend this week. And we talked and had some wonderful
fellowship. And he brought up this verse
and I just could not get it out of my heart. The whole time I was up in Canada
and back here. It's just absolutely wonderful.
Proverbs chapter 18. We're starting in verse 6 and
we'll read to verse 11. A fool's lips enter into contention
and his mouth calleth for strokes. A fool's mouth and his destruction
and his lips are the snare of his soul. The words of a tailbearer
are his wounds and they go down into the innermost parts of the
belly. He also that is slothful in his work is rather to him
that is a great waster. And here's the wonderful verse.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. And then here's the contrast. Here's the contrast of those
who trust in themselves. And it's represented by the rich
man. The rich man's wealth is his strong city. And there's
a high wall in his own conceit. Here in the verses here before
us, we see a contrast of those who trust in themselves and trust
in their works, which we see in verses 6 to 9 and verse 11,
in contrast to those who trust in the name of the Lord and who are made righteous by
Him. And what do those who are made
righteous by Christ do? They run to Him. They run to Him who is their
only refuge. And we see this in verse 10 very
plainly and very clearly. As Brother Mott brought out so
well in Sunday School, it's a simple message. And it points us right
to Christ. Right to Christ. But only in
the Scriptures, only in the Scriptures do we And can we see our God? And only as the Holy Spirit illuminates
these scriptures for us. Because, again, as Brother Matt
brought out, there's a veil. There's a veil over our eyes.
We cannot see Christ in our natural state, being dead in trespasses
and sins. We have no desire for Christ.
We have no desire for God, no desire for the things of God.
But when he reveals to us. When we're born again by the
Holy Spirit of God and Christ is revealed to us. Oh, we see how wondrous he is. We see how wondrous he is, and
only then can we know who God is. Only then can we know who God
is, and then we spend a lifetime of him revealing himself to us
more and more, and we are left in awe and wonder. That is our
dear sister saying that he included me. That he included me. And all of us here have family
members who he's passed by. But the awe and wonder is that
he did not pass us by. That he chose us in eternity. And it's wondrous. And only as
God, the Holy Spirit, illuminates the Scriptures, can we see Him
for who He is and see ourselves for what we are. Only through the Scriptures can
we see, again, the truth of who God is, who He really is, that
He's absolutely sovereign. Only through the scriptures can
we see the truth concerning Christ, the God-man, the one mediator
between God and man. There's only one. And that's
Christ. And we can only see that through
the truth of the scripture. We can only see that as God reveals
that to us. And again, the truth of who we
are. and the truth of what we are
in our natural state. We are sinners by birth, nature,
and choice. And everyone who comes into this
world is in that state, whether they believe it or not. That is the state of mankind
in their natural state, dead in trespasses and sins. And then through the truth of
the scriptures, we are taught about the new birth. Christ himself,
the God-man said, he must be born again. He must be born again. No one goes to glory unless they're
born again. In religion, no one goes to hell.
In the Scriptures, no one goes to glory unless you're born again,
unless you trust in Christ. And that's the truth of the Scriptures,
isn't it? And we rejoice in that. We who believe rejoice that God
has taught us this. Because there was a time when
we were so ignorant of it, and we had no care of the things
of God. But now, He's so wondrous, isn't He? He's so wondrous. He's such a gracious Savior.
Our God is a great God, full of mercy and grace. And only through the scriptures
can we know the truth about God's sovereignty and how he works
all things out for his glory, for his glory and for our good,
for we who believe, for our good. And how he works his wondrous
works of providence, both in heaven, in the heavens, and especially in salvation.
Oh, what a great God. Turn over, if you would, to Daniel
chapter 6. And note what King Darius proclaimed after God had
delivered Daniel from the lion's den. We'll read verses 19 to
28, but take note, we'll take note of King Darius' proclamation
in verses 26 and 27. Daniel chapter 6. verses 19 to 28. So Daniel had been put in the
lion's den. In King Darius, we know he'd
been having a hard time all night, hadn't he? Because he loved Daniel. But because of a proclamation
from the king's mouth, he had to fall through and have Daniel
put in the lion's den. But oh, how God protects His
people amidst the lions of this life, eh? Then the king arose
very early in the morning, verse 19, and when in haste he ran,
beloved, into the den of lions. And when he came to the den,
he cried with a lamental voice unto Daniel. And the king spake
and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, Is
thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the
lions?' Then said Daniel unto the king,
O king, live forever. My God hath sent his angel, and
hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me forasmuch
as before him innocency was found in me. And also before thee,
O king, have I done no hurt. Daniel was one of the Lord's
people from eternity. Innocence was found in him. Oh
my. Then was the king exceedingly
glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out
of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of
the den and no manner of hurt was found upon him. He wasn't
hurt at all. He didn't even have a scratch on him, beloved. He
was completely safe. It's wonderful. Oh my, how God
protects His people. So Daniel was taken up out of
the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he
believed in his God. And the king commanded, and they
brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast him into
the den of lions. So here's the enemy of God's
people, being cast into the den of lions. What happened to them?
Them, their children, and their wives, and the lions had mastery
of them. They just slaughtered them all. and break all their bones in
pieces wherever they came at the bottom of the den. So God's servant was protected and
God's enemies were destroyed. Then King Darius wrote, unto
all people, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth,
peace be multiplied unto you. In here, verse 26 and 27, look
at this proclamation. I make a decree that in every
dominion of my kingdom, men tremble in fear before the God of Daniel,
for he is the living God and steadfast forever in his kingdom,
that which shall not be destroyed. And this is a king, remember.
This is a king who rules a vast domain. He knows what it means
to rule. He's been taught something, hasn't
he? He's been taught something, beloved. For he is the living
God, and steadfast forever in his kingdom, that which shall
not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He
delivereth and rescueth, and worketh signs and wonders in
the heaven and the earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the
power of the lions. So this Daniel prospered in the
reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. So beloved
of God, We can only know God as He reveals
Himself through the Scriptures to us. And the Scriptures proclaim
Him as an absolute sovereign. And here's a king proclaiming
Him as an absolute sovereign. In Daniel chapter 6. And again,
that king knows what it means to rule. He knows what it means
to be a sovereign. He knows. And the Scriptures proclaim God
is sovereign. The self-existent one. And this
is the one who has saved us. This is the one who has redeemed
us from all of our sins. The second person of the Trinity.
The Lord Jesus Christ. God himself incarnate in the
flesh. 100% God and 100% man. Wonder of wonders, beloved. And
the scriptures proclaim this. And we who are born again by
the Holy Spirit of God, we know we've been taught these precious
truths. We know that salvation is of
the Lord. We've been taught that, haven't
we? We've been taught that. The Word of God proclaims this
truth over and over and over again. In the Old Testament and
in the New, salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. And we believe the report. We
believe the report of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, don't
we? We believe it. We believe the Scriptures when
Christ himself, the Master himself said, I am the way, That means
there's no other way. I am the truth. He is truth incarnate,
beloved. And I am the life. Eternal life
is only found in Christ. Outside of Christ is eternal
death. But in Christ all is eternal
life. Eternal life. And then he says,
no man. And that means no man. That means no man. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. You who are redeemed, aren't
you glad? Aren't you joyful that he included
you? That is such a fitting song.
Aren't you thankful that his mind has been set upon you from
eternity? Oh, what a great God. And when
he said, I am the way, the truth, and life, no man, that means
not through a church. No man can come to the Father
but by me, John 14.6. That means not through a church.
The Catholics say they're the one true church. That's a lie. There's only one way to glory.
There's only one way to the Father. And that's through Christ and
Him alone. Some say, well, baptism saves you. That's a lie. It's all about what He's done. It's all about what He's done.
The only way to glory is through Christ and Christ alone. Not
through a denomination either. Only through Christ. Only through
Christ. He alone is the way to God. Thomas
Boston said this, you must wholly, you must wholly trust on Him. You must wholly trust on Him
as your Savior. And trust in His righteousness
is made over to you, imputed to you. And that for the whole
salvation. To you in particular. upon the
ground of God's faithfulness in His Word. I like that. He brings it right back to God.
He points us right to Christ, and He says, and our salvation
is based upon the faithfulness of God. Not upon our faithfulness,
because we're fickle, aren't we? We struggle all the time. We have unbelief. I know I do.
We struggle all the time. But God is faithful. Isn't it wonderful? Wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful. So this wonderful book proclaims
that salvation is in and through Christ alone. And God's people
believe. We believe it because the Word
proclaims it. We believe it because God said
it was so. And therefore we rest and trust in Him. And only through
the Scriptures do we know Christ and do we behold Christ as Savior. as the only mediator between
God and man, only through the scriptures. And only through the scriptures
can we know that Christ himself has obtained, has obtained eternal
salvation for his people. And only through the scriptures
can we learn of His death upon the cross, of His substitutionary
work. Not only in His death, but also
in His life. Because what did He do in His
life? He was His people's substitute in His life, fulfilling everything
that the law demanded. So we must not forget that. And
even in His life, He was our substitute, beloved. He did what
we could never do for us. And then He satisfied His own
law. He appeased His own justice and
His wrath by dying as our substitute. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. What a
Savior. What a Redeemer. And we can only
know this Through His Word. We would never have known these
truths. We would never have known these truths except for God the
Holy Spirit revealing them to us and through His Word. When
I go back and visit my family, I realize that it's only by God's
grace that I know about Christ. Because they're still doing the
same things that I did with them. And they're still in the same
state that I was too before the Lord saved me. And it's absolutely wondrous when we consider that God, we
who are redeemed, we who are blood-bought saints, born-again
believers, when we consider that God has had mercy upon us. It
just leaves us speechless. It leaves us speechless. And
we would never have known these truths except for God the Holy
Spirit revealing them to us through His Word. So with that in mind,
let us consider verse 10. what the Word of God proclaims
to us today. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. So let us consider the setting
for our text here. Back in biblical times, towers
were a greater security than they are now, of course. Castles
were looked upon as being very difficult places to attack. Ancient troops would much rather
fight on a plane than attack a castle. Because if they had
a battle on a plane, it was over pretty quick, right? It lasted
a few days, but it was usually over quick. But with a siege,
you were in it for a long time. And the people who were in that
tower were safe. He who owned a strong tower or
a castle felt however strong might be his adversary that within
the walls of the castle or strong tower they would be safe. That
that tower would be their salvation. Their deliverance, and I mean
it in that sense, their deliverance from their enemies. Again, look, the name of the
Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is saved. Lord here in our text is Jehovah,
which means the self-existing One. The name of the Lord to God's
people is a strong tower. Now names have two-fold use,
they distinguish and they describe. Our names generally serve only
to distinguish the individual, but here in our text, the name
of the Lord describes as well as distinguishes. As by the name
of the Lord in our text, we understand the Lord God Himself in His nature,
who He is. Who He is. as it's discovered and revealed
to us through the Word. This encompasses all His glorious
perfection, who He is, His almighty power, His absolute holiness, His perfect
righteousness, His goodness, His mercy to His people. His grace, which is given to
His people as a gift, to save and deliver His people. And those
who run to Him as a strong tower, they put their trust in Him. When we think of the name of
the Lord, we think of Christ Jesus our Lord in His great condescension
in becoming a man, in becoming a man to die for chosen sinners. And when we think of the Lord
Jesus Christ, we think of how He is full of compassion. God
Himself redeemed my soul. Every believer can say that.
God himself condescended, left the glories of heaven to redeem
me. To purchase me. And what do we
see him in light of that? We see him full of grace. Full
of compassion. Because it was us who sinned
against him. What a savior. So when we consider
the name of the Lord in light of God's character, we can see
that in contrast to the rich man. The righteous run to the
Lord, and they find security in the Lord, but the rich man,
in verse 11, which again can represent man just in general
in his works, and in his possessions, or in things that he thinks he
can do, his refuge, his security for the rich man is in his wealth. And we who believe on the Lord
find our security in God, in Christ, as He has revealed to
us in Scripture. And the character of God furnishes
the righteous with an abundant security, beloved. An abundant
security, because we are secure in Him, in Christ. Absolutely
secure. And who are we secure in? The
God-man. God incarnate in the flesh. And
don't forget, He has the power and the ability to save. We lack the power and the ability
to save ourselves. But He who is our Savior has
the power and the ability to save us. It's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful, beloved.
Oh my. So the rich man feels comfort
and security in his wealth, or the self-righteous man feels
comfort and security in himself. And it's a picture, again, of
the unrighteous man who finds refuge in themselves, or their
possessions, or their works, and not in Christ. Christ is
nothing to them. And I know, I was in that state.
I was there before the Lord saved me. And it's nothing but a refuge
of lies. It's a refuge of lives. It's
the direct opposite of the righteous man who finds all his refuge,
all his security, all his salvation in Christ, in Christ alone. And
then we proclaim, like the scriptures say, salvation is of the Lord.
And we praise his mighty name. We praise his mighty name. All
our needs are found in Christ. All the believer's needs are
found in Christ. In Lamentations the scripture proclaims this,
The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope
in Him. Is it not so with us? Is He not
our hope, beloved? Natural man makes castles or
strongholds of their own doing. Some trust in their wealth, some
trust in their health. Some trust in a church, the Catholics
do this. Some trust in religious things
that they have done, their profession, or their baptism. And this is
nothing but a refuge of lies. It's nothing but a refuge of
lies. And it'll bring them down, as
one commentator said, with great hailstones of eternal vengeance. But the righteous trust not in
these things. They trust in God. They trust
in God, who alone is our strong tower. The believer has left
the sinking sand of our own refuge, of our own works, and we now
rest upon the sure foundation of Christ and Christ alone. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower to the Christian, to the believer, in opposition to other
man's refuges. And even when we are not able
to perceive God keeping us all the time by experience, sometimes
we, in our coldness, feel like He's not there. But He is. He'll never leave you nor forsake
you, no matter what you're going through. And the believer, God
is always our refuge. We're always trusting in Him.
Think upon this, it is God alone who chooses us in Christ in eternity. It is the blood of Christ alone,
the God-man, that has purchased our eternal soul, that has redeemed
us. And it is Christ alone who dithers
our substitute, because the wrath and justice of God must be satisfied.
And in order for us to be justified, in order for us to be redeemed,
in order for us to be saved, Christ must die. Either God's
justice and vengeance will be either extracted out or taken
out upon the sinner, or upon the substitute. And I thank God
that Christ died for me. And I know you who believe do
too. It's wondrous. It's absolutely
wondrous. He's ransomed our souls. And
He did it all alone. He did it all alone. You know
why? Because God ordained it to be
so. And it's wonderful. He executed this wondrous salvation
which we have in Christ. And we have revealed to us, we
who are redeemed by Christ, who God is in the fact that his wisdom,
truth, mercy, justice, power, the fact that he is eternal and
immutable are the seven pillars of our salvation, beloved. His
wisdom, truth, mercy, justice, power, the fact that he's eternal,
and his immutability. Seven pillars, this wondrous
beloved, of our salvation. And we know that he is a strong,
strong tower, stronghold for his people. Because of who our
salvation is in, it's in the Lord Jesus Christ and him alone.
Note our text again, it says, the name of the Lord is a strong
tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. Strong here
in the Hebrew has various applications. It means strength and force,
strength and security, strength and majesty, strength and might
and power. It covers it all. It covers it
all. He's a strong tower. And the
Scriptures declare this precious truth over and over and over
again, don't they? That God is a God of all power. He's the one true God. He has
all strength and majesty, all strength and might and power.
And He's a strong tower for His people. Turn if you would to
Isaiah chapter 26. Isaiah chapter 26. Are you weak? Are you weak? Do you find yourself
struggling through this life? I do sometimes. Things come up. We're not expecting it. Things
come up. We're weak, aren't we? But what do we do? We cast ourselves
upon the Lord, don't we? We cast ourselves upon Him. We
look to our wonderful, merciful Savior. And in Him, beloved,
is everlasting strength. Look at Isaiah 26, verses 3 and
4. That will keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee. This is why you hear gospel
preachers, we just keep saying, look to Christ. We're looking
ourselves. And we're practicing what we preach too, because sometimes
our minds will wander off too. But we look to Christ, we just
look to Him, don't we? No matter what comes up, we look
to Him. Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in
Thee." Who is your trust in? Is your trust in yourself, or
is your trust in God? The believer trusts in Christ,
trusts in God. Trust ye in the Lord forever.
Look at this. For the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
strength, beloved. He's our strength. We're such
weak and feeble creatures, aren't we? We are. But He's our strength. He keeps us. Left to ourselves,
we'd be gone like wandering sheep, wouldn't we? But our Shepherd
keeps us, doesn't He? And it's wondrous. And in Him,
are you weak? Are you going through trials
or tribulations or loss? He's your strength. Look to Him. Look to Him. And in Him is found
everlasting strength. So we see how Jehovah is a strong
tower, beloved, for his people, because for in the Lord Jehovah
is everlasting strength. He's a strong tower. And this
is the God which is and was and is to come, the self-existent
one, it says in our text, the name of the Lord is a strong
tower, God who was or is and was and is to come, the self-existent
one, the eternal one. And in him is strength as well
as righteousness for his people. Everything we need is found in
Christ. Everything we need. Everything
that a sinner needs, he finds in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
alone is the refuge of his people. In his arms of everlasting power
and might, hold us up, beloved. And we can look back, can't we? And we can see how He continuously
has carried us through all, through our life. Even before we were
saved. Preserving us until we heard
the Gospel. And keeping us. He will keep
us until it's the day, the second, that it's time for us to go home.
To be in His presence. And He keeps us by His everlasting
strength. Whatever the circumstance, God's
people find themselves in, whether it be a time of joy, or a time
of sorrow, or a time of loss, or a time of gain, the Lord Jesus
Christ is the one in whom we find strength. In whom we find
strength. We look to Him who is the rock
of all ages. And it doesn't matter what the
circumstances, we look to Him. Again, our text says, the name
of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. Turn, if you would, over to 2
Samuel, chapter 22. Again, a strong tower was a stronghold,
and it was considered during biblical times to be a place
of entire security from harm. And in our text, we see the importance
of putting our whole trust in Christ, in God, as our strong
tower, and trusting the Lord as our Savior. Look at 2 Samuel
22, verses 2-4. And he said, the Lord is my rock and my fortress. He's a strong
tower, isn't he? and my Deliverer." Oh, what He's
delivered us from, beloved. All our sins. The law and justice
of God which had a claim upon us. He delivered us from all
that. Oh my, the God of my rock, in him will I trust. He is my shield, and the horn
of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my savior. Thou savest me from violence.
I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised. He is
the only one worthy to be praised, beloved. So shall I be saved
from my enemies. Look at that, though, in verse
three. The God of my rock, in him will I trust. He is my shield
and the horn of my salvation, my high tower and my refuge,
my Savior, Thou savest me from violence. Oh, what a Savior. What a strong tower is our great
God and King. Christ is a strong tower for
His people. And He's been appointed to be
a strong tower. He's been ordained by God to
be a strong tower for His people. And that's what partly leaves
us in awe, too. Again, the fact that we were
chosen in Christ and that he is our strong tower. And that
it was ordained by God to be so. We who once in our minds were
enemy with God and to our shame sometimes used his
name in vain. But now it's a name so precious,
isn't it, Bob? It's wonderful. It's a name which brings joy
to our hearts. Joy to our hearts. The Lord Jesus
Christ, my Redeemer and my Savior. Oh my. Christ is a stronghold
for His people and having been appointed by God to be so and
ordained by God to be so, we see the wisdom of God on full
display. The wisdom of God on full display. Christ is a stronghold
for His people because of the absolute perfection of His obedience
in His life and in His death for His people. and in the completeness
of the salvation which we have in Him. The completeness of the
atonement which is only through Christ and His death upon the
cross. His death is our substitute and
it displays the holiness of God, beloved. It displays the fact
that we cannot be in God's presence unless we are clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. And the only way we are clothed
in the righteousness of Christ is by Him dying upon the cross
for us. Oh my! So we see the holiness
of God on full display, and we see the justice and law of God
satisfied in the death of Christ. And Christ is a stronghold for
His people, because God has accepted the sacrifice of Christ, His
substitutionary death, in the place of His people, for the
payment of all their sins, beloved, and let that sink in, for the
payment of all our sins. Heaven forgiven us all trespasses
and sins, all of them. As far as the east is from the
west, God remembers no more, beloved. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. Oh my, what a
savior. And God has accepted the sacrifice
of Christ. And this displays God's faithfulness
because he chose us in eternity and we have been forgiven by
Him in Christ, and God's people have been redeemed by the shedding
of His blood, by His perfect obedience, and by His perfect
death upon the cross, the perfect atonement made for the sins of
all His people. And the believer again is clothed
in the perfect spotless righteousness of Christ, and the justice of
God, and the law of God is fully satisfied and has no claim upon
the believer. because that which it demanded
of you and I who believe was poured out upon Christ. Have you ever seen a greater
love than this? Never. Oh my. And Christ is a stronghold
for his people because as king he has sat down on the right
hand of the majesty on high. And here we see the power of
God on full display. He's reigning right now, beloved. Oh, Christ is a strong tower
for his people, a refuge, a fortress. And this tower is so deep that
no minor can undermine it. And this tower is so thick that
no cannon, no weapon of our enemies or God's enemies can pierce it. And he is a tower so high, beloved,
that no ladder can scale it. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
a stronghold to his people. He is a tower which is invincible,
beloved. and unassailable, undefeatable,
unshakable, unconquerable. And it is in this strong tower,
the Lord Jesus Christ, where God's people, His blood-bought
people, are safe. Safe. And it's only in Christ. And He is incapable of ever being
overcome, because He is God. So the Christian's hope, the
believer's hope does not lie in what we are. Oh no. You ever have folks say, you
all think you're holier than thou. Not at all. We know what we are. Sinners. See, they don't understand that.
Oh my. No, I sin more than I want to,
do you? We don't want to sin, do we?
Well, one day we won't, when we get the glory. But oh my,
oh my. So the Christian's hope does
not lie in what he is, but in who Christ is, the God-man, the
God-man mediator. Our trust is in not what we suffer,
but in what Christ has suffered in our place. Not in what we do, right? Because we can't earn merit and
favor with God by anything we do. But in what He has done for
us, the fact that He has obtained salvation for us, the fact that
we have peace with God through Him, that we have a full pardon
for all our sins through Christ and Christ alone. And the Lord
Jesus Christ is a strong tower. He alone is sufficient for our
protection at all times, beloved, at all times. From times of joy
to times of the greatest dangers in our lives, God's people praise
His mighty name. Let's look again at our text.
It says, and we'll see who runs to this tower. Look at this.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth
into it and is safe. Now, righteous here in the Hebrew
means this. We know what we are, don't we? Before I say what it
means, we know what we are. We're sinners, aren't we? Now
we who are redeemed are saved sinners, aren't we? We still
sin, we still struggle all the time. And it feels like we're
getting worse, doesn't it? And as we grow in grace, we see
more of our own sinfulness and we see the holiness of God. But
let this bring great joy to your souls as we look at this here.
Righteous here in the Hebrew means just. Just. Now in our natural birth, again,
we're unrighteous. But this says here, the righteous
runneth into it and is safe. The just runneth into it and
are safe. We don't always feel just, do
we? No, most of the time we don't, do we? But turn, if you would,
to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. The righteous,
the just ones, run into the strong tower, which is Christ. And, oh, let us always remember that
the only reason we can be called righteous or just is because
of Christ. Outside of Christ, we are unrighteous
and unjust, aren't we? But in Christ, we're just beloved. It's wonderful. What a Savior. Look at Hebrews chapter 12, verse
22 to 24. But ye are come into Mount Zion,
and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem,
to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God the judge of all, into the spirits of just men
made perfect. Now, we struggle with sin right
now, don't we? But there's gonna come a time
when we won't struggle anymore. We're made perfect. Now, God
sees us, though, clothed in His righteousness right now. Christ
sees us clothed in the righteousness of Christ. He doesn't see our
sin. That's wonderful. It's wonderful. And to Jesus,
the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of the sprinkling,
that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Brother Matt brought
out the contrast between the Old Testament law and how we
could not fulfill it, and how Christ fulfilled the law. The
better, the better. The new covenant. And the blood
of the sprinkling, which is His blood being sprinkled. that speak
of better things than that of Abel. See, all those sacrifices
in the Old Testament were just types and shadows pointing to
Christ. The substance is Christ. The
shadow is all those sacrifice, and then the substance is Christ,
and Christ alone. Again, look at our text, and
notice a contrast. We'll read verse 10 and 11 together.
in Proverbs 18. Notice the contrast between the
two different people here. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. And we know
that the only reason the people who run unto Christ are righteous
is because Christ has made us righteous. But look at the rich
man's wealth is his strong city and is in high wall in his own
conceit. So here we see The righteous,
in verse 10, contrasted to the unrighteous in verse 11. In verse
10, those who are made righteous by Christ, those who find refuge
in our great God, are called righteous. Just. In contrast to the unjust, who
find a refuge in a false refuge, in a refuge of lies, either in
themselves, or a church, or somewhere else. They're not looking to
Christ. And so we see a great contrast
right here. The righteous, what do they do?
They run to Christ. They run to Christ. They seek
refuge only in him. The righteous in Christ have
been shown by the Holy Spirit of God. That their own righteousness
won't justify them before God. And they have been shown by God
through the Word that they are indeed sinners. They are indeed
sinners. We acknowledge this, don't we? We who believe. We acknowledge
it. Because God the Holy Spirit has revealed Christ to us. Through the preaching of His
Word. Again, the righteous here are only righteous through the
righteousness of Christ. Only just. Only through Christ
can we be called just. And that righteousness is imputed
to us, beloved. It's imputed to us. And the righteous are born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. And then they live a life of
resting and trusting and struggling through this life, right? Running to Christ. And we just
keep running to Him, don't we? We just keep running to it. Oh
my. By faith, the righteous spoken
of in verse 10, look to Christ in all circumstances as the Lord
their righteousness. And this is what is met in our
text. When they run to him, it's meant that they are continually
coming to him. That's what's met in the text. They're continually
coming to him. Is it so with you? Are you continually
coming to Christ? It is, isn't it? I need him more now than I've
ever needed him before. And I know it's so for you too.
Every day, we need him more and more and more. And he's our strong
tower, beloved. And those spoken of in our text,
the righteous have a knowledge of him as their strong tower.
He is our city of refuge. He's a city of refuge in there.
Again, let us look here. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. The righteous runneth into it and is safe. Again, runneth
there means to run, but it especially means to rush. It means we just
take right off. Why? Because we're made willing
in the day of His power. He made us willing to run to
Christ. Oh my, we're again, we're so
weak, but he's all powerful. His strength is infinite and
we flee to him. And what do we find? Grace to help in time of
need. Grace to help in time of need. And the world does not
understand this. We didn't understand it before
the Lord saved us. The world mocks this. But that will only lead to their
eternal doom if the Lord leaves them where they are. Again, look at how our text finishes
here. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous
run into it and is safe. So the righteous run to him.
They're made willing. And they run to the strong tower. And they're made righteous by
Christ. And they flee to him. And they're what? Safe. Safe. Now, safe here in the Hebrew, It means to be inaccessibly high. It's not just safe in the building. Inaccessibly high. To be too high for capture. Do you see how high our strong
tower is? Our enemies cannot even access
us. Again, the Hebrew says to be
set on high, and then it says this, set securely on high. Left to ourselves, right? We
have no security, do we? But in Christ, we are set so
high that we are secure in Him. We are safe in Christ alone,
set on high in Christ, safe from the avenging justice of God,
safe from the curse and condemnation of the law, safe from our own
sins, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and safe from all
the dreadful consequences of sin, safe from Satan, safe from
all spiritual enemies, safe from the wrath which is to come, safe
from hell, safe from the second death. And we are set on high
in Christ. Beloved of God, we are secure
in our blessed Savior and inaccessible, unreachable by all our enemies. And Christ alone is our strong
tower. to which we flee. He is our rock
of refuge. He is higher than men or angels
or heaven itself. And we are in Him. We're in Him. Out of reach of all danger and
from every enemy and safe for all eternity. Safe from all eternity. Proverbs
29.25 says this, The fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso
putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. I ask you who are here listening,
are you safe in the strong tower that is Christ? Are you safe in the strong tower
that is Christ? Or have you built your own tower
by your own works, or by your intellect, or by your strength? And if you're seeking refuge
in the tower of your own making, it will only lead to your eternal
doom. May God grant you faith to flee
from your refuge of lies to the only safe, strong tower from
the law and justice of God, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. May He make you willing to flee,
to run to Christ in the day of His power, to run to Him just
as we who are redeemed have. And may we who are redeemed rest
and repose in our wonderful strong tower, the Lord Jesus Christ. And may God give us grace and
strength for this week, and for the days which shall come, and
as long as we're upon this earth, until he takes us home. And may
we draw strength from this wonderful verse. Amen. Gracious Heavenly
Father, we thank Thee for the wonderful truth that we've seen
proclaimed today. Oh, Lord, we rest in who You
are. We rest in You, Lord Jesus. in the wonders of who you are,
God, all-powerful, full of majesty and grace and power. And we who are made just by thee
run unto thee. You alone are our strong tower.
You alone are our hope. You alone are our redeemer. O
Lord, give us grace to trust you more and more. And let us
rest in the precious truth that in you we are safe. Oh Lord, we love you because
you first loved us. In Jesus' name, amen.