Psalms 76: 1-3

Q: What does the Bible say about gathering together as Christians?

The Bible emphasizes the importance of gathering together, where believers are strengthened and blessed. In Psalm 76, the gathering of God's people is depicted as crucial for experiencing His presence. The preacher highlights that while God is omnipresent and can be worshiped anywhere, there is something uniquely beneficial about coming together as a congregation. Hebrews 10:25 encourages believers not to neglect meeting together, as fellowship is fundamental to spiritual growth and encouragement. When believers gather, they partake in shared experiences of grace and receive blessings from being in each other's company while collectively focusing on Christ.

Q: How do we know Christ has overcome sin and death?

Christ has decisively overcome sin and death, as evidenced by His victory reported in Scripture. Psalm 76:3 speaks of Christ breaking the arrows, shields, and swords of battle, symbolizing His triumph over sin, death, and the forces of evil. This is a clear declaration that Christ has conquered our adversaries through His death and resurrection. The apostle Paul echoes this in Romans 8:31-34, where he proclaims that no one can condemn those whom Christ has saved because He died and was resurrected for them. The completed work of Christ assures believers that they are no longer enslaved to sin but have been granted eternal life through Him. Thus, the assurance of victory over sin and death is central to the believer's faith.

Q: Why is the doctrine of Christ's completed work vital for Christians?

Christ's completed work is essential as it grants believers full assurance of their salvation. The doctrine surrounding Christ's completed work is critical as it forms the backbone of the Christian faith. In Psalm 76:3, it is stated that Christ has broken the weapons of our foes, portraying His total victory over sin and Satan. This victory is further reiterated when Scripture asserts that His atoning sacrifice is sufficient for all who believe, symbolizing that 'it is finished.' Understanding that Christ has accomplished everything necessary for our salvation leads believers to live in peace and confidence, knowing they are secure in Him. This assurance transforms their relationship with God, providing freedom from the fear of judgment and empowering them to live out their faith joyfully.

Psalms 76. Psalms 76 verses 1, 2, and 3. 1, 2, and 3. When I was looking stuff over this week, there was like five or six excellent articles, and I'm like, how can I fit all these in? Like, okay, I can't. So, three of them are combined anyway. This is too good to pass up, Psalm 76. It says to the chief musicians, a psalm or song, aesif. Aesif, it's basically a song for the ages is what it is. And what a song for the ages as it sings of the Lord Jesus Christ and his beloved church. These two things are the apple of God's eye. Psalms 76 verses 1, 2, and 3. In Judah is God known. His name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion. There There, break ye, who's that? That's our breaker, that's the Lord Jesus Christ.

There, break ye the arrows of the bow, the shield, the sword, and the battle. And the battle. Selah. Pause. Consider what's being said. And sometimes in this fast food society that we live in, we, you know, and I'm guilty as anybody, we hurry through stuff. It's not the best way to read the scriptures. Read the scriptures and stop. Pause. Consider what's being said. Who's being spoken about? Well, let's look at these first three verses.

The first two verses are, um, In Judah, God is known and his name is great in Israel. In Salem, also is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion. He's speaking of the church. Yes, God in Christ Jesus meets with his people. He's promised that he would do so. He meets with his people anywhere and everywhere. In the New Testament, gospel age, you can be anywhere and open the scriptures. But I'll say this, there's something very unique and quite unique about our gathering together, there's nothing like it.

And the believer who doesn't have that is, well, I'll just, I quote Henry, I've quoted him many times, people who don't gather together and they say they're believers and they don't gather together or they don't, not compromise, they don't, Do something different to move where there's a church or drive however long it may be to where there's a church. They're either lost sheep. They haven't been found yet or they're sick. They're sick. There's nothing like gathering together. Now we have technology where it makes gathering together, but it's still, it's just not the same. It's just not the same.

So he says in Judah, the church is God known. His name is great in Israel, also a type of the church. So Judah, yes, it's a place and more particularly in this gospel age, his church, which is made up of his saints. Look with me to Hebrews chapter eight. Hebrews chapter 8. There's no need in apologizing for these statements. There's no need in backing down.

You know how precious this is when you gather together. I thought about Bruce. He said this in some statements that Bruce has made, as far as I'm concerned, have been the best phrases I've ever heard. One of them is when you're not here, You miss the service, you miss the blessing, like Thomas did when he wasn't there, but we also, because every member is fitly framed together. So I think that's the best statement I've ever heard.

And he also said, when you go on vacation, he says you get back. You feel like you've been in the world too much. And that's exactly right. And if you don't feel that way, then you're still thinking about stuff that you don't need to be thinking about. Gathering together, and we have different opinions about things in life. We have different ages. There is an age gap. I totally believe that. There's a gender gap. Men and women think different about different things.

But we have a commonality in the gospel of the grace of God. That's what we're about. That's what we need to tell our friends. You love your friends? Tell them about the gospel. Invite them. It's just, look at, okay, don't take my word for it, look at the word.

Hebrews chapter eight, verses one and two. Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such a high priest, Lord Christ, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched did not man. Okay, and turn over another couple of chapters, chapter 12, Hebrews chapter 12, verses 22, 23, and 24, which relates to this next verse in Psalm 76, in Salem.

Also is his tabernacle and his dwelling place in Zion. Now in the Old Testament, that was literally true. Now in the New Testament, or the gospel dispensation, he is everywhere. But all through the scripture in the New Testament, you see the church at Ephesus, the church at Philadelphia, the church Corinth, and in Revelations, the church in Babylon.

But look at this Hebrews chapter 12 verses 22 and forward, but you are come unto 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, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

We don't have to go to a place and sacrifice. It's not just for the Israelites, it's for those who are circumcised in hearts, who are the true Israels, Paul's mentions. But look at verse two in Psalms 76. In Salem, well, if you put a J-E-R-U in front of that, you have Jerusalem, okay?

So in Salem, in Jerusalem, or some writers said it was the human nature of Christ, because Christ is the tabernacle that dwelt among us. Or also, again, this is the New Testament church. In Christ is promised to be in the midst of her. That's where he resides. Now look at verse three. This is kind of what I wanted to get to, but I couldn't pass that up. What has he done in his church for his people? What has he done? It's pretty straightforward.

There break, Christ breaks, broke the arrows of the bow. That could be Satan. There's Ephesians 6, 16, fiery darts, correct? That could be he's canceled the power of sin. He's broken the arrows of the bow, the shield and the sword and the battle. So just in case you look at these specific weapons, besetting sins, and Hebrews talks about besetting sins, you take that to the Lord, he's broken it. You go to him for everything, for forgiveness of sins, Forgiving us his righteousness, covering us with his perfections. Basically, what he's saying here in verse three, he, or Christ, has done all things, he's accomplished all things necessary for our eternal happiness and complete salvation. There break he the arrows of the bow, the shield, the sword, the battle.

Selah, stop and think about it. I don't care how old we are in grace. I don't care how close we are to glory. I don't care if we're a day old, a minute old, or if we're hours and years old in the Lord. See, the amazing thing is that people think once they've had the milk, And now they're full grown and they're mature and they're eating meat.

They somehow think there's more in the scriptures. There isn't. There isn't. It's Christ and him crucified. It's the substitutionary death of our Lord Jesus Christ for sinners. I hope all of you kids graduate. We've already got one. I hope you all graduate and you stay here. Whatever you do, you're going to do. But if you come back over break and over Christmas and this and that, and like I say, it happens. It's happened with our daughter. When you come back, what are you going to hear? The same old story. Why?

Because if you're not saved, you need to hear this to the Lord save you. And if you are saved, the Lord blesses you with salvation, baptism, walking like they did in the apostles doctrine, fellowshiping, breaking of bread. If you're saved, you're gonna grow by that. You're gonna grow.

Christ is the sum and substance of all that the scripture says. Look, he says, as our Redeemer, He spoke with a loud voice on the cross. And basically this is saying the same thing as that, it is finished. This verse three is in parentheses, you could say, oh, what is the New Testament interpretation? It is finished. It's done. It's complete. It is finished.

Christ was the death blow of all his and our adversaries as he break the arrows of the bow, the shield, the sword, and the battle. Behold the hero of Calvary, by which he break all the enemies of self, sin, and Satan. He broke through the middle wall partition. Scripture tells us between us and him, sin had separated us from our God. We had no hope, no communion, and no peace.

Extinguish the fiery darts of Satan the arrows that would be Ephesians 6 16. He blotted out all the accusations is what this is arrows and Charges hurtful charges and threats against our person Who can condemn? It's Christ that died rather he's risen this this was this one verse encompasses the whole Gospel If you look at it right now, if you look at it, you know, however you want to interpret it, but it's, it's, the Bible's crystal centric. He's blotted out all accusations, hurtful charges.

He took away the shield and snapped. That's why he, he break the arrows and the shield and the sword. It's like, you know, he just snapped it over his knee. You know how snap twigs. That's what he did. He snapped it. Cannot be used against us. And there he overcame the battle.

It's like, okay, if you want to concentrate on this sin, or that sin, or this neighbor, or this aggravation, you do something, this sin, you get angry easily, you don't have patience, whatever you want, you take those sins, but if you step back, and then you start looking at the forest, and you look past the trees, he adds, and the battle. And the battle. Because that's what we're in. We're in a battle. But He's broke it. He's overcome it. He has broken our greatest enemies, our most troublesome antagonists, and again, we're not under law, we're under grace.

That's who we go, we go boldly to the throne of grace. To seek help in time of need. And now, now, if you're a believer, if you're not, lay hold of that verse, lay hold of that promise. Now we have rights and privileges only true believers understand. You talk to somebody and they're going to go get some theologian and try to break this down. No, step back.

He's taking care of the battle. He's taking care of it all. All for his people. May we walk according to this rule. that what he's done, not what we're doing. May we walk according to that rule. We're married to Christ. Let us love him, serve him, and honor him daily. And may we love his church. And may we love his people. Now I told you I was going to get to this Wednesday, so we're going to get back to it.

Songs of Solomon chapter 2. We looked at it in a different light. Songs of Solomon chapter 2. Psalms of Solomon chapter two, this is the church in Christ speaking back and forth. The church is saying, Christ is my beloved. Verse 10, look at this one.

And on Wednesday, I'll tell you a little bit what we talked about then. My beloved Christ spake and he said unto me, rise up my love, my fair one, come away, come away. Now, last. Wednesday we looked at as our final days here on earth before the Lord takes us to glory. It's like He's calling us home. That's how we looked at it. And it can be applied that way. What I'm going to look at, and I told you there's another interpretation, this morning, we're going to look at, this is a marriage proposal. This is a marriage proposal. To go elope. To elope.

I don't care what the world says. I don't care what my best friend says. This Christ is speaking with me and he wants me to go elope with him. Look at it again. My beloved, the church says spake, and I'm all ears. And he said unto me, rise up my love, my fair one, and come away. This is the language of a marriage proposal to elope. Or it could also, we could look at in the New Testament, it's the same as Matthew chapter 11. Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. My yoke is easy, and burden light. Come away. That's what, it's the same thing.

The scriptures, they don't know any new avenue of salvation. There's one avenue. They don't, it's the Old Testament, New Testament. I can't remember what Carol Poole called it. He didn't call it Old New Testament. I like what he, I'm going to have to go back and look at it. I couldn't find it. But I like how he phrased it. The Old Testament, I don't know what, anyway, but it's the same gospel.

It doesn't change. And there's none, in this verse, come away, rise up my love, my fair one, and come away. And he makes his people willing in the day of his power to do so. This isn't a shotgun wedding. This is two entities, one perfect, one imperfect, one all-righteousness, the other no-righteousness, and they're both willing. They're both willing. My beloved, he said, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. There's no love comparable to him. And if that's not enough, look at verse 13. He says the same thing. Same thing, verse 13 of Song of Solomon.

The fig tree put forth her figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, come away. Now, how often is he going to say this? Today is the day of your salvation? There is a day. There is a day. While thou art calling on others, do not pass me by. He calls us again to elope. In closing, turn to Malachi chapter 2. Don't delay. Perhaps today is the day of salvation. Repent. Believe. Trust in Christ. And you know what?

This verse is in the Old Testament, but it's still true. Malachi chapter 2, verse 16, the first part. For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that He hates putting away. He isn't going to do it. He isn't going to divorce you. He isn't going to separate from you.

We separate. Scripture says our sins have separated us from us and our God. Yes, indeed. Yes, we're guilty. Sins within, sins without. Cold in worship at times, lukewarm in prayer, yet we have not been dealt with as our iniquities deserve. That's the believer. He understands that. He understands that if God takes a record or account of his sin, who can stand? We understand that.

But if the Lord has eloped with us, has espoused his basics based on covenant, He will not put away. He will not put away. Why is Romans 8, let's turn to Romans 8 real quick. 831. What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He himself is engaged by his own covenant, by promise and oath, to support, supply, and befriend us. Turn to Job chapter 5. Job chapter 5. Look at verse 19. Has He delivered you? Does He love you? Did He die for you? Did He shed His blood for you? Are you eloped? Have you run away? Have you come away with Christ?

Verse 19, he shall deliver thee in six troubles, yea, in seven, there shall no evil touch thee. So my question is this, do we reckon that God has overcome six difficulties, will he abandon us in the seventh? He won't do it. He won't do it. He shall deliver thee in six, and in seven, he's gonna take care of you in seven, and in eight, and in nine, and 10, Because this world is full of troubles.

Troubles, troubles, troubles. Well, I close with this. I pulled a mat. I pulled a mat. I'm all over the place. I had it all in order. And then when I flipped over, I flipped two pages. So now I'm going, I'm in the middle. That's okay. It's all, he still works with us. He still, he still loves his people. So I want to close with this.

If he has taken care of us in six difficulties and six troubles, he will not abandon us in the seventh. We sing this song. Our firmer foundation, that soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes. That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, nor never, nor never forsake.

He won't do it. He won't do it. Why? He break. There he break the arrows of the bow, the shield and the sword, and the battle. And if that's the only verse you can remember, then stop and pause and consider what great things God has done for you, his people. What an amazing Redeemer we serve. And remember, he hates putting away. He hates putting away. He isn't going to do it. Come to him, trust in him, and you'll find peace.

Matt, would you close us, please? Let's partake in the Lord's Supper and then we'll have a meal. Nathan, will you close us? Bless the Lord and bless the food. Oh. So we pray. Our Heavenly Father, we come here to worship you and Lord, we desire nothing but to hear about you, your character and the work you've done, the sureness of your work.

Lord, we just really need to be reminded because we're in the world and We do get drawn to the world. Our flesh draws us to the world. Our thoughts and our minds come upon it. One of the common thoughts that I have is that, why didn't I concentrate more on gaining things or gaining this, that, or another? And we come here and realize, Lord, when we hear you, hear your message, even though we are believers and we're yours, we have to be reminded. Our minds have to be brought back upon you. Our hearts are never settled when our minds are not on you.

There's always trouble and anguish and things that's going on that we want to fix ourselves. And then we come and worship and realize that all things are in order according to your will. We get worked up about the government and our neighbors and all kinds of things, but you've got all that set forth. Well, you don't have to worry about it.

And Lord, what a grace it is and what a mercy it is that You have revealed Yourself to us. For when we listen to the people in the world, Lord, they don't even think that You have control of interpreting Your Word and men writing Your Word, that You let that go free. And it's the strength of men to interpret Your Word. They don't even realize, Lord, that You let nothing Nothing go awry in your world.

And Lord, even the Lord's Supper here that you. Require us to do. Apparently we must be reminded there also. So Lord, thank you for this time. Thank you for the mercy that you've shown us. Pray Lord, we not ever take it for granted. Pray these things in Jesus name, Amen.

And as they did eat, Jesus took bread and blessed and break it and gave to them and said, take eat, this is my body. And he took of the cup, when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many.

Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God. Open your hymnals and we'll stand as we sing number 300. More secure is no one ever. Number 300. More secure is no one ever Than the loved ones of the Savior, Not yon star on high abiding, Nor the bird in home nest hiding.

God is own, doth tend and nourish, In His holy courts they flourish, Like a Father kind He spares them, In His loving arms He bears them. Neither life nor death can ever His children sever, for His love and deep compassion Comforts them in tribulation. Little flock, to joy then yield thee, Jacob's God will ever shield thee. Rest secure with this Defender, At His will all foes surrender. What He takes or what He gives us, Shows the Father's love so precious. We may trust His purpose wholly, Tis His children's welfare solely. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, when we were reading in the book of Psalms earlier, there was a verse that said, for your name's sake, oh Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great. The writer knew how bad his sin was. He didn't try to sugarcoat it and diminish it. Lord, our iniquity is great. And to take that away would require a great man, a great sacrifice, great blood. And Lord, today we observe this and we observe this many times. Lord, there is no what they call pomp and circumstance. It is simply two things. Two things to show what it took to cover our great iniquity.

Lord, may this humble us. And may we retain this in our hearts and dwell on it. That will keep us humble and thankful for the great salvation that wrought it. And Lord, we ask that you would also bless our time around the table and the food and the fellowship. And may they be glorifying to you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Yeah.

Psalms 76: 1-3

What does the Bible say about gathering together as Christians?

How do we know Christ has overcome sin and death?

Why is the doctrine of Christ's completed work vital for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Drew Dietz

Comments

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Music

Recent Comments

About

Legal

Subscribe

Account

Articles

Featured Authors

Podcast

Recent Comments

Sermons

Featured Preachers

Books

Browse by Format

Collections

Music

About

Legal

Subscribe

Psalms 76: 1-3

What does the Bible say about gathering together as Christians?

How do we know Christ has overcome sin and death?

Why is the doctrine of Christ's completed work vital for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Drew Dietz

Comments

More from Drew Dietz

Related Sermons

Same Scripture

Articles by Drew Dietz

Where this book stands in the tradition

Plato

Augustine

The Western Christian Tradition

This Book