Well, I don't have enough time
for that. I was just thinking that's the
song of eternity. How can it be? That's the theme
of eternity to measure the grace and love of our God. I just have
a few minutes to tell you of the great things that God has
done for you. And I do pray that He would give
me the grace and power of His Spirit to do that. Let's go to
Him in prayer. Our gracious Father in Heaven,
thank You for the opportunity, the privilege, what a privilege
we have to come and hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ I pray this night that you would
give me the liberty and unction of your spirit. Plainly declare
what you've stated concerning Christ. And by the same message that
you would take it by the same spirit. Apply it to every heart of your
children, every child's heart. Father, I do pray that you would
help us to cast the cares and the thoughts of this life, the
afflictions, the sorrows, the grief, pain, and give us grace to set our
hearts and affection on Christ. And Father, I pray you'd forgive
us our sins and cleanse us of our unrighteousness. And we plead these things In
the name of our blessed Savior and for His sake. Amen. Psalm 48. Psalm 48. Entitled to this message,
The Situation and Refuge of Zion. The Situation and the Refuge
of Zion. The psalmist writes, great is
the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the
mountains of his holiness. Notice, beautiful for situation. The joy of the whole earth is
Mount Zion. on the sides of the north, the
city of the great king. God is known in her palaces for
a refuge. I'll stop reading there. We're
going to try to get through the rest of this, but you know how
that goes. Maybe I won't, but if I get through
this part, this will be the best. Now, the Lord by the mouth of
the psalmist here, intends to testify of both the beauty and
the security of the church. And he does this by the picture,
the physical picture of Mount Zion. The place where God dwelt,
the place where the tabernacle was, the place where the sacrifices
were made. He intends by this to show the
beautiful situation of the church. And so as a city of Jerusalem,
Mount Zion was considered the jewel of the East. How much more so is the church
considered the jewel, the crown jewel of our God? The crowning jewel of our God
is his grace upon the church. And so as much more, the Church
of God is the jewel of Jehovah. And the safety and security of
the city of God is because Jehovah dwelt there. This is why it was
safe, because Jehovah dwelt there. Why is the church safe? Because this is where God dwells.
He dwells within his people. His people are in union with
Him. And so He begins, Great is the
Lord. Isn't that how this psalm begins? This should be how every psalm
begins. Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised. Great is Jehovah who dwells with
His church, for He has by Jesus Christ our King purchased our redemption. In
Zion, that's where the redemption was purchased. That's where the
picture was made. The atonement was made. Jesus Christ, our King, He has
purchased our redemption as our great high priest, not by the
blood of others, but by His own blood, He purchased our redemption. By His one offering, the scripture
declares, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Now you, His church, you are
perfected forever. You are. I know that we have
not experienced this perfection, but I know this before I experienced
anything. That was take that took place.
Christ died before I ever came into existence. And yet he had
perfected me before I ever came in the world. So it is with you. You believe on Christ. I want
you to see this tonight. That you being Zion, you being
the city of our God. He says, beautiful for situation. Beautiful for situation. I want you to understand, regardless
of how you feel, regardless of what you think, or the circumstances
that you face, that has nothing to do with your situation. It has nothing to do with your
situation. God says your situation is beautiful. It's beautiful. Consider this, you are a vessel
of mercy. Is that not one of the greatest
things to know? I knew this, it troubled me before
the Lord saved me. I knew God had an elect before
he saved me, and it troubled me. Because I knew this, Christ came
to save his people from their sins. He came to save the elect.
I knew he came to save the elect. I just didn't know I had any
part in it. But when God gave me the grace of life and faith,
it was then I knew I was a vessel of mercy, a fore prepared unto
glory. It was the Father that chose me.
It was the Father that loved me. And we have been, by his grace,
put into union with our Lord Jesus Christ. First Corinthians
1.30, but of God are you in Christ Jesus. How'd you get in the Christ
Jesus? How'd you get there? The Father
put you in that beautiful situation. He puts you in Christ and then
made Christ something for you, made him to be your wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Why? He that glorieth, let him
glory in the Lord. It's the Lord. Therefore, he
has sent his Holy Spirit into the world and into our hearts,
crying, Abba, Father. He quickened us to life. He gave
us faith by the power of his grace. Faith in Christ is not
a novel thing, is it? It's not a common thing. It's
not a normal thing. It took the power of God to give
me faith. He gave me faith. He quickened
me to life. And if you believe, listen, behold
the beautiful situation that you are in Christ Jesus. Therefore, in the city of our
God, the church, we say, great is the Lord. Not great is man,
but great is the Lord. And greatly to be praised in
the city of our God. We who are in are said, to be
the joy of the whole earth. Look at that, beautiful for situation. The joy of the whole earth. Now,
I know this is true that the world and its false religion
do not joy in us. They do not joy, they do not
rejoice in us. In fact, they hate us. If they don't hate us, it's probably
because they haven't heard what we preach. And if they don't
hate us, it's probably because they don't understand what we
preach. Our Lord promised that if the world hates you, know
this, it hated me before it hated you. He said, the servant's not
greater than his Lord. Do you think you're greater than
me? Do you think that somehow you're going to slide by and
the world is not going to hate you? And we preach the gospel of truth
in truth and love. We're still hated. I'm not I
don't preach this gospel out of hatred for them. I don't hate
them. My heart breaks for the world.
My heart breaks for the lost. And as we preach this message
in truth and in love, we are hated of all men because the
truth, when it is preached, when the truth is preached of necessity,
the lies exposed. And so as we reveal and expose
the lie of religion, man's religion is seen in its true light, vanity,
emptiness. They will persecute us and they'll
even persecute us in the name of God. They will. So how is it then that we are
called the joy of the whole earth? How is that possible? Well, because
this. This same gospel is preached. Is a joy to those that actually
hear it. This gospel we preach, though
hated by the world. Listen, this gospel is truly
the only source of lasting joy. There is no other joy that's
going to last. We have joys all the time. We
have experiences that give us joy. But they're fleeting, aren't
they? I looked at it, it was in my
son's Andrew's room and still has a bunch of his little trophies
and things. And I thought, you know, wow,
how excited he was to get these things. Now they're all just
collecting dust. We would have to try hard to
remember how he got some of that stuff. It was a joy at the time,
but then it's gone. It's gone. The only lasting joy
is the gospel. When we get to glory, do you
realize we'll be repeating this same old story? There is no other
story in heaven but the same old story that we've been repeating
every time we preach. Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. who has redeemed us to
God out of every nation, kindred, tongue, tribe, and people. Thou
art worthy to receive all power and glory and dominion forever
and ever. Amen. Repeat that verse over
in eternity with great joy, never ceasing. This gospel is a great
joy to those that hear it. This gospel is a joy that salvation
is by Jesus Christ and is not hindered By our race, by our
gender, it's not hindered. But it's freely given. This is
the joy of the gospel. It's freely given. It's not limited
to our circumstances, to our wealth, to our health, to our
standing. Salvation really is only limited
to this. It's for sinners. It's for sinners. That's the only limitation of
this gospel. It is only for one group of people. Sinners. It is only for those who have
nothing to pay. It is only for those who have
nothing to offer God. And these may come and receive
it by the hand of Christ, listen, freely. Freely? Well, it's a joy then to one
group of people, to sinners. He said, I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance. This gospel is the joy of sinners. Because it's free. without merit,
without works. How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things. Good things, not for the righteous,
but for sinners. Therefore, we as believers, this
message is a joy. It's a joy. For the gospel testifies
of joy, the joy and peace with God. How a sinner can find joy
and peace with God. This is the only one message
that can do it. The message of God's free grace in Christ. Do you joy in this? Is this not
the joy of the whole earth to you? Is it not more of more value
than all the world? It is to the believer. Therefore,
we preach full salvation. I like to preach full salvation. I like to preach salvation complete,
salvation accomplished. We preach salvation purposed
of God, purchased by Christ, applied and kept by the power
of the Spirit. Salvation that requires nothing
from the sinner, but this look and live. Look to Christ and
live. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
alone and listen, add nothing. Add nothing. Add none of your work, seeing
all your sins were put away only by his work. Remember that when David brought
that Ark of the Covenant the wrong way. He put it on the new
cart and they were having such a time. Boy, it looked like they
were having a wonderful celebration. And remember that cart stumbled
and Uzzah put his hand up to steady the Ark and God killed
him. What a picture of works religion.
You put your hand to this work. It is not a joy. It's not a joy. But to those who have nothing
to add, it is a joy. And therefore, we who are in
Mount Zion, we are in Christ. Beautiful for situation. The
joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion. Mount Zion. Those who are in Christ, this
is who you are. Now, our text encourages us to
look then at another thing, the sides of the north. He said,
look to the sides of the north. Now, on Mount Zion. Now, consider
the situation of the physical Mount Zion. It was a city surrounded
by mountains and natural defenses on every side except one, the
north. On the north side, there were
great walls and bulwarks for a defense. And it was the only
way into the city. There was no other way in. There
was only one way, only one way The joy of the whole earth is
Mount Zion, listen, on the sides of the north. Behold the fortification of this
beautiful city. Yet we know this, natural city
of Zion was seized many times, wasn't it? It was seized by the
Babylonians. It was seized by the Assyrians. It was seized by the Babylonians. It was seized by the Romans in
A.D. 70. It has been seized. But one thing about that, that's
just a type, isn't it? It's just a picture. Every type
and picture fall. We get this beautiful city. We
know this, it was seized, but I know this, this beautiful spiritual
Zion shall never be seized. It'll never be overcome. Oh, that sinners would come now
and behold the beauty and elevation of God's church. I want you to
come and see its safety, its safety. because the great Jehovah
dwells in her and is praised by her. He has given her His
gospel, Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, the joy of the whole
earth, which is our charge and delight to preach. But if any
sinners to ever come into this city, if any sinners ever to
come in and be safe, listen, there is only one way in. Jesus Christ made it very plain. I am the way, the life, and the
truth. No man comes to God but by me. There is no way to enter into
the presence of God except by Jesus Christ. And so if any man
feel his guilt, if any man feel his shame, if any man find himself
without the ability to stand before God, listen, come this
way. Come this way. Let him come to
God. Let him come freely for mercy. Anyone need mercy? If you come for merit, you are
coming the wrong way. There's only one way. It is by
Christ. You must sue for mercy. Anyone need mercy? I know this. The more I grow in grace, I realize
I need more mercy, not less. Now, if you're growing in the
opposite direction, something's wrong. If you need less mercy
today, something's wrong with you. Something's wrong with you. I need more mercy today. I like
the way the apostle Paul grew. You could see his growth in scripture.
You know, he began by saying this. I am the least of the apostles.
That's pretty humbling, isn't it? Then he said later on, I
am least of all the saints. You know what he said last? I
am the chief of sinners. Now, if you're growing the opposite
way, something's wrong with you. I need more mercy. But I'll tell
you, you never come to Christ if you don't need mercy. God said this, look unto me and
be ye saved. I don't care who you are, all
the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is none
else. But we must give witness that
there is only one way, one road by which the sinner may come
and be accepted. There's only one door by which
the sheep enter in and find pasture to feed. And that door, that
way is Jesus Christ alone. Go to Isaiah 62. This is truly the message of
God to the church, to his preachers. Look at this, Isaiah 62 in verse
10. God says, go through, go through
the gates. Isn't this what we're saying?
Come to Christ. Come now. Come freely. Come. Oh, everyone that thirsts,
come to the waters. Buy wine and milk with what?
Without money and without price. Go to the gates. Listen to what
he says. Prepare the way of the people,
those that would come. Prepare the way by how? Preaching
the gospel, declaring the way. And he says this, cast up the
highway, gather out the stones, lift up the standard. In other
words, cast up the highway, they had to build those roads up high
so that they wouldn't flood, build up those roads high so
that thieves could not hide in the bushes, build those roads
up so there was nobody to attack them along the way. He said,
and cast out the stones, cast out all objections. Anybody got
an objection? Well, I can't come because, uh,
no. That's not, that's not a reason.
You just make an excuse. We cast out all objections. We
lift up the standard. The standard is a flag by which
the military stands under a command. Our standard is Christ. He is
our king. This is the standard we lift
up. The only hope by which sinners are saved. Behold, the Lord hath
proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say you to the daughter
of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh. Behold, his reward is
with him. This is the proclamation of the
church to the end of the world. We say this to you, Zion, behold,
thy Savior cometh. Listen, right then, he was not
yet come. But I tell you, behold, thy Savior
has come. Thy Savior has come. Notice,
he said, Behold, thy salvation has come. But salvation is a
person. Listen, behold His. Salvation is a person, isn't
it? It's not a system of theology. Listen, if you think you're going
to heaven because you believe the five points of Calvinism,
there's something wrong with you. The reason I believe in those
things is because I know the person. The person manifests
these doctrines to be so. Salvation's a person and his
reward is with him. His work is before him. What
was his work? His work was to save me. His
work was to provide my righteousness and my redemption. And listen
what, to everyone that goes through the gates, listen to what he
says. And they shall call them the holy people. Celeste, the holy people. Isn't
that something? The holy people. How can that
be? How can that be? Well, it can
be like this because Christ made me holy. I had nothing to do
with it. No contribution whatsoever. Isn't
that a good situation? Isn't that a wonderful, beautiful
situation to be in? You that have come, isn't the
sides of the north the joy of the whole earth? Isn't that wonderful
that God has made a way? And Christ is the way. Do you want any other way? You want
any other way? I don't want any other way. They shall be called the holy
people, the redeemed of the Lord. And thou shalt be called sought
out. Weren't you sought out? You didn't
really choose this way. You would have never chose this
way had you not been sought out. He found you. Where did He find you? I was sitting in a church covered
in the filth of my self-righteousness. He sought me out. And listen to this. A city not
forsaken. A city not forsaken. Christ our Savior saved me and then he sent someone
to tell me. Send someone to tell me. And so as we come to Christ,
we find this, that there's only one way. And we also know that He is a
refuge. Look back at your text. Beautiful for situation, the
joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion on the sides of the north,
the city of the great king. God is known in her palaces for
a refuge. The saints of God. No, Christ,
to be our refuge. How is it that you know Christ? to be your refuge. We know Christ to be our refuge
by experience. Not academically, there are many
people who know Christ is a refuge. They know he is a refuge. I like this. Imagine a person,
I'm describing Zion, and they go and they take a ruler and
they measure Zion. They measure it, put their ruler
up there, say, yeah, it's perfect. Look at it. Oh, those mountains,
they're really hot. I'm sure that they're really
good protection. I see that there's only one way
in. It's well guarded. They see, they measure Christ. They hear his doctrine, they
measure the doctrine. And they say, yeah, he seems
to be a suitable refuge, but they themselves never enter in. They never enter in. They hear
the gospel, they hear of his work, they inquire, they study. In this text, you're going to
look at that in verse 4, it says, Lo, the kings of the earth were
assembled, they passed by it together, they saw it, and they
marveled. They measured it. They passed
by it, they saw it, they measured it. But they had a different
response than I did. They hasted away. How many people
measure it, find it sufficient, and then just leave? How many people have you known
just left? They've run well for a while. Why? Simply because they don't know
Him for a refuge. If they knew Him for a refuge,
they would never leave. Isn't that right? If they knew Him for a refuge,
they would never leave. Because they have not entered
in by faith. They trusted in their religion
and their knowledge and their works, but not in Christ. But
God is known in her palaces for refuge. To us, God is known to
be a refuge. Why? Because we have entered
in. I like to picture Noah's Ark
as a picture of that. Do you think about that beautiful
boat out there that he had built? A huge, massive, construction
project. I'm sure that people even, they
mocked it. There was no water around. Building
a boat in a desert doesn't seem like a good idea. They mocked
it. But I'm sure that there were people that admired the construction. But Noah knew it was a refuge
because of what? He was in it. And everybody outside
it may have measured it, but they died. Listen, you measure
this doctrine all you want to. It's sufficient. It'll measure
up every time. But it'll do you no good if you
don't come in. If you don't believe, if you
don't trust, you'll perish. But we know our religion, our
learning, our works is no refuge. Isn't that right? You know that
there's no refuge in that? We know our sin. We know that
there is no other place for salvation and security but in Christ. O
city of God, I want you now to behold your refuge. How sure is your refuge? If Jesus Christ is your refuge,
there's nothing more sure. There's nothing more sure. We
know Christ is our refuge. We know that Jesus Christ by
himself has endured the wrath of God, and because we are in
him, we are safe. See the difference between that
and a refuge of lies. There are many who make a refuge
of lies. They hide themselves under falsehoods. They hide themselves under a
savior that only partially saves. That's a refuge of lies. This refuge, their refuge, then
must be completed by their carnal works. But such a refuge is shall
be found wanting." They say in Isaiah 28, the Lord
says, you say. Now how easy is it to say something? Can't you just say something?
Isn't that easy? Anybody can say anything. Just
look at the Twitter. They'll just say anything. They
just say it. But that's how religion is. Because I say it, it's so. No. God says what you think and
what you say don't count, don't matter. You said, I've made a
covenant with death and with hell and the overflowing scourge
shall not come over me. God says, I beg to differ. When
it comes, I'll wipe your refuge of lies away. And you're going
to find this to be true. The bed is shorter than a man
can stretch himself out on and the covering narrower than he
can cover himself with. Your righteousness is not sufficient. Your works are not enough. That's
what you'll find. That's what you'll find. But here's the joy of Zion, our
refuge, our foundation is laid of God. I didn't make this foundation. I'm stretching myself out on
a foundation that I didn't make. That's good. God made this refuge. God chose
this foundation upon which all the church is built. And Christ
was purposed of God to be our refuge. So when judgment comes,
it will pass over us. Why? Because it already passed
on him. Therefore, the true refuge, Jesus
Christ, is an immutable refuge. Can't be moved. Can't be changed. I love the way the apostle ends
Romans 8, don't you? He said, He defies anyone. He just outright defies. He said,
Who shall separate us from the love of God that's in Christ
Jesus? Go ahead. Tell me. Who? So tribulation, persecution,
famine, peril, nakedness, sword? Nah. For thy sake we are killed
all the day long. We are counted sheep as a slaughter.
Yea, we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us.
So I'm persuaded, Paul said, I'm persuaded that either life
nor death. That pretty much sums up a lot,
doesn't it? Life, whatever happens in life,
that's not going to do it. Well, what about death? No, not
even death. Well, what about those things
outside of life and outside of angels? Principalities, powers,
things present, things to come, high depth, aliens, whatever. Whatever. He said, I'm persuaded that none
of those things will separate me from the love of God that's
in Christ Jesus. Why? Christ is my refuge. Christ is
my refuge. Now, when I think of a refuge,
I do think of Noah, but I think of the Passover a lot when I
think about the refuge. God said, I'm going to pass by
that night. You take that lamb, you kill him in front of everybody,
and then what I want you to do is put on the door and I want
you to go inside the house. I cannot imagine being the firstborn
in that house. Are you sure that lamb was without
spot? Are you positive? Yes, son, I'm
positive the lamb was without spot. Are you sure you put the
blood on the door? Are you sure that the blood's
there? Son, I'm sure I put the blood
there. It's sufficient. When God passed
over, there was nothing that would allow wrath into that place. The blood had already been shed. Seeing God has put the blood
upon the hearts of his people, he is a refuge. A sure retreat, safe. Those who are in Christ are safe,
how beautiful is your situation then? How beautiful is your situation
being in Christ? Is he not the joy of the whole
earth? Is he not the only way to God? Is he not a sure refuge? He is a sure refuge. I'm gonna go quickly over this
last part, but I think it's necessary because You and I are surrounded
by enemies. Now, right now, you may be at
peace. The words are comforting to you.
You love to hear of Christ. You love to hear of your situation
in him. But as soon as you step out, You'll be surrounded by your
enemies. And that's what he says here. This is why he gave this. Four. Look at that verse four.
Four. The kings of the earth were assembled. They passed by
together. The church's enemies are many. Now they may differ on the name
of God. They may differ on how a man,
how much work a man needs to be saved. They all differ on
that. The one thing they're going to
assemble about is against the gospel of Jesus Christ, salvation
by grace. They'll assemble together against
it. They'll hate it. They all do. I'm not just talking
about the wicked, the vile, the rebel. I'm talking about the religious.
They all differ and hate each other in many different ways,
but when it comes to the gospel, they all unite about this. That
salvation is by works and not by grace. They'll all agree to
that. Now, they don't do it outright. Many seek to put it out, but
not openly. But suddenly, they put their
works religion message into it and defile it. But we preach the gospel and
declare it to be so because it is the word of God. We declare
that man is absolutely depraved, don't we? You know why? Because
I was depraved. When it says that about me, I
understand that. That's so. We were dead in sins. We know that God chose a people. We plainly declare that because
the scriptures plainly declare that. Why would you deny that?
Why would you hate that? Without election, there is no
salvation. We'd all been in Sodom and like
unto Gomorrah had God not made or left a remnant. We preach
a message of Christ's perfect redemption. Why would anybody
hate that? We preach a message where you
have to add nothing to it. Why would anybody hate that?
Yet they do. They assemble themselves against
it. We preach that all those were given to Christ, redeemed
by Christ, will be called by Christ. We preach a successful
gospel. Why does anybody hate that? Why do men love a failure as
a savior? But they do. And we preach that none of those
that God called will ever be lost. Now, why would anybody
hate that? But they do. They assemble themselves
against it. They preach against it. They
despise it. And even though these things
are plainly revealed in scripture, they will not receive them They
will hate them. They saw it. Look at that. Verse
five, they saw it and they marveled. But what? They weren't happy.
They were troubled. They were troubled. And they
hasted away. Fear took hold on them. They're
in pain as of a woman in travail. They despise the gospel of our
God's grace. But believer, I know you're surrounded
by those that hate this message. But I want you to be encouraged.
That this does not change your situation. Where are those that hated the
gospel? In Christ's day, where are those who crucified Christ?
Where are they? Where are those who killed the
apostles, where are they? Where are those who persecute
you? Where will they be? Soon, and
very soon, they'll be gone, just like the rest of them. But know
this, will that hurt you? Will they, by their might and
power, be able to remove you? Not at all. I'll give you this illustration, I'll
close in Colossians chapter 2. Jehoshaphat, was surrounded by
his enemies. And the Lord says, don't be afraid
of them. Don't be dismayed by reason of the multitude. Listen,
the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow you go down against
them. Behold, they will go on the cliff
of Ziz, and you will find him at the end of the brook before
the wilderness of Zul. And you shall not fight in this
battle. Set yourselves, stand ye, see
the salvation of the Lord with you. O Judah and Jerusalem, fear
not, nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them,
for the Lord be with you." And listen, Jehoshaphat bowed his
face. That didn't make him proud, you
know that? That didn't make him run around
and say, well, the Lord's with me. I guess everything's going
to be all right. No, it caused him to humble himself. When you find out that your situation's
all right, doesn't that just cause you fall down. It does. The next day he went out. You
know what happened? They put on all their armor,
they went on out there, they stood and they sang songs. You
ever see an army do that? Go out to battle and sang songs. And you know what? When they
started singing, those other fellas started killing each other. What is this battle to you? Oh,
this political crap. What is that to you? How is that ever going to move you
from your situation? Is it? Are you going to have
anything to do with that? Not a thing. Oh, this stuff's going
to pass, isn't it? It's going to pass fast. It's
going to be gone. What happens to you? Beautiful
for a situation. The city of Zion. Joy of the
whole earth. Why? Because of the sides of
the north. Because Christ is the only way. He's known in God's
church as a refuge. And look at verse 8. He says
in verse 8, As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of
the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God. Listen. will establish
it forever. Any doubt? Any doubt? I tell you, I fear and tremble
too much. I'm afraid too often. If I would
just look at the situation that God has put me in, Christ. Regardless of what happens, I'm
safe. I'm safe. My God said, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee." What a refuge. What a situation.