For our scripture reading this
morning, turn with me to the book of Psalms. Psalm 87. This will also serve as my text,
so if you have a marker you can put it there. Psalm 87. His foundation is in the holy
mountain. The Lord loveth the gates of
Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are
spoken of thee, O city of God. I will make mention of Rahab
and Babylon to them that know me. Behold, Philistia and Tyre
and Ethiopia This man was born there. And of Zion it shall be
said, this and that man was born in her. And the highest himself
shall establish her. The Lord shall count when he
writeth up the people that this man was born there. As well the singers as the players
on instruments shall be there, and all my springs are in thee. I invite you this morning to turn
with me in your Bibles back to Psalm 87. This psalm or song the Bible
said is for the sons of Korah. And I purposely didn't read that
into it because I wanted to take some time to point out that to
you. You can actually read the title
of this psalm right into the inspired words of what he says. We could without damage interpret
this psalm this way. A psalm for miserable men. Think about that. And so I chose the title of the
message this morning, A Song for Sinners Spared. Korah, along
with Dathan and Abiram, fell under the judgment of God and
was swallowed up in the earth in a divine and immediate act
of God's wrath. He opened up the earth and swallowed
them up, and their cattle, and their wives, and instantly challenging the very
authority of God, the appointment of God, of Moses. They challenged
it. And Moses said, everybody that's
on the Lord's side, gather here. Everybody's on their side, go
over there. And so they did. But he tells us in Numbers 26.11,
if you want to read that account a little later on today, in Numbers
26.11, he tells us that the sons of Korah died numb. Boy, that's good news. If you
were a son of Korah, it was good news. They died numb. God spared them as He did the
sons of Adam. Adam sinned, and by the offense
of one judgment fell upon all men unto condemnation, but God
spared some. He spared some. He spared them because He made
provision for them. God had a place In the typical
worship of that day for the sons of Korah, they were appointed
singers, and they came in and sang in the house of God. The
sons of Korah. He spared them because He made
provision for them and His Son, and He spared them because they
were chosen to salvation in Christ. He spared them because He loved
them. and because he would be merciful to them and save them
for the glory of his great name. This is the song, a song, for
poor miserable men. It just is. It is spared by the grace of God. You ever think about yourself
being spared? God be fully just if he took
you out immediately just like he did Cora, Dathan, and Abash. And let me consider the plight
of my own family. Let me go back into my own history
and examine the records. And out of the hundreds of which
the records show to be my ancestors, how many have been spared? Only a remnant. Only a remnant. How many have found mercy and
grace in the eyes of the Lord? Just a remnant. But oh, thank
God, there was a remnant. There was a remnant. Paul's heart
was broken as he saw his kinsman being swallowed up in the wrath
just like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, because they went contrary
to God. But he rejoiced as he thought
on the election of God, and he said, even so at this present
time, there remaineth a remnant. According to the election of
grace, there remains a remnant. And as the Lord said to Elijah,
I have reserved to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee
to the image of Baal, Even so, there is yet today a remnant
who will not bow to false gods. And here's a song for the sons
of Cora, the sons of proud rebels, the sons of miserable men. And
it's the very hope and reason for rejoicing for every sinner
who's saved by the grace of God. Nobody else could sing this song. Men try, don't they? They try
based on their own worthiness and self-righteousness and all
of these things, their religious actions. They try to sing this
song, but they can't sing it. This is a song for the sons of
Korah. And the song has six verses.
In the first verse, he sings of a foundation. The hymn writer wrote years ago,
the church's one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord. She is a new creation by water and the Word. From heaven
he came and sought her to be his holy bride, and with his
own blood he bought her, and for her life he died. And it doesn't just say there
is a foundation. Look at it again. His, who's
the sons of Korah? His foundation. It's not a universal foundation. It's a particular foundation.
It's His. It's His. How'd it get to be
His? God made it for Him. The sons spared of the curse
of their fathers had not an empty, unfounded hope, but one with
a divine foundation. The psalmist tells us it is in
the holy mountains. What's that mean? Well, a mountain
known for its immensity. It's a mountain. I remember seeing
the name of a little city. I can't remember the name of
it now, When I lived in Louisiana, they had a little city up there
in North Louisiana called Mount something. Well, there's nothing
in Louisiana bigger than a fire ant hill. I can't imagine. That's
not a mountain. That's not a mountain. Once you've
seen a mountain, its immensity just takes you in. I mean, we were taken out and
showed those grand rocky mountains up in Montana. It's awesome. And the guy who took us said,
just calm down now. We're going to go on in. We're
all together. We said, no, stop the car. We
want to get out. We want to see this. We want
to see this. Mountains are known for their
size and immensity. They're known for their age and
preservation. They don't change. They're known
for their unchangeable standing. The wind blows, and the frost
comes, and the freeze, and the snow, and the earthquakes, and
yet that mountain stands. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians
3.11, For other foundation can no man lay than that which is
laid, which is Jesus Christ. Here's a mountain, and He's the mountain upon which
our hope is built. Neither is there salvation in
any other, Peter adds, for there is none other name under heaven
given among men, whereby we must be saved. And in spite of vain
babblers whose word eats as a cancer, the foundation of God standeth
sure having this seal, God knows them that are His. He's not up
here looking. Religion's got God hanging over
a banister looking around to see who's going to love Him and
who's going to follow Him and who's going to exert their free
will. That's not God. God knows them
that are His. Why? Because He chose them. He gave them a being. He preserved
them. My soul ought to be dead a hundred
times. And so should you. Or why are
you still here? God preserved you. That's why. Why am I not going the way of
the world? Huh? What have you gotten that you
haven't received? And if you received it, why do
you act like you didn't? Oh, it's a gift of God. Oh. Foundation of God, stand assured,
having this sealed, the Lord knoweth them that are His. And
the blessings of God were all given and wrapped in one package,
Christ the Lord. And where Christ is not the foundation,
there can never be any hope for sinners. And notice how personal
and individual he speaks. He is foundation. The sinner
spares. And then secondly, the sinner
spared sings about the gates of Zion. Now Zion's the church,
isn't it? Sure it is. Zion is the church.
That's got people. That's his bride. That's his
church. And Zion has a gate. It's not a pit. But it's a place that has an
opening. It's a place that has a gate. In Genesis 3.24, he draws us
a picture. He said, So he drove out the
man, and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims,
and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of
the Tree of Life. And these cherubims were figurative
beings. Ezekiel likens among the men
having the faces of men in their likeness, and yet they had heavenly
characters. And God drives out man, yet he
leaves him in close proximity. He doesn't drive him away to
the land of Nod, but he drives him out in close proximity, and
there he sets these cherubims with a flaming sword to keep
the way of the tree of life. What's he talking about, keeping
the way? Keeping it open. That's what
he's talking about. Keeping it open. What's the first
thing John saw when he looked up into heaven? When the Spirit
caught him up, he said, I saw a door open. Open door. And here's a flaming sword. The
way into paradise can only come by sword. Listen to this. And one shall say unto him, what
are these wounds in thy hands? Then he shall answer, those with
which I was wounded in the house of my friends. Awake, O sword,
against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith
the Lord of hosts. smite the shepherd, and the sheep
shall be scattered, and I'll turn my hand upon the little
ones. It'll come to pass in that land, saith the Lord, two parts
therein shall be cut off and die, but the third shall be left
therein. And I'll bring the third part
through the fire, and I'll refine them as silver is refined, and
I'll try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name and
I'll hear them, I'll say it is my people and they'll say the
Lord is my God. Jehovah took the flaming sword
of God's vengeance and plunged it into the heart of his son
and thus he opened the gate of paradise where all those spared
of the curse. Psalm 87, 2, the Lord loveth
the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. You can
talk about Jacob's will and all these places. I'll tell you what
God rejoices in, the gates of Zion. Christ is the way. He's the door. He's the gate into Zion. God rejoices in His Son. This
is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. And you can, without damage to
this passage, interpret the word gates as the gospel or gospel
preaching. All true preaching is preaching
Christ. The Lord places His local churches where He will, and He
makes provision for them and looks upon their assemblies,
but He loves the gates more than the dwelling place. What makes this place special? What makes it any different than
the place right down the road? The preaching of the gospel.
That's what makes it different. And God loves it. He loves it. He loves the declaration of the
open-door Zion because By this door His glory is manifested
and His purpose will be brought to pass. Sinners spared sing about the
gates of Zion. And then thirdly, sinners spared
sing of the glorious things spoken of them by God. I bet you never even gave that
a thought, did you? That old beloved Saint John Newton
wrote a hymn based on this very verse. Glorious things of thee
are spoken, Zion, city of our God. He whose word cannot be
broken formed thee for his own abode. On the rock of ages founded,
what can shake thy sure repose? With salvation's wall surrounded,
Thou mayest smile at all thy foes. Now it's one thing for
a man to speak of himself and of his accomplishments and titles
and stations, but it's another thing altogether to have God
speak something about you. Hast thou considered my servant
Job? Huh? Nobody else like him in
the earth. Do you ever consider him? Of you, if you're here this morning
and you're a believer, God says, I'll never leave thee nor forsake
thee. Is that a glorious thing? Oh,
my soul. Glorious things have God spoken
of you. His glorious presence is promised
to every spared sinner. All that the Father hath given
me, He says, you'll come to me, and he that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. Oh, and then here comes the buts
and ifs. There ain't no buts and ifs in
this. You come to Him, He'll never cast you out. And what
a glorious thing this is to a sinner spared, a weak, ignorant, unprofitable
man, no doubts attached, no reservations to be worried about. And what about this one? If I
go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and receive you
unto myself that where I am, there you may be also. Is that
a glorious thing? Whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And moreover,
whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called,
them He justified, and whom He justified, them He also did glorify. Isn't that a glorious thing?
Who's He talking to? Zion and every member of it. It's a glorious thing for God
to speak in words of love to His own. I can hardly believe
my ears sometimes when he speaks to me through the scriptures
and talks to me about his love. Can God love such a woman as
me? Oh, if he does, it's a glorious
thing. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love. Jacob have I loved. He said, now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and her brother,
Lazarus. He loved them. And John always referred to himself
as the disciple whom the Lord loved. There's no end of the glorious
things spoken of His church by God Himself. And I tell you,
if you're a sinner spared, it means something to you. It goes
home to you. He's not talking to some bass
assembly out there somewhere. He's talking to me. And then fourthly, spared sinners
like to sing of the hope for the vilest of sinners. Listen
to this, verse four. I'll make mention of Rahab. They looked at our Lord and that
woman washing his feet. They said if he knew who she
was. Oh, he knew who she was. He knew what she'd done. But he loved her. He loved her. And you know of all those that
he preached to and talked to, that was the only woman who really
understood that she was anointing him for his death. I'll make mention of Rahab, you
see. And here he's not necessarily
talking about that woman Rahab, although she's included in it,
but he's talking about Egypt, whom she represented. And he's
telling you his love extended to Egypt. That bunch of rebels
that enslaved his people. Yeah, he said, I'll show you
something about sinners. I'll make mention of Rahab. I'll make mention, listen to
this, of Babylon. You know that it tells us in
the Scriptures that there's a church in Babylon? Sure does. 1 Peter 5.13, he mentions the church
that is at Babylon elected together with you. And behold, he said,
Philistia, is there a greater enemy or one mentioned less times
than the Philistines, enemies of God? And now he's going to
show us something about his mercy and the depth to which that mercy
extends. And he said, Philistia. It says Philip came preaching
to Azotus, which is better known as Ashdod, a Philistine city. And Tyre and Ethiopia, who can,
who is it that don't remember the Ethiopian Union? Huh? And then he tells us in Psalm
68, 31, it says princes, shall come out of Egypt and Ethiopia. And they're going to stretch
out their hands unto God. Now watch this. This man, what
man? This sinner spared, these sons
of Corinth. This man, this man was born there. He was born there. of heathen
birth as was Abraham, yet born again in Zion. Does this not
stand out a shining example of hope for sinners spared? Why
are we the way we are? Because we're born there. Why
are we the way we are now? Because we're born there. And then fifthly, the spared
sinner sings of a magical birth. And it's magical in the sense
that it comes without observation. It's just unexplainable, irresistible,
can only be known by those with spiritual understanding. Psalm
87, 5. And of Zion it shall be said,
this and that man was born in her, and the highest himself
shall establish her. Men and women are born in Zion,
they're born in this church, Jerusalem, which is above, is
free, which is the mother of Israel. That's where we're born.
The highest Himself shall establish her. How does one know if he's truly
born of God? Well, Paul gives us a six-fold
explanation in 1 Thessalonians 1. The gospel comes not in word
only, but in power and in the Holy Ghost with much assurance.
Those born of God become followers of God's men. They're examples
of true faith, everyone. I don't care how far away he
lives. He may not know you or the people of this assembly,
but he'll be an example. If God saves him, he'll be an
example unto all men. And then fourthly, they're promoters
of the gospel of Christ. They all turn to God from their
idols, and they all patiently wait for God's Son from heaven,
whom He raised from the dead. Spared sinners sing a song only
they have ears to hear. They sing of a hope with a divine
foundation. They sing of a heavenly kingdom
with an open door, and they sing of the glorious things God has
spoken of them. They sing of a hope for the vilest
of sinners. They sing of a magical birth. New creatures. Old things passed
away. Behold, all things become new.
And then lastly, spared singers sing of a blessed registry. Look at this, Psalm 87-6. The
Lord shall count. It doesn't matter who I count.
The Lord counts. That's what matters. The Lord shall count when He
righteth up the people. You know, when everybody in Israel,
there was an account taken. Their families, their roots,
everything. It was all documented. And the Lord shall count when
He righteth up the people. That this man was Born there. And then he gives us this little
musical thing that means pause and consider. Consider what he said. There's a church sign I once
read during a thing they called Vacation Bible School. And at
the end of it, it gave a number of children whom they say were
born again. And I had myself made professions
of faith and had preachers introduce me to their congregation as one
born into the family of God. I did this, I said this, I agreed
to this and that, I came to the front, I signed a card, I joined
the church, I made a profession of faith, I baptized, and the
list goes on. It's endless. But let me tell
you what really comes and what really counts to a sinner. when
God counts. That's the only thing that's
going to matter in the end. He has a registry. And as He
calls sinners to Himself, that registry. And that registry is
none other than the Lamb's Book of Life. All those chosen of
God in Him, they're going to come to Him. The Lord shall count. He tells
us in Ezekiel 13, 9, My hand shall be upon the prophets that
see vanity and that divine lies. They shall not be in the assembly
of My people, neither shall they be written in the writing of
the house of Israel. They're not going to be on the
ledger. Neither shall they enter into the land of Israel. and
you shall know that I am the Lord God. And every name written
in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world shall
be registered in the church of the living God, whom he affectionately
calls her, his bride. Not a single soul shall go unaccounted
for, because the Lord himself shall count. And beloved, when it comes to
the salvation of a soul, Matters very little what men say. What
matters is what God says. And the Lord shall count what
He writes up His people. Peter tells us to give diligence
to make our calling and election sure. And the only way I can
have a sure hope is for that hope to be written of God in
His Word and written upon my heart by His Spirit. Everything
else is speculation. I love this old hymn. He said,
how firm a foundation these saints who belong. He's laid for your faith in His
excellent Word. What more can He say than to
you He hath said? To you who for refuge to Jesus
have fled. He tells us through His apostles
that His divine power has given unto us all things that pertain
unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that has
called us to glory and virtue. Are you a spared sinner? Or are you just a sinner? Spared sinners can sing this
song, and they will. They will. Are you a sinner? Are you a miserable
fallen son of Adam, condemned by the law, ruined by the fault? Are you such a one that God has
spared by His mercy and grace? Oh, then sing this song. Sing it loud. Sing it often. And sing it as unto the Lord.
I tell you, when I read the Word of God, I want more than anything
to read it Just as though God was whispering those things in
my ear. Don't you? And when I preach it, I want
the same thing. All for God to speak. I hope
this morning you heard somebody's voice other than mine. The Lord's your camp.