Here in Psalm 84, the subject
of the psalm is, or the psalm, psalms were psalms, the subject
is the pilgrimage of those Jewish people going to the tabernacle
to worship their God. This is the subject, but it has
more meaning to it than that, does it not? That literally happened,
but oh, it speaks of another pilgrimage of God's people to
that heavenly city, the New Jerusalem. We are making our journey to
that heavenly Zion on our way as we journey through this world
to our Father's house. And like them, we do so as pilgrims
and strangers. Let me read you where it speaks
of that, rather, in Hebrews chapter 11. Speaking of Abraham and others,
in Hebrews 11 verse 13, these all died in faith. They were
kept in faith by God's grace, not having received the promises
but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and
embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims
on the earth. And so are you and I. And I thank
God that that's so. I'm glad that this world's not
my home. I'm glad I don't feel comfortable
in this world. Verse 14, for they that say such
things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if
they had been mindful of that country from whence they came
out, they might have had opportunity to have returned, to gone back. But now they desire a better
country. They continued heavenly. and
that is in heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called
their God, for he has prepared for them a city, pilgrims and
strangers in this world. Our Lord said that night to his
disciples right before he went to the garden where he was arrested,
betrayed by Judas, he spoke these words. And what he said to those
is true of you and I. It's true of every child of God.
You are not of the world. You're not of the world. True,
you're in the world, but you're not of the world. And the reason
is this, because I have chosen you out of the world, this journey. begins by grace. We would not
be making this pilgrimage if it wasn't by grace alone. We're
traveling this way, this way, because grace has put us in this
way. The very title of this psalm
has the sweet aroma of grace, doesn't it? Look at it. A psalm
for the sons of Korah. Cobra? His son sang this? And you find this title in several
other psalms. These hymns of praise to God,
these psalms, these songs that were used in the worship of our
God, they were led into singing by the sons of Cobra? Really? Oh, what reason for that could
there be other than God's amazing grace? Because you remember,
Korah, who he was, we read of him in Numbers. He led a rebellion,
he and two others, gathered together about 250 men and led a rebellion
against Moses, that one that God had appointed to lead the
children of Israel. Korah said, Moses, you take too
much up on yourself. Who gave you this authority?
We're as good as you are. And they even wanted to intrude
upon the priesthood of Abraham. And you remember what happened
to him? In Numbers chapter 16 we read this, that God opened
the earth, an earthquake I suppose, and swallowed them up and then
closed it back again. It says, they and all that appertained
unto them, that is Korah, and all those that were with him
in this rebellion, they all went down alive into the pit. Into the pit. My soul how these
sons of Korah, these descendants of Korah must have sang in the
worship and praise of their God who had spared them. Why? Why? The only reason is that
one that Paul gives in Romans 11. Therefore there is now also,
as there was in Elijah's time, although for a while he forgot
it, And as Paul says was true of his day, it was true in David's
day, it's true in our day, it'll be true until the Lord Jesus
Christ comes back for his church. There is now therefore also a
remnant, a remnant, a remnant God is purposed to save, a remnant
for whom Christ died and shed his precious blood. There's a
remnant according to what? Them being better than other
people. than being more worthy than other people? No, there's
a remnant according to God's election of grace. Oh, we do
well to sing, oh to grace, how great a debtor. Look here at
verse 7, this will be our text. A very simple outline within
the text, two clauses, and we'll consider the first one and then
the second one. That'll be the message. Verse
7, they go from strength to strength, these pilgrims to Zion. They
go from strength to strength. Every one of them in Zion appeareth
before God. The title of my message is Our
Journeys In. Mr. Bunyan, who wrote that famous
allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress, had a subtitle to it. It was,
from this world, the that which is to come. And so it is. First of all, concerning God's
chosen, we read, they go from strength to strength. They, God's
people. And this is true of all God's
people. Notice it doesn't say some of
them go from strength to strength. No, they go. That includes each
and every one of them. Why? Because each of them were
chosen to salvation, eternal salvation. They were each redeemed. And oh, may God enable us never
to forget the price of our redemption. The price of our ransom, that
which set the captive free, that which satisfied divine justice,
that which let his people go, was the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They were each not only chosen
to salvation and redeemed, they were in time called. Called. when it pleased God who,
Paul said, called me by his mighty grace. And not only that, afterwards,
they're kept, they're preserved in grace. One hymn writer expressed
it this way. And it's a good question, isn't
it? Something to consider. After so much mercy passed, will
God let them sink at last? No. No, he shall never lose one
of his little ones. They go from strength to strength. Christ, their ever faithful high
priest, intercedes for them even now. Isn't that comforting? Isn't that comforting? Just as
he said to Peter, Peter, Satan had desired to have you, that
he might sift you as wheat. And oh, what a terrible trial.
What a heartache. What bitter tears Peter wept
until the Lord appeared to him after his resurrection. Go tell
my disciples and Peter. Oh, that's grace, isn't it, Lord?
That's the grace of our immutable God. That's the grace of him
who changes not, but is the same yesterday and today and forever. Nothing's changed. But before
that, he said, Peter, I've prayed for you. I've prayed for you. Isn't that comforting to know
that our great and merciful, faithful, glorious high priest
that does everything for his people and pleases the Father,
he prays for us, he intercedes for us. We're told in Hebrews
that he appears now in the presence of God for us. And just his presence
there is sufficient to make intercession. His being there is proof that
all that he intended to do, he did. He accomplished the redemption
of all God's people. Yes, we're told, they go. They
go from strength to strength. That's not to say that they don't
go through stormy seas. The journey will not exempt them
from that, the path from this world. The that which is to come
goes through stormy seas, but they go through. They go through
the fire. This is what Job said. The righteous
also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall
be stronger and stronger, from strength to strength. Look at
Psalm 77, what we read here. Turn back a few pages in your
Bible to the 77th Psalm. Verse 10 of Psalm 77. And I said, this is my infirmity,
not exempt, not exempt, but I will remember that the years of the
right hand of the most high. I will remember the works of
the Lord. Surely, I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate
also of all thy work and talk of thy doings. Thy way, O God,
is in the sanctuary, who is so great a God as our God. Thou art the God that doest wonders. Thou hast declared thy strength
among the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed
thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, Turn back a few more
pages to Psalm 71. We find the same sweet theme
of God's power and faithfulness to his people. Psalm 71 verse
1. In thee, O Lord, do I put my
trust. Let me never be put to confusion.
Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me, cause me to escape. Incline thine ear unto me, and
save me. Be thou my strong habitation,
whereunto I may continually resort. Thou hast given commandment to
save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress. Deliver me,
O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of
the unrighteous and cruel man, for thou art my hope. Thou art
my hope. O Lord God, Thou art my trust
from my youth. By Thee have I been holdin' up
from the womb. Thou art He that took me out
of my mother's bowels. My praise shall be continually
of Thee. And you remember that familiar
passage in 2 Corinthians chapter 12? What Paul said concerning
God's faithfulness and God's grace? He had prayed earnestly
concerning the thorn in the flesh that God would remove it, deliver
him from it. And you remember the Lord's answer
to him in 2 Corinthians 12, Paul tells us about that, verse 9,
and he said unto me, this is God, the Lord Jesus speaking
to his faithful servant, my grace is sufficient for thee. My grace
is enough. For my strength is made perfect
in weakness." And Paul says, most gladly therefore. If that's
the case, if that's how it is then, most gladly therefore would
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ might
rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities and reproaches and necessities. in persecutions
and distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I am weak, then
am I strong." And you remember again what he wrote in Philippians
chapter 4? Let's look there for just a moment. Philippians chapter
4. Paul writes in verse 11 of that
chapter, now, not that I speak in respect of one, for I have
learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. I know
both how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and
in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things. Oh, but he didn't stop there,
did he? He didn't make a groundless boast, a foolish thing as that,
without this. I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me. Can there be any other explanation? Can there be any other explanation
but the grace and the strength and the power of our great God
and Savior Jesus Christ that we go from strength to strength? Look here again in Psalm 84 verse
5. Blessed is the man whose strength
is in thee. He leans not upon his own understanding
or his own arm of flesh, but the arm of omnipotence. Blessed
is the man whose strength is in thee. Remember when Jeremiah
prayed to God and he said, God, there's nothing too hard for
you. Nothing's too hard for you. And God replied and said, Jeremiah,
you're right. Nothing's too hard for me. Blessed
is the man whose strength is in thee and whose heart are the
ways of them. Turn back, if you will, to one
more Psalm, Psalm 73. This is familiar one. But the only explanation for
David, for Paul, for any child of God is not their own strength,
but the strength of God, that they're kept by the power of
God unto faith unto salvation. David here makes mention of a
temptation. He says in verse 1, truly God
is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But
as for me, My feet were almost gone, my steps were well nigh
slipped, for I was envious at the foolish." Surely not, David. After all God had done for you.
I mean, he took you from being a keeper of sheep to ruling over
his people Israel? And you're envious at the wicked? He set you up on a throne? He
gave you all that you could possibly need and yet you're envious at
the wicked? David said it was so. For I was envious at the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Verse 23. Nevertheless, now let's look
at verse 22. So foolish was I, and ignorant,
I was as a beast before thee. Guilty, guilty. I don't mean David, I mean Larry. Been guilty of that very thing. So foolish, so foolish, so ignorant,
so unbelieving of my great and faithful God. I was as a beast
before thee. But look, look, God doesn't say,
well, you ungrateful wretch, I'm done with you. No, no. No, God doesn't deal with us
like we deal with Him. Verse 23, nevertheless, Nevertheless, I am continually
with thee. Thou is holding me by my right
hand. You never let go of me. Nevertheless. Never less grace, but more grace. Never divided mercy, but multiplied
mercy. You say, oh, we don't deserve
God's grace and mercy. We never have. We never have. They observed it. Look what Paul
says here, or rather David, I'm sorry, verse 24 of Psalm 73. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel, and afterward, nevertheless is a sweet word, and so is afterward. Afterward receive me to glory. Afterward. In Psalm 84 and 11
from which we took our text, in verse 11 of the psalm we read,
the Lord shall give grace and glory." Afterward. Afterward. Thank God there's
an afterword to our suffering. Peter, in his first epistle said,
after that you have suffered a while, the Lord's comfort and
establish you and just settle you down. Settle you down to
experience the sweetness The sweet comfort of what we just
sang a little bit ago. Or we'll sing, I'm sorry, it's
the closing. Or no, we did sing. Tis so sweet
to trust in Jesus. And that is sweet, is it not?
Afterward. Afterward, thank God, there'll
be no tears. Verse 5 of Psalm 84, we read, or verse 6 rather, who passing
through the valley of Baca make it a well. Baca. The word means valley of tears. But notice what it says, who
passing through. They go from strength to strength. They pass through a valley of
tears. They don't stay, they pass through. A pastor was visiting one of
his suffering members, the sister of the church, who was going
through a great trial. And he said, my dear sister,
remember, when you read the gospels, how often you run across the
expression, and it came to pass, it came to pass. This trial has
not come to you to stay. It comes to pass. It too shall
pass by God's grace and you'll pass through it and would be
better because of it. They walk through the valley
of the shadow of death. They come out You say, Larry,
you hardly ever preach a sermon that you don't, quote, refer
to that verse in Romans 7. Indeed, I do. It's one of my
favorites. To me, that multitude before
the throne of God is just evidence of His faithfulness and His power
and His grace. They came out of great tribulation. My soul, look at that multitude. Can you imagine? the massive
trial represented there when they were on earth, the heartache,
the tears that were shed, the burdens they carried. My soul,
of every kind, of every description, people burned at the stake for
the testimony of God. People beheaded. all manner of
suffering and heartache. Oh, but to the testimony, to
God's amazing grace, we read, they all came out. John, they
were once like you are now. They were on earth. They were
suffering. At the time John received that
vision, he was cast out on the Isle of Patmos for the testimony
of Jesus Christ, for preaching the gospel. John, these two suffered,
but they came out. John, you'll come out too. And
all God's people will. They follow the Lamb. They go
from strength to strength. They follow the Lamb whether
so ever he goeth in life. in death and to glory they follow
the Lamb. You remember our Lord told His
disciples plainly that night in John 13, I'm going away. They didn't know. They didn't
understand. They didn't understand His mission,
the reason He came to this world. Not at that time. And He said,
I'm going away. All that day He came by the boat
that Peter and Andrew, his brother, were in and said, follow me. And they followed him. This was
after Andrew had brought him to Christ. But Christ comes by
afterwards and says, follow me, follow me. He goes a little further
to see James and John, follow me. Matthew, follow me. They left everything and followed
him. All the joy. the joy for three
and a half years in intimate, personal, close communion with
the Son of God. They walked with God as he walked
on this earth and he says, now I'm going away. And sorrow has
filled your hearts and you can't follow me now. And Peter said,
Lord, Why can't I go with you now?
Don't leave me alone. Don't leave me to myself. I want
to go with you. Why can't I follow you now? And
you remember what the Lord said, Peter, you can't follow me now. Oh, glory to his name. Louis,
you can't follow him now. But you'll follow him afterwards.
Peter, you're gonna follow me afterwards. And Peter did. Peter has. And so should every
one of his children. They go from strength to strength.
Now we see through a glass darkly. Oh, but afterwards... After this
veil of tears, we shall see Him face to face. This is the promise
of God's Word. They shall see His face. That
settles it. That settles it. God says they
shall. And that's an omnipotent shall,
as omnipotent as the one who spoke it. Now, weeping may endure
through the night. Oh, but afterwards, joy cometh
in the morning. Afterwards, Not long, not long. All tears will be wiped away
forever, forever. No pain, no sorrow, no death. Thank God, very soon afterwards,
we shall be forever with the Lord. Like those Psalms. I don't know if you've noticed,
but many of the Psalms that begin with expressions of sorrow always
end with joy except one, Psalm 88. That's the prophecy concerning
our Lord's sufferings and it is from beginning to end. But
every psalm, every other psalm that begins with the theme of
sorrow ends with joy as this one, our text. They go from strength
to strength. Turn back to Psalm 46. This is
another of the Psalms given to the sons of Korah. But look what
we read here. God is our refuge, my shelter, my refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Therefore, will we not fear? Well, why should we? Why should
we? With God as our refuge, with
God as our strength, with God as a very present help, therefore
will we not fear, though the earth be removed and though the
mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the
waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with
the swelling thereof, Selah. Verse 7, Lord of host is with
us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. Turn if you will to Isaiah chapter
40, Isaiah chapter 40. Where we read these blessed words,
Isaiah 40 verse 28, this is God speaking. And he asked this question, has
thou not known Has thou not heard that the everlasting God, the
Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither
is weary. There is no searching of his
understanding. He giveth power to the faint.
And to them that have no might, he increases strength. Even the
youth shall faint and be weary, and all the young men shall utterly
fall. But they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength. They go from strength to strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and
not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." Paul said,
we know that though the outward man perishes, the inward man
is renewed day by day. Let me share a poem with you
along this line. They say that I'm growing old,
I've heard them tell it times untold, in language plain and
bold, but I'm not growing old. The frail old shell in which
I dwell is growing old I know for well, but I am not the shell.
I like that. What if my eyesight's growing
dim, I still can see the Father in Him, who sacrificed His life
for me upon the cross of Calvary. What should I care if time's
old plow has left its furrows on my brow? Another house not
made with hands awaits me in the glory land. What though I
falter in my walk? What though my tongue refuse
to talk? I still can tread the narrow way. I still can watch
and praise and pray. My hearing may not be as keen
as in the past it may have been. Still I can hear my savior say
in whispers soft, this is the way. The outward man, do what
I can to lengthen out this life's short span, shall perish and
return to dust as everything in nature must. The inward man,
the scriptures say, is growing stronger every day. Then how
can I be growing old when safe within my Savior's fold? Ere
long my soul shall fly away and leave this tenement of clay.
This robe of flesh shall drop and rise to seize the everlasting
prize. I'll meet you on the streets
of gold and prove that I'm not growing old. For we know that
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we
have a building of God, a house not made by hands, eternal in
the heavens. Thank God for such grace. Now
the second clause here in Psalm 84, every one of them in Zion
appeareth before God. Every one of them, in Zion, appeareth before God. All God's pilgrims, making their
journey, as old Bunyan said, from this world to that which
is to come, they arrive at last to the celestial city. This comforts me so very much,
not just for myself. It does give me comfort personally,
but for you, for my brothers and sisters in Christ, my friends
and my fellow pilgrims. Remember what they concluded
at that conference in Acts chapter 15 concerning the believer's
relationship to the law? Peter and Paul and Barnabas and
James, they all got together and they said, let's don't trouble
the Gentiles with this because we believe that through the grace
of God, they shall be saved even as we. And I believe that through
the grace of God, you shall be saved even as me. In Acts chapter 20. When Paul
was saying his farewell to the elders of the church of Ephesus,
he said, and now brethren, I commend you to God. Oh, what a comfort
that must have been for Paul and them. I commend you to God
and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up
and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. And in Acts chapter 27, let me
read you this. Paul was on board ship. They're
in a severe storm. They think they're going to drown.
Paul is a prisoner with many other prisoners. But here in
chapter 27, verse 22, Paul speaks to them and says, Now I exhort
you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any
man's life among you but of the ship. For there stood by me this
night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, saying,
Fear not. Paul, thou must be brought before
Caesar, and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with
thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God,
that it shall be even as it was told me. Last Saturday morning,
a week ago, I didn't realize this was broadcast over the live
streaming as well until Debbie told me. I thought just the preaching
was. I baptized my son. Some of you
were able to see that. I'm so glad that you were. I
read these words concerning the promise, the faithfulness of
our God, the sufficiency of his grace. And concerning my son
that's just begun to follow this way, that's taken up his cross
and following our Lord, I commend him to God. and the word of his
grace, which is able to build him up, which is able to keep
him. I believe that must be so, because
the great shepherd of the sheep said, he won't lose any. He said,
I won't lose any. I love that picture, don't you?
In the parable, he spoke about the shepherd going out and finding
his sheep. I love that picture where he
says, when he finds it, he lays it upon his shoulders. Can you
picture that? Can you picture that? That's
where we are, children of God. We're on the shoulders, in the
loving arms of the captain of our salvation. We're saved. It's
no wonder he said, and when he bringeth them home. Every one
of them in Zion appeareth before God. And this is God's will.
The will of Him who said, I will do all my pleasure. I have spoken
it. I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it. I will also do it. And our Lord
said, among those things that God Almighty has purposed and
willed is this, that all which He had given me I should lose
none. This is the Father's will, He
said. God Almighty's omnipotent will. It's a done deal. The all which
he had given me I should lose none but raise them up again
at the last day. That is why every one of them
in Zion appeareth before God. None perish in the journey None
are destroyed along the way by the enemy. None turn back from
the way. They're all kept by the power
of God. Look at verse 12 in Psalm 84,
and we'll bring this to the close. We'll close as the Psalm does.
Oh, Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Indeed. Indeed, that man is truly
a blessed man that God has enabled to trust him. Trust his mercy
for our pardon. trust his power for our protection,
trust his faithfulness for our preservation. Yes, it is sweet
to trust in Jesus. For all things, at all times,
in all circumstances, to believe that it shall be well with the
righteous. Own the Lord to be thy son and
shield. No good will he withhold. He
giveth grace and soon shall be revealed, his glory yet untold. His mighty name confessing, walk
thou at peace and free. O Lord, how rich the blessing
of him who trusts in thee. They go from strength to strength,
every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. Amen. Amen.