I invite you to turn in your
Bibles to the 124th Psalm. Psalm 124, I want to read this
Psalm and then read the first two verses of Psalm 125. Psalm
124. If it had not been the Lord who
was on our side, now may Israel say, if it had not been the Lord
who was on our side when men rose up against us, then they
had swallowed us up quick when their wrath was kindled against
us. Then the waters had overwhelmed
us. The stream had gone over our
soul. Then the proud waters had gone
over our soul. Blessed be the Lord who hath
not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as
a bird out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken
and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the
Lord who made heaven and earth. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth
even forever. I want to say at the outset this
morning of our service here that I have prayed for you before
I came today that the Lord might be pleased to enable you to receive
what we have to say. Many, many times the hearts of
the Lord's people are maybe in a state of rebellion, maybe they're
in a state where their hearts are hardened by the various circumstances
and trials and difficulties that they must deal with day by day
in their lives, and they're not able, when they hear a message,
to receive it. And I know there is a time to
receive the Word of God. I know that there's a time just
like there are times to read books, certain books, and you
get certain books in your hands and you try to read them and
they don't mean anything to you and so you soon lay them aside.
But there may come a day, whenever you pick that book up, that that
book will be a blessing to you and it'll just provide a much
enlightenment to your soul and encouragement to you. And that's
the way sermons are. There are times when people just
have a difficult time listening to what somebody has to say because
they're not in a state of mind and heart to receive the Word
of God at that time. But I trust today that the Lord
has prepared each one of our hearts and that we will be able
to receive what the Lord has for us today. I would call to
your attention at the outset of our meeting this morning that
we've been reading one of the songs of degrees of David. It's a song of degrees. And this is important to understand.
because it helps us with the psalm and helps us to be able
to receive the message of the Lord. Now we want to speak primarily
this morning on verse 1 of chapter 125, Psalm 125, where the Bible
says, They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion,
which cannot be removed, but abideth forever. Now this is
the first verse, then, of this particular song of degrees. These songs were probably sung
by the pilgrims, the Jewish pilgrims, as they went up to Jerusalem
to worship. When they stopped, maybe along
the way for rest, or to take refreshment, they would chant
and sing these songs of degrees. And it's very possible that this
psalm bursts forth from the joyful lips of these pilgrims at just
the very moment when Zion first come into sight. There had been
many days weary days on the road coming to Zion to worship, coming
to Jerusalem to worship. And when they first caught sight
of the city, they would chant this song. Now Song of Degrees
means that the psalm rises out of that which preceded it, as
one step of a stairway would rise above another." Now that's
what it means. In other words, they built these
songs on experiences in life, and as they gradually experienced
more and more of the blessing and goodness of God, they were
able to write and put into words what it was they had experienced.
Now David could have never have sung the 124th psalm if he had
not, well first let me say this, he could have never sung the
125th psalm if he had not first sung the 100 and 24th. In other words, the
124th had to come before the 125th. If he had not been where
men threatened to swallow him up quick and found him in such
a case that the Lord was on his side, he could not have been
quite so sure that they that trust in the Lord shall be as
Mount Zion, which cannot be removed. You see, he came through experience
to know that those who trusted in the Lord, that they were safe,
and that God would bless them and keep them. So our experiences
then are our instructors, and we experientially learn spiritual
truth. We learn about our Lord as he
leads us and directs us, and as we have experiences in life
wherein we find God to be on our side, it builds confidence,
and we're able then to rejoice in our God. Now the 124th Psalm,
to some extent then, must be passed through that we see that
all of our health, as the people of God, on our pilgrimage in
this world that the Lord is indeed our help. Then we can say experientially,
they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion. We have heard
and read the brave and courageous testimonies of many of the children
of God, many of those who believe God, many of those who have been
through deep waters, many of those who have had great affliction
in their lives. have been pleased to speak about
their deliverances and their blessings from God and how God
undertook for them. And maybe we wished at the time
we were hearing or the time we were reading these testimonies
that we had such faith, that we had such confidence in God,
that we could trust the Lord like these people had. But brother,
sister, let me tell you, you cannot have the faith of the
heroes of faith unless you have the trials of the heroes of faith. It's only through trial that
we're instructed to believe that they that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed. Now you may rest
assured that God never gave a nickel's worth of faith to any one of
his own children to put up on a shelf in a fruit jar. When
God gives the gift of faith, It's because you're going to
need it. You need faith to walk in this world. A child of God,
the Bible says over and over that the just shall live by faith.
We live by faith in the eternal God. Now what I'm trying to say
here is that we must be brought through a preparatory process
which will bring our minds into a triumphant state. I believe
that the psalmist here was triumphant in his heart. Oh, to have some
victory. Wouldn't you like to have some?
Wouldn't you like to be able to rejoice in the Lord and to
give Him praise that He has delivered you and that you've seen His
hand, that you can trace His hand in your life and you can
see how the Lord, step by step, has brought you to the place
where you are this morning and you can see that God has been
faithful to you. Now then, maybe the Lord is bringing
you, and you're being prepared right now to have in your heart
the victory of faith. And as we've said before, that's
the only kind of victory really there is. is the victory of faith,
where we believe God, where we trust God, where we rest all
in His hands, where we submit ourselves entirely unto Him,
when we bow not only our knee but our hearts to His sovereign
will and good pleasure in our life, to trust the Lord is synonymous
with waiting on the Lord and believing that God is at work
and that God will do His will and His purpose in our lives. Now first, there are three things
here that I want to talk about this morning. The first thing
that we want to talk about is we want to talk about the people
that are mentioned in the text and they that trust in the Lord. I want to talk about these people
a little bit. They that trust in the Lord. Now that which is said of them
is nothing very great in the judgment of human reason. Most people do not think that
it's a great thing to trust in the Lord. Most carnal men and
women, most people who are unrenewed by the regenerating spirit of
God, Most people who have not the gift of faith in their hearts
thinks it's just a very small, easy, simple thing just to trust
in the Lord. But, beloved, it's not that simple. Human reasoning, human reasoning,
Carnal sense are enemies of the children of God, and we know
that they think very little of real heart faith in the living
God, but this is a great thing. These people trusted in the Lord. Now then, God gives promises,
and they believe. the promises that God gives. God is at work in Providence
and they trust Him. They believe that God is at work,
that God's doing something in their lives, that their lives
are just not, as they live them out day by day, that it's just
not accidents and ifs and buts and ors But we know that God
is at work specifically doing something in the lives of His
people. So God is at work in Providence. And these people that trust God,
they trust Him that He's working in their lives. And God invites
them to the mercy seat. And they just come. They come.
They approach it. because they believe if God said
you come boldly unto the throne of grace and that you might obtain
strength and help in the time of need, they just believe that
what they should do is come, expecting that God's going to
give them exactly what they need. They trust the Lord. God gives
them His Son as their Savior and as their salvation, and they
believe in Him. They trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ. They know there's only one Savior.
They know that there is only one who can meet the need of
their soul. They know that there's just one
who is able to satisfy every need of their heart, and that's
the Lord Jesus Christ, and they believe in Him. And then God
gives His Holy Spirit as their teacher, and they learn of Him
and walk as He leads. The Bible says that they that
are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God, and they
that trust in the Lord are those that follow the leadership of
the Holy Spirit. They go as God directs them. They listen to the motions of
the Holy Spirit in their hearts, and as God directs and moves
them and enlightens them, they're able to walk and please the Lord. It is because they trust in the
Lord. And so that sums it up. These
that are mentioned in the text are those who are trusting in
the Lord. Now this trust in the Lord, what
is it? What is it really to trust in
the Lord? Well, it's not the effort that
some people think. Some people think that it's an
effort of intellect. In other words, the more intelligent
you are, the more apt you are to trust in the Lord. This is
not the case. This is not the case. It's got
nothing to do with natural intelligence. Some of the most intelligent
people in the world are blasphemers. They oppose God and oppose His
truth and they have no respect. for the high and holy things
of the living God. They're against God and against
his truth. And not only are they against
the truth of God, but God himself has hid his truth from the wise
and prudent and has been pleased to reveal it unto spiritual babes. And so it's not, beloved, it's
not the laborious work of education. It's not the work of intellect. It's not that people are smart,
therefore they trust the Lord. That's not the case. Now, some
people say, well, I'd like to have faith, but I'd like to get
it my own way. I don't necessarily want to get
it and go through the process that's necessary in order to
have faith in the living God. Well, the people of God, let
me make this statement, the people of God believe because it is
given on their behalf to believe. If you believe God, if you trust
God as these people that are mentioned in Psalm 125 verse
1, it is because it has been given for you to believe. The Bible says in Philippians
129, it is not only given on our behalf to believe on the
name of the Son of God, but also to suffer for His sake. But it
is given on our behalf to believe. Have you been blessed to believe?
Are you able to believe? Are you able to trust God? Now,
you may say, yes, preacher, I am. But before we're done this morning,
I think you will examine your answer as to whether or not it's
yes or no. But nevertheless, in 2 Peter
1 and verse 1, it tells us about those who have obtained like
precious faith. In Romans 10 and 17, it says
that faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
It comes. It comes. Faith must come. Faith is not natural to your
own heart as a son of Adam. It does not come. It is not something
that grows on a human dunghill. Let me say that faith is a gift
of God. We read in the scripture that
faith is the gift of God and is not of works lest any man
should boast. Now trusting then is depending
on God. It's depending where there is
unquestionable reason for reliance. Now, if a man trusts God, I want
to say it is believing what is assuredly true. God is true,
and it's believing what God says, one who is reliable, one whom
you can trust. And let me say this, it's not
only just believing what is assuredly true, but it's also acting upon
that. acting upon what you believe
God has revealed. Trusting in the Lord is taking
at His Word one who cannot lie, one who cannot change, one who
cannot fail. That's what trusting in the Lord
is about. Those who trust cannot boast
of their faith. One thing that is so out of place,
beloved, it's ridiculous, is anybody who has faith boasting
about their believing, boasting about their faith and their confidence
in God, seeing that It is God that makes men differ, and whatever
we have is what we received, and if we have received it, then
we're never to glory as if we had not received it. Faith is
a gift of God. You can't get it, true faith. Must come from God and from God
only and men cannot even understand what trusting in the Lord means
till God the Holy Ghost opens their understanding and then
he must both beget and Nourish their faith or they'll have none
of it They'll never have any faith if God don't beget it and
nourish it in their hearts So you can't boast of the confidence
and the trust that you have in the Lord You must be grateful
and in your heart and be filled with gratitude that God's been
pleased to enable you to trust in the Lord. Hebrews 11, 6 says,
But without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh
to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek Him. And so, beloved, if we are to
please God, we must believe God. Trust God. This is the work of
God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent. That is Jesus
Christ. This is God's work. I've had
people say, give us something to do. Can't you give us something
to do? Well, your assignment is, my
friend, believe on Him whom God has sent. Trust Him. Rely upon
Him. Well, let me say right here this
morning, While their faith be simple or hard, it is right to
trust in the Lord. Would there be anyone here that
would dispute that? It is right to trust in the Lord. It is right, all men ought to
trust in the Lord. It is right to trust in the Lord. It is the plain exhortation of
Scripture over and over and over again. Now, beloved, it is not
possible that we will ever find so worthy, one so worthy of our
trust and confidence than our God. the God of the Bible, is
there one single instance in which the Lord once has given
his word and has it been found to fail? Has God ever given a
word and then that word failed to come to pass? When have thirsty
souls ever come to this fountain and found it dry? My friend,
if you trust the Lord, it's the right thing for believers to
do, is to trust the Lord. If there be anything against
the veracity of God, I never heard anything about it, but
I invite this morning evidence. If you have evidence that it's
not right, to trust God, then bring forth your evidence and
produce it. I've never found any evidence.
I've been in this world now a little over 65 years and I've never
yet. I've been trying to walk with
God now for over 47 years and I still have not, to this day,
or to this hour found in the evidence that would impeach the
veracity of God Almighty. God, it is right to trust Him. It's right to believe on Him.
It's right to trust Him. Now there is no evidence that
God is unfaithful and so you ought to believe Him and act
on what He shows you and act on what He teaches you. You know
there's some people that they are inquiring of others,
I've heard these questions. What is it that you're basing
your hope for the future on in this world? What do you base
your hope on? Some people say, well, I've got a rich uncle,
or I've got a good family business. I've got this, I've got that,
I've got something else. and uh... then they come here's
this poor child of god sitting here and he has no he has no
uh... crutches to lean on he doesn't
have anybody that he knows that's got anything in this world to
speak up and he said well what do you have hope in as far as
this world well i just believe that god love me, I believe He
gave Christ for my soul, I believe He has a purpose for my life,
I believe He's gonna be with me, I believe He's gonna direct
me, I believe He's gonna deliver me as I walk down the road on
my pilgrimage toward glory, and I believe whatever I need, the
eternal covenant of God has made provision for it, and all's gonna
be well with me. Now, that don't go over very
good. because the natural man is not
interested in that. He doesn't feed on that. He doesn't
touch that. He can't touch that. He doesn't
know anything about that. Well, may I say further, moreover,
not only is it right, But maybe we should say it is wise to trust
in the Lord. The Bible says, listen to this,
he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. That's what Psalms
20 verse seven says. He that trusteth in his own heart
is a fool. And some trust in chariots and
some in horses. But the Psalmist said, we will
remember the name of the Lord, our God. In Proverbs 3, verse
5 and 6, it says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and
lean not to thine own understanding, but in all thy ways acknowledge
him, and he shall direct thy paths. In all thy ways acknowledge
him. And then you know what the next
verse says? The first part of the next verse says, be not wise
in your own eyes. Be not wise in your own eyes. Other words, trust in the Lord.
with all of your heart. Lean not, repudiate your own
understanding and trust God and rely upon him. And be not wise
in your own conceits, in your own eyes. Now, beloved, this
is what I'm trying to say. For us to get our little boat
in tow with the infinite is wise. if you can understand that. To
get our little boat in tow with the infinite God is a wise thing. To gain a connection between
yourself the creature of an hour and the eternal who looked the
world into existence and whose glance will return it to nothing
must be wise. Do you have a connection? If
you've got one, it's through trusting. It's through faith
if you've got a connection. I mean, if your boat is in tow
by the infinite God, it's through faith. It's through confidence.
Matthew Henry says, all that deal with God must deal upon
trust. And he will give comfort to those
only that give credit to him. Well, what else can we do? God
is to be trusted. It's right to trust him. It's
wise to trust him. Let us trust him with all of
our hearts. Job said, though he slay me, yet will I trust
him. I'll trust him whatever he does
in my life. Trust to a believer is his only
path. He is shut up to faith. A believer
must trust God. He must believe or die. He will
not make a God out of anything else. He has one God, and he
worships that God, and he trusts that God. He will not make a
God out of his own will, his own self-will, out of his own
obstinance. He'll not make a God out of his
hard-headedness. He'll bow his knee, and he'll
trust God, and he'll wait on God to give him what he needs. He'll trust the Lord, enabling
God to enable him to go on in his life. Many, many times it
may be that we're backed into a corner in our lives and we're
quite bewildered and we can hardly pray. We can hardly unload the
thoughts of our hearts and the burdens that are upon our hearts
and trusting in the Lord. many, many times with us is the
result of our desperation. It's the result of our desperation.
Now, I'm just telling you the true experience of a child of
God. You can talk about trusting all
you want to, but a man or a woman or a boy or a girl who trusts
God, we said it earlier, I emphasize it, are gonna have trials. God
does not give faith and then let your life be lived free from
test and trial. He's not gonna do that. He's
gonna try you, and many, many times, and trust in the Lord,
it's out of a sense of desperation. I'd like to impress this upon
your hearts. I don't know whether you've ever
been here or not, but I want to impress this. It's not by
strength that we trust the Lord, but by sheer weakness. that we
run into the arms of God. Have you ever experienced that?
Faint hearted, just barely able to breathe spiritual breath,
barely able to live, barely able to get by, trials pressing, pressure
upon you. It looks as though that God has
failed and that nothing's going to happen that you've believed
in and you've trusted and trusted and trusted and you've come to
the place where you feel that if you ever get the blessing
you'll not be able to enjoy it because you'll be so wore out
in waiting and praying and trusting that you're going to get something
from God's hand. Wait on, sister. Wait on, brother. Believe God. Trust God. Go on. And in your weakness, run to
Him and cast yourself upon Him and believe Him. Most of God's
people, when they are believing God, it's out of a sense of desperation. It's out of a sense of weakness,
great weakness. And let me just tell you people,
you young people especially, Some of you older folks have
had enough spiritual experience that you know what I'm talking
about. But I want to tell you young people, the Bible says
that we're to trust in the Lord, we're to wait upon God, and anything
that you get in your life that comes any other way than you
waiting on the Lord for and trusting in God for will have a worm in
the core of it. Anything you get in your life,
it'll be a curse to you if you're a child of God if you don't wait
on the Lord and trust Him until He makes it right and gives you
what He wants you to have. And any child of God that wants
something God doesn't want him to have is a child of God that's
living in a state of rebellion and the rod of God most surely
will come on his back. Now God may give you what you
want But I'll tell you what, you live to see the day when
you wished you'd never asked for it. You learn to wait and
trust the hand of an all-wise God that whenever He blesses
His people, they are blessed. and he adds no sorrow to it.
But whenever you go out on your own and hook and crook and connive
and go out as it were using your own intellect and ability and
just following your own heart, you remember what we said? The
Bible says they that trust in their own heart is a fool. You
cannot trust yourself. You must trust God and lean upon
him and depend upon him. And let me say this. that a child
of God does not have the capacity, does not have the ability to
enjoy anything that comes into their lives that they did not
receive from the Lord by faith and by waiting on Him. You don't
have the capacity to enjoy it. And so if you were to get it
in obstinance and get it in willfulness and get it through independence
on your own, I'll tell you wouldn't have the ability to enjoy. You
better wait on the Lord and trust Him and rely upon Him. So trust
to a believer then is the only path. Trust in the Lord. Now notice that the second thing
in our text is the security Hear of those who trust, the security
of those who trust in Jehovah. They will be as Mount Zion, which
cannot be removed, but abideth forever. To trust in the Lord,
somebody said, is sanctified common sense. I don't think that's
very good. I don't think that's very good.
I don't agree with that. It is right to trust the Lord
and wise, but it doesn't have anything to do with common sense. It doesn't have anything to do
with that. Now, sanctified common sense, I like the word sanctified.
That's good. But I believe faith is a gift
of God. Those who trust in Jehovah shall
be asphyxed as firm and stable as the mount where David dwelt
and where the Ark of the Covenant abode, and that is Mount Zion. Mount Zion. They're going to
be as stable and as fixed and as firm as that mountain. Now, to move Mount Zion? Why,
that would be impossible. There used to be some of those
radical Arabs who said, they read this promise and they said,
we'll move that mountain, we'll move that mountain out into the
Meridian. We'll move it. But they've never moved it to
this day. They've never moved it to this day. Now this hill,
Zion, was the image of eternal steadfastness. This hill, which
according to the Hebrews, sits to eternity, is what it means. It sits to eternity. I'm talking
about Mount Zion now. And how that the one who trusts
in the Lord will be as firm and well fixed and as stable as that
hill which is fixed to eternity which neither bows down nor moves
to and fro. And it is the portion of a child
of God. We are and have been and we shall
be as steadfast as the hill of God if we believe, if we trust
God. Faith in God is settling and
faith in God is establishing the heart. Now, we shall not
be removed by force from without. or fickleness from within, we
shall be as Mount Zion, if we trust in the Lord." Now Mount
Zion had in David's day undergone a great many changes. They called
those mountains around Jerusalem, of which Mount Zion was one of
them, they called them the Worn Out Hills. They were worn out
with people traversing them and battles being fought over them,
and they called them the Worn Out Hills, and they'd undergone
many changes. And it has seen many more since
David's time, but it has never been removed. Mount Zion has
never been removed. Now, God's children undergo a
variety of experiences in this old world. Today, their hearts
may be at rest. You may be trusting today and
your heart be at rest, but tomorrow your heart may be a battlefield. Oh, so many tested, tried, afflicted,
storm-tossed. Only God knows how you're going
to wake up in the morning. Only God knows how you're going
to feel tomorrow. about what kind of trials you're
going to have in this life. But whatever their ups and downs
may be, they shall never be removed from their ordained and appointed
place. By the grace of God, they are
where they are. And where they shall be, because
they shall not be removed, they shall abide forever. They shall
never be affectionately removed from that place before the Lord
in which infinite love has fixed them. Where then, I ask our believers
today? Where are believers? Hear me out, listen to me, and
you'll understand how it is that we're fixed firmly as fixed as
Mount Zion. Number one, believers are in
a place of divine love. They're dear to the heart of
God. A believer is loved of God. The Father himself loves you,
and nothing shall make him cease to love you. He did not love
you because of anything good in you. When He chose you, He
knew exactly what you would be. He knew exactly what you would
become. He knew all about you before
He ever took up your case in His hand. He already knew you.
He knew everything about a son of Adam. Jesus said, I don't
need anybody testify to me about man. I know what's in man. and God from eternity knows what
is in you. He knows your situation. You'll
never surprise God. No, you won't. Whatever you fall
into, whatever evil you fall into, whatever circumstances
you trip and fall into, the Lord is already foreseen and provided
for it all. And I want you to listen to what
He said. Now listen to what this verse says in Jeremiah. He says, I have loved thee, with
an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee, for the mountains shall depart, the hills be removed,
but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the
covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy
on thee." Isn't that a great verse? It really is. It's a great
verse. But our Lord has said that. So
you see, we're fixed That's where we're fixed, right there in the
love of God. In the love of God. And then secondly, if we're indeed
trusting in God, then we're also in the stronghold of the everlasting
covenant. What a wonderful blessing this
is. God has entered into bonds with our representative, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and he means to bless us. He means to bless
us in the Lord Jesus by oath and by promise, by two immutable
things in which it is impossible for him to lie. He has given
a strong consolation concerning everlasting salvation in Christ
Jesus. Now, you and I are like Mount
Zion. We'll never be removed from our
place in the covenant, although your house be not so with God
as you might desire. There may be a lot of failings
in your life, like there was in David's life, a lot of situations
that you wished were otherwise, and you may say, well, I sure
wish things was different in my life, but yet has he made
with you as he made with David, an everlasting covenant that
is ordered in all things and is sure. And so you see we're
in that place, we're in the covenant like David and the sure mercies
of David are ours. As sure as they were his, they're
ours as we're in that eternal and everlasting covenant. Now
number three, where are we? Where are we? Well we're in Christ. were members of his body, members
of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones, till Mount Zion
shall be torn from its eternal base. None who are in Christ
shall ever be torn from his body. We make up the body of Christ. All believers are in the body
of Christ. All who trust God are in the body of Christ. And
God will not allow that one of his members ever be taken from
his body, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're in Christ,
and that's why we're as secure as Mount Zion. That's why we
shall never be removed. We're in Christ. Now, this is
meat for men. in the strength of this meat
you can do and dare and even die for the Lord Jesus Christ
if you get fixed like we're talking about if you're if you're in
Christ if you're if you know the love of God towards your
soul and if you're in the eternal covenant then it's fixed. It's fixed. And this is meat
for the heart. Now number four, where are our
believers? They're in a place of justification. The Bible says
in Romans 5 verse 1, therefore being justified by faith we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Justified by faith! That's how you're justified.
Scripture says in Romans 8 and 1, there's therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. means no judgment, awaiting those
who are in Christ Jesus. Are you a believer? If you're
a believer, therefore, in Romans chapter 3 and verse 24, therefore
being justified freely through His grace, we have redemption
through His shed blood. Being justified freely that word
freely there is without cause on our behalf we didn't cause
it God did it freely for us justified us give us a standing before
him just as if we'd ever sinned now when a thrice holy God looks
at you does he see somebody who who appears to him as to have
never sinned now as we stand in and of ourself Every one of
us are condemned to hell. Every one of us are justly condemned
to everlasting perdition and to hellfire forever. Because
as we stand in ourselves we are obnoxious to God. But when we
stand in Jesus Christ, when we stand in His Son, His well-beloved
Son, Then, my friend, God looks upon us and He sees no sin in
Jacob. And God will not impute sin. Blessed, David said, are those
to whom God will not accredit sin. And those are those who
are in Christ. God does not credit sin to their
account. Now do you see how it is that
we're as Mount Zion that shall never be removed? Because God
is not going to charge us with sin. The Bible says, who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Who? Where is the
individual that can bring a sin up and say God has charged you
with this sin? If you be a believer, there is
no sin charged to your account. God has looked you over and God
can see my beloved he that made the eye can he not see and he
sees your sin indeed if you're outside of his son and the only
way he'll not see your sin is for you to be in Christ and for
your life to be hid by Christ in God that's the only way that
God's going to be able to look at you and find no fault with
you find no sin in you. Well, that's the way it is. That's
why I'm as Mount Zion. That's why I'm as Mount Zion,
that shall never be removed. It's because I've been justified. And then, where are we? That
we're so rock-solid and that we've got such security and we
can talk about the immovability of the saints? Where are we?
Well, we're in the place of the gracious purpose of God. the
gracious purpose of God, that purpose which He purposed from
all eternity, that eternal purpose which He purposed in His Son,
Jesus Christ. The Bible says for whom He did
foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of His Son. Sounds like God's got a plan.
Sounds to me like God's going to do this. Sounds to me like
that the Lord is not going to be thwarted in us becoming like
His Son. in that day that he's purposed.
Believing, trusting is a mark of the heavenly calling. It's
not the cause of the heavenly calling. I speak the truth with
you. I'm telling you that if a person
believes, what it means is that God from all eternity purposed
to save you and to call you unto eternal life. It's the mark of
the heavenly calling. It's the mark of God's predestinating
grace. It's a mark. It doesn't cause
God to do that. It's evidence that God has done
it on your behalf. Do you believe? Do you trust?
in the Lord. Well, from this predestination
you will never be removed, but shall abide forever. Shall abide
forever. Don't that sound glorious? Sounds
mighty good to me. This just sounds good to me. This is just going to make my
day. Would that be alright if this made my day? That's how
stable. You say, well you look like a
very unstable person to me. And all the poor afflicted people
of God, how storm-tossed and how difficult life is. And sometimes you don't know
on Monday whether you're going to make it to another Sunday. And life
is so stressful and so difficult. But there is Mount Zion. Don't laugh, my friend. There
is Mount Zion that shall not be removed forever. They'll abide
forever, those who trust. in the Lord. Well, believers
are too often tossed about in their minds and suffer great
shakings and movings of heart. Why is that? Because they do
not trust in the Lord as they should. You don't trust. You
don't believe these promises. These things ought not so to
be. Oh, may our faith take hold for dear life on the truth of
God, because it is our life, my friend. and your joy and contentment
and happiness in life depends upon you getting a hold of these
things and holding on for dear life. Holding on, holding on. You know Martin Luther, the reformer? He was discouraged one time.
Well, I wouldn't say he was discouraged one time. According to what I
read, he was discouraged a lot of times. But he was real discouraged
one time for several weeks on end. Despair. and greatly afflicted
and tried so friends people who knew him was just afraid that
he was just going to kind of go off and say things that he
should never say and that he was going to bring a reproach
on the name of the lord so they sent him off someplace where
he could get some rest and sent him off so he could be by himself
so he wouldn't be around anybody that where he could uh... you
know just dump all of the unbelief of his heart on him And so after
a couple of three weeks, they went and got him and brought
him back. And he still was in a bad, bad condition. Wasn't
any better. Just like he was. Full of that
old unbelief, you know. God's never going to do this.
And God's never going to do that. And this will never happen. Will
never, will never, will never, won't be, and so on and so forth.
Well, so finally they let him go home. He walked in the house
and Catherine, his wife, was sitting in the sitting room and
she had on a black dress and she was weeping. And so Martin
came in and he said to her, he said, what is the matter? said,
is one of the children dead? Oh no, she said, it's much worse
than that. It is much worse than that. Well,
what is the matter? What is the matter? I mean, what's
the terrible, what's going on? And she said, Martin, she said,
the awful thing, the awfulest thing that you could ever imagine
has happened. Why, she said, the Heavenly Father
is dead. The Heavenly Father has died. And he stopped and just a moment
or two, he burst out into laughing and said, Katie, Katie, you've
taught me a great lesson. You've taught me a great lesson.
You know, when we get down and discouraged and we're despairing,
that's more or less what we're telling ourselves is the heavenly
father has died he's died, God's dead well let me tell you if
we make any difference who else dies God is never gonna die God
is not dead and he never will die and so you can trust God
and so come out of the doldrums and begin to sing praises unto
the Lord. Come up the ladder, you remember,
step by step, and have a triumphant mind and heart. And so our hearts
must be fixed then in the Lord, and then we'll be as fixed as
Mount Zion. Well, I haven't looked at the
clock, but the time is getting away. Let me spend just a little
bit of time on this third thing, and we'll be out of here. But
listen to this. What's the evident reason for
all of this? What is the reason for all of
this? Well, why is it that they that
trust in the Lord shall not be moved? Let me say that it's because
they're trusting in the truth. They've not believed a lie. They
have not believed in a lie. If you trust God and believe
what he says, you have not believed a lie. Even though the devil
tells you you have, you have not believed a lie. They're trusting
in one who will not deceive them and cannot fail them, and they
laid their foundation on a rock. They're trusting in the Lord. Our God in whom we trust is truth. He is power. He is immutability. He is holiness. He is justice. And we can never be moved because
we believed in the truth. I cannot imagine a reason. I
say it again, I cannot imagine a reason why that one should
ever be moved that has believed the truth. Next, they are trusting
where their reliance is observed and welcomed. I wanted to get
to this. The Bible says the Lord is good and He knoweth them who
trust in Him. Let me say that God loves to
have dependence about Him. around about him. God loves to
have dependence. The Lord, you know, I read a
statement the other day and this statement said that the greatest
success in life is to be able to live your life, your own life,
just exactly like you want to live it. Now that's what this
statement said. Now beloved, that is absolute,
absolute blasphemy against God. Anyone who thinks they will ever
be happy living their life exactly like they want to live it, are
foolish. They're foolish. I'm telling
you this, I've met a lot of people in this world, some had and some
didn't. But everybody who lived their life like they wanted to
live it, just done as they pleased, done their thing, I never met
a happy person like that in all my life. The happiest people
that I ever met in my life, and they're not happy every day,
but they're happy when they believe in God, are those who trust in
the Lord. and those who believe that God
has a purpose and a plan and a way and that God's not going
to fail them. They believe in Him and they
trust Him and their hearts have been made glad through faith
in the living God. Now let me say that God loves
to have dependence. He has in creation, He has in
providence, and He has in grace made us dependent. We're dependent on Him. We're
not independent. We're dependent. Those who trust
in the Lord are dependents, and God must have dependents. He
must and will have those around Him who need Him. Isn't that right? God's gonna
see to it. If you're around Him, you're
gonna need Him. All this business of carrying
God around like a man carries a spare tire in the trunk of
his car and the only time he needs him is when he has a blowout.
And so he gets that tire out of the trunk and uses it. All this business of using God. No, no, no, no. My friend, the
people of God need Him. They need Him. They need Him
all the time. Need Him while their pockets
are full or whether they're empty. They need God. And they know
they need God. And they trust Him. And God's
going out of His way to fix you. So you will need Him. So you'll need Him. And that's
the reason why you don't have, maybe today, your cupboards plumbed
full. Maybe the Lord has brought you
to the end of yourself, in a way, and brought you down and low,
so you would cry to Him. Because you need Him, don't you
see? And God wants it that way. That's why He's fixed it that
way. I've said He made dependence
on Him. The people with independent hearts
They don't belong to the Lord. They don't belong to Him. He
loves dependents. And so why should He ever cast
them away? These people come where God appreciates people
coming, and they come trusting Him. And that's what he wants.
That's exactly what he wants. He'll never reject those who
believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those that diligently
seek him. And number three, let me say
quickly, I only get to preach once a week to you people, so
just hang on. It's not the nature of God to
cast away any who rely upon him. I say it's not his nature. The
Scripture says that all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me, they that come to me I will in no wise cast out. It's not
the nature of God to cast away anyone who relies upon Him. On the contrary, God is very
careful that faith should never have less than she has expected
of Him. God is very careful. That's why
the Scripture says open your mouth wide. and I'll fill it. Don't be a stint in God saying,
well I don't think the Lord could ever do this, I don't think the
Lord could ever do that. Listen, I have no authority on
what God cannot do or what God can do, I'm just here to tell
you He can do anything He sets His mind to do. Nothing is too
hard for the Lord. Nothing is impossible with our
God. He respects the courage of faith. I read a story the other day
and I thought this was real good. There was a Civil War captain,
had his tent set up, had been there for a week or so, and a
pair of birds came and built their nest in the poles that
were sticking up on the end of the tent, on the back side of
the tent. Came time for them to pull the
tents down and move. And one of the privates said,
Captain, we have to have birds' nests down. He said, no. He said,
you just leave the tent. Just leave it right there. Leave
it alone. Them birds, he felt, them birds
had faith enough in him to come there and build that nest on
the back of his tent, and he wasn't about to tear that nest
down. Just leave the tent set. It's
not the nature of God Almighty to turn those away that believe
in Him, that trust Him. You trust Him. You rely on Him.
It's not His nature to cast you away. You depend upon the Lord. Now then, a true believer, to
be suffered to perish, would be a violation of all that God
is about, and be a violation of all the promises of God. Did
he not say, we sung it this morning, I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee, so that you may boldly say, the Lord is my helper,
and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Isaiah 42 and
16 says, I'll bring the blind by way which they know. by a
way in which they do not know. I'll bring the blind, he said,
and he says, I'll make the darkness light, crooked way straight,
I'm still waiting on the Lord to fulfill these verses, and
he said, I will not forsake them. I will not. And if God was to
allow us to be removed, if God was to reject us and to throw
us off and out, it'd be a violation. of every one of the promises
of God. He that believeth in him shall
not be ashamed, nor confounded, world without end. Now if these
promises were to fail, the child of God would be lost. He would be removed if God's
promises were to fail. But it's not possible, as long
as there is a God in heaven, that these promises will fail.
As long as God is in heaven, the believer, every believer,
is safe in His arms. Let us go and rejoice in this. We are as Mount Zion, which cannot
be removed, but abided forever. The Lord bring us to simple faith
this morning in the Lord Jesus, and keep us fixed there. all
through this coming New Year. I just believe that this was
the Lord's message for this first Sunday of this New Year. And
what I would like for you to do, Ben, is that the Bible is
so full of verses concerning trusting the Lord I'd like for
you to get you a concordance this week and I'd like for you
to look up this word trust and I'd like for you to find a verse
that's really precious to you and mark it in your Bible and
bring it next Sunday and for volunteers we would never put
pressure on anybody to do anything but for those who would volunteer
I'd like for you to stand up and read your verse that you
found in the Bible about trusting in the Lord. And we'll make this
our theme by the grace of God in this coming year, 1998. Trusting
in the Lord. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as mount Zion, that shall not be removed, but shall abide
forever. And as the hills are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is