Would you turn to the 48th psalm? This psalm inspired Martin Luther
to write the hymn, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, a bulwark. Never failing. That came from
this psalm. Let's read this psalm together.
Psalm 48. Happy Mother's Day. Moms are great. Dads. Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his
holiness. Beautiful for situation, and
that word means elevation, height. 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. For lo, the kings were assembled. They passed by together. They
saw it, and so they marveled. They were troubled and hasted
away. Fear took hold upon them there,
and pain as of a woman in travail. Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish
with an east wind. As we have heard, so have we
seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our
God. God will establish it forever.
Selah. We have thought of thy loving
kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. According to thy
name, O God, So is thy praise unto the ends of the earth, and
thy right hand is full of righteousness. Let Mount Zion rejoice. Let the daughters of Judah be
glad because of thy judgments. Walk about Zion and go round
about her. Tell the towers thereof. Mark
ye well her bulwarks, her fortified places, Consider her palaces,
that ye may tell it to the generation following, for this God is our
God forever and ever. He will be our guide even unto
death. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in the name of thy son. Lord, teach us what it means
to come in his name. Lord, we ask in his name that
you would be pleased to meet with us, to speak to our hearts
by the power of your spirit. that we might be enabled to hear
with hearing ears. Oh, Lord, meet with us for Christ's
sake. Lord, accept our thanksgiving.
You're so glorious. You're so altogether lovely.
Lord, we are awed by your glorious attributes. We're so thankful
for the revelation of your person. And Lord, we're so grateful that
you have given your son a sacrifice for sinners. How glorious you
are. Lord, we confess our sin. We
pray once again for cleansing. Lord, we're so sinful and we
need your mercy and your grace and the precious blood of your
son so much. Now, bless us for Christ's sake,
be with all your people wherever they meet together. Lord, those
that are sick, we pray for your blessing upon them. We especially
pray for the Clark family, that your hand of healing will be
upon her according to your will. I bless us for Christ's sake,
in his name we pray, amen. Great is the Lord. Can that possibly be overstated?
Great is the Lord. Great in His person. Great in all of His glorious
attributes. Great in His works. His works
of, or His work of creation. His work of providence. He controls
every event. He's the first cause. of everything,
great in his work of providence, great in his work of salvation. He does it all. Truly, great
is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God,
in the mountain of his holiness, the city of God. The city of God, what is that? The city of God's the church.
We're gonna see that from the New Testament in just a moment.
But here is who considers him great, not all the world. The
world has no love for this God. No love. They would wish that
he was not the way he is. That's the thought of the world. but in the city of God, he is
great and greatly praised. Now look what he says with regard
to the city of God. He's greatly praised in the city
of God in the mountain of his holiness. The church is the mountain
of his holiness. That's amazing, isn't it? Christ
has made into us holiness. Every believer is a holy brethren. Beautiful, verse two, beautiful
for situation, for elevation is what that means. How high
is the church? Well, how high is Christ? The
church is seated together in the heavenlies right now in Christ
Jesus. Now I'm talking to you right
now, but I'm up in heaven in Christ Jesus. What beautiful
elevation. Inaccessible. No one can damage. any of these people, they're
so high up in Christ. They can't damage themselves,
they're so high up in Christ. They're accepted in the beloved,
seated in the heavenlies, beautiful for situation, the joy of the
whole earth. Now, one of these days, the folks
who don't love the Lord aren't gonna be here anymore. They're
just not gonna be here anymore. And at that time, we're going
to experience how Zion is the joy of the whole earth. Turn with me for a moment to
Hebrews chapter 12. This sheds so much light on this
passage of scripture. Zion. You've heard of Zion. Well,
what is Zion? Well, Zion was the highest point
in Jerusalem. And it's also called the City
of David. It's where David lived, and it
was the highest point with its towers and so on, but it represents
something. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 18. For you are not come to the mount
that might be touched. He's talking about Sinai, the
place of the giving of the law. You've not come to the mount
that might be touched and that burned with fire under blackness
and darkness and tempest and the sound of trumpet and the
voice of words which voice they that heard entreated that the
word should not be spoken to them anymore. Moses, you stand
before God for us. We don't want to hear these words.
They're scaring us to death. That was their response to Mount
Sinai. For they could not endure that
which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched
the mountain, it should be stoned or thrust through with a dart.
And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly
fear and quake. Do you want to be under that
law? I don't. Scares me. Now, in Christ, I'm
not afraid of the law. I've kept the law in Christ,
but apart from Christ, all that law does is make me fear and
quake. That is the response. But he
said, that's not where we've come, but look at verse 22. But
you are come unto Mount Zion. Now we read of this so often
in the Psalms. Mount Zion. That's the city of
David. That's the highest elevation
in Jerusalem. But look what it means spiritually.
You are coming to Mount Zion, not Mount Sinai, the giving of
the law, but into Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God,
the heavenly Jerusalem. Now that is Jerusalem above. Not Jerusalem down here. Jerusalem
down here represents Jerusalem above, where all the city of
God is seated in Christ Jesus, the heavenly Jerusalem. To an
innumerable company of angels, creatures of God, greater in
power and might than we are, Scripture points that out, and
I love the way Paul calls them the elect angels. The elect angels. Even the angels are dependent
upon God's choice. These great and mighty creatures. Now, here are the inhabitants
of this city. Verse 23, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven. Now, Mount Zion is the church,
the general assembly and church of the firstborn. Now, the firstborn
is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called the firstborn many
times. And our salvation is in him. For whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed to his image that he
might be the firstborn, the Lord Jesus, the firstborn. Now that
doesn't mean there was a point in time that he was born in the
sense that he's the eternal only begotten son of God, but he,
our salvation is in the firstborn, the first begotten from the dead,
the Lord Jesus. And I love the way the church
is called the general assembly and church of the firstborn whose
names are written in heaven. That's talking about the Lamb's
book of life. It's got the name of every one
of God's elect written down eternally. Their names are written in heaven. What a glorious thing to think
of my name being written down in the Lamb's Book of Life. Turn
with me for a moment to Revelation 20. Verse 11. And I saw a great white throne,
and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the
heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And
I saw the dead, dead in sins, small and great,
stand before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened,
which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books according to their
works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it. And death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life. Now that's
what this is referring to, whose names are written in heaven.
This is a reference to God's elect. Now this is the church,
and I love this about the church, this is the church that never
grows, and it's never diminished. It's an exact number, the elect
of God, and these are the people who will be saved. I want my name in that book.
Now this is the church role I want to be on. We don't have a church role. Don't have a list of names of
members. But there is a church role in
heaven. Now that's the church role I
want to be in. Somebody that is a believer,
well, you're a member of church if you're a believer. I mean,
that's the only thing I know to say. Church membership, well,
if you believe the gospel, you're a member in this local assembly. But as far as a church role,
they always have to be revised, X this one out, add this one
on, and all that. Nothing in the Bible like that.
That's one of those silly man-made religious traditions. It's just
not there. But there is a church role. The
general assembly of church, Hebrews chapter 12, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven and to
God the judge of all. Now God is judge. Aren't you
glad, aren't you thankful that he is absolutely righteous? And
he's the judge of all. He judged all in the cross. The unbeliever was condemned,
the believer was justified. He's the judge of all. He shall
not the judge of the earth do right. And look at the way believers
are described, those whose names are written in this Lamb's Book
of Life. They're called the spirits, of
just men made perfect. That describes every believer. He's a justified man, a justified
woman, just before God, without sin. And doesn't say he will
be made perfect, he says he's made perfect. This describes
every child of God. A just man made perfect. That's the work of Christ for
you. That's the work of Christ in you. Verse 24, and to Jesus,
the mediator of the new covenant. Now, I love Christ as the mediator. I can't come into God's presence.
He can. He touches God. And he touches
me and he brings me to God. That's the mediator of the new
covenant. Oh, there's one God and one mediator
between men and God, the man, Christ Jesus. What a mediator
he is. He brings me into God's presence. God touches me. through his son,
I touch God through his son. And it scares me to even say
that. I mean, when I'm saying that, I'm saying that, I hope,
with fear and trembling. But what a mediator. Amazing. And to the blood, you can't talk
about this new covenant without speaking of the, look, verse
24, the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that
of Abel. And that's talking about the blood of Christ. You remember
when God said to Cain after he murdered Abel? He said, your
brother's blood cries to me from the ground. What did it cry? Vengeance. Punish him. Well, what does the blood of
Christ cry from the ground? Forgive him. Justify him. Accept him. You see, Abel's blood
cried, get him back. Make him pay. Vengeance. Christ's
blood cries for complete salvation. Oh, the power of his blood. Now that's Zion. That's the city
of our God. Isn't that a beautiful description?
Now let's go back to Psalm 48 now. Verse three, beautiful verse
two, beautiful for elevation. The joy of the whole earth is
Mount Zion on the sides of the North. I mean, just way up North
is up the city of the great King. God is known in her palaces for
a refuge. Now here's the first thing I'd
like to point out about that. God has known every believer. knows the living God. God is known. This is eternal
life that they might know thee. The only true God in Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. God is known. You know how I
know somebody knows God? And I want to say this carefully,
but somebody knows God This part of it, they know who's not God.
They hear a God that is not the God they know, and they say,
that's not Him. That's not Him. We don't recognize
Him. That's not the God of the Bible. That's not the God of
absolute holiness. That's not the God of absolute
sovereignty. That's not the God of absolute justice. That's not
the God of mercy and grace, the God who is live, love. God is
known in her palaces for refuge. Now that word refuge means a
high tower. A high tower. It means a place
that's inaccessible. I love that. Inaccessible. I can't be defeated. I can't
be overcome. I'm in an inaccessible place.
The name of the Lord is a high tower. The righteous. Run into it. I'm doing that right
now. I'm running into my high power.
The righteous run into it. And they're safe. They're secure. They're accepted in the beloved.
Verse four. For lo, the kings were assembled. Now the first thing I thought
of was Herod. What did he do when he heard
of him who was born king? He wanted to put him out of business,
didn't he? He had all the young, under two-year-old males slain
because of that, because the kings of the earth. Turn to Psalm
2 real quick. This is what he's talking about.
Verse 2, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers
take counsel together against the Lord. and against his anointed,
saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords
from us. We're not going to have him controlling
us. He that sitteth in the heaven
shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Now the kings were assembled,
they passed by together, they saw, and so they marveled. They were troubled and hasted
away. We want to get away from him.
They didn't like what they saw. That's the point. The kings of
the earth, they don't love this God who is the king of the earth. The kings look upon the king
of kings as competition with them, and they do not like this,
so they haste away. They saw, and so they marveled.
They were troubled. They hasted away. Fear took hold
upon them there, and pain as of a woman in travail. They didn't
like what they saw. Both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Verse seven. Thou breakest the
ships of Tarshish. Remember what, remember Tarshish,
where Jonah sought to escape to, to get away. Well, the Lord
who is, what manner of man is this that even the winds in the
sea obey him? The ships of Tarshish, by his
strong east wind, he breaks them up. You see, he really is Lord. and his will is always done,
and there is no way he can be opposed. He breaks the ships
of Tarshish, which think they can escape his absolute rule
and reign. What manner of man is this, that
even the winds and the sea obey his voice? How glorious is the
Lord Jesus Christ. He says in verse eight, As we
have heard, so have we seen. In the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God, God will establish it forever. As we have heard, so have we
seen. God said, have I said it? Shall it not be done? I have spoken it, I shall bring
it to pass. As we've heard, so have we seen. In the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God, God will establish it forever. Now, I
want you to think of how the church of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the city of God, is established by God in a permanent way. I mean, it's forever. God chose me, and this is true
of every believer. God chose me before time began,
and that can't be nullified. It's established. Christ redeemed
me. You know, every Sunday morning,
I don't know why I do it, but I do it. I always read Paul Prather's
religion thing in The Herald-Leader, and today he actually said redemption
means you can make yourself better. What? Where he comes up with
his definitions, I don't know. I guess the reason I read him
is kind of like when you see a wreck on the road. I don't know what
else to say. But I've been reading him for
years. Redemption is you can make yourself better. Okay? Redemption is Christ redeeming
me and putting away my sins and making me accepted before God.
It's not me making myself better. As we've heard, so we've seen
in the city of our Lord of hosts, in the city of our God, God will
establish it. Every believer forever. We have thought of thy loving
kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. David said in Psalm 51 verse
one, have mercy upon me, O God. according to thy loving kindness. He didn't say have mercy upon
me, oh God, because of the sorrow I'm feeling for this sin I've
committed. He didn't say have mercy upon me, oh God, because
I promise I'll never do it again. He didn't say have mercy upon
me, oh God, because I'm gonna make restitution and make this
thing right. There's only one plea for mercy. Have mercy on me, O God, according
to thy loving kindness. Nothing in me, according to the
multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Now, truly, We have thought on
thy loving kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple." That's
the body of Christ, his temple. Verse 10, according to thy name,
O God. His name is his attributes. His
name is Jehovah Nisi, the Lord our banner, Jehovah Sekinu, the
Lord our righteousness, Jehovah Rama, the Lord our shepherd.
His name, Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. All of his
names that tell us of his salvation. I meant to spend a lot of time
on that, but time's out, so I'll just keep going. According to
thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth. Thy
right hand is full of righteousness. God's righteous in saving me,
not just merciful. He's righteous. My sin is put
away. I stand before God without guilt. Let Mount Zion rejoice. Let the
daughters of Judah be glad because of thy judgments. That's talking
about the cross. Walk about Zion and go round about her. Tell
her towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks. Consider her palaces that you
may tell it to the generation following. That's our responsibility.
To give the gospel to our children. That's the best thing we can
do for our children is to give them, preach the gospel to them.
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing. Our helper he amidst the flood.
of mortal ills prevailing, for still our ancient foe does seek
to work us woe. His craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal. Did we
in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing.
We're not the right man on our side. the man of God's own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ
Jesus, it is he. Lord, sabboth his name from age
to age the same, and he must win the battle. Oh, the bulwarks of the gospel. For this God, the God described
in Psalm 48, is our God forever and ever, and he, this is his
promise, He will be our guide. That's the heritage of every
believer. He will be our guide right up into death, and then
I'll be brought into his presence to sin no more. Beautiful psalm,
isn't it? They all are. Okay.