To open your Bibles back open
to Psalm 127. Psalm 127. I want us to look at these five verses
together this evening. Titus said this, he said, hold
fast the faithful word as thou hast been taught and by sound
doctrine, exhort and convince the gainsayers, those that by nature would refuse
to hear God's word. Several things in this passage
here. One, we see something of man's responsibility, man's responsibility. There's reference here to man's
work, to man's responsibility. We're responsible for things. We read in scripture, children,
obey your parents. You're responsible to do that.
As children, we're responsible to obey our parents. Husbands. work and provide for your family. As husbands, we're to love our
wives. Scripture's clear about these things. And listen, we're
responsible for many things. We're responsible to hear God's
word. That's our responsibility. Each
one of us, as we've gathered here, we have a responsibility
to believe God's word. We're commanded to believe the
word. to raise our children under the
sound of the gospel. I have a responsibility, as I
stand before you here this evening, to tell you the truth, not from
my opinion, but from God's word. What does the scripture say?
To tell the truth about man, dead in trespasses and sin. To
tell the truth about God. God who's holy. God is absolutely
holy. To tell the truth about the Lord
Jesus Christ. We have a responsibility to believe
on His name. That which is written. To trust
Him as our only God and only Savior. to trust his word. Second, and these things agree
with each other, man's responsible, but God is also absolutely sovereign. Absolutely sovereign. He is totally sovereign in all
things. Scriptures declare this. That
he's going to have mercy on whom he will have mercy. That he'll be gracious to whom
he's pleased to be gracious. He's going to save whom he will
save. Not of him that willeth. It's
not of him that runneth. It's of God. It's an almighty
God that showeth mercy. Now with these two points in
mind, let's look at this passage of scripture together here this
evening. Psalm 127, verse 1. Except the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain to build it. Except the Lord keep the city,
The watchman waketh, but in vain. Now back in Ecclesiastes 9, 10,
we read this. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to
do, whatever the Lord's given you to do it, do it with all
your might. Everything in you. Now I ask
you, are you a builder? Are you a watchman? Well, don't
lose sight of this, okay? Our Lord said this, no matter
how good you are at what you do, listen to what our Lord said. I'm the vine, you're the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, without
me, you can do nothing. Nothing. Except the Lord build
the house, they labor in vain to build. Except the Lord keep
the city, the watchman waketh in vain. Hebrews 3, 4 says this,
every house is built by some man, but he that build all things
is God. Who does the work? To whom are
we dependent upon? I ask you this, who gets the
glory? Who gets the glory? The Lord. The Lord Jehovah. Accept the
Lord build. And that word means just what
it says. to build or to make something. Not to remodel, not to make something
better. This is not a fixer-upper. We're not fixer-uppers, okay? Except the Lord build, except
the Lord make. It's His work. It's all of Him. He says this, old things are
passed away. Behold, I make all things new. It's His work. It's the work
of Almighty God. And listen, anything apart from
Almighty God doing the work, that effort is in vain. It's evil. It's useless. Like those men and their efforts
back there in Genesis 11. Turn to Genesis 11. Look beginning
with verse 3 of Genesis 11. They said one to another, go
to, let us make brick and burn them thoroughly. And they had
brick for stone and slime had they for mortar. And they said,
go to, let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach
unto heaven. And let us make a name, lest
we be scattered abroad from upon the face of the whole earth. Isn't that a picture of works,
religion? Let us do these things. Let us
make a name for ourselves. Let us build. What's the passage? If the Lord
build not the house, they labor in vain to build it. Their efforts might be genuine. Their efforts might be sincere. Their efforts might be all these
things and a lot more. But without Christ, without the
Lord Jesus Christ, they are nothing. They're vain. When a house is built, It's something
new. It's something where something
wasn't. They go out in the field and
they clear some land and they build a house that wasn't there
before. Without Christ, without Him,
we are nothing. And it's His building. And it's
His doing. in the same manner as the salvation
of a sinner. It's His doing. What's Scripture
say? Salvation is of the Lord. It's all of Him. It's by His
will. Salvation is by the will of God. It takes the work of a sovereign
God, an eternal God. to elect and predestine sinners
to salvation. It's all of Him. Turn to Ephesians
1. Ephesians 1. Look beginning with verse 3. Ephesians 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath
chosen us in him from before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy, without blame before him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us. You
see that? He hath made us. accepted in
the Beloved. It's by His sovereign will. It's by His blood. It's by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The salvation of a sinner requires
a blood atonement. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. None. Turn to Romans chapter
3. Romans chapter 3. Beginning with verse 24. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation, a sin offering, through faith
in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say, at
this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. It's by God's providence
It's by his providence. He orders and directs all things
after the counsel of his own will. What we consider good,
what we consider bad, that which brings us joy, that which has
a tendency to upset us, those things we consider good,
those things that we consider bad, significant things, And
even those things that we deem insignificant, things we don't
even notice, He orders all things. Romans
8, 28, we know. What? What do we know? All things. Not some things, all things. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose, the purpose of Almighty God. The salvation of
a sinner is by God's providence. The salvation of a sinner is
by God's sovereign and irresistible grace. The electing love of the
Father. He loves His children. He loves
His sheep. The redeeming love of His Son. He redeemed us. The Lord Jesus
Christ redeemed us from the law being made a curse for us. And the invincible love of the
Holy Spirit, which goes forth and draws God's people unto Himself. Paul writing to Timothy, he said,
Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor of me his prisoner, but be thou a partaker of the afflictions
of the gospel according to the power of God, who hath saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to works,
but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus from before the world began. He saves us by his
gospel. He saves us by his gospel. The
world by wisdom knew not God, yet it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. Not foolish preaching, the foolishness
of preaching. What men call foolishness. the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Paul writing
the Romans, he said this, he said, I am not ashamed, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that what? Believeth, that believeth. We're saved by His preservation.
He preserves and keeps His people. Turn back to Psalm 127, verse
1. Let's look at this text here
again. God preserves and he keeps his people. Except the Lord build
the house, they labor in vain to build it. Except the Lord
keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Except the Lord
keep the city. That means to hedge it about. It means to protect. It means
to save, except the Lord keep the city. If he's not pleased
to do so, the watchman, it says, he waketh in vain. His efforts, his efforts are
absolutely useless. Seven or eight years ago, just a little after midnight,
We were about to go to sleep, and our phone rang, which is
kind of an unusual thing in our house. Usually, if the phone
rings, it's typically not something encouraging. And Carrie had called
Abby and said, do you see all of those flashlights in your
backyard? They live just right down the
driveway from us. And we were like, what flashlights?
And she said, do you see that car parked out in your driveway
with the door open? And we were like, we don't see
anything. We went and we looked. And sure enough, there were flashlights
out in our backyard. And it wasn't us. And there was
a car parked in our driveway that wasn't ours. And I think
me and Aaron and Adam all got out there about the same time.
to see a deputy in our backyard. And he immediately told us this. He said, there's a manhunt underway. And we're like, what for? He said, there's a suspected
killer on the loose. And he said, make sure your doors
are locked. Make sure the doors to your cars
are locked. And he said, get back in the
house. And he said, if you have a gun, he said, I'd say load
it and have it ready. And so we did that. We did that. Our immediate thought
was the safety of our family. And we went back in the house
and double checked all the windows and double checked all the doors.
and literally had a pistol on one side of the bed and a shotgun
on the other side. And I don't think we slept any
that first night. And keep in mind, probably by the
next morning, there were 200 or 300 policemen in our area. There were helicopters
flying over and there were police cars. Every time something would
happen, there'd be two or three of them go flying out the road
looking for this man. And the next night, I think it
was about 3 a.m., and I'm telling you, we hadn't slept a wink,
but this verse came to my mind. Except the Lord keep the city. Except the Lord keep the city. The watchman waketh, but in vain. Who keeps us? Is that by our
own power? Or is it by him? Who protects
and watches over his sheep? He does. He does. And I tell you, this verse brought
me so much comfort. I literally, I remember Henry,
you said lay down your shotguns. I laid down and I went to sleep. I went to sleep. Now that man was caught, I think
in the next day or two. He keeps our physical bodies
until He's pleased to bring us home. But more importantly, He
keeps our souls. He keeps His people. That's what Scripture says. We
are kept by what? By our works? By our deeds? No, we're kept by the power of
God. were kept by Him. Jude 24, 25
says, unto Him who is able to keep you from falling and present
you faultless, how? Faultless, without fault, without
sin, before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. to the only wise God, our Savior,
be glory and majesty and dominion and power both now, right now,
and ever. And how's that end? Amen. And nothing to add to that, is
there? We sing that hymn. More secure,
more secure is no one ever than who? The loved ones of the Savior. Proverbs 2.8 says this, he keepeth
the paths of judgment and he preserveth the way of his saints. We see that throughout scripture.
Think about Joseph. Did he keep Joseph? From the pit, to the prison,
to the palace, the Lord was with him. What did he tell his brothers? He said, you meant it for evil,
but God meant it for good. He kept David. Remember when
David ran from Saul, when he had to flee from Absalom? Remember
how he kept Rahab? That city of Jericho was destroyed,
and yet Rahab the harlot and her family, they were brought
out safely. They were preserved. They were
kept. just as he keeps and delivers every last one of his sheep. All, all for whom he died. Every last one of them. Look
at, look at Psalm 121. Read this quickly, Psalm 121.
He says, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence
cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord,
which made heaven and earth. He'll not suffer thy foot to
be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper. The Lord
is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord, the Lord shall preserve
thee from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going
out, and thy coming in from this time forth and even forever,
evermore. Can we find rest? Can we find
comfort in these words? Can we find comfort in Him who
preserves and keeps us? Can we find comfort in God's
work, in what He's pleased to do? in the saving and keeping
of his people. Look at verse 2, back to our
text, Psalm 127. He says, it's vain for you to
rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows,
for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Are we going about to establish
our own righteousness? Or are we resting in Him who
is our righteousness? Will you seek your salvation
by the works of the law? What do they do? They build and
they watch. They rise up early. They sit
up late. Have I done enough? That's what
works religion does for a man. Have I done enough? Oh, I've
sinned this much, right? But I've done these good things.
Will they balance out? Will they tip the scales? Have
I resisted enough evil? Have I given enough? Martin Luther, it was said of
him that he used to beat himself to the point of unconsciousness. Think about that. Think about
that. Acts chapter 8, verse 49. Heaven is my throne and the earth
is my footstool. What will you build for me? What do we have? What do we have
to offer unto Almighty God? But listen, he giveth. He giveth. He gives, he saves,
he keeps, he gives his beloved sleep. Turn to Acts 12. Acts chapter 12. beginning with verse 1. Now about
that time Herod the king stretched forth his hand to vex certain
of the church. And he killed James the brother
of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased
the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. Then were
the days of unleavened bread. And when he had apprehended him,
he put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers,
all this to take in one man to keep him, intending after Easter
to bring him forth to the people. Peter, therefore, was kept in
prison, but prayer was made without ceasing to the church unto God
for him. And when Herod would have brought him forth, The same
night, look what Peter was doing, he was sleeping. Sleeping between
two soldiers, not wringing his hands, not fretting, but sleeping
between two soldiers bound with chains and the keepers before
the door kept the prison. Even in times of trial and suffering
and difficult times, God keeps, He keeps His people. The believer. The believer can rest. Peter, how can you rest? Who
was Peter's hope? Right now. Right now, rest in
His love. Rest in His righteousness. We
can rest in eternity, free from fear, free from doubt. We can't even imagine this, free
from sin. Our sin put away. Scripture declares, there remaineth
therefore, what? A rest. A rest for who? The people of God. David, when he was fleeing from
Absalom, he said this, he said, I cried unto the Lord with my
voice and he heard me. Almighty God heard me out of
his holy hill. And what did he do? He said,
I laid me down and I slept. I slept. I was awake for the
Lord sustained me. Well, back to our text here,
Psalm 127, quickly. Let's look at these last few
verses here. Verse 3, low children are a heritage of the Lord, and
the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the
hand of a mighty man, so are the children of the youth. Happy,
happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. They shall
not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the
gate." What a blessing. What a blessing
to know that the Lord not only builds that house, but he fills
it. He fills his house, and he keeps
his house. Children are an inheritance. They're an inheritance. They're not a wage. They're not
a burden. They're a gift, a gift of His
grace. As arrows in the hand of a mighty
man. Spurgeon said this, he said,
we must have our children in hand when they're young, while
they're yet children. or they're not likely to be so
when they're grown. We must point them and straighten
them to make arrows of them in their youth. And may we be faithful to do
so, to bring them, to bring them to the worship service, to teach
them according to his word, to teach them according to his scriptures. Wouldn't it be just a wonderful
thing if this was said of us, our children, what Paul said
of Timothy, from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. As fathers, we're
instructed to bring up our children in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. Not provoke them to wrath. We're to remember that they're
children, right? Me and Isaac were talking about
that today. We were talking about middle
school age kids. People don't often talk about
middle school kids making really wise decisions, right? They're
kids. They're kids. But bring them
up. Bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord. That's our responsibility, huh? And oh, that the Lord might be
pleased to save them, to be merciful to them, to put them in His quiver,
where they're safe and secure, like those heirs in the hand
of a mighty man to point them and to direct them. He who is
mighty, mighty to say, don't we have every reason to be thankful? Thankful to him, to almighty
God in his mercy and grace to us. He who builds the house,
he who keeps the house, He who's pleased to fill his house with
his children. Turn with me to just one more
passage of Scripture. Turn to Hebrews 3. Hebrews 3. We're beginning with verse 1 of Hebrews
3. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of
our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him that
appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
For this man, he was counted worthy of more glory than Moses,
inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honor than
the house. For every house is built by some
man, but he that built all things is God. And as Moses was verily
faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of
those things which were spoken after, but Christ as a son over
his own house Whose house are we? Believers in Christ. Living stones. A spiritual house in whom Christ
dwells. Whose house are we if we hold
fast the confidence and the rejoicing of hope firm unto the end? All right, we'll end right there.
I pray the Lord, I pray he'd bless his word to our hearts
this evening.