Psalm 87 is our study this evening,
and it's probably no surprise to you that I'm entitling the
message from the words found in verse three, the city of God. Glorious things are spoken of
thee, O city of God. When we consider who God is and
all that he has done, and the gospel of God concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ, glorious things are spoken about our great God
and Savior. Glorious things are spoken of
thee, O city of God. Now, when we think of the city
of God, don't think of a town or city like Kingsport or the Big city where I live in Pikeville,
Kentucky. Don't think of a physical city. This is not, he's not talking
here about a physical city. He's talking about a spiritual
city, a spiritual dwelling place. A city is a place of dwelling.
There's residents in the city of Kingsport who dwell in this
city, who abide in this city. The believers here are citizens
of a heavenly city. They delight to live in this
city of God. And again, this is a spiritual
city, a spiritual city. This city was, this spiritual
city of God has a solid foundation. It's founded by God himself. The very foundations of that
city God has laid for it in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Now,
if you would go back and look at various cities in this country,
you know most cities are named after the founder of the city.
The founder of the city, a little town where I grew up out west,
the little town was called Kaysville, Utah. Well, the founder of that
city was Mr. K. And the cities are named after
those who have founded the city. No doubt, this is a city that's
of God. He's the founder of it. He established
this city. He is the Lord of the city, the
king of the city. He's the founder of the city,
this spiritual city, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
a sustainer. of this city, the supplier of
this city, he's the glory of this city, and believers delight
to abide and dwell in this city of God. Glorious things are spoken
of this city. I believe it's the same city
that we read about a moment ago, that Abraham seeketh a city whose
builder and maker is God. I want to be in that city. I
want to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we'll get back
to that in just a moment, but notice in Psalm 87, it says a
psalm or song for somebody. And I trust that this is for
you. I trust this psalm is for you
this evening. It says it's for the sons of
Korah. The sons of Korah. Now one old preacher of the past
His name was William Romaine and he had a comment on this
psalm on the introduction about the sons of Korah. He said these
sons of Korah are sons of fallen men for the word Korah means
stripped. That's what the word means, stripped.
This psalm is for poor and needy sinners, stripped. or fruitless. And this is exactly what happened
in Adam. All were stripped. Stripped of
life, stripped of righteousness, stripped of any hope in man. The only means that God has provided
for us to regain what we lost in Adam is the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. For in Adam, all died. Even so in Christ, what? Shall all be made alive. By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. So by the obedience of another,
shall many be made righteous. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. How many times do we read in
this book of Psalms, notice just across the page, Psalm 86 verse
one, David cries unto the Lord, Bow down thine ear, O Lord, and
hear me, for I am poor and needy. You know that statement's made
in the Psalms? I think I counted about 20 times. I like what it
says in Psalm 40. I am poor and needy, yet the
Lord thinks upon me. God Almighty, God who inhabits
eternity, he thinks about me, about his children, About his
people. So I I pray that this psalm here
that we're going to study Will be a song for you a message for
you Now look at verse one his foundation this this psalm kind
of starts just suddenly Just suddenly his foundation It's
in the holy mountains the foundation of the lord It's his foundation,
his foundation. This Psalm starts suddenly, immediately,
and speaks about where everything begins with God. All things are of God. All things
are of God. The foundation that God has established
for this city, for Zion, for his church, is one that he has
established, one that he has laid. There is but how many foundations
for this city? How many foundation for his church? How many foundations had God
laid for sinners, poor and needy sinners? How many foundations
had he laid? One. Let's read about it. Turn
over here to Isaiah 28, 16. Abraham looked for a city that
had a foundation. God said, behold, I lay in Zion,
Isaiah 28, 16. You see it? There is but one
foundation. It's his foundation. It's a holy
foundation based upon his holy word, based upon his holy character,
based upon his holy promise, Isaiah 28, 16. You got it? Therefore
thus saith the Lord. God's covenant, behold, I lay
in Zion, that's that gospel Zion, city of God, for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, Christ is the rock of ages, a tried
stone, tested, perfected, enduring stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. He that believeth shall never
be forced out. shall not make haste. And it
means, if you read over in Romans nine and where it's quoted again
in First Peter chapter two, shall never be confounded, shall never
be ashamed. Resting on how can how can you
be ashamed before God and men? When you're resting on the foundation
that God has established for us in Christ Jesus the Lord Jesus
Christ himself is that foundation on Christ a solid rock I stand
we sing that song and All other ground is what? Sinking, sinking
sand. The believer is built upon the
rock. And to move the believer, you
have to move the rock. The believer is fastened to that
rock, and that rock is Christ. You're not gonna move the foundation
of God. You're not going to move the believer off that rock because
they are one. They are one together in Christ
Jesus. Now look back at Psalm 87. His
foundation, his foundation, God's foundation that God has laid
orders in all things and assured. This is the Lord's foundation.
It is laid upon his eternal unchanging decree, the decree of God. It's founded upon His holy mountains,
or His holy decree, His holy word, His oath. He said, I'm
the Lord, I change not. It's based upon, this foundation
is based upon that eternal covenant of grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember in Hebrews 13? When
Paul, or whoever the writer is, God the Holy Spirit, talks about
the God of peace that brought again from the dead the Lord
Jesus Christ through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Our God is a covenant God. The
mercies and salvation that we enjoy as believers are because
of that eternal covenant of grace that God made with the Father.
God made with the Son in eternity where he gave him a people. chose
a people in Christ Jesus, gave them to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He became the surety of those people. He's the surety of the
everlasting covenant. Now, I read a statement that
I've seen some years ago about God's eternal covenant of grace.
It's a statement made by Thomas Brooks. It was in our bulletin
this week. And I read it in another bulletin
and it reminded me of the statement that I'd heard before talking
about God's covenant mercies, God's covenant grace. In this
covenant of grace, God requires no more than he gives. He requires of us no more than
He gives, and He gives unto us all that He requires, and will
only accept that which He gives. That pretty well sums up the
gospel, doesn't it? That sums up the gospel, His
covenant mercy. His foundation is in His holy,
holy mountain. His church is established upon
holy principles of grace and righteousness. His church is
established upon justice satisfied, law honored, and righteousness
established in the Lord Jesus Christ. To enable God to be a
just God and Savior. His foundation. is in His holy
mountain, based upon His holy, unchanging decree, and His word,
ordered in all things, and it's sure, it's certain, it cannot
fail. This city of God, this foundation
of God, and those in Christ Jesus, He cannot fail, and you know
what? Believers in Him, they cannot
fail. We are more than conquerors through
Him. We are more than conquerors through
Him that loved us. Thanks be unto God who has given
us a victory through the Lord Jesus Christ. We had the victory
over Satan, the victory over death, the victory over sin,
the victory over the law that's contrary to us and against us.
Believers are winners. They're winners. Being a believer
is not a loser. Don't you wanna be on the winning
team? You remember when you were a kid and we used to play neighborhood
games and we'd pick up, we'd choose sides. We'd choose up
sides and play games and didn't you always wanna be, pick me,
pick me, pick me, I wanna be on the winning team. Believers
wanna be on the winning team and in the Lord Jesus Christ,
believers are winners because he's victorious. He's victorious. Now look at verse two. Psalm
87 verse 2, the Lord loveth. Can he do anything else? The
Lord loveth. He loveth the gates of this city. He loveth the gates of this city.
He loves the door to this city. Who is the door? The Lord Jesus
Christ. He is that door. He said, I'm
the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Christ is the door. The Lord
Jehovah loves the gates of Zion. You know it says in Isaiah 60
that the gates of Zion are open continually. They're never shut.
It says that again in Revelation 21. The Lord loveth the gates. He's established the foundation
of the city. He has established the gates
of the city. You know it says in Isaiah 60 that the gates of
the city are called praise and the walls of that city are called
salvation. It says that in Isaiah 60. I've
been preaching through Isaiah 60 these last few weeks. The
Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of
Jacob. Now, I look at that a good while.
We read in scripture, God is love. God is light. In him is no darkness at all.
The Lord does love the dwellings of Jacob. Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. The Lord Jesus Christ does love
each member of his body in particular. He knows his sheep by name. He
calls his sheep to himself, for he has redeemed them with his
blood. The dwellings of Jacob. You know
the Lord Jesus Christ is our dwelling? Turn over here to Isaiah
90. The Lord loves the dwellings
of Jacob. The place where God has established
for Jacob to reside, the sons of God. Look at Psalm 90 verse
one. A prayer of Moses, the man of
God. Lord, thou hast been my dwelling place in all generations. The Lord loveth the dwellings
of Jacob. Look at Psalm 91 verse one. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High. Who is that? Christ, the secret
place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty God. The Lord loves the dwelling place
of Jacob. He has established a refuge and
righteousness for us to hide in and to reside in. But look
what it says here. The Lord does individually love
His covenant people. Christ in you is a hope of glory. We dwell in him and he dwells
in us. But look what it says in verse
2, the Lord loveth the gates of Zion more. I thought about,
well, how can that be? Well, here's what I see in this.
The Lord does love the dwelling of Jacob. God has established
that covenant and that refuge for Jacob to reside in, sons
of Jacob. The God of Jacob has provided
us a dwelling place in the Lord Jesus Christ. But the Lord here
loves the dwellings of his covenant people as a whole, Zion, Much
more. See what I'm getting at? He loves
his covenant people individually, but when you take them all together
collectively, how much more is that love? That's a whole bunch,
isn't it? Because he loved the church.
How many's in the church? Well, 10,000 times 10,000 and
thousands of thousands. That's a whole bunch of love,
isn't it? There's enough love shed abroad in the hearts of
God's people. The Lord loveth Zion more. Now, He does love His covenant
people, but when you put them all together collectively, individually,
He loves them, but collectively, how much more? How much more
do we see the love of God shed abroad in the hearts of His covenant
people? The assembly of saints, He loves
Zion much more, or the assembly of His people. The assembly of
the saints gather together to worship the Lord. He loves the
assembly of believers that are gathered together in his name
to worship him, to worship him, to preach his gospel, to administer
his gospel ordinances. The Lord loves the meeting together
of his church. He loves the meeting together
of his church. He said, where two or three are
gathered together in my name. Now you think about that. Where
two or three are gathered in my name, I am in their midst. Say, well, I don't feel him.
I don't feel his presence. I don't see him. He didn't ask
us to feel his presence. He said, believe my word. Where
two or three are gathered in my name, I'm in their midst. He says in Hebrews 10, we're
to forsake not the assembly of ourselves together as a manner
of some is, but as much more we see the day approaching, meet
together and worship him. The Lord loves the dwelling place
of Zion, where his gospel is preached, where his word is declared. Now look at verse three, glorious
things, glorious things are spoken of thee, glorious things. are spoken of thee, O city of
God." Now he's talking here about Gospel of God, talking about
the church of God, the Lord's church. He's talking about believers
who reside in that city for they're all one together. We have a vital
union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Glorious things are spoken of
God's church. Glorious things are spoken of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Glorious things are spoken about
the gospel for it is a blessed gospel according to the glory
of God. Glorious things are spoken of
the old Zion city of our God. Now if we go back and think a
moment about Jerusalem of old, glorious things were spoken about
Jerusalem of old, where the temple of God was constructed. Solomon
was given that detailed plan of God to construct that temple. where the priest brought the
sacrifice and offered the sacrifice upon that mercy seat in the Holy
of Holies upon the altar of God on the Day of Atonement, where
the priest of God went about his daily sacrifice morning and
evening, in the temple of God in the old city Jerusalem. That's
where David reigned as king for 40 years with wisdom and power.
It's where the Lord Jesus Christ came preaching the gospel, his
own gospel. It's where the Lord died. It's
near where the Lord died for our sins, outside the city, outside
the gate. It's where this city of Jerusalem,
glorious things were spoken of that city. Just thinking about
that old city. where the Spirit of God on the
day of Pentecost descended and multitudes were converted, where
multitudes were made new creatures in Christ Jesus, where the early
church was established from which they went out, preaching the
gospel from Jerusalem unto Samaria, unto the uttermost parts of the
earth. But how much more is this true? It is true of that old city,
just thinking about that old city, the things that went on
in that old city. But how much more is this true
of the Lord's church, the gospel Zion, the kingdom of God and
the king who reigns over her. Glorious things are spoken of
this city, of this gospel, of this Lord. For we are blessed
in the Lord Jesus Christ with unspeakable blessings of his
grace. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Glorious things
are spoken of thee, O city of God. He has made, the Lord Jesus
Christ has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that would
glory, let him glory in the Lord. Glorious things. Tremendous things
are spoken of thee, O city of God. It's true of the Lord's
church, isn't it? But more importantly, and more
specifically, this is true of our blessed Savior and Redeemer
Himself. Glorious things are spoken of
Him. Glorious things are spoken about Him in the whole volume
of Scripture. The whole volume of Scripture
that you have in your hand. is all spoken about the Lord
Jesus Christ. Glorious things are spoken about
His person, about His priestly work. Glorious things are spoken
about Him. This book is about a person.
This book is about the Lord Jesus Christ. You can go anywhere in
this book, any chapter, any book, any page, any verse, and it'll
lead you to one person. That is the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. You remember what the Lord said
in Luke 24? Beginning of Moses and all the
prophets, he expounded unto them and all the scriptures the thing
concerning, what? Himself. Himself. Glorious things
are spoken of his person. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. God was manifest in the flesh. Glorious things are spoken of
the Lord Jesus Christ, for His name is Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.
Glorious things are spoken about His people, about His church,
but more importantly, about Christ Himself, His person. and His redeeming work. Glorious
things are spoken about His redeeming work. Turn over here in the book
of Psalms to Psalm 111. Glorious things are spoken about
the city of God, the gospel of God, the church of God, and the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. His glorious person, His glorious
work. Look at Psalm 111, Psalm 111. Verse 1, praise ye the Lord.
I will praise the Lord with my whole heart in the assembly of
the upright and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great,
sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is
honorable. and glorious. His righteousness
endures forever. He has made his wonderful works
to be remembered. And the Lord is gracious and
full of compassion. He will ever be mindful of his
covenant. Turn over here to Psalm 92, verse
four, Psalm 92, verse four. Glorious things are spoken of
his person, of his church, of his gospel, of his work. Psalm
92, look, verse 4. For thou, Lord, hast made me
glad through thy work. I will triumph in the works of
thy hands. O Lord, how great are thy works,
and thy thoughts are very deep. Glorious things are spoken of
the old city of God Now look at back back to the text look
verse 4. I will make mention I Will make
mention of these defeated enemies the Egyptians the Babylonians
to them that know me You know his sheep know him They know
Him. Can't you say with the Apostle
Paul, I know whom I have believed? You know, saving faith is not
born of ignorance. Saving faith is born of truth,
God's Word, His truth. I will make mention of those
defeated by God, the enemies of God who have been overthrown,
and I'll make mention of this to them who know me. His sheep
know Him. They know Him. They know Him.
Behold, Philistia and Tyre, with the Ethiopian, that this man,
this man was born, born in her. Now here he's talking about those
who know him in the countries of Philistia and Tyre and Ethiopia. These Gentiles, these poor and
needy sinners. The Lord has an elect. The Lord
has an elect. He's a multitude of God's elect
that will be called out of darkness, out of idolatry unto the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord has elect among all
nations that will hear the gospel of Christ, that will be made
new creatures." You remember he said, he said, my sheep will
hear my voice. I know them. They know me. I'm known of mine. And they will
follow me. I'll make this known to them.
That salvation's of the Lord. This man was born there. God
has called out a people from Philistia and Tyre and Ethiopia.
This man was begotten of God. What are we begotten with? Well,
his will and his word. His will and his word. Of his
own will begat he us. Now salvation by not our will,
Not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth. It's God
that shows mercy. Salvation is according to his
will. Of his own will beget he us with
the word of truth. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. His will will be done. In Acts chapter two, When the
apostles preached the gospel to that great multitude of sinners
from Philistia and Tyre and Ethiopia, that multitude that were assembled
from every nation around that area, and the Lord had an elect
among that people in that day, and when they heard the gospel
preached, The Lord called out and converted and regenerated
3,000 souls from different countries, Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia. This man was born there, begotten
of God, blessed of God. And then it says in Acts chapter
two, the Acts chapter two, the Lord
added daily to his church such as should be saved." The Lord
added daily to the church. Listen to this scripture. For
the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all
them that are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call. The Lord adds daily to the church. He said, I'll make this known
to them, those who know me, that I have a people among the Gentiles
that will be born of God, begotten of God, called of God, and they
shall come to Him. I brought a message from Isaiah
60 this morning. Look that chapter over sometime.
Seven times in that chapter, it says that they shall come. They shall come and honor Him,
bow to Him, worship Him, believe Him with reverence of heart.
Look it over sometime, it'll be a blessing to you. Now look
at verse five, back in our text. And of Zion it shall be said.
Of Zion, God gospel Zion. It shall be said, this and that
man was born in her. You know salvation is a birth
of God. It's a birth of God. It's a birth
from above. And the highest himself shall
establish her. Now, three times in these three
verses, It says that this man was born there, or born in her,
in Zion, in God's gospel church. This is definitely talking about,
does the Old Testament teach the new birth? Absolutely. Absolutely, it's right here,
isn't it? And of Zion it shall be said that This man would be
born there. This is definitely talking about
the new birth, being born again. You remember, turn to John chapter
three. John chapter three. Our Lord
said this is a birth. This birth is necessary. This
birth is necessary. Of Zion it shall be said that
this and that man was born in her, and the highest himself
shall establish her." Now this is talking about the new birth.
Our blessed Savior, John chapter 3, verse 3, our Lord said, I
say unto you, verily, truly, truly, except a man be born From above, he cannot see the
kingdom of God. He cannot perceive, he cannot
understand. Nicodemus said to them, how can
a man be born when he's old? He was just thinking on natural
things. Can he enter in the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? And the Lord said unto
him, he could have said, boy, you're a dumb, ignorant, religious,
lost sinner. But the Lord is so gracious,
long-suffering. He said, verily I say unto you,
except a man be born of water, and that's the word, the gospel,
the word of truth, and of the Spirit of God, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh
is all it ever will be, flesh. All flesh is draft, weak, failing,
flesh. That which is born of the Spirit
Is spirit that which is born of the spirit is? Spirit that
which is born of the flesh is flesh says over here in John
6 63 it is a spirit that quickness the flesh prophet of nothing
the word that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are
life and His word is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged
sword. Marvel not that I say unto you,
you must be born again. The wind blows where it will. He says three times here, verse
three, you must be born again. You must be born again in verse
five, born of the Spirit. And then again, he says, you
must be born of the Spirit of God. Three times in Psalm 89,
he says, a man must be born of God. The wind blows where it
listeth, and you hear the sound thereof, but you cannot tell
from where it comes or where it goes. So is everyone that's
born of the Spirit. Sovereignly, the wind, who controls
the wind? Now let me ask you a silly question. Do you control the wind? Come on. Now we maybe take advantage of
the wind, and use the wind to our advantage. They build these
big, they've been hauling some big windmills in down in our
area. And those, just half the size
of those, one half of that span of that windmill is 300 feet
long. It's humongous. And we as frail
creatures, you take advantage of the wind, but who blows the
wind? Who directs the wind? Where does
the wind come from? It says in one of the Psalms
that he brings the wind out of his treasury. He has a treasure
house full of wind, and sometimes he kicks the door open and lets
it blow. God controls the wind sovereignly,
and God is sovereign in the new birth. The Lord does the quickening. you hath he quickened who were
dead. The means the Lord has ordained, he has ordained the
end, right? But he has also ordained the
means to arrive at that end. The means the Lord has ordained
to call out his people to quicken and regenerate his elect is the
very word of truth that he had told us to go and to proclaim
unto all men. God's people are born into this
kingdom. How were you naturally born into
your family? Naturally born. Now, I know,
understand, some are adopted, but still, even in that adoption,
that's a picture of grace, sovereign grace. But naturally, when we're
born, your children were born into a family. All those who
are born into the kingdom of God are born by the spirit of
God, by the work of God, by the regenerating spirit of God. Turn over here to 1 Peter 1. We're born again, 1 Peter 1,
verse 23. 1 Peter 1, 23. We're born again,
not of a corruptible seed. Now that's how we were born the
first. Why do we need to be born again? Because we're born wrong
the first time. We're born wrong, born in sin,
shaped in iniquity. We need to be born again, begotten
again of God from above. Being born again, not, it gives
a negative, not of a corruptible seed, but of an incorruptible
seed. What is that incorruptible seed?
The word of God, the word of truth, which lives and abides
forever. All flesh is grass, the glory
of man is the flower of the grass, the grass wither, the flower
thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. It pleased God through the foolishest
of preaching to call out His covenant people. I want you to
find one more scripture on this. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13. I'm saying that God Almighty
and his sovereign purpose has decreed the end from the beginning
but has also Decreed the means to accomplish his determined
end Look what it says here a second Thessalonians 2 verse 13, but
we are bound to give thanks always to God for you brethren Beloved
of the Lord because God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through Sanctification of the Spirit what is that? What's the
due birth? It's regeneration. Which leads
to belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel through
the obtaining of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now back to the text.
And it shall be said of Zion, that this and that man was born
in her. And then it says, the highest
shall establish her. Now, when God calls us out of
darkness in His marvelous light and makes us new creatures in
Christ Jesus and gives us a new heart, gives us faith in Him,
He doesn't just shove us out of the house and say, now you're
on your own. Thank God He doesn't. He takes us under His arm, under
the shadow of His wing, as it says in Psalm 92. He hovers about
us, He keeps us by His power, He sustains us by His grace,
and will not let us go. He said, they shall be my people,
and I will be their God, and they shall not depart from me.
Thank God. The Most High shall establish
her, established on this covenant of grace, fixed Rooted and grounded
in the Lord Jesus Christ and established in him forever. Look at verse six. And the Lord
shall count. Now I want him to do the counting. One of the severest punishments
that David received at the hand of the Lord is when he thought,
well, I better number my army just to see if I can defeat the
enemy. And God punished him, didn't he? Severely. The Lord
shall count. When he writeth up the people,
he writes up the people. He keeps the book. You know,
a lot of people, a lot of churches, different organizations, they
have a rule book. And when you make a decision
to come forward or join the church, they write your name in. And
when you don't do certain things, they write your name out. My friend, we don't keep a record
book. The church where I pastor, there's
no record book. There's no record book. I'm not
interested in keeping a record or counting who is this or who
is that. The Lord shall count his people. The Lord knows his own. When
he writes up the people that this man, oh, the Lord knows
when this man, that one over there, he was born there, I know
him. You see, the foundation of God's
plan is sure. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. The Lord knows them that are
His. The Lord shall count. says over in the Revelation,
and there shall no wise enter in into this city, into this
church, anything that defiles, whosoever worketh an abomination
will make it a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's
book of life. Now, who wrote those names there?
When were they written? Before the foundation of the
world. And who wrote those names? The Lord knows his name by sheep,
knows his sheep by name rather. The Lord shall count when he
writeth up the people that this man was born of God. God knows. God knows. God knows. I don't know. I don't
know. He does. I'm confident to leave
it right there. Confident to leave it right there.
I know this, the Lord will lose none of his sheep. His eternal
registry of God's church, his gospel Zion, and the citizens
of that city is complete and final. Complete and final. None will be added, none will
be removed. I close with this statement.
John Newton, preacher, way back in the 1700s. We sing his song
all the time. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. John Newton said this, he
said, when I'm with the Lord in glory, three things will surprise
me. He said, many will be there who
I thought for sure would not be there. The Lord shall count
when he rises up to people. Secondly, John Newton said, there'll
be many there who I thought for sure would be there, but they're
not there. And then thirdly, there will
be many there who I thought for sure would not be there, who
are there in glory. And then thirdly, but the most
amazing thing is this. He called himself an infidel
and a libertine by his own testimony. He said, the most amazing thing
is this, that the Lord, by his almighty grace, that such a sinner
as John Newton should be there with the Lord. Can't you say
that in your heart? What an amazing fact, when I
stand before God dressed in beauty not my own, and declaring to
him how much I owe, and saying unto him who loved us and washed
us from our sin in his own blood, won't that be a miracle of grace
for this sinner to stand in God's presence justified before him?