I Shall Not Be Moved

Q: What does the Bible say about waiting upon God?

The Bible teaches that waiting upon God is crucial for receiving His salvation and deliverance, as emphasized in Psalm 62. Psalm 62 encourages believers to wait upon God as an expression of trust and dependence on Him. The psalmist declared, 'My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him' (Psalm 62:5). This reflects a deep acknowledgment that God is the source of our deliverance and strength. Waiting upon God signifies a posture of humility and reliance, recognizing that He is sovereign over every aspect of our lives, including our struggles and trials. By waiting patiently in faith, we affirm that our salvation comes solely from Him and that we trust in His timing and will.

Q: How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

God's sovereignty is affirmed throughout Scripture, asserting His ultimate control over creation and salvation. The sovereignty of God is a foundational doctrine within Reformed theology, asserting that God rules over all things according to the counsel of His own will. As seen in passages like Ephesians 1:11, God 'works all things after the counsel of His own will.' This encompasses not just creation but also the unfolding of history and the salvation of His elect. The assurance of His sovereignty reassures believers that every circumstance, trial, or adversity is under His control and serves His divine purpose. Trusting in God's sovereignty allows believers to surrender their anxieties and await His providential guidance.

Q: Why is trusting in Christ alone important for salvation?

Trusting in Christ alone for salvation is central to the biblical message, emphasizing that redemption is solely through Him. In Christian doctrine, especially within Reformed theology, the belief that salvation is through Christ alone is paramount. This principle is encapsulated in the phrase 'He only is my rock and my salvation' (Psalm 62:6). Salvation cannot be earned through works or personal merit; rather, it is a free gift given by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This truth reinforces that any attempt to add human effort to the gospel undermines Christ's finished work on the cross, which is sufficient for redemption. By placing full trust in Christ, believers receive assurance that their sins are forgiven and they are counted righteous before God.

Q: How does God provide for our needs during trials?

God provides for our needs during trials by being our source of strength and deliverance when we trust in Him. Trials and tribulations can often lead to feelings of uncertainty and fear, but Scripture assures believers that God is a refuge and helps us in our time of need. As spoken in Psalm 62, waiting on God is pivotal, as 'from Him cometh my salvation' (Psalm 62:1). In moments of hardship, God calls us to trust Him wholly—acknowledging that He is intimately involved in our lives and works all things for our good (Romans 8:28). This perspective nurtures faith amidst difficulties, encouraging believers to cast their cares upon Him, who infinitely desires to display His mercy and provision.

Psalm 62. Now, I felt impressed
to preach tonight from this psalm, and I nearly always, when I'm
going to speak from a psalm, I'll look again at Charles Haddon
Spurgeon's Treasure of David. And I read several comments in
that set of books about this psalm. He has a section he calls
quaint sayings, comments and quaint sayings. And perhaps the
saying which best describes the value of this psalm was one that
I read, came from one who wrote many years ago, and he said this
about this psalm, Psalm 62. No matter the trial, no matter
the trouble, no matter the temptation, no matter whether it be against
the body or the mind or the soul, no matter if it be from within
or from without, no matter if it be in the early days of faith
or the sunset years of life's journey, say this psalm. Say this psalm. It will always
meet your needs. For the psalmist found himself
well furnished in reference to confidence before
God and assurance in his Lord. And so in Psalm 62, he raises
this monument in song to the faith of God's elect. One writer,
another man I read about, called it, he called it the only psalm,
the, quote, only, unquote, psalm. You notice in verse 2, he says,
he only is my rock. He says in verse 4, they only
consult to cast him down from his excellency. In verse 5 he
says, my soul wait thou only upon God. And in verse 6 he said,
he only is my rock. So he just called his writings
on this, the only psalm. And he said actually the first
word in the psalm is only, truly. only my soul, wait only upon
God. Someone else said this about
this psalm. He says, if I can experience,
not just learn, but experience. Barnard used to say, you don't
learn until you experience something. He said, you really don't believe
it until you experience it. But if I can experience, this
man said, a threefold truth found in this psalm, I shall not be
tossed about with every wind of doctrine and dominated by
my trials. And that threefold truth is found
in verse 5 and 6. This is what he said about this
psalm. If I can experience a threefold Truth. Number one, wait upon
God. My soul, wait thou only upon
God. Wait upon God. Now listen. Wait upon God. Not too many of us do that. We don't have the time. We're
in too big a hurry. And secondly, he said, if I can
just learn that second line in verse 5, that my expectation
is from him, my deliverance is from him, my salvation is only
from him. He is definitely the fountain
of all grace. A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above. My expectation is from him. No
other source. I hear preachers all the time
talking about, well, on television, they say, now you folks, we need
this, and we need that, and we need the other. We got faith
in God now, but if you don't send it, we're going to quit. When we wait upon God,
and when we really discover and learn that our expectation is
from Him, we'll quit asking flesh. We'll quit taking it to flesh. My expectation is from him. It
is from him now. It's from him. And then thirdly, he only, he
only is my rock and my salvation. Now he closes verse 5 and also
verse 2 up there. He says, I shall not be greatly
moved in verse 2. I shall not be greatly moved.
Verse 5 or 6, he says, I shall not be moved. I tried to think
of an illustration of that. You know, we are moved. I tell
you, there's certain experiences and
trials and difficulties and obstacles that do move us now. They move
us in a lot of ways. They move us emotionally. They
move us physically. They move us mentally. They move us in a lot of ways.
We are moved. We're different. You can tell
when somebody's going through a trial. You can tell when things
are not right. They move us. When I was in the
Navy on board ship, we, on the back of that ship, on the stern
of the ship out. There was a big anchor. It was
a big anchor. I was trying to think a while
ago, just to remember how big that thing was. It seemed like
to me it was about three times bigger than that piano that just
sat up there on the fantail. You remember? That big, Richard,
bigger than that piano, wasn't it? Two or three times. It sat
there on the fantail and had a huge cable. And when we got
to where we were going, in Porter somewhere, We'd drop anchor,
you know, we'd drop anchor, and that thing would start rolling
down, roaring, and it'd go down, drop anchor, and it'd go down,
and it'd hit, and lock, huge thing, lock around rocks, and
then they'd pull it tight, and that ship would not move from
that spot, but that ship did move. Not from that place, not
from that spot, but it moved. It moved around that anchor.
Sometimes I'd be facing the sun and a few minutes later facing
the clouds. And a few minutes later facing rain coming over
here. And that ship kept the current
and the wind would move that ship. Not greatly, but it did
move. But it didn't move from that
spot. And that's what he's saying here.
When I learned to wait on Him, and I learned everything's from
Him, and I learned my anchor is within the veil, my forerunner
Christ is seated, I'm anchored to Him. And these things can
come and toss me about and deal with me, and I will flinch, and
I will I will roll, and I will be tossed, and I will be wounded,
and I will be hurt, but I shall not be moved off the rock. It's not going to sweep me downstream.
It's not going to sweep me away from my Lord. It's not going
to take me out into more troubled waters. It's going to keep me
right where He anchored me. He's anchored my soul, and I
will move. You understand what I'm saying?
Uh, expect it. You're gonna, you're gonna flinch.
Job, you read Job a while ago. He said, though he slay me, I'll
trust him. Shall I not receive from the
Lord good and evil? He said, in all this, Job didn't
charge God with foolishness. He said, but brother, let me
tell you something, he hurt. And he said it'd be better if
I hadn't been born. And he said on another occasion,
he said, I rue the day when my, when my daddy said we got a boy.
And he wished I was dead, and a lot of things like that. But
he didn't move. He said, I know my Redeemer lives. I know he
lives. All right, let's look at this
psalm here for a few moments. And I promise not to be, like, too lengthy. But let's look at
the verses. Truly my soul waiteth upon God,
from him cometh my salvation. What do I do? Wait upon God. Wait upon God. I wait as a servant
on my Lord. Now, this is the relationship.
Listen. I wait as a child on my Father. I wait as a bond slave at my
Master's feet. And Jeremiah found out, I wait
as clay in a potter's hand. That's what I do, I wait on Him.
He's the potter, I'm the clay. Now, on whom do I wait? He says,
my soul waits upon God. God. Who is this upon whom I
wait? Listen to me, I wait upon a Sovereign,
Almighty, Ruler of heaven and earth, who worketh all things
after the counsel of His own will. That's the one upon whom
I wait, a Sovereign God. His will shall be done. I have
no doubt about it. His will shall be done. I need to wait on His will. He
has a will and He'll reveal it, if I wait on it. But I tell you
something else, that Sovereign Almighty Eternal God is my loving
Heavenly Father. See what I'm saying, Charlie? I wait on a sovereign almighty
God who works everything according to his will for his glory, but
who works everything pertaining to me for my good, for my good. And he loves me. And nothing
that comes to pass in my life, nothing, but what he brings it
to pass for my good. How do I wait? He said truly. truly, or sincerely, or only,
or what's this word? This is the best one. And you
prayed about this just a moment ago, silently, not murmuring. I wait silently, silently. Everything in this world Everything
is second cause. All these things are second causes. That's what Job said to his brethren,
those fellows standing in front of him, ten of them and Benjamin.
He said to them, what you did to me, what you did to me, in
your anger and in your hatred, you did it for evil. But he said
God meant it for good. God meant it for good. Oh, I
tell you, if we can just learn that, truly, sincerely, silently,
I wait. Like a child on a father, like
a clay in a potter's hand, like a barn servant at a master's
feet, I wait on a sovereign God who controls even the sparrows
that fly and the wind that blows. and the leaves that fall, and
the hair of my head, who loves me. And my hair on my head is
precious to him. Now what's the results of my
waiting? Truly my soul waiteth upon God, from him cometh my
salvation. The word salvation means deliverance. deliverance, from him cometh
my deliverance, my redemption, from him cometh my deliverance
from trouble." Paul said to the church at Philippi, he said,
pray for me, I believe your prayers will be used of God for my deliverance,
my salvation. That's the word he used, Charlie,
salvation. But he didn't mean his salvation,
he meant his salvation. He meant his redemption. And
again, he said to them, you work out your salvation with fear
and trembling. John, he didn't mean work out
your redemption, he meant work your way out of this mess you
got in. Isn't that what he's saying? He said, I want these
two women, Phoebe and somebody else that were fighting, he said,
y'all get that straightened out now. Work it out! Work out your deliverance with
fear and trembling. All right, look at verse 2. He
only is my rock and my salvation. He's my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. And verse 6 says the same thing.
He only is my rock and my salvation. He's my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. My friends, 40 years ago, over 40 years ago, I picked up
a book, written and printed, In 1855 or 56, it was a sermon by Charles
Haddon Spurgeon on salvation is of the Lord. From Jonah 2-9,
salvation is of the Lord. And I remember that sermon, it
made such a profound impact on my very soul, it was used of
God to bless me I read it over and over and over again. I could
almost preach it, point by point, word by word, even now. He quoted several things. He
says, the royal bath in which black souls are washed white
was drawn from the veins of the Son of God, and no blood of noble
martyrs or confessors has entered that stream. He said the banquet
of mercy is served up by one host, the Lord of Glory, who
says, come, for all things are ready. He said salvation is of
the Lord in its origination. He planned it, he purposed it. It's of the Lord in its execution. He sent his Son into the world,
and it pleased God to bruise him. It's of the Lord in its
application. It pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb to reveal his Son in me. It's of the Lord
in its continuation. We are kept by the power of God
through faith. And it's of the Lord in its ultimate
perfection. He that hath begun a good work
in you shall complete it in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."
And my friends, I believe that. I believed it then. It was the
gospel by which God saved me. And I believe it now more than
I believed it then, 42 years ago. I haven't changed not one inch. from that gospel God revealed
in my heart, in its basic truth. God is sovereign, absolutely,
unquestionably, unchangeably, immutably, infinitely sovereign
over every wind that blows. In creation, providence, and
salvation, I believed it then, God saved me by that faith, and
I believe it now. And God elected a totally depraved
people who have fallen in Adam. Out of that fallen mass of mankind,
God, according to the good pleasure of His own will, as it seemed
good in His sight, chose a people out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, tongue unto heaven and gave them to His Son and made
Christ their surety and an everlasting covenant. And Christ took upon
himself, God and the Father and God the Son, struck hands in
a covenant of mercy on behalf of a people whom he predestinated
to be like Christ. I believed that then and I believe
it now. That's the gospel by which God
saved me. And his Son came and by his doing
and dying, by his righteousness and blood, he redeemed every
one of those people. I preached on television last
night, tape that will be heard next Sunday. Our Lord Jesus Christ
said to his disciples, I go to prepare a place for you. I go to prepare a place for you.
You see, we don't have a place in heaven by nature, by birth,
by choice, by works. We don't merit a place in heaven.
We haven't earned a place in heaven. We don't have a place.
He's got to go and establish a place. He's got to go to the cross and
go to the tomb and rise and go to glory and enter within the
veil. Take his blood and purchase us
a place. We don't have a place. You got
a place? I hear people talk about their
place in heaven. You ain't got no place in heaven.
You'd turn heaven into hell if God let you up there without
a new nature, without a righteousness, without a blood redemption. Christ
came down here on your behalf and said, I'll go and prepare
a place for you. And I'll guarantee you, He said,
if I go prepare a place, I'll come back for you. you, and where
I am there you're going to be, because I prepared the place."
That's particular redemption, effectual redemption, limited
atonement. Call it what you want to, but
that's what it is. He did not fail. I go to prepare
a place, and if I go and prepare a place, I'll come again. And
they They keep talking about the second coming and all these
things that's going to happen when He comes. Talk about what?
Who's coming? Now what's going to happen? Who's
coming? Because everything rests in and
on Him. I'm not going to be in heaven
because I'm one of the elect. I'm going to be in heaven because
I'm in Christ. And that's where He is. Wherever
the head is, the body ain't too far behind. I'm not going to
be in heaven because I was a preacher. I'm going to be in heaven because
Christ died for me. That's right. Brother Bill Clark told me several
years ago, he came over to this country
and preached for a certain pastor and preacher whom I know quite
well. And he said on the way to the
airport, this preacher friend said to him, Brother Clark, I want you to know something
and hear it from my own mouth. I no longer believe in particular
redemption. Brother Clark said, I was shocked.
I no longer believe in an effectual atonement. I no longer believe
in a redemption for the elect only. I no longer believe in
the blood of Christ that is able to put away all the sins of all
his people of all generations. I no longer believe that. I once
did. I don't anymore. I do. I want God to know it,
and the angels to know it, and the seraphims to know it, and
I want the world to know it, and I want you to know it. And
I want the whole city to know it and the whole world to know
it, salvations of the Lord. It's in Christ and Christ alone.
That's the gospel by which I say. That's the gospel that saves. He, what did I say in verse 2? He only is my rock. He only is
my salvation. Not Christ and faith, Christ.
Not Christ and works, Christ! Why would a man not believe this?
Why would a man once believe it and not believe it now? Somebody,
something, somehow, has become more important to
him than that Christ. There's a time when he didn't
believe it because the natural man doesn't believe it. There's
a time when he heard it And evidently it was heard as a gospel, as
an effectual gospel. And then something took place,
someone came along, some reason presented itself in his mind. For convenience or covetousness
or accomplishment or human glory, he decided it wasn't best to
believe it. Is that, am I wrong in surmising
that? What changed his mind? God never. This word doesn't change. The
gospel that I first hear is the gospel all the way, isn't it?
Am I saved by the Spirit and made perfect by the flesh? Am
I saved by Christ alone and then when I get in little intellectualism,
I go beyond Christ? What's beyond Christ? There's
nothing beyond Christ. Christ is all. What do I learn
in addition to Christ? Nothing. Christ is all. He's my, listen, He only is my
rock. He only, He is my defense against
all charges, against all condemnation, against all judgment. I shall not be greatly moved. The hymn writer put it this way, Mercy speaks by Jesus' blood,
Hear and sing, ye sons of God, Just as satisfied indeed, Christ
has full atonement made. His blood speaks loud and sweet,
Here all deity can meet, And without a dissenting voice invite
sinners to rejoice. Should the law against me roar,
Jesus' blood speaks with power. All your debts were laid on me,
therefore you must and shall go free. Peace of conscience, peace with
God, is mine only by my Lord's blood. Jesus' blood speaks solid
rest. I believe. I'm blessed. You believe that? God Almighty, don't ever let
me move from the cross. God Almighty, by your grace,
don't ever, for any reason, let me move away from that place.
My only hope, my only pleas, when he died, he died for me.
My friends, that's so. I tremble, I tremble, I tremble
for all who change and adjust their messages. We don't adjust
our message. We don't change our message. Man has nothing to do with our
message. It's God's message. When Paul
preached, some believed and some didn't believe, but he preached
the same thing. But I've got to go. Let's look at it quickly,
and then I'll... And then he comes to his enemies,
and the believer has enemies. He has enemies, but like David,
it's best to start with the Lord, then get around to your enemies.
That's what he did. He started with who his rock
in salvation was, and then he came to verse 3 and says, how
long are you going to imagine mischief against a man? Now,
you'll be slain, all of you, as a bowing wall shall you be,
and as a tottering fence. You know what he's saying? He's
saying that I'm his, and so my enemies are
his enemies. And actually, all of his enemies
have already been defeated. And they're all marked for destruction,
like a bowing wall and a tottering fence. It'll come down in due
time. That's the thing, Charlie, about bowing, bowing wall, I guess
that's what you call it, a bowing wall, a wall that's pushed out.
It's going to come down pretty soon. It's already, it's already
marked for destruction. And a tottering fence is going
to fall. It's already marked for destruction. And every enemy
of Christ and his people are already defeated. They're defeated. Just a matter of time. Their
foot will slide in due time. Not in your time or my time,
in his time. And then he says in verse 4, they don't, now,
oh this is so important and I must get to this. This is so important. I wish every preacher, every
young preacher in America could listen to me right now. Right
now. Every preacher that's just beginning. You, your enemies, what is their
goal? What is their goal? What's that
enemy's goal? Well, it's no victory to whip
you. I'm easy to win. It's no victory to embarrass
me. I'm easy to embarrass. I'm easy
prey, aren't you? Oh yeah, I'm not very strong.
I'm not strong at all. But here's Satan and the enemies,
here's their goal. What is the goal of your enemy?
They only, only consult and attack. to cast you down
from your excellency. All right, what is your excellency? What's my excellency? It's my
stand in Christ. It's my gospel. It's my hope in Christ. That's
my excellency. It's my position in Christ. It's
my high regard and love for Christ. It's my dependence on Christ.
It's my total rest in Christ. It's my determination to know
nothing but Christ. He is excellent, the excellency
of Christ above all. He has all preeminence, and as
I am in Him, and look into Him, and preach Him, and depend on
Him, that's my excellency. That's right. What you said, Paul David, tonight,
he said, Paul came and said to me, you're going to preach? I
said, I'm going to try to. where I'm going to do much preaching
or not, we never know. I've fallen on my face a lot
of times. But he said, Brother Henry, you'll do all right if
you preach Christ. I said, that's right. That's
my excellency. Now, what's this enemy? What's
this enemy? What's his goal? To bring you
off that high place. get you to cooperate, to conform. That's right. Bring you up to
consult, to cast you down from your excellency. And brother, let me tell you
something, he gets the job done in a lot of cases. Wisdom of words, intellectualism,
social Satan doesn't care if you fight
liquor, wet and dry and all these things. He's got you down from
your excellency. He's got you making mud pies.
That's what he's got you doing. Instead of building the living
temple, you're making mud pies. He's got you. Got you. Got you. And he delights in lies. That's
his weapon, lies. Lies. and they bless with their
mouths, they speak sweet things in their hearts. Well, they curse
inwardly. They're hypocrites, hypocrites. Oh my, that's the era of Rome,
that's the era of Arminianism, that's all era. Whatever program
or era that wants to mix works and grace, who wants to mix man's
merit with Christ's righteousness, to preach salvation somehow,
condition, in any way, upon the will and work of a man, rather
than the will and work of Christ. Come on down off your high horse.
You're never going to succeed. I hear preachers say, you're
not going to do any good, young man, until you get it, until Soften up a little bit. You're
too hard. I've heard that all my life.
You're too extreme. You're too radical. You got to
soften up. I'll bring you down off your
excellency. Come down and be like me. I don't have any enemies. I don't
make nobody mad. Be like me. No, I'm going to be like him. Look here at verse 5, and I'll
let you go. He says, he comes back to where
he was, and he says, my soul, my soul, this old body's got
to wind it up, but my soul is going to live forever. My soul,
you wait on God, the battle's his. You wait on God. If someone waits
with you, that's fine, but then don't you wait on God. My expectations
from Him, because in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. And verse 6, He only, He only
is my rock. My righteousness is still filthy
rags. So He only is my rock. He's my
salvation. He's my defense. If God be for
me, who can be against me? Why should I fear what men can
do? Why should I even consider what men can do? If God be for
me, who can be against me? Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? Who can separate me from the
love of Christ? Who? Why? I'm not going to be moved. He's my defense. I'm not going
to be moved. I'm not going to move on purpose,
and nobody's going to move me. Now I'll roll a little bit, but
Frank got old anchors on the rock of ages. The rock of ages. And I'll stagger. I might even
fall. But I'm not going to be moved.
Because in God is my salvation. Not in my profession or my decision
or my experience or feeling. It's in my God. And that's where
my glory is. God forbid that I should glow
or save in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ. He's a rock of
my strength and my refuge. And verse 8, trust in him at
all times. You people, trust him. Trust
him. And just turn your vessel upside
down. Pour out your heart before him. Just all your secret thoughts
and desires and ambitions and feelings and doubts and fears
and whatever, just turn it upside down. I started to do that, but
I won't do that. Tom would run me out of here.
But just pour out your heart. Don't try
to be formal when you come to Him. He saves honest people. Just pour it out. You feel like
a rat, tell Him so. He knows you're a rat. He knoweth
our frame. He knows that we're dust. Don't
be play-pious with God. Pour out your heart, because
He's a refuge. There's mercy with the Lord.
He delights to show mercy. He delights to. All right, let's
sing another hymn of thanks. Mike, come and lead us in number
221.

I Shall Not Be Moved

What does the Bible say about waiting upon God?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is trusting in Christ alone important for salvation?

How does God provide for our needs during trials?

Sermon Transcript

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I Shall Not Be Moved

What does the Bible say about waiting upon God?

How do we know God's sovereignty is true?

Why is trusting in Christ alone important for salvation?

How does God provide for our needs during trials?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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