Let's open our Bibles this evening
to Psalm 46. Psalm 46. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Therefore, will not we fear,
though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the sea? Though the waters thereof roar
and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof,
there is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city
of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall
help her, and that right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms
were moved. He uttered his voice, the earth
melted. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Come, behold the works of the
Lord. What desolations he hath made
in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto
the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth
the spear in sunder. He burneth a chariot in the fire.
Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. This psalm was Martin Luther's
favorite psalm. In fact, I read this recently
that it was on the way to the Diet of Worms. Worms was the
name of the town where he was to go and stand before the emperor
to be judged on charges of heresy. And it was on the way to the
place that he wrote the hymn Mighty Fortress, the first verses,
first words of this psalm. Of course, he was writing in
German, so a little different, no doubt. But the scripture here
says, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing, our
helper. He amid the flood of mortal ills
prevailing. We sing that hymn every once
in a while. I love the hymn, but it seems
like it takes all of our breath to sing that hymn. It's like
Martin Luther, the hymn itself. Very strong and very bold and
very courageous. But tonight, I want us to look
at one verse of scripture here, and that is verse number four.
The first thing that we should take away from the psalm before
I read the text again, is the security that the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ as the city of God, the security that the
church of the Lord Jesus Christ has in the worst of times. Times which are here compared
to mountains carried into the midst of the sea and the earth
being removed. Troubles, calamitous times, and
yet God's church and God's people are safe in the worst of times,
because the God of Jacob is our refuge. But our text tonight,
verse number four, there is a river, the streams whereof shall make
glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the
Most High. We're going to think about this
river, the river of God. The river of God, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God. And there are three things
that I want to mention about this river and every river. The first is this, every river
has its place of beginning. Every river has its head. I remember
a number of years ago reading in National Geographic magazine,
these men sought out or went out to find the head, the beginning
of the Mississippi River. And they traced it as far as
they could to some streamlets up in one of the northeastern
states in our country. And it was so small at that place,
they could straddle it, one foot on one side and one foot on the
other side. And yet, as it increased and
made its way down to the Gulf of Mexico, it becomes a mighty
river. But every river, every river
has its head. It has its place of beginning. And so the river of God has its
place of beginning. I want you to look with me in
Revelation chapter 22, the last chapter in our Bibles. Revelation
chapter 22. This river, the river of God,
has its head, its beginning. And we read here in Revelation
chapter 22 and verse 1. Revelation 22 and verse 1, And
he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. This river, the river of God,
it proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. Now, three things about this
throne. The throne of God and the Lamb.
Three things that we know about this throne. The throne of God. We know, first of all, that from
this throne, God reigns over all. He rules and reigns over
all. In Psalm 103 and verse 19, the
psalmist said, The Lord hath prepared His throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom ruleth over all. There's no place, there are no
people, there's no time where the Lord God Almighty does not
reign. The scripture in Psalm 115 in
verse 3 says, Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in
heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places. And Charles
Spurgeon, commenting on that verse of scripture, said this, there's no doctrine more hated
by worldlings than divine sovereignty. There's no doctrine in the word
of God more hated by worldlings, that is, those who are of the
world, those who are not the people of God. There's no doctrine
more hated than divine sovereignty. And he goes on to say, there's
no attribute of God more comforting to the children of God. No doctrine
more hated by the world and no doctrine more comforting to his
children, that is God's children, than the divine or the doctrine
of divine sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances,
in the most severe troubles, they believe that sovereignty
has ordained their afflictions, that sovereignty overrules them,
and that sovereignty will sanctify them all. So the head, the beginning
of this river is the throne of God and of the Lamb. We know
there's not a literal throne in heaven, that's a metaphorical
statement. But God's throne, three things
we know about it. And the first thing is, and how
comforting it is to God's children tonight to know that our God,
our Father, our God and Father, that He reigns, that He rules
over everything and everyone at all times and in all places. And number two, we know this
about the throne of God. We know that the scepter, that
is that sign of authority, that sign of sovereignty, that sign
of rule that every sovereign has, that the scepter of Him
who sits upon His throne is one of righteousness. I want you
to look in Hebrews 1 with me just a moment. The scepter of
Him who sits upon this throne is one of righteousness. In fact,
in the Psalms we are told that the habitation, the habitation
of this throne is justice and judgment. That is righteousness. Justice and judgment are the
habitation of this throne. But here in Hebrews chapter 1
and verse 8, But unto the Son, He that is God, saith unto the
eternal Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, Thy throne, O God,
is for ever and ever. Now notice, a scepter of righteousness
is the scepter of thy kingdom. This is one of the bedrocks of
our faith, that He who reigns and rules over all, that He does
so in righteousness. There are things that happen
to us, things that happen to our families, things that happen
in our nation, things that we certainly do not understand. But we know this, that it is
right because God does it. And there's no question. Our
faith is founded upon this truth, that God who reigns is a God
who reigns in righteousness. And the third thing we know about
this throne, it's a throne of grace. Thank God. It is a throne of grace. And
how do we know that? Because it is the throne of God
and of the Lamb. And I would just remind us that
the Lamb, He Himself testifies to the grace of God. His coming
into this world as a man and being crucified in the stead
and in the place of His people is because of God's wonderful
grace. The throne of God, it's a place
of sovereignty. He rules over all. It's a throne
of righteousness. He reigns in righteousness and
it is a throne of grace to which believers, you and I, are invited
encouraged to come boldly, that we may find mercy and grace to
help in every time of need. So that's the first thing about
a river. It has a head. It has a beginning. The second
thing about a river, it has a course. A river has a course or a channel.
Now this verse of Scripture that I want to use in support of that
statement, we usually use it a little different. It's Proverbs
21 and verse 1, and the Proverbs says, The king's heart is in
the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water. He, that is God, he
turneth it whithersoever he will. And we use that to support and
to teach this wonderful truth that these men and women who
are in places of authority, all power is ordained of God, and
yet their hearts are in the hand of God. And He turns it, whithersoever
He will, just like the water, the courses of the rivers. And
so the course of this river, the river of God, God turns it. And think about this. We might
say, as far as our knowledge is concerned, it began flowing,
the course that is, in the Middle East. And then it went into Asia
Minor, and then it flowed into Europe, Western and Eastern Europe,
and then it flowed into North Africa, and it came over to the
Americas. The course of this river, God
determines it. Now the course of a river sometimes
changes, doesn't it? I've heard this, read this about
the Mississippi. that it flows in a southern direction,
but there are places at times when it flows east, west, and
sometimes even north, but it's always in a southern direction. It's going towards the Gulf of
Mexico. The course changes with time
and conditions And God is the one who determines the course
of this river, this river of God. Aren't we thankful tonight that
this river flowed into North America? You study church history,
you find that in many places where the gospel was so powerful
and so greatly used, and many people converted and saved places
today, there's just a handful of people who have any interest
in the gospel. And we think it will never happen
to our country. I believe it's already happened
myself. And I believe we're living in
a time and the course of this river has flowed as God determines. He's sovereign, isn't He? And
He will send His gospel to find out His elect wherever they are. I know that. He will do that. So the course or the river of
God has a beginning, has a course, and then every river has water. Every river has water. That's
the third thing. And there's four things about
the water of this river I want to mention. The streams whereof
shall make glad the city of God. Number one, life is associated
with the water of this river. About three weeks ago, NASA,
and I heard this on the radio, on the news, they were going
to have a press conference at a certain time. And people were
excited because they very seldom have a press conference like
this. And they announced that no, they had not found water
on Mars. But that's what they're looking
for. That's what they're always looking for. Why? Because they
know that if there's no water, there's no life. Water and life
are synonymous. water and life go together. And NASA found what they said,
if I understood right, at their news conference, they found what
is left after water leaves. Now, I don't know what that means,
and they were excited about it. And of course, they would be,
because that's their They're livelihood, isn't it? The research. But they're looking for water
on these other planets. Why? Because they know if they
can find water, that means that there either is life or there's
been life, or there could be life. Water and life go together. And this river, as we saw, it
is a pure river of water of life. The water of life. The Lord Jesus Christ, if you
look in John chapter 4, a very well-known passage of scripture,
when the Lord crossed the path of this woman, of Sychar, she
had come to draw water at the well, and he was there resting
from his journey. In John chapter 4, and he began
to speak with her. If you notice in verses 13 and
14, he said, Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh
of this water shall thirst again. And you could write those words
over everything in this world that men seek after. Isn't it
amazing recently we've heard about the suicides of several
famous people, people that you would think had everything that
you could want outwardly, but evidently they didn't have that
which satisfies the soul. They did not have the water of
life. But that's true of everything
in this world. If it's riches, if it's fame,
whatever it may be, whosoever drinketh of this water shall
thirst again, shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the
water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that
I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing
up unto everlasting life. How much is in those words of
the Lord Jesus Christ? The water or the grace of the
Holy Spirit that Christ gives to a person. Notice, first of
all, He gives it. It's not sold. It's not earned. It's not merited. It's given. He said, whosoever drinketh of
the water that I shall give him. And only Christ is able to give
this water. The preacher can't give the water.
The church can't give the water. This is the water that Christ
gives. He's the only one who is able
to give this water. And notice it's in him. It's
in the person. The water that I shall give him
shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be
in him. You know, most false religion,
they always start with the outside. They always start by trying to
clean a person up outwardly. Stop this and stop that, you
know, and habits and all of those things that you leave off and
change, but it's all on the outside. But the truth is, it's with the
heart. God looks at the heart. With
the heart man believeth unto righteousness, the apostle Paul
said. With the mouth confession is
made unto salvation. One of my pastor friends told
me this story. Last week, he said one of his
grandchildren, I think is about 12 years old, told him, he said,
Grandpa, he said, you know, I love you and have a lot of respect
for you. And when he was telling me that,
when he got to that point, I said, uh-oh, uh-oh. But he went on, he said, Grandpa,
He said, one of my friends at school said she came to school
and she was baptized over the weekend. And she looked so sad. She was just so sad. And he said,
I asked her, I said, what's wrong? What's wrong with you? And she
said, well, I'm trying not to sin. I'm trying not to sin. And he said, Grandpa, he said,
I told her, take your hand. and put it over your heart and
tell yourself, this is where the problem is. He said, you
see, I do listen to you. I do listen to you. He had heard
his grandpa say that. And that's the problem. It's
the heart. Out of the heart proceed these
things. And the water of life that Christ
gives unto his people is in us, welling up or springing up. unto
eternal life. False religion always deals with
the outside. Clean yourself up, change this,
change that, stop this, stop that. But the problem is in the
heart. The heart. So that's the first
thing associated with water is life. The second thing that I
think of is washing or cleansing. Washing or cleansing is associated
with the water of this river. If you look in Ephesians chapter
5, Ephesians chapter 5 in verses 25 through 27, Paul says, Husbands, love your
wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for
it. that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it
should be holy and without blemish. You know, in the book of Job,
he stated this great truth about washing. He said, if I wash myself
with snow water, And they believed that was the cleanest, that was
the purest water on the face of God's earth, the water that
came down from melted snow from the mountains. He said, if I
wash myself with snow water and make my hands never so clean,
yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch and mine own clothes shall
abhor me. Snow water, the clearest of water,
but Job recognized It does not have the power. Natural water
does not have the power to wash away our sin, our filth. But the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
6. 1 Corinthians 6. Beginning in verse 9, listen to these words of the
apostle. Know you not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? And you know tonight that's what
all of us are by nature, unrighteous. There's an unrighteous, that's
what Paul, unrighteous, know not what. Know you not that the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, then there
has to be some way that the unrighteous may be made righteous. And there
is. Thank God there is. And it's
Christ. It's through Him and His work.
Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom
of God? Be not deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such
were some of you, but you are washed. Amen. Thank God. You are washed. Washed how? In the blood of Jesus
Christ. What can wash away my sins? Nothing
but the blood of Christ. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Christ. Yes, you are washed. Not only
are you washed, you're sanctified, you're justified in all, all,
all through Jesus Christ, in the
name of Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our
God. So first of all, life is associated
with water. Washing is associated with water. And third, food nourishment is
associated with the water of this river. Without water, there
will be no harvest. There'll be no crop. Look with
me in Psalm 65. We're turning to a number of
places tonight, but that's good. You can hear and see. Psalm 65
and verse 9, the water, without water, there'll
be no harvest, there'll be no food. Verse 9 of Psalm 65 says,
Thou visitest the earth and waterest it. Thou greatly enrichest it
with the river of God, which is full of water. Thou preparest
them corn when thou hast so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges
thereof abundantly. Thou settlest the furrows thereof. Thou makest it soft with showers. Thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crownest the year with thy
goodness, and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures
of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with
flocks. The valleys also are covered
over with corn. They shout for joy. They also
sing. The Lord provides us spiritual
nourishment from his word, the covenant of grace, is food for
our souls. When Paul said his goodbyes to
the elders of the church at Ephesus, he said, now brethren, I commend
you to God and the word of his grace, which is able to build
you up. The word of his grace speaks
to us of the remnant according to the election of grace. Christ's
definite atonement His persevering grace. This word, the word of
God, is able to nourish our souls. Without water, there would be
no food. And the fourth thing, refreshment
is associated with the water of this river. In Isaiah chapter
28 and verse 12, we read, this is the rest wherewith you may
cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing." When
you're working, especially when it's hot out in this heat, there's
nothing quite so refreshing as cool water, is there? How blessed
it is if you happen to have a swimming pool and you're out working and
you get warm and overheat it and you can just jump into that
pool and it just cools you off. Sometimes when I'm outside working
I get so hot I just turn on the water hose and put it on top
of my head and just let it run all over me, cool me off. It's
refreshing, water is refreshing. And this water from the river
of God is refreshing. When God the Holy Spirit blesses
us, when we read his word, And you know, if you are a child
of God, you know what I'm talking about. When you read the Word
of God and it speaks to you, it refreshes you. When you pray,
you know your prayer is not just hitting the ceiling, bouncing
off of it. You're talking with God. When
you sing His praises, your heart is refreshed and rejoicing in
the Lord. And when you come to the Lord's
table, any of these things, what a blessing it is when the water
from this river, God, the Holy Spirit, is upon us and is anointing
us. I want you to turn back to the
Psalm one more time, Psalm 46. And I want to close with this
other word that is found in verse 10. Be still. Sometimes I think that may be
the most difficult thing for any of us to do. By nature, we
want to, we want things done yesterday. Be still. But not, don't just be still.
Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am God. The words of that hymn that we
sing, Be Still, My Soul. Be still, my soul, the Lord is
on thy side. Bear patiently the cross of grief
or pain. Leave to thy God to order and
provide. In every change, He faithful
will remain. Be still, my soul, thy best,
thy heavenly friend, through thorny ways leads to a joyful
end. Be still, my soul, and know that
I am God. I pray God would bless these
thoughts and words to all of us here tonight. I'm thankful
there's a river. river that comes, that flows,
river of life that flows from the throne of God and of the
Lamb. And I'm thankful it flowed to
me. And I know you are, too, if it's flowed to you. Didn't
have to. God directed it, guided it, charted
it just to you because He loves you, because He chose you, because
He redeems you. How blessed it is. Okay, David,
let's sing a hymn.