October 22, 2006

 

Debate and controversy about sacred things is always evil. As old John Trapp put it, “The devil loves to fish in troubled waters.” I have never seen anything good produced by debate; but I have seen brethren divided, churches split, and the name of God blasphemed by it.

 

 

·          Shelby and I are in Destin, FL for a few days vacation with our children. The Lord willing, we will be home Thursday. Bro. Ron Wood will preach the gospel to you today. Bro. Todd Nibert, pastor of Todds Road Grace Church in Lexington, will be here to preach to you Tuesday night.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Rickey Dale Birchum-29^th

 

A Just God and A Savior — Don Fortner

(Tune: #46 — O for a Thousand Tongues — CM)

 

1.        I see, I see, O blessed sight,

I see how God can be

A holy, righteous and just God,

While justifying me!

 

2.        Since Christ has brought in righteousness

By His obedience,

And by His blood has satisfied

For all my sins' offense...

 

3.        Justice and mercy, truth and grace,

God's righteousness and peace,

(All glorified!) say, “God is just

In justifying me!”

 

         Nothing more quickly leads to spiritual deadness than controversy, by which men attempt to divide the church of God. The debates stirred and cherished by men who long to prove themselves right, while pretending to defend the truth of God, are nothing but the gratification of a man’s own wicked lusts. — James asks, “From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?” God’s truth does not need to be defended, but simply declared. We best defend the truth of God when we declare the crucified Christ in all the fulness and glory of his redemptive accomplishments as the sinners’ Substitute.

 

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Ascending to the House of God

Our Security

Psalm 127

 

In Psalm 127 the pilgrim meditates upon the security of God’s house, as he ascends to it. Here is our security. — The building of God’s house is his work. — The security of it is his work. — The children he gives are his heritage. — Knowing these things, we read, “so he giveth his beloved sleep.”

 

“Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children are an 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 children of the youth. 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.”

 

The House

 

The house and city spoken of in this psalm is the church of God. The title of the psalm, “A Song of degrees for Solomon,” tells us this. The psalm was written to encourage Solomon as he prepared to build the temple in Jerusalem, which was typical of the church of God’s elect. It is Christ himself, our God and Savior, who builds his house and keeps his city. Were it not for this fact, the labor of Zion’s watchmen, the labor of gospel preachers, would be vanity. But our labor is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58; Isa. 55:11). The fact that the building of God’s house, the salvation of his elect, is altogether God’s work gives us sleep (peace), assuring us that all is well that concerns God’s church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

 

The Children

 

We know that this psalm is not talking about our physical families, or our physical descendants, by the simple fact that for many their families and their children are the causes of great sorrow. The children spoken of here are the children of God, his gift to Christ, brought forth from Zion’s womb. They are the reward of his soul’s travail, the reward of his suffering and death (Isa. 53:10-11). God’s children are arrows in the hands of Christ, our Mighty Man of War, the Captain of our Salvation.

 

The Happy Man

 

The happy man, whose quiver is full, is Christ. He is our blessedness and we are his. John Gill wrote, “Christ’s spiritual seed and offspring, who are the dew of his youth, are strong, and overcome the evil one; and are serviceable in the defense of his cause and interest.” His children, God’s elect, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, shall never be ashamed, confused, confounded, put to confusion, or make haste (Isa. 28:16; 45:17; Rom. 10:11; 1 Pet. 2:6).

 

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Ascending to the House of God

Our Way — Psalm 128

 

Psalm 128 speaks of our way, the way in which we walk, the way of faith in Christ, and the way in which divine providence takes us. Our way is Christ.

 

“Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.”

 

         This psalm may and should be applied to God’s saints in this world. As I have already stated, it speaks about believers walking in faith. But, it seems obvious to me that the psalmist has the man Christ Jesus, our blessed Savior, in view throughout this song. He who is the Object of our faith is himself the great Example of faith.

 

         The Lord Jesus is our Husband. He has betrothed us unto himself forever in righteousness, justice, lovingkindness, and great mercy (Hosea 2:19). — “Thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called” (Isa. 54:5). What a blessed union we have with him! The Son of God assumed our nature and wedded himself to us in a union of grace indescribably more intimate and real than anything that might be compared to it. We are bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh, one with him forever!

 

         Blessed is the man Christ Jesus, who has feared the Lord and accomplished the redemption of his wife, the church of God’s elect, by the sacrifice of himself! She shall be unto him a fruitful vine. It is written, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.”

 

         Thus the God of all grace, his Father and our Father, shall bless him out of his holy hill, Zion. He will perform all his covenant with his Son, our Husband, pouring out his Spirit upon all his seed (Gal. 3:13-14), blessing his offspring with peace forever. He shall see the good of his Jerusalem all the days of his life, forever!

 

         By virtue of our union with the Lord Jesus Christ, God pours out showers of blessing upon us continually, and commands his prophet, “Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat of the fruit of their doings.” All that our great Husband Redeemer has done for us, we did in him; and we are therefore rewarded with everlasting life in and by him.

 

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