Beloved, our call to worship this morning is from Psalm 117. Oh, praise the Lord, all ye nations. Praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endureth forever. Praise ye the Lord. To the chief musician, a psalm or song of David. Let God arise. Let His enemies be scattered. Let them also that hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad, let them rejoice before God. Yea, let them exceedingly rejoice, sing unto God, sing praises to his name, extol him that writeth upon the heavens by his name, Yah, and rejoice before him. A father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows is God in his holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families. He bringeth out those which are bound with chains. But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness, Selah, the earth shook. The heavens also dropped at the presence of God. Even Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby Thou didst confirm Thine inheritance when it was weary. Thy congregation hath dwelt therein. Thou, O God, hast prepared of Thy goodness for the poor. The Lord gave the word. Great was the company of those that published it. Kings of armies did flee apace, and she that tarried at home divided the spoil. Though ye of line among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver and her feathers with yellow gold. When the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in Solomon. The hill of God is as the hill of Bashan, and High Hill as the hill of Bashan. Why leap ye, ye high hills? This is the hill which God desires to dwell in. Yea, the Lord will dwell in it forever. The chariots of God are 20,000, even thousands of angels. The Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place. Thou hast ascended on high. Thou hast led captivity captive. Thou hast received gifts for men. Yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation, Selah. He that is our God is the God of salvation, and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death. But God shall wound the head of his enemies and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his trespasses. The Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea, that thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies and the tongue of thy dogs in the same. They have seen thy goings, O God, even the goings of my God, my king in the sanctuary. The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after. Among them were the damsels playing with timbrels. Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord from the fountain of Israel. There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of Judah and their council, the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali. Thy God hath commanded thy strength. Strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us. Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee. Rebuke the company of spearmen. the multitude of the bulls with the calves of the people, till everyone submit himself with pieces of silver. Scatter thou the people that delight in war. Princes shall come out of Egypt. Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth, O sing praises unto the Lord, Selah. To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens which were of old, lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice. Ascribe ye strength unto God. His excellency is over Israel, and his strength is in the clouds. O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places. The God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God. May God bless the reading of His holy and precious word to our hearts this morning. Our text for this morning is from Psalm 68. We'll consider this psalm as an encouragement to consider how God is continuing His work of preserving the church and who God is and what God does. We come to the subject of Christ building his church through Lord's Day 21, the Heidelberg Catechism. Lord's Day 21, you can find that on page 49 in the back of the Psalter. I'm going to read that just now, Lord's Day 21, page 49, question 54. What believest thou concerning the Holy Catholic Church of Christ? Answer, that the Son of God, from the beginning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and preserves to himself by his Spirit and Word out of the whole human race, a church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith, and that I am and forever shall remain a living member thereof." Question 55, what do you understand by the communion of saints? Answer, first, that all and everyone who believes, being members of Christ, are in common partakers of him and of all his riches and gifts. Secondly, that everyone must know it to be his duty readily and cheerfully to employ his gifts for the advantage and salvation of other members. Question 56, what believest thou concerning the forgiveness of sins? Answer, that God, for the sake of Christ's satisfaction, will no more remember my sins, neither my corrupt nature, against which I have to struggle all my life long. but will graciously impute to me the righteousness of Christ, that I may never be condemned but for the tribunal of God." Each of these articles of the Apostles' Creed deserves a sermon in itself, separately. This morning we're going to consider in particular the doctrine of the Church, which we give the name ecclesiology. Ekklesia is from the Greek meaning church or called out, and ology simply means the study of something. So ecclesiology is the study or the doctrine of the church. And of course, under those themes that we read about, we have the communion of saints and the forgiveness of sins. So we won't cover those in depth, but as we look at the church, we'll see that some of these are folded into what we're looking at this morning in the study of ecclesiology. What comes to mind when you think about the church? What comes to mind when you think about the church? Maybe your mind immediately goes to divisions in the church. Or you think about church as a place where politics happen. Politics in the leadership or amongst the membership. Or you might think of a church as compromised or woke. Some people might think of the church in terms of abuse, of spiritual abuse, of domestic abuse. Or some might associate the word church with scandal, or gossip, or heresy, or persecution, oppression, or being oppressed. I think when we think of the word church, our mind often gravitates towards the negative aspects of the church. or easy to criticize and to pick out the flaws of the church. What Kevin DeYoung writes, this, a helpful piece in World Magazine just recently, he says, we must not believe that the worst things we see are the only things to be seen, speaking about the church. He goes on to say, he says, maybe I've just been fortunate to be around good churches, but I'm convinced that the rise and fall of scandals and podcasts do not reflect most of our congregations, most of our pastors, and most of the tithe giving, choir singing, note taking, meal making, Bible studying men and women who fill up our padded chairs and hardback pews. Remember, Bad news travels fast and far. Good news often trudges along slowly and in secret. What is the good news, then, about the church? If we're prone to focus on the negative aspects of church, how can we reorient our focus this morning to view the church the way Christ views the church? Our Lord's Day hands us that very perspective, that Christ is engaged in His ongoing work of defending, of preserving, of building His church. The church might be a messy building site, but it's still a building site. There's still something being built. There's still something positive being done. In fact, we can say this morning that victory is guaranteed for the church in the midst of the world in which we live, because Christ is the head of the church. Christ has secured victory for the church in the cross. In the face of continued assaults, political upheaval, cultural wokeness, and doctrinal weakness, the church continues to be built up. in the midst of personal relationships being broken down within the church, prodigal sons and daughters leaving the church, forsaking the truth. Christ continues to build. Christ assures us of victory. This is the message we need to hear this morning. For myself as a pastor, For the elders as we engage in the work of the church, for the deacons, for each one of us this morning, we need this message to remind us that victory is assured for the church of Jesus Christ. And it's assured through His protective justice. As the church faces pressures and challenges throughout history and again today, what is it that keeps the church? not only keeps the church, but ensures its longevity and even growth in the face of opposition. Because this is how we must understand the statement from Matthew 16 when Christ says, upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. It's a statement of ongoing progression in the world. The church is on the offensive, not on the defensive. So how can we be assured of that? It's through the Lord protecting His church through His perfect justice. It's God coming in all of His attributes, coming down and engaging in the work of the church, building it and preserving it and defending it. That's what we see in this psalm, Psalm 68, the psalm of Christ's ascension. What He's done to come down into this world, what He's doing now from heaven in giving gifts for the church and expanding the borders of His kingdom. It is thought that this psalm was sung as the ark was carried into Jerusalem to be put into the tabernacle under the rule of David. The ark, as you well know, was symbolic of God's presence, the place where atonement was made. It was carried to Mount Zion where God chose to dwell and build His church in the Old Testament. And there are lessons for us as the New Testament church. This psalm at its outset sets out to glorify the justice, the holiness, the zeal of God for His people, for His cause, and for His church in the world. It is the justice, it is the holiness, it is the zeal of God that causes God to arise on behalf of His church and His people and His name. If God has set His name in the church, the church is synonymous, as it were, with that name. So when God's name is assaulted, when the church is assaulted, God's name is assaulted. That's what we need to remember. Verse 1, we read these words, let God arise, let His enemies be scattered, let them also that hate Him flee before Him. Couched in this statement is God's justice that acts against the enemies of His people, against the enemies of His church, against His very own enemies. It's His justice, it's His zeal for His own name that causes Him to arise. The statement here could also be translated in this way, not let God arise, but God will arise. A statement of fact, not a statement of asking God to arise. But a statement stating that God will arise indicates certainty that God will most certainly arise for the sake of His name, for the sake of His church, for the sake of His people, for the sake of His kingdom in this world. Let us remember this to our comfort and courage this morning as the church faces hard times and harder times yet to come. God's justice will not tarry. His zeal will not leave him idle. God will arise. He's not sitting idly by and just watching his enemies come against the church and he's not doing anything. No. We need to remember that God will arise. He will scatter his enemies abroad. He will bring justice for his church, for his people, for his name. We see that the justice of God causes the wicked to perish. It's clear from verse one, his enemies will be scattered. Just as surely as God will arise, so surely will he deal with his enemies, with the church's enemies. As God arises, those who hate him will flee before him. In other words, they will not stand a chance, the enemies of God. Their fate is sealed. This is what we need to remember. As voices of opposition come against the church, come against the truth of God, God will prevail. God will arise. The enemies of God are loud and strong in their opposition, but God is stronger. Verse 2 gives us a vivid picture of what the justice of God will accomplish as He's stirred up to rise up for His cause and for His church. Just like the wind comes and disperses the smoke of a fire, so God will disperse His enemies. Young people, I just thought back to last night when we were at the Engelsmans, the bonfire. Mr. Engelsman got out his blower. What happened when he blew on the fire? It blew the smoke away, but it made the fire grow hotter. In a sense, that's the picture we have here. The wind comes and blows the smoke away, but the fire of God's justice burns hotter against His enemies. He will blow upon them in His perfect vengeance, and they will be no more. Another picture here. As wax melts before the fire, so the wicked will perish before the presence of God. Sometimes we long for immediate justice. We want to hear the voices silenced immediately. But here we have the imagery of a candle. The candle burns slowly. Slowly but surely the candle burns down and there's nothing left except a pool of wax. The fire of God's justice will come. And it has come. and it's slowly burning against His enemies, and it's slowly destroying them, it's slowly bringing them to justice, one by one. But one day He will come in perfect justice, and He will make all things right, and they will be rendered powerless at His presence and His justice. God will arise. He will deal with His enemies. The justice of God causes the wicked to perish, but also causes the righteous to rejoice. In verse 3, but let the righteous be glad, let them rejoice before God, yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Our initial response to the justice of God is not one of rejoicing, is it? It's one of fear. It's one of trembling. It's a solemn picture here that we have of the justice of God coming against His enemies. It's a warning for those who are still enemies of God this morning, and yet for the righteous. When it's put in the context of what God is doing in the world for the church, the church's fitting response to the justice of God upon His enemies is one of rejoicing. He will vindicate His name. As we read in verse 4, he will be extolled in his judgments and his attributes. And why should the church rejoice in the justice of God? Because it's the justice of God that arises for the protection of the church, for the protection of God's people. Because it's the justice of God that will deal with God's and our enemies. And so it gives us cause to rejoice. Jesus loves the church. He loves the church so much that He's laid down His life for the church. He paid the ultimate price by shedding His blood for the remission of sin. He was stirred up and He came and He bought the church with His blood. His justice will not tarry in protecting what He has bought in His own justice. It will come. It will come. His justice will protect His church, even when it seems slow in coming. Beloved, did you ever wonder what the church in heaven is singing? It's this very song of the justice of God. Revelation 19, 1 and 2, and after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven saying, Alleluia, salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God for true and righteous are his judgments. For he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. When the church is under oppression, When the church is under persecution, when the church is under assault from without and from within, we need to remember that this is the song that the saints in heaven are singing. Will we join the saints in heaven here on earth and sing glory and honor for the just judgment of God? It's through His justice that He will rise up for His church. He's done it in Christ, in His cross. He will do it again as Christ comes to usher in the final judgment, the final installment of His justice for those who refuse to kiss the Son. A solemn message. A solemn message. But also an encouraging message, isn't it, for the church this morning? for us right here, right now, in 2021. In spite of everything that's coming against the church, we have the confidence that the justice of God will protect His church right up until He comes again. God is on our side. And so this morning we're called to shelter, to run to the justice of God, and then also to rejoice in the justice of God as He comes to deal with His and our enemies, His retributive justice, where He brings retribution against His enemies, but also His rewarding justice for His church, where He will come and bring His church to himself and he will dwell among them where his presence will be known and felt in eternity. The justice of God will protect his church. He will arise. We're also guaranteed victory this morning through his preserving presence. God's presence is a powerful preserver of His people. That's true throughout the history of Israel. The presence of God is mentioned throughout this psalm. The presence of God preserves by going before, by being at the front of His people, by being at the front of His church. We see that in the church in the wilderness, Israel in the wilderness. Verses 7 and 8, O God, when Thou wentest forth before Thy people, when Thou didst march through the wilderness, Sila, the earth shook, the heavens also dropped, that the presence of God, even Sinai itself was moved, that the presence of God, the God of Israel, This presence of God caused Israel to tremble on Mount Sinai. But it was this very presence that preserved them from the enemy and even from themselves. Why? Verse 7 says that God went forth before the people. God was his shield to his people as they marched through the wilderness. He went before in vanquishing the enemy, and his awesome presence was witnessed at Sinai, where he revealed himself in his holiness and his power. His presence went before them, protecting them, revealing God to the people. It's a presence of grace, of gracious preservation. His presence was mediated through His Word, by which He preserved His church. In verses 11 and 12, the Lord gave the Word, great was the company of those that published it. Kings of armies did flee apace, and she that tarried at home divided the spoil. And so you see, it's not the bad news that causes the church to prosper, but it's the good news. that preserves the church and causes the enemy to scatter. Kings of armies did flee apace at the good news of the gospel as it went out in those days. It's the good news, it's the gospel that preserves the church in the face of our enemies. The gospel takes enemies and makes them friends. The gospel brings forth truth to a world that is starved for truth. The church, Paul writes to Timothy, is the pillar and the ground of truth. It's the Word that gives stability to the church. If there ever was a need for the truth of the Word to be spoken loudly and clearly, it's today. We do so in confidence. knowing that God sends out His Word to conquer. As it's pictured for us in Revelation 5, Christ seated on the white horse, going forth to conquer His enemies. It was a great company that published the Word. Back in Israel's day, it was thought to be the women in the camp who would publish the good news of the victory of the armies of Israel. But here, God has a great company that is publishing the Word today. The Lord has always had His servants throughout the ages, a great company of preachers, of heralds announcing the good news that He is coming again. So under the captain of our salvation this morning, we have this word to give us courage in the spiritual battles that we face. The church will be preserved through the word. It announces His saving and preserving presence. It announces His victory over His enemies. Let us take that Word this morning. Let us savor the Word. Let the Word encourage us and let us take the Word, seeing that it's that which causes the enemy to flee. Let us use it as such. Because it's through the Word that the presence, the preserving presence of God is made known to the world and to His church. Finally, His presence is guaranteed in the church to all eternity, as seen in verses 14 through 17. The hill of Zion there is highlighted, higher in significance than the hill of Bashan. Even though the hill of Bashan was the highest point in Israel, Mount Zion was the hill that had more significance. And why did it have more significance? Because that's where God chose to dwell. That's where God chose to dwell. Children, how do you know a mountain is majestic and high? Because of the snow on its peak. If you go to the Rocky Mountains, and you go and look at the mountains, first you see the foothills, but then slowly the mountains rise up in the distance, and what do you see on the high mountains? Snow. White. Verse 14, when the Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow and salmon. Battle imagery, bodies scattered about, the power of God evident in Mount Zion as He destroys His enemies, as He comes to dwell there. Majestic because the presence of God is there. Verse 16, this is the hill which God desires to dwell in, yea, the Lord will dwell in it forever. Mount Zion in the Old Testament was God's temporary resting place. The tabernacle later, the temple, signifying His more permanent dwelling place in the people that He had chosen for Himself. And that's a transference to the New Testament. The church is Mount Zion. The church is where God chooses to dwell and make His dwelling place, even this morning here in this place, in this part of the church of Jesus Christ. God delights. God has chosen to dwell in here, to dwell in us as His people, those who are believers this morning. Because of that, the church is far more significant than any other institution in this world. Let's draw a comparison point for a moment. We go to the halls of Washington, the House of Representatives, the Senate, the White House, the Supreme Court, all the branches of government are there. You walk through the halls of government, impressive, impressive. Power and prestige. But God has not chosen to dwell there. God has chosen to dwell here. Look around you. Not very impressive, is it? But this is what God has chosen to dwell in. That's an encouragement. Because He dwells here, He will preserve His people till the end. He will preserve His church till the end. What does His presence do for us? as it did for the Old Testament saints. It bid their fears flee away. It strengthened them. It preserved them for the journey ahead. Beloved God will preserve His church because He will dwell with them, not just temporarily, but forever. Not just for a week, not just for a month, not just for a decade, not just for a century, but forever. God will dwell with his church. Israel drew on its history to point out the preserving presence of God. We can draw on the same history this morning, the history of God through the ages, which reminds us that God will dwell with his presence to preserve his church. As we open this morning, so often our view of the church is negative. We're afraid. We're afraid of what's going to happen to the church. What would be pressed underground like the church in China or Iran or North Korea or Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan. What we worry is Strange doctrines make an entrance into the church. Or we cry with Israel in Isaiah 49, 14, but the Lord hath forsaken me and my Lord hath forgotten me. You see, bad news travels fast. But good news travels slowly. And God responds. Even when the church is assaulted, when the church is attacked, when the church is marginalized, when the church is underappreciated, when the church is criticized, we are assured that Christ loves His church because He dwells in her and He speaks to His church this morning to you, believers. Can a woman forget her sucking child? That she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." Indeed, the church will be victorious and triumphant in the presence of God. I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them. and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God. A promise for the church on earth from Christ who is seated in heaven. He'll be with us even to the end of the age. Be encouraged, beloved. God has not forgotten us. God has not forsaken us, and God will not forget us. He will arise, and He will preserve His church because He dwells in the midst of her. The work that He has started in this church, He will complete until the day He comes again. In the third place this morning, the church is guaranteed victory through Christ's redeeming provision as He sits in heaven. He provides for His church. And we see this in verses 5 and 6 as we backtrack to those verses this morning. He provides a place for the weak and the vulnerable. We could say this is victory for the vulnerable. As God dwells in the church, He provides a place in the church for the lonely, for the fatherless, for the orphan. He is a father of the fatherless and a judge of the widows. He is God in His holy habitation. God setteth the solitary in families. He bringeth out those which are bound with chains. the rebellious dwell in a dry land. The contrast couldn't be greater in those verses between the rebellious and between the people of God. Even as it describes the justice and the holiness and the zeal of God, immediately in verse 5 describes God as a tender father for the fatherless. Those who have been cast off by the world And by the way, this promise is a promise for literal orphans and widows and solitary. But I believe it's also, there are spiritual applications here that we need to make this morning. He's a tender father for the fatherless, for the orphan, a husband for the widow, one who receives those who come from prison. takes the lonely and sets them in the midst of families. What the world casts off as not having any value, God takes and places in His church. Remember, we were called to look around us this morning to see where God delights to dwell. It's with the vulnerable, it's with the weak, it's with the small, it's with the insignificant of this world. an unlikely family, a family not primarily connected through biology but through the blood of Christ. You see, biology is never going to save us. It's only the blood of Christ. The family of Christ, named after Him, as Paul says in Ephesians 3.15, of whom the whole family is named. What do these verses give us? The church is the place of God's nurture for the weak and for the vulnerable. It's where He provides a place for those who are lonely, for those who are cast off from the world. It's a place of welcome by the grace of God. And so as we have been welcomed into that family by the grace of God, we need to learn to welcome others with that same grace, with the same tenderness, with the same welcoming spirit that God shows to sinners who return to him. Are you doing that? Are you exercising your gifts as Lord's Day 21 says, for the good of others? that goes for believers in the midst of us, but also for those who come in to the doors of this church. So the picture we have here of the church is one that is a motley crew of people, imperfect, broken by sin, yet redeemed by grace. Included in His family, in the family of God, an assured victory in Christ and His cross and the final judgment. God provides a place. He provides plenty, plenty in the wilderness of this world. It's what Israel learned through the wilderness wanderings. They received plentiful rain in the midst of weariness, received the goodness of the Lord in the midst of poverty. God gives Himself, doesn't He? through this provision that God redeems His people in which He confirms His inheritance, verse 9 tells us. He refreshed them in a weary wilderness. When they were weary and could not take one step forward, He gave refreshing rain to encourage them to the promised land where their inheritance was. When they were poor, He lifted their spirits with His goodness, with Himself providing along the way. It's a picture of how God cares for His church today as well. which He redeems her from the world. The world is a wilderness, a dry place where the wicked dwell. But God provides rain. When it seems that the church will die because of weariness, God provides the rain of His Spirit to revive and to quicken His church and to lift up our eyes to where our inheritance is confirmed in the right hand of the Father where Christ is. Set your mind on things above. where Christ is, where your inheritance is. When the church seems poor and puny over against the powers of evil, the Lord's goodness will overshadow the wickedness of the wicked, will provide riches that the world knows nothing about, will confirm our inheritance through His own goodness. The Lord sustains and redeems His church through His provision of plenty. All is not lost. Bad news travels quickly. But here's the good news. God will provide plenty in himself. So where are we looking this morning? Circumstances change. As dark clouds hang on the horizon, the Lord will provide plenty for his church. even when it doesn't seem like it. God also provides change. How does God build His church? By changing one life at a time. Verse 13, we have these words, Though ye have line among the pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with a yellow gold. Speaks of a complete and total transformation of prospects The word pots is difficult to translate and interpret, but generally it's thought to refer to the sheepfold, to the place of filth and excrement in the sheepfold. And understood in that context, it's from this place that Christ takes his subjects and he thoroughly transforms them into beautiful creatures. That may not be immediately apparent this morning as we look within us and as we look around us. But it's a breathtaking picture of God's redeeming grace. He takes from amongst the filth and the excrement of this world and He changes hearts and lives, makes them beautiful again the way He intended. It speaks of hope again this morning that God is in the business of saving filthy sinners and transforming them into the image of his son. This is how he assures victory for his church, the longevity of his church. even takes those who are opposed to Him, those rebels. Children, you know the history of Saul as he went on the road to Damascus, the man who was intent on destroying the church of Jesus Christ. And what did God do? He took him from the filthiness of his rebellion and He made him beautiful. Instead of persecuting the church, God used him to build up the church. like no one else in church history apart from Jesus Christ. It's like going downtown, seeing the ugly wall of a building, dilapidated, broken down. You come back a week later and the wall is covered with a beautiful mural. of art. The wall is transformed from something ugly into something beautiful. Beloved, that is God's ongoing work in the church. He's beautifying his people. If the church is a building site with scaffolding, with tools laying around, with building materials laying around, one day all of that will be cleaned up, the scaffolding will be taken away and what will we see? The church in its beauty. as God intended it to be. God is providing change for us, moment by moment. In the context of living with one another as the church, in the context of the church living in the world, God is rubbing off all that is not Christ. Until that day, we will see the grand plan of the great architect. The church is in the hand of the Lord, redeems one soul at a time, transforms one life at a time, and progressively changes the church into the image of Christ. And then he provides gifts, verses 18 and 19. Verses used by Paul in Ephesians 4 to demonstrate that upon his ascension into heaven, Christ gave various gifts to his church that was descended on high, that was led captivity captive, that was received, or that was given gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loatheth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. The spoils of Christ's victory received from the hand of the Father, Christ freely gives and distributes to the church. In Ephesians 4, Paul says that God gave some pastors and teachers and evangelists for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry. The gifts of the church received by Christ work together to build up the church. To the teaching ministry of the church, to the one another ministry of the church, God is at work. These gifts are exercised for the growth and the maturation and the stabilization of the church in the world. He provides redemption. In the last verses of this psalm, We have a beautiful picture of his provision of redeeming grace that secures the victory of the church. Verse 20 testifies that God provides an escape from death. He that is our God is the God of our salvation and unto God the Lord belong the issues from death. Issues simply means escape. God provides an escape this morning in Christ. and escape from death to the life of Christ, to the victory of the cross for sinners this morning. Escape from death for the church when Christ will come again, the Ascended King. Redeem His church once and for all. Again, he provides victory over the enemies, verse 21, but God shall wound the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his trespasses. A reference, again, to the justice of God. His zeal that will intervene and destroy his and our enemies. Encouragement for the church that God will take care of her enemies. But here is a warning for those who are still walking in sin, in rebellion against God. God will wound the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth on still in his trespasses if you are here this morning living in unrepentant sin. It's a warning for you that God will come and deal with you in his justice. But that very justice, again, reminds us of victory for the church. But He also provides spiritual strength. Verse 28, thy God hath commanded thy strength. Strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us. Verse 35, the God of Israel is He that giveth strength and power unto His people. In His redeeming grace, God gives strength for us. He lifts up flagging spirits this morning to encourage the church to continue on in the work of the church, to fulfill the mission of the church that Christ has given to the church, to go out into the world and to preach the Word and to make disciples, because all power is given unto us from Christ. When the church seems weak and struggling, Christ provides strength for her to continue to the day of full and final redemption. His strength alone will provide the victory that you and I need on a personal, individual level, but also on a corporate church level. His strength will outwit and outlast all our spiritual enemies. His strength will give new life to the church and preserve when the gates of hell let loose against the church. God is the source of our strength, not ourselves, not any programs, nothing but the strength of God through His Word and His Spirit. Then finally, we see what's illustrated in Lourdes Day 21, that God is gathering from every tribe and tongue and nation a church to himself, verses 29 through 32. We often long for church growth, don't we? That's guaranteed under the victory of Christ. We long for church growth here in number and spiritual maturation. It doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to happen here, but Christ, we can be assured, is growing His church numerically. He's gathering in from all over the world. Because of the temple, many nations would be drawn there. They would be drawn to the presence of God, to the blood of the covenant, to the redemption pictured and provided there. In verse 31, there's a picture of those who are coming to hear and learn about God. Those who are reaching out their hands to God because of the life that He gives. God builds His church from among the nations. The kingdoms of the earth will sing praises to God. God will build His church. Christ will build His church. We should not think that we are the only church. or that God only builds His church from among those who are Dutch Reformed believers, or maybe Presbyterians too. But God will build His church from every tribe and tongue and nation. They will all be represented in that glorious day, as we see opened up for us in Revelation. And so we need to be looking, not to ourselves, but to Christ, our Head, this morning. I conclude again with the words of Kevin DeYoung. He says, who builds the church? Who builds the church? Not the pastor. Not the seminary. Not the sheep. Not the government. Not the publishing house. Not the critics. Not the power brokers. Not a class of people called the oppressed. Not the social media influencers. Jesus does. Jesus builds the church. And what does he build? Not a brand, not a school, not a magazine, not a campus ministry, not a nation, not a party, not a platform, not a webpage. He builds the church, the only institution on earth that Jesus promises to build and promises will last. Beloved, let us look to Christ this morning for the victory of the church. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we thank Thee for the victory that is assured in Christ. Though we may not see it with our physical eyes, We thank Thee that Thou hast shown us a glimpse of it this morning from Thy Word, that Thou will arise, that Thou will dwell in the midst of Thy people, even delighting to dwell there, and Thou will redeem them fully and finally. So Lord, help us to take courage from Thy Word this morning. Help us to rejoice in Thy judgments. Help us to see that Thou does delight to dwell with us, to transform us as a church. Lord, our only hope for change, our only hope for victory, comes from the power of the gospel and nothing else. And so we pray that Thou will continue the work that Thou has begun. We are not complete. We are not perfect. But Thou art. So continue that work, fulfill thy plan, until one day we can look back and see the church in its beauty, with thee at its center dwelling in the midst forever. Protect thy church, Lord, and hasten the day Your faith, so that faith will become sight. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.