Good morning. Everyone doing well?
I would like to read some verses to begin. Some of these verses, I think, you are familiar with.
Psalm 26 is a psalm of David. I will read one verse—verse 8. I think this is a very important verse:
O Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house,
And the place where Thy glory dwelleth.
That is what David said: “I love the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thy glory dwelleth.”
Psalm 107, I think many of you are familiar with. I will just read certain portions of it, starting in verse 1:
Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness endureth for ever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
Whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the adversary,
And gathered out of the lands,
From the east and from the west,
From the north and from the south.
They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way;
They found no city of habitation.
Hungry and thirsty,
Their soul fainted in them.
Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble,
And He delivered them out of their distresses.
He led them also by a straight way,
That they might go to a city of habitation.
Verse 8:
Oh that men would praise the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
And then in verse 26:
They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths:
Their soul melteth away because of trouble.
Now, that has to do with these ones He is speaking of, these children of Israel.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble,
And He bringeth them out of their distresses.
He maketh the storm a calm,
So that the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad because they are quiet;
So He bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Oh that men would praise the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise Him in the seat of the elders.
He turneth rivers into a wilderness,
And watersprings into a thirsty ground;
A fruitful land into a salt desert,
For the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
He turneth a wilderness into a pool of water,
And a dry land into watersprings.
And there He maketh the hungry to dwell,
That they may prepare a city for habitation.
I will read the final verse, verse 43:
Whoso is wise will give heed to these things,
And they will consider the lovingkindnesses of the Lord.
And then there are another two verses I will read from the Old Testament: Nehemiah 11:1-2. I am certain you know these verses.
And the princes of the people dwelt in Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts in the other cities.
And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell in Jerusalem.
A very important verse in our subject. Well, let us have a word of prayer.
Lord, we come to You once again, expressing our utter dependence on You and Your Holy Spirit to communicate divine things that are impossible for us to make clear. But we are so grateful: You are the God of the impossible, and You choose flawed vessels, in the weakness of preaching, to make known the great mysteries of God.
And we ask You, Lord, in Your mercy, would You speak to us? While we are gathered in Your presence, give us a word for the hour that would make a deep impression upon us and cause us to be the kind of people You are looking for.
This we ask in the precious name of Jesus. Amen.
Well, I think you know that we have been sharing on this short series—by the way, this is the last day—this thought of onward towards Jerusalem.
When I look at the Bible, there seems to me to be a clear progression in this matter: onward to Jerusalem. When God found His man, Abraham, the father of faith, and apprehended this man to be one who would lead His people into the promised land, He did something wonderful.
He revealed something that was deep in His heart, and it captured the man. It changed the man, and he was never the same again.
If you read Hebrews 11:10, you discover what that is. It speaks of Abraham, and it is this spiritual summary of his life:
For he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Or, some versions I like: “whose builder and architect is God.”
Now, brothers and sisters, that defined this man’s life. From that day on, he was on a progressive journey onward towards Jerusalem—not only Abraham, or Abram, as he was called when he was called out.
But you see David. David was possessed with this view of Jerusalem, and with all of his flaws and foibles, his heart was dedicated to that city. He took that city, and there, anointed king, he ruled in that city for some thirty years. That city meant everything to him.
David longed for and loved the city of Jerusalem. I think that is very clear.
But not only that: the people that were taken into captivity, because they despised the inheritance of God and went into Babylonian captivity—that city, can you imagine, that city God had chosen out of every place on the earth to dwell and to be His habitation—that city He sent into destruction and ruin at the hand of Gentiles. Can you imagine such discipline?
But He did not give up. He called. He called out from those people a remnant, and that remnant responded.
We read that wonderful psalm of how they were provoked to sing those songs of Jerusalem. And they said, “How can we sing in a foreign land?” They hung up their harps, but they never lost that longing for Jerusalem.
And in the end, God did a great recovery work. He used Gentiles. It is amazing. He used them sovereignly to do His work.
And then you go on to the New Testament. I was struck in the New Testament that the phrase onward towards Jerusalem, or going to Jerusalem, occurs concerning the Lord Jesus.
When you look at Isaiah, that famous prophecy, His face was set like flint towards Jerusalem. That is what that prophecy is about. He was always going onward.
And then, of course, we know the end of the Bible: that great revelation of Jerusalem in Revelation 21 and 22. How wonderful it is. Its inescapable glory—how precious it is.
So, I think really—I am not trying to convince you; you may not even agree with me, and that is quite okay—but I believe there is a biblical emphasis of a progression from the beginning, when God found His man, to the very end, when He reveals the fullness of Jerusalem.
Now, I have warned you about this. If you think I am talking about the earthly city and want to turn you all into Hebrew nationalists and get you to sell everything you have and move to Jerusalem and find a hut there, that is not at all what I am talking about.
We are talking about the spiritual city: the heavenly Jerusalem, the place of God’s choosing, the eternal dwelling of God, His habitation in the Spirit.
So this is the burden. I shared on looking for Jerusalem with Abraham. That was the key to his life. Do not ever mistake it—it was the key to his life.
I shared about longing for Jerusalem. These are essential elements. We need to see something first. If we do not see something—and it cannot come with human eyes; it has to come by divine revelation—then we cannot go on.
When we see it, like Abraham, like David, like that remnant that could not stand any longer in their place of captivity, we will be forever changed and captured. And there will be put in our heart a longing for Jerusalem.
I shared last time about Psalm 132, where it says:
For the Lord hath chosen Zion;
He hath desired it for His habitation.
This is My resting-place for ever:
Here will I dwell; for I have desired it.
And the whole first part of that psalm is about David—more than half of it. Brothers and sisters, I believe it is essential that you understand this: God is looking to share His heart with His people.
God is looking for a people—and in the case of Psalm 132, a man—who gets captured by that, the same way Abraham did. When you have God and what is in His heart, that great thing, and a people who have seen it and long for it, then God has what He is looking for.
Now today we will conclude with living in Jerusalem. It is important to see, but you can become a visionary. It is important to have passion and longing, but you can become a mystic.
What God is after, in the end, is not just people who see, not just people who have some affection for the things of God. He is looking for people who, in the end, will live in the reality of it.
And that is why this third burden is living in Jerusalem. I hope to make it clear. I realize only the Holy Spirit can do that, but this has been a deep burden—a deep, deep burning.
It has pressed me to consider things, to meditate on things, to concentrate on things, to focus on things in a way maybe I had not before. And I believe, in the end, God is after that city manifested in a people.
Now, we are going to get a little bit more into that. And I hope you understand the three things that are important as we start with this.
First of all, there is the call. The call is always important. God always begins with calling, and there is the call to the city. That is what He is doing throughout the ages.
There are those who are called out of this world, and they are to be called into that city. And in that city, they are to discover all of what God is, all of His fullness. There He shares all of Himself, and there we get to experience the blessing of living in that city.
So we will deal with that first: the call to the city.
We will also look at the cost of the city. Now, there are people that do not like to talk about cost. I am glad our brother Jerry talked about cost last week.
We all of a sudden get sweaty palms and nervous and start to think, “Oh my, I thought it was all free. Isn’t it all free?” Salvation is free. It can never be taken away. We never waver from that.
But if you are going to follow the Lord, even as we heard this morning, there is a cost. And God is looking for those who are willing to pay that cost.
And then, ultimately, I think what we see in those two verses of Nehemiah is that there is a choice to be made: the choice of the city.
What will be your choice in life? You have many opportunities, but there is one choice that rises above every other choice, and God is looking for you to make that choice.
So that is an outline. I do that for my benefit and for your benefit, so hopefully you do not get confused and know where I am going, and hopefully I do not get confused and forget where I am going.
So let us consider these things. First of all, the call to the city.
In Psalm 107, of which we read large portions, it is the beginning of the fifth book of Psalms. You know, I hear people say, “Let’s turn to the book of Psalms,” but if you do not know it, the book of Psalms is divided into five books. You really ought to say, “Let’s turn to Psalms, Book Five.” That would be proper.
And so, at the very beginning of Book Five of the book of Psalms, there is this terrific psalm. This terrific psalm is sort of a historic perspective of the children of Israel: all their failings, all their wanderings, all their problems they experienced, and the mercy of God.
When they turned back to Him, He would turn back to them. And when He turned back to them, He would reveal to them His lovingkindness.
But, brothers and sisters, I want to say something that may offend some of you: I do not think this psalm is strictly speaking about the lovingkindness of the Lord, even though that verse is repeated four times.
It is about something that was in His heart, something He was leading them to and wanted them to experience in their life. And that was the city of habitation.
You clearly see it when you read this psalm. Now, these things—you have heard this before; you have heard it and you know it—1 Corinthians 10:11, one of my favorite verses in the New Testament.
Because when I discovered this verse in the Bible, I understood for the first time what the whole Old Testament was about:
Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.
So this is not about historic Jerusalem only. This is about that greater Jerusalem. This is about what is in God’s heart, what He is calling His people to, and what He is delivering His people from in order to bring them into.
You get it? That is an overall view—a broad, as they say when I speak in the Netherlands, a “helicopter view.” I never got it the first time they said that. I turned to my translator and said, “What do you mean, a helicopter view?” He said, “You are looking from above.”
This is a helicopter view of Psalm 107. All the dealings, all the wanderings, all of their turmoil, was to show them that city of habitation. That is the most important thing.
Look, I can prove it to you. It does not take much. Psalm 107—go back and read the emphasis verses. You might have heard my voice go up a level when I read them.
Verse 4:
They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way;
They found no city of habitation.
That was the point. It was not their wanderings; it was that they had not found what was in His heart: no city of habitation.
Look at verse 7:
And He led them forth by a right way,
That they might go to a city of habitation.
Now, what was He leading them to? Where was He taking them? That was what was in His heart.
And then you look at verse 30:
Then are they glad because they are quiet;
So He bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Jerusalem was to be their haven of rest, just as it was His place of rest.
And then you look in verse 36, speaking of Jerusalem:
And there He maketh the hungry to dwell,
That they may prepare a city for habitation.
Now, that in the end is what God is after: this city of habitation to be established. That is what He wants.
And then, if that is not enough, look at verse 43. This is the end of the psalmist’s instruction, and he makes a point. If you do not understand this point, you will miss the psalm:
Whoso is wise will give heed to these things,
And they will consider the lovingkindnesses of the Lord.
Now, for those of you who say, “There it is, brother. It is living proof. It is all about the lovingkindness of the Lord”—no. He is saying, “Let them understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.”
It is all for a reason. It is all with purpose in view. It is all to bring them into something. It is all to establish them. It is that city of habitation, the city of the living God.
This is what I believe the psalm is about.
As a matter of fact, some of you may have The Treasury of David by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. I love The Treasury of David. It is a very beautiful book. I use it to decorate one of Linda’s rooms, by the way. It looks so nice, the leather behind me, but once in a while I actually pull it out and read it. It is a powerful book.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon knew what this was about. This is not just about believers with troubles. He knew exactly what it was about.
He said in his introduction, “The psalmist commences by dedicating this poem to the redeemed who had been gathered from the captivity.”
In other words, that remnant He intended to bring out of their trouble, out of their bondage, into His inheritance—those ones who were in captivity. That was the focus of “the redeemed” in that early verse 2.
It was not just general. It was a specific calling to bring ones back to His original purpose. I hope you understand that.
Our focus can never be upon our failings. It often is. It trips us up. Our focus cannot just be upon God’s dealings and deliverances.
Our focus has to be on the city of habitation, or we will never understand our calling. His lovingkindness is related to the city of habitation. That is what this psalm tells us.
There was an inspired writer, William Jay. He was an English nonconformist divine. I love the way people write biographies of these people after they are long gone, and sometimes I wonder about all the truth in them.
But they say of William Jay—who was nevertheless a very inspired Christian—he was an English nonconformist divine who preached sixty years at Argyle Chapel in Bath, England. He was an eminent English Congregationalist minister of Regency England. I do not even know what that means. I simply would say, I think he was a dear brother.
It is a most important thing, and that dear man saw something. When I read it, it captivated me.
Speaking of this city, he said, “It is a city of habitation, first of all.” That is God’s focus. In other words, we are not just to think about it, we are not just to study about it, and we are not just to talk about it. It is a place of habitation.
What a difference that makes. We need to see that.
He said something I thought was so profound: “It is not a city of inspection.” I think many of us will sit and go in and noodle into all the words and understand all the phrases and become great in our understanding, but little in our experience. God never intended that. He does not want that.
He said, “It is not a city of visitation.” I love that line.
You know, if you get introduced as a visitor all the time, you ought to take notice. Maybe you are not in the city of habitation as a real experience.
Often people come and go. I will never forget: I once went to Brother Kong so distressed about people who would come and go. It used to bother me to no end.
I will never forget dear Brother Kong, and many of his words of help and counsel to me have stuck with me. He said, “Do not ever be surprised.”
And I said, “What? I want them all to stay.”
He said, “Do not ever be surprised who comes and who goes.”
I have never forgotten it. But this brother had inspirational light. He saw it was not a city of visitation. He made it clear: it is a city of habitation.
It is a place where people live and do business in their life, in their livelihood, in their families; where they are together in fellowship with the living God and with one another. In that, God’s purpose is expressed.
We are not to be inspectors, to look and just understand. I want to say it again: we are not to be visitors. We are to be ones that live there.
That is what Psalm 107 is about. Do not ever forget it. Do not ever forget it.
The word habitation is divinely connected to Jerusalem throughout the Scriptures, and it reveals the great thing that is in the heart of God.
If you look at Ephesians—and when I looked into Ephesians to consider a very well-known verse, you know it in chapter 2, verse 22—I thought of old J. Vernon McGee.
Some of you may be old like me and remember J. Vernon McGee. I can still remember his voice and inflections—very, very peculiar.
And he described Ephesians—dear old country-spoken J. Vernon McGee described Ephesians—as “the high-water mark of Paul’s missionary revelation.” I used to listen to him when I was newly saved, on the radio.
And in Ephesians 2:22, in that letter of Ephesians, that high-water mark of revelation is revealed.
First of all, it is revealed in Ephesians: the mystery of God. Now, if I asked you, “What is the mystery of God?” what would you tell me?
The mystery of God is Christ. Well, you are right. The rest of you were too afraid to speak.
And what is the mystery of Christ, also revealed in Ephesians? The church. It is the church.
And so you begin to understand the formation of Jerusalem. It is together the mystery of God and the mystery of Christ combined in one, and God and His people become an expression of His fullness.
And it says in Ephesians 2:22—I know, I heard you. I think it was moaning. Was that the right word? Ephesians 2:22:
In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.
This is a description of the church. In whom you also are built together, a habitation for God in the Spirit. That is what the church is.
So if you understand the revelation of this mystery, the church is Jerusalem. If you do not believe that, turn to the end of the Bible. We will not read it because we will not have time.
In Revelation 21 and 22, we see the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven as a bride prepared for her husband. We discover it is the place where God tabernacles with man and where man tabernacles with God.
That is Jerusalem. That is the city of habitation.
Remember what Solomon said when he dedicated the temple. This is 2 Chronicles 6:1-2, if you want to know:
The Lord hath said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.
But I have built Thee a house of habitation,
And a place for Thee to dwell in for ever.
That is what he saw. That was the secret shared with David, who prepared all of his life for it and was forbidden to build it, and his son built it.
It says, “Even a settled place, for Thee to abide in forever.” That is what Jerusalem is. That is the city of habitation.
You remember when the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon and saw the glory of his house and all of his things. In the end, the last thing it says—in 1 Kings 10:1-10, by the way, if you want to backcheck me—is that when she saw Solomon ascending to the house of the Lord, her breath was taken away.
It was so glorious. Even the glory of that habitation for God in the Spirit—her breath was gone.
And then she said that famous phrase: “The half hath not been told.” That is how wonderful God’s habitation is. I hope you understand it. I think it is of very great importance.
Another word that describes the habitation of God, which occurs again and again in the Word, is this word dwell. It is a pretty simple word: dwell, or dwelling.
If you look at that word, it is connected again and again to Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is not supposed to be an unoccupied house. It is to be a place where we dwell, where we live, where we are with one another, and where we are with God—more precious still.
That is the thought. God said, “I have desired it for My dwelling place,” and He said, “It should be your dwelling place.”
You know, I read a story once. I could not believe it. I do not know if it is true. They say the richest people in America—I do not know who those people are. I mean, I know who I read about in the news, but I do not even understand their life.
They said many of them have nine homes—very expensive homes, very nice homes. And very often they do not ever go to those homes. They spend maybe a night in that home. Strangest thing.
Why would you have a home and not live in the home?
But I believe that is precisely the problem of many of us who are believers. We do not live in the home. We are not living in Jerusalem.
We call it our habitation. We call it our dwelling place. But are you daily living with the saints?
I think this is a question we need to seriously ask before the Lord.
You begin to understand His dwelling place in the context of Jerusalem. Psalm 135:21 says:
Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
Who dwelleth at Jerusalem.
Praise ye the Lord.
You understand that is a thing of praise? How wonderful it is. How wonderful it is.
And Zechariah—turn to this. I want to mention a few words that have to do with dwelling. Zechariah is near the end of the Old Testament, for those of you who are wondering.
Zechariah 8:1-3:
And the word of the Lord of hosts came unto me, saying,
Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great wrath.
Thus saith the Lord: I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called The city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, The holy mountain.
And then look at verse 8. Not only does that first verse say, “I will dwell in Jerusalem,” but verse 8 tells us something that is, to me, even more precious: how we have been included.
And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
Do you understand that? This is what God is after: two things—Him dwelling in Jerusalem and us dwelling there.
That means living in Jerusalem, staying in Jerusalem. Actually, the Hebrew word means married. You know, I am married to Linda, and I stay with her pretty often. You get that, right?
Are you married to Jerusalem? That is what the Hebrew word means. Are you dwelling in Jerusalem? Are you abiding? That is what the Hebrew word means.
Many saints have no idea what I am talking about. They would think this blathering old gray-haired man is somehow talking about Jerusalem, Israel, and that is the farthest thing from my mind.
Well, you get the point. This is God’s ultimate end and purpose.
And on this call to Jerusalem, this one last verse—I think this is a very important verse. Write this down. If you have been taking a nap on me, I always tell people, you can take a nap; just do not snore. It will bother me.
Isaiah 4:3:
And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written unto life in Jerusalem.
Did you get that? Those that will be called holy are those who are written among the living in Jerusalem.
Now, the question is simple, but it is the most important question I can ask you today: Are you living in Jerusalem?
I believe that is what God is asking. “Yes, I am willing to deliver you again and again. When you wander away, when you turn back, in My lovingkindness I will deliver you again and again because I am faithful.”
“But this question I have of you: Are you dwelling in that city of habitation? Is it your home? Is it your dwelling place? Is it your life?”
These are very important questions.
Well, for the sake of time, I must move to my shorter points: the cost of the city.
Now, I appreciate what Jerry said. He thought he was going to get in trouble. I think he said he was nine years in Atlanta, or somewhere outside of Atlanta—did I get that right?—and never once, in this place he attended, heard them for nine years speak of the cross.
I think that is unmistakably the way Christianity has gone. I think he used the words, “We preach a crossless Christianity, and we speak a Christless gospel.” I think that is right. Was that close? My memory fades, so you have to forgive me.
We have, in the attempt to woo people and win people, said, “There is no cost. There is no cost. It is all free.” Salvation is free. Eternal life is free. It can never be taken away.
But the Lord always spoke about the cost, and that is the cross. Unless we are willing to be a people who pay the cost for the city, we will never experience the wonder, the glory, and the joy of what it means to live in that city.
There is a cost to be paid.
You know, the remnant that returned from Babylon paid a great cost to come back to Jerusalem. It was devastated. Why would you want to come?
If I had my stagecoach, or whatever they came in, and rolled up in Jerusalem and saw the scene that Nehemiah saw—the gates burned with fire, the rubble of stones, and the misery that was in Jerusalem—I would think, “What is the fastest highway back to Babylon?”
But they paid the cost, because when they were languishing in Babylon with a purposeless life, they saw something, and they could never unsee it.
And that sixty thousand gave themselves to go back into that place of ruin, into that place of continuous conflict, into that place of trouble, and rebuild Jerusalem to the glory of God.
I think they paid a great cost. Everything of value in life costs. Do you get that? Everything of value.
I want to talk about two groups of people I know nothing of, because I was neither one. First of all, athletes. Now, I happen to like sports. Linda regrets that, but I happen to like sports.
Athletes pay a tremendous cost for that little wreath Paul spoke about, the thing that will fade in no time. Think about the discipline, the work, the training, what they give up and sacrifice. They are willing to pay the cost for that moment of limelight.
I was never that gifted to have to worry about that.
Now, you know what limelight means? For those of you who hear these sayings and wonder what they mean, it is a theatrical term. It is the way they used to light the stage: they would pump gas into a canister of quicklime, and you would get a flash of light. And then it was gone.
Momentary limelight. Is that what you are chasing? Momentary limelight?
I believe even these people understand cost and are willing to pay it for that short reward.
Musicians—I never understood people that would pick away at a piano for hours upon hours upon hours. I am glad there are some that do. You would not want to hear me picking away at a piano.
But they know there are endless hours of paying a cost to be prepared to be able to play.
Now, how is it that we believers think there is no cost? We preach a grace so anemic, in the interest of trying to capture, that we capture no one.
Well, think of businessmen. This I know about. There is a cost to being a successful businessman. There are hours involved. There are headaches involved. There are times when you wonder whether you will have enough money to pay your employees, and you have the sense of all those families that are dependent upon you. It is a real cost.
But brothers and sisters, when it comes to eternal things, do we understand there is a cost? And the second question is: are we willing to pay that cost?
I think this is very important. I will read verses you know so well. The Lord did not shy away from this. You might think He should have, if He were a good evangelical.
It says in Matthew 16:24-26:
Then Jesus said unto His disciples, If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it.
For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his life?
That is the cost of discipleship.
Now, did you notice it said, “What does a man profit if he gains the whole world and suffers the loss of his soul?” You notice it did not say the loss of his spirit.
Once you are saved, your spirit is saved. Once you are born again, once you are born anew by the Spirit, you can never be lost.
But you can lose your soul. You can lose your soul to this world. You can lose your soul to fame. You can lose your soul to money. You can lose your soul to love. You can lose your soul for so many things.
Is it worth it? Those things will not abide for eternity.
I think clearly, when we speak of Jerusalem, we have to talk about cost.
Let me put it another way, because I think I want to drive this home, if you do not mind. If you are already mad at me, you will just have to forgive me. The Word says that.
The cross is not optional. The cross is necessary.
When I hear people speak of the cross, I wonder if they are just talking about the Lord’s death, or if they really know something of “not I, but Christ”; if they really know something of, “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me.”
“And that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself up for me.”
That was my own poor memory, mixed up on so many translations. You will forgive me.
Do we know what it means to bear our cross? We heard about it this morning. Do we know what it means to pay a cost?
Now, at this point, you all may be very mad at me, but I believe this is a very important thing. I will never forget something Brother Sparks said.
This was a book, and I have told you before, it changed my life. It changed my life. It was that little book on Nehemiah, The Recovering of the Lord’s Testimony in Fullness.
He summarized his whole understanding of that book with just three points. I have never forgotten them. They still speak to my spirit.
He said, “What we need to do, first of all, is have a realization that God is concerned with the accomplishment of something worthy of Himself.” It is not for us, but it includes us. How marvelous.
Second, he said that people should become aware of what that great something is in the heart of God—what it is that God is concerned with—and then they shall be moved to cooperate with Him in it.
I will never forget when I read that. I knew that was the call the Lord was calling me to.
And third, he said this: “Then, in the third place, we recognize that the object in the heart of God, and this cooperation with Him by His people, involves a very real conflict and cost.”
Amazing. And His people must face and be ready to accept this.
This, to me, is so very important. May we see what the Lord is after so much that we are willing to pay the cost.
Now that I have depressed you and three or four of you are laying on the floor, let me encourage you: whatever cost you pay will pale in comparison to the blessings you receive now and in the future.
You remember the story of the rich young ruler in the Gospel of Luke. You remember, he came to the rich young ruler—remember that part? He had endless funds. He must have been a Jeff Bezos of the period in early Jerusalem.
And he comes to the Lord and says, “What can I do that I can follow You?”
And the Lord said, “These commandments,” and He quoted them. He was so self-secure. He said, “Well, I have done all those.”
I cannot imagine being so self-deceived that you would say to the Lord, “Oh, I have done all of those.” But nevertheless, he did.
And so the Lord knew something. This story of the rich young ruler is about cost and reward. It is not about taking away his money.
You know, some people would like to say, “Sell all your money, give all your money, give up everything you have, and follow the Lord. That is the message.” It is not the message.
The message is precisely: you cannot do it.
The message is precisely that He said to him, “There is one thing that is lacking.” Oh, I know he wished the Lord had not said that. “There is one thing you lack.”
And he said, “What is it?”
He said, “Go, sell all you have. Follow Me.” And it says, “He went away sad, for he had much money.” That is what it says.
Now, here is the glory of this story. The disciples—it tore them up. They did not know what to do with it. You remember Peter said, “Who then can be saved?” That would have been my reaction. Who then can be saved? Who can pay this cost?
And the Lord, in His mercy, said, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” That was what the message is.
You cannot pay the cost. Matter of fact, you probably do not want to pay the cost. But what is impossible for you is possible for God.
I never forget—I know I tell you these stories, and they may bore you to tears, but they are so real to me—I went to Brother Kong about a matter that I could not break through on. I could not, and the cost seemed unbearable.
I went to Brother Kong, and I said, “Brother Kong, what do I do?” I was prepared for anything. I did not know what to expect.
And he said, “Just tell the Lord you are willing to be willing.”
I am telling you, grace came out of that man’s mouth. My whole perspective changed. I realized I could not do it. I realized it was impossible for me, but it was not impossible for God.
And so I went back. It took that just short word of encouragement, and I said to the Lord, “I cannot do it. It is impossible. You are asking too much. It is impossible.”
And soon I discovered a growing willingness, and it was a spiritual breakthrough.
I do not know if you have had those things. I am sure you have.
But then the Lord said something even more precious. Peter said, “What do we do? We have left homes.” He said, “Lord, in this same story of the rich young ruler, we have left everything.”
And the Lord, in His mercy—I will turn to it. Luke 18:29-30. This was the Lord’s word:
Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or wife, or brethren, or parents, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,
Who shall not receive manifold more in this time, and in the world to come eternal life.
Now, everybody in this room who is afraid of cost thinks, “Oh, He is going to ask me to leave my wife. He is going to ask me to leave my children.” Linda might be delighted about it. “He is going to ask me to leave my whole—”
That is not what He is saying. He is taking the most extreme case to make a point: if you gave up the most precious things, things that were the best, things that were incalculable to your heart—even if you give up everything.
That is what Peter said: “We have given up everything.” Did he not say that?
He said, “You will receive multiple times more in this life and in that to come.”
I think this is the cost. I think this is something we are called to.
Now let me finish with this last point. This is a very important point: the choice of the city.
You have a choice before you. God always puts choices before us. I think it is very clear.
Let me read those two verses in Nehemiah again. I think you know these: Nehemiah 11:1-2.
And the princes of the people dwelt in Jerusalem: the rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts in the other cities.
And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell in Jerusalem.
This is the most important lesson I can share with you about living in Jerusalem. There are three groups of people here.
First of all, there are the rulers. They did not have a choice. This was the city. This was the city of civil government of Israel. They had to live there.
They could not get in their SUV and commute to Jerusalem to make a vote. They lived there. No choice—absolutely no choice.
There was another group. They drew lots. They always drew lots in Israel. You see it even in the book of Acts, drawing lots over who was to replace the fallen one.
But in those lots, one in ten—whoever got the lot, their lot in life, the expression goes—would have to live in Jerusalem.
Now, they may not have wanted to live in Jerusalem, but they had to live in Jerusalem because a lot fell on them. It was not their choice.
But there was a third group of people—most special. Let me read you that again:
And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell in Jerusalem.
The first two had no choice. The third group had a choice. You know, I never quite saw that as clearly until recently.
And I thought, “Lord, how loving You are. How special You are. You give me a choice.”
You know, He created man and woman in His wisdom with a free will for only one reason, and that was to make a choice.
And here, they made the choice to willingly live in Jerusalem. And it says, “The people blessed them.” I think that is amazing.
I was reading an old Brethren writer, Edward Dennett, who said something about this. It really hit me.
He said, “Those on whom the lot fell went of necessity.” How many of us serve the Lord out of necessity?
“But those who willingly offered themselves were moved by their own choice and affection. The spontaneous offering of themselves could only spring from love for that place which God had desired and chosen for His habitation, and therefore evidenced that they, in some measure, entered into the mind and heart of God.”
I think that was powerful insight. The Brethren had powerful insight. They were men deeply studied in the Word, and they saw this last portion of the verse was the importance of it.
Are we willing? Are we among the willing?
I think this is the message in the end. If we are among the willing, then we will be among the blessed. The people will bless them. Do you see it, brothers and sisters?
This, in the end, when it comes to Jerusalem, boils down to the final thing that is most important: what will you do with your life?
You have a choice. You have a choice. Every day you have multiple choices, but when it comes to the Lord, there are only two.
I always remember Romans 12:1-2: by the mercies of God, give yourself a living sacrifice. Be not conformed to this world. That is one choice.
It says, “But be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you would know what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is.”
But if you look at Romans 8:29, it talks about those who are called according to purpose, and it says they are conformed to the image of His Son.
Those are the only two choices.
In the end, in life, you may have made thousands of choices. They are somewhat unimportant in the light of eternity.
But in the light of eternity, and when it comes to living in Jerusalem, you have but two choices: stay in Babylon, be conformed to this world, or come out and be willing to pay the cost that you cannot pay, that only He can do, and dwell in that city of habitation.
This is the great work that God is doing. This is the great thing that is in His heart. As Brother Dennett said, they saw something of it, and they made the choice.
Are you willing to make that choice?
How many more years do you have? I just turned seventy-one.
It went quicker than I thought. All of a sudden, I was twenty-one, just a short while ago, and starting with this firm. Now, December 30, I am retiring from this firm. Where did those years go? Fifty years.
But I know this: in however many days I have left, my choice is going to be like Joshua’s choice.
In Joshua 24:15, at the end of this book, he said:
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
This is what living in Jerusalem means.
Lord, we come to You in real dependence, asking You to speak to our hearts. We have all kinds of fears and trepidations. We wonder, with life ahead of us, what is in store.
But we tell You, Lord, we want to be among the willing who chose to live in Jerusalem. We do not want to be among those who are compelled. We want to be those who are constrained by the love of God.
And Lord, in our weakness and our failings, as You know, we look at cost and we shy away, just like the rich young ruler.
But if he had only said, “Lord, I cannot. I cannot do it.” If he had said, like Peter, “We have given all,” You would have given him that great encouragement.
Lord, take Your words—what is here of Your words. Erase my words. Give us words of life, that we understand what it means: living in Jerusalem.
And if You do that, Lord, we will experience a glory, a joy, a fullness that we could hardly imagine, because that is Your purpose and Your desire.
Amen.