And thousands more we're going to read from Proverbs chapter
18. We're going to read the first 12
verses that just in case anybody's asking or thinking to
themselves what happened to the subject of baptism.
I thought we were going to get the Presbyterian version of, I
call it that, forsake of argument.
Well, sorry, just not today. And there's a reason for that
because I feel very much in light of all the funerals that
we've had, that we just need a word of encouragement, a word to
lighten the journey. So for that reason, we'll come
back to that study at a different time.
Proverbs chapter 18. We'll read from verse one.
Let's hear God's word through desire.
A man having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with
all wisdom. A fool have no delight in
understanding, but that is heart may discover itself.
When the wicked cometh, then cometh also content, and with
ignomy reproach. The words of a man's mouth are
as deep waters and the wellspring of wisdom as a
flowing brook. It is not good to accept the
person of the wicked to overthrow the righteous in
judgement. A fool's lips enter into
contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes.
A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are
the snare of his soul. The words of a tail bear are his
wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the
belly. He also that is slothful in his
work, his brother to him that is a great waster.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower.
The righteous runneth into it and is safe.
The rich man's wealth is a strong city, and as an high wall
in his own conceit before destruction.
The heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.
We'll end the reading there at verse 12 and we pray God and
stamp with His own approval and blessing this reading of His own
precious and infallible Word. In my text this morning is found
in Proverbs chapter 18, verse 10.
It reads as follows, the name of the Lord as a strong tower.
The righteous runneth into it and is safe.
Now if entitled today's message, the sweet truth about the strong
tower. Now this is a wonderful verse of
Scripture. I believe a verse that's full of
great encouraging for us in our day and generation, and
especially after a week where we have been rocked in our hearts
and minds about the death of precious loved ones.
Now the word tower is mentioned 60 times in the Authorised
Version. And if we add the adjective
strong in strong tower, it's mentioned five times.
And of course 5 in the Bible is a number of grace.
And in grace we're told something, something is being
shown and revealed to us. And what in grace is being shown
to us here in Proverbs 18 and 10?
And it's this, the name of the Lord is a strong tower.
Now we're all familiar with the image and cimilitude of a tower.
In Bible times, generation after generation built towers, and
they built strong towers, towers that had to do with the survival
and the security and the safety of the people of God.
We only have to think, for example, of the Tower of Babel
in Genesis Chapter 11. Think of the Tower of Idar,
think of the Tower of Pennuelle, think of the Tower of Shechem,
to name but a few. Now in the past 4000 years, all
sorts of towers have been built, and from the concept of the
strong tower we have built bell towers and clock towers and
communication towers. And of course, in our world in
the 21st century, young people were very familiar with some
very famous towers. Think, for example, of the
Leaning Tower of Pisa. People go just to get a picture
taken underneath that tower, leaning with their hand against
it as if they are holding it up. Think of the Tower of London.
I have been there. That was a place where many
Protestant martyrs were held and brought forth from, and unjustly
tried and taken to be executed under the reign of Bloody Mary.
Think of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
I have never been. Maybe you've been.
Maybe you've got a picture taken of the Eiffel Tower.
We could also think of the Ulster Tower, dedicated to the
memory of the men that died at the Battle of the Somme over
there in Flanders Fields. Men who never come home, Men who
paid the ultimate sacrifice with blood for our freedom and our
way of life. What about Scrabble Tower?
If you want to walk, that's quite a wee distance up.
Wear good shoes. You could walk up Scrabble Tar.
I don't know if you can get inside.
That would be marvellous to get inside and look over the whole
of Cumber and Newton Ards, et cetera, et cetera.
I've done it a number of times, but every time I've been up, the
door has been closed. So here's Solomon in all his
wisdom, and he's teaching us in Greece great lesson as we
journey through life with all the hardship, with all the
knowledge that this is a weary land of pilgrimage, that storms
come and beat upon us. And here's a tremendous truth.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower.
The righteous runneth into it, and is seeth.
Now think of a number of truths. 1 The simultude of the tower.
If you're taking notes, the name of the Lord is a strong tower.
See, King Solomon is not speaking literally here, He's
speaking metaphorically. He's using the language of a
simultude. He's teaching us something now,
he's not saying it. That if you just use the four
letter word Lord as a magic formula, as a lucky charm, that
if in the storms of life you just repeat the name of the Lord
and you'll immediately get a supernatural result.
That's not what it means. You see the words the name of
the Lord, If you underline it as a phrase, it demands you to stop
and think. It demands consideration,
comprehension. You've got to think of who God
is. Underline the word Lord, Who is
the Lord? You see, it's a revelation of
the true character of our God. The use of the name of the Lord
is a revelation of the true character of the God of the
Bible. That's what's in view here.
The name of the Lord is the basis or the foundation for what
God has made known to us about Himself in the Holy Scriptures.
What do the Scriptures principally teach?
What managed to believe concerning God and what duty
does God require of Him? The the term really means all
that God is in the perfection of His being and in the perfection
of His work. If we go to the Shorter
Catechism #4 what is God? God is a spirit, infinite,
eternal, unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness,
justice, goodness, and truth. The sad thing is that the
ungodly man, the transgressor, the hardened Sinner, misses
completely and rejects outright all the perfections of God.
The perfections of God have to do with his natural and moral
attributes. Don't be afraid of the word
attributes, the attributes of God.
Oh, that's a big word. What does that really mean?
Well, the word attribute just means a particular quality that
the person possesses. And the God of the Bible is a
God of absolute perfection. The God of the Bible is
flawless, without fault. The God of the Bible is a God of
fullness, a God of faithfulness. Here we have a full revelation
of all that the Lord is in His personal work.
If I was to pull a book out of the study, bring it in here and
hold it up, it would be called the doctrine of God.
That's a vast field of study. Whole books could be written,
but you know what, we can say this, that the Lord will never
go against what He has said about himself.
The Lord will never feel to do what He has said.
The Lord will never change in his person or his work.
He said I am the Lord, I change not.
Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed and and the Lord
will never cease to be infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His
being, wisdom, power, justice, holiness, goodness and truth.
He's the same yesterday, today and forever.
And remember what we read in the book of Romans in Romans Chapter
11. We read this in verse 33.
O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God. How unsearchable are his
judgments and His ways past finding out if we come to verse
36, we read for of of him and through him and to Him are all
things to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen. So the name of the Lord is a
reference so that you can consider and contemplate in your
mind and think about God as an absolute, perfect, flawless,
fulsome, faithful individual. The strong tower is a title that
the Lord is known by. What is the Lord like?
The Lord is a strong tower or the Lord is like a strong tower.
The strong tower stands for the Lord himself.
You've got to think of the Lord's person.
And of course, there's a wonderful rich variety of names
that the Lord is called and known by each one, of course,
characteristic of the Lord's person.
For for example, let me just run down these.
Think of Jehovah Shalom. The Lord is my peace.
Or think about Jehovah Jireh. The Lord will provide.
Think about Jehovah easer. The Lord is my helper on the
life's journey. You need help.
Where does your help come from? The psalmist said, I will lift
up mine eyes onto the hills. From whence cometh my help?
He asked that question. Here's the answer.
My help cometh from the Lord, which maketh heaven and earth is
not tremendous. You need help for the journey.
You can cry out. Lord help me.
You can ask the Lord. The Lord is my helper.
It's repeated, of course, in the book of Hebrews, Jehovah Shema,
The Lord is there. He's eternally present.
He's the great I am. What about Jehovah Rufa?
The Lord is my healer, see? He knows what's best for us in
the journey. What about Jehovah on this side?
The Lord is my banner speaks of protection.
Jehovah said, can you? The Lord is my righteousness.
Jehovah Rua, the Lord is my shepherd, the shepherd and
Bishop of our souls. Jehovah met my kiddish, the Lord
is my sanctifier. You see every one of these names
reveals some aspect of the Lords character and and put into your
mind today in this weary land that we live.
As you journey with your pilgrimage, think of this.
The Lord is my peace. The Lord is the one who provides
for me. The one Lord is the one who
helps me on life's journey. The One.
The Lord is the one who's eternally present with me at all
times. He has promised never to leave
me or forsake me. The Lord is the one who protects
me. His.
His banner over me is love. The Lord is the one who's
absolutely, intrinsically, wholly in himself.
The Lord is the one who's the shepherd and Bishop of my soul.
The Lord is the one who stands as Jehovah, the God of the
covenant. You've got to think of the
covenant made with Christ, the covenant of redemption, the
covenant of Greece. See, it's not just the character
of God, the name of the Lord, but you've got to also think
here of the covenant of God. It ties in with the personal
work of Christ, God's only begotten Son.
And these characteristics, these qualities belong to Christ as
the only begotten son. They, they, they belong to the
Holy Spirit in the outworking of the covenant of redemption and,
and and the covenant of grace. And as you think of Atar in
ancient times, think of this. Atar was strong foundations,
foundations that are deep towers that are difficult to attack
because you can't destroy the foundation.
If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
But there are foundations that can't be destroyed, and here's
one of them, the Lord. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. The tower, of course, was made
of solid rock, not made of cloth, not made of wood, not
made of tin. It was made of solid rock.
The the tower was placed in a very prominent position in the
town, the village or the city, and it could be seen for miles.
The tower was tall. The Bible actually talks about
my high tower. See it?
It pointed upward toward the sky.
It, it reached toward the heavens.
The tower is strong. And once you're inside, there's
protection from the outside. And all of this, all of this
applies to God in Christ. All we need for our safety.
In Him we have redemption. In Him we have preservation and
rest. In Him we have resources.
Remember what the apostle Paul says in Corinthians, First
Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 30.
He made this tremendous statement about Christ.
Christ has made unto us. What but of him are ye in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
You see, in this revelation of the character of God, of the
covenant of God, it's also a revelation of the Christ of God.
You can't divorce the Christ of God from the name of the Lord.
The Christ of God is in view here because because the tower's
not literal. It's it's, it's a metaphor.
It's it's a simile. The tower is spiritual and the
star is unshakeable. That the star is indestructible.
It all comes to a climax. It has its fulfilment in the
personal word of Christ. Remember what Peter was asked in
Acts 4 verse 12 and he made this statement.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there's no other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
Get your eyes in Christ. The character of God, the
covenant of God, the Christ of God is in view.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower, and and the tower
ultimately is Christ. So it's not an abstract thing.
It's it's, it's not a lie to say this is something to do or
nothing to do with life. That wouldn't be true because it
is everything to do with who and what God is, as he has revealed
himself in the fullness of his person.
So there's the simile or the similitude of the tower.
Very quickly think about the security of the tower.
Notice the adjective that's used here in this portion of
Scripture. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower, All right? In other words, it's a safe
place. I remember in 2017, I think
maybe 50 or 60 of us went off with the Reverend Ron Johnson
and we went off to visit Wittenberg and Germany.
I think George and Carol were with us on that trip as well.
And one of the places that we visited in Wittenberg was the
Castle Church. And I remember in the distance
looking down and seeing this massive round tower connected to
the church. It's literally built in to the
side of the church. And it stands tall.
It stands strong. But whenever we eventually got
to the castle church, the guide pointed out that written in
German into the tower built in the side of the castle church is
the words a mighty fortress? Is our God a bulwark, never
failing? And the guide told us that that
tower belonged to the state or the province of Saxony.
And it was there for all the citizens of the area in days of
war and in times of trouble. So you get the picture.
Here's a a strong tower, right? And the enemy is sighted.
You've got the watchman and he sounds the trumpet, or in modern
day, rings the bell. The citizens below, they feel
under threat, they hear the sound, they leave their houses,
they leave the dishes, they leave their fields, places of
employment, and they literally run to the high tower and they
enter in by the door. Some towers, of course, in more
modern times, had draw bridges and moats.
They pulled them up. The port Collis would have been
dropped. Men would have got into the
upper parts of the tower to defend the battlements, and if
you turn over there to the book of Judges, you'll get a picture
of this in Judges Chapter 9. In Judges Chapter 9 we read
about an incident where the people of Phoebes, their city
was under attack and it was under attack.
Judges Chapter 9, verses 50 right through to 53.
It says in verse 50 then went abimelech to Thebes, and it came
against Thebes and took it. But there was a strong tower
within the city, and thither fled all the men and women and
all day of the city, and shut it to them, and got them up to the
top of the tower. And Abimelech came unto the
tower and fought against it and went hard onto the door of the
tower to burn it with fire. So you get the picture going to
burn these people to death, it says here in verse 53.
And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's
head, and all to break his skull.
Now it's not tremendous. Here's the city under attack.
What do the people do? They run to the strong tower.
The man called Abimelech that was attacking the city, going to
burn it with fire, going to set fire to the door.
And those are on top of the battle works, including this
woman, unnamed. She's going to protect the
tower. She wants to protect life, the
life of her family, the life of her friends.
So she throws a piece of millstone, Sure, it was quite
heavy down from the top of the tower.
And it hits a abimelech on the head, breaks his skull.
So the Lord used this woman to defend her city.
Abimelech, of course, was very embarrassed.
He tried to hide it. He got his armour bearer to
finish him off with the sword. But here's the point.
The strong towers of peace, of security.
In the 21st century, the security trade is booming.
Many people feel unsafe. Gated mansions, security guards,
bodyguards, nuclear bunkers, houses, car alarms.
Think of the Lord as a strong tower.
The tower stands between his people and the dangers that they
face, and the Lord stands between his people and the
dangers they're facing. I want to ask the question, can
you say the Lord is my safe place?
It's foolish to say that you never have storms in your life
for days of trial or trouble. It's foolish to say that this
won't happen to me or can't happen to me.
We all want to feel safe, my safe place, and we all have a
safe place. But can we say today the Lord is
my safe place? Could I just encourage you very
quickly? Don't trust in riches.
Look back at our text in the connection.
It says the rich man's wealth is a strong city.
See how many trust in riches? The rich man's wealth is a
strong city. Here's the comparison.
The righteous runs to the tower to feel safe.
The rich, they trust in their riches.
The rich man's wealth is his strong city.
Think of the rich man without Christ.
He trusts in what he sees. His silver, his gold, his
pounds, his pennies. That is his safety.
Riches, of course, can do and control you.
The more you have, the more you want.
Often times, the rich man, the rich woman, there's a failure in
their part to lay up treasure in heaven.
But you know this. Riches will take flight 1 day
because riches have wings. Maybe it'd be better to say
you'd be taken away from your riches.
Riches will be left behind. The point is this, there's no
safety in riches. How many think I'll retire, I'll
build a summer house, I'll buy a property in this part of the
world, I'll travel, I'll eat here, I'll go there.
And they discover that there's no safe place for the riches.
Remember what the psalmist said in Psalm 49, Read with me there
in verses 6 through to 8. He makes a tremendous statement,
Psalm 49 and verses 6 through to 8.
Let me read the verses to you. He says this Psalm 49, verse 68.
They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the
multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem
his brother. Their gift to God, a ransom for
him, for the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceases
forever that he should still live forever and not see
corruption. She Foolish men trust in the
riches, but foolish men frail to remember that riches can't
redeem their soul or the soul of their brother.
Riches can't buy salvation and there's no safe place for those
who trust in riches. And rich men, sadly, are blinded
to the fact that riches can't save them.
Riches can't stop them dying. You're riches.
Despite his thinking he's not going to live forever and not do
him any good in the grave. He come into the world with
nothing and take nothing out of it.
Did you know there was a pharaoh called King Tutankhamun?
He died as a young man. They found his tomb.
It took them 10 years to count the gold and the silver and all
the riches that were buried with him.
The riches were still there. His body was long since
dissolved into dust. Don't trust in riches.
I'll, I'll say something else very quickly here.
Don't trust in self righteousness.
See, good works are important, but good works will not save
you. Good works are not the ground of
salvation. They're only the fruit or the
evidence. You're not saved by good works.
Now let me make it clear, you're not saved without good works.
Good, good works are the fruit of the evidence.
The question of this are you depending on for eternity,
depending on your riches, depending on self righteousness.
Don't trust in the church. It's not the church that saves.
How many people have said the dole and Colin and the doors?
I've got my church. It's not the church that saves
us Christ. Neither is our salvation in any
other. For there's no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
It's only through Christ that we can begin to know and experience
all of God's attributes, His peace, his pardon, his power,
his provision. Luther said this Christ died for
me. Christ made his righteousness
mine. So the question is, are you
depending on Christ's righteousness?
And then Luther said, and Christ made my sin his own with it's
guilt, it's punishment. And if that is true, then he
says I'm a free man. I don't have any sin.
So I, I asked this, what is your safe place?
Maybe you're saying, but I feel safe at home when you're near
the safe place, but he is safe in the House of God.
Margarita told her son Ali that she wanted to go home.
He told her, well, you can't come home to 18 killing your
gardens. And she says no, I don't mean
that home. I want to go home to heaven was
not great assurance. What are you trusting and not
riches, not self righteousness, not not religious observances,
not the church. You see those that trust in
these things forget this that one day they'll die.
They forget that death is already at work within they they
forget that death is all around us.
They forget that we are but a a step away from death and there's
no safeguard against death because of sin.
And there's only one safe place in the day of your death, and
that's the day in Christ. And I asked, is this true of
you? Very quickly, the subjects of
the tower, if you go back to our text, it says the righteous,
righteous in Christ, righteous in contrast to the ungodly and
the unsaved. The righteousness, of course, of
those who are truly saved, born again and washed in Christ's
blood, who have a full free and justification forever.
Who can say the Lord is my righteousness, The righteousness
of God that's planted in regeneration, the righteousness
of God that's imputed in justification, the righteousness
of God that's imparted in sanctification?
A very, very big subject. 3 sermons would be needed to deal
with that. This is not for everyone.
This is a reference to the true people of God.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower.
The righteous runneth unto it. Are you among the righteous
today? I want to ask you a true child
of God, do you know God's not the children of all men?
We're not all children of God. Yes, we've been created by God.
Yes, we're dependent on God and God we move and live in a being.
Yes, we're accountable to God, but we're not all God's
children. We're created, but we're not all
God's children. See, children have to be born
into your family. Have you been born into God's
family by the Holy Spirit? Remember John chapter one verse
12 tells us, but as many as receive him to them giving the
power that the word power means the right to become the children
of God, even to them that believe on his name and I asked
again, is that true of you? The subjects of that are not
just the similitude of the tower and the security of the tower.
Think of the subjects, the righteous, and ask yourself, am
IA true child of God. Very quickly as we finish, think
about the Sprint to the tower. The righteous runneth into it.
Notice the word runneth. Not walk, not drag feet, not be
slothful. The righteous man realises he's
being attacked, he's being pursued by the enemy, he's in
danger, he's in mortal danger. Doesn't say he walks, doesn't
say he strolls along, doesn't say he has a wee shunter with
his hands in his pockets. No, he, he doesn't dilly dally.
He's not delaying here. Should I go in or should I not
go in? No, he, he runneth present
continuous tense. He sees the difficulty.
Do you see the difficulty in the physical realm?
You know, in life's journey? Job said this man that was born
of woman is a few days and full of trouble as the sparks fly
upward a few days. Life is short and full of
trouble. As the sparks fly upward,
there's the sorrow of life. And did Job not know all this by
experience? And is this not true of the life
of the people of God? On the journey through this
weary land, we often face times where we feel we're going into
trouble, we're going through trouble or or we're coming up
out of great troubles. You see, it's not easy here.
The people of God are going to be tested in the world.
Ye shall of tribulation. Be of good cheer.
I've overcome the world. You're going to be tried.
There's going to be persecution and opposition and there'll be
tears and there'll be danger and difficulties.
There'll be distresses, there'll be disappointments.
This, this world at times can be a veil of tears.
See some of you now. You're going through
difficulties, aren't you? You're you're not sleeping,
you're worried sick about yourself and your family.
You can't seem to get peace into your mind.
I want to say to you today in the difficulties in the physical
realm, no matter what's happening in your body or goes
on in your mind, there's a place of refuge, there's a place you
can run to, there's a hiding place.
The right just runneth into it. Sprint to the tower.
Hide in the character of God, the covenant of God.
Hide in the Christ of God. What about dangers in the
spiritual realm? The Bible warns us.
Flee from the wrath to come. We live in a world where we're
suffering the attacks of the world, the flesh and the devil.
The devil uses arrows against us.
Weapons, discouragement, discord, doubt, depravity.
People get afraid. People are are worried, people
are are flabbergasted with what's going on in the world.
And they look at things from the outside eye and they get so
discouraged. I was thinking, whenever that
trumpet sounds, when that bell goes off, where do I want to be?
I want to be as close to the door as possible.
I want to work close to the Tower, close to Christ.
Let me tell you this wee story as we finish In New Zealand
there was a gospel mission held. Evangelist came to a certain
church and there was a man not known for attendance.
He attended that mission and got gloriously saved.
One week to the day when he got saved, there was news came to
the minister and the evangelist that this man's wife, who sadly
had suffered for years of mental illness, she murdered her own
little children in their beds. She took her own life.
And that pastor and that evangelist, they were broken for
that brother. They spent a wee time in prayer
and then they went to see him. They knocked on the door and the
man opened the door and he was sobbing and this is what he
said. I'm so glad I came to Jesus last
Tuesday. See, that's the difference
Christ makes. The name of the Lord is a strong
tower. The righteous runneth into it
and is safe. And I just want to point out in
conclusion, if you look at the margin of the Bible, that word
safe, it literally means in the Hebrew set aloft.
We could think about the setting of the tower.
It's set forth in a prominent place.
And those that are inside that tower, they're set aloft, that
they're lifted up on high by means of the tower in the place
of danger. When the church is under attack,
the Christian is under attack. When the children are all
attacked and the enemies below, let's remember we're above the
enemy. We have safety, certainty,
enjoyment because we're in Christ.
We've been lifted up in Christ into the heavenly places and the
Lord lifts up his people. He not only sets forth himself
as a hiding place, but he sets us aloft to see the enemy below
lifted up and elevated in Christ.
Here's these sweet truths about the tower.
Think of it's similitude. Think of it's security, think of
the subjects, think of sprinting and thinking of the setting
forth of the tower. The Lord bless you today.
May the Lord apply His word to all our hearts.
We're going.