Good morning. Let's stand together
and sing the hymn on the back of the bullets in here. ? Thou whose almighty word ? ?
Chaos and darkness heard ? ? And took their flight ? ? Hear us
we humbly pray ? ? And in the gospel day ? ? Shine forth thy
glorious ray ? ? Let there be light ? Thou blessed incarnate
Word, Gird on Thy mighty sword, Conquer Thy foes. Fullness of grace divine, Subdue
this heart of mine, And may Thy glory shine, Let there be light. Spirit of truth and love, Life-giving,
holy dove, Speed forth thy flight. Shine on the chosen race, By
thy almighty grace, Dispel the dark of night, Let there be light. Be seated. Good morning. We'll read from
First John chapter three this morning. First John chapter three. Behold, Look at this, what manner
of love the father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. Therefore, the world knoweth
us not because it knew him not. Scripture says the righteous
are as an abomination to the wicked. Beloved, now are we the
sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but
we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we
shall see him as he is. We will know as we are known. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you, God,
for that love that you've had for us. God, that made us the
sons and daughters of your self, Lord. Thank you that you loved
us, God, and called us to yourself. that you promise that nothing
can separate us from your love. God, give us that hope. Give
us a refresh, Lord, sense of your presence and that hope that
comes from knowing that when we awake, we'll be satisfied
and behold you in your likeness, Lord. God, this is the only thing
that can purify us, Lord, is the hope of knowing that you
have home in heaven for us. Please God give Greg the words
and the love for your word today as he preaches and give us ears
to hear. Amen. Let's stand again and sing hymn
number 36 in the hardback hymnal. Hymn number 36. A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing. Our helper He amid the flood
of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe Doth
seek to work us woe His craft and power are great And armed
with cruel hate On earth is not his equal Did we in our own strength
confide Our striving would be losing? Were not the right men
on our side The men of God's own choosing? Just ask who that
may be Christ Jesus it is he Lord Sabaoth his name From age
to age the same And he must win the battle Though this world
with devils filled Should threaten to undo us We will not fear, for God hath
willed His truth to triumph through us. The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for Him. His rage we can endure. For lo, His doom is sure One
little word shall fell Him That world above all earthly powers
No thanks to them abided The Spirit and the gifts are ours
through Him who with us sided. Let goods and kindred go. This mortal life also. The body they may kill. God's truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever. Be seated. I want to read that verse that
Jeff read earlier one more time. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. What we shall
be is not going to be anything like what we are now. And that's
the point of this message this morning. But we know this. that when he shall appear, we
shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Glorified bodies, sinless bodies. 2 Samuel chapter 7. Could you open
your Bibles there with me, please? 2 Samuel chapter 7. I've titled this message God's House. What does the Bible say about
God's house? What does God call his house? And I have four answers to that
question from the scriptures. David's kingdom has been established. The Lord has made him a successful
conqueror of the world. And no kingdom like Israel now
exists. And David has a beautiful home
built for him. And he goes to Nathan the prophet
in 2 Samuel chapter 7. And David is concerned that he
lives in this beautiful mansion of cedar, but that The tabernacle,
which was God's presence among his people in Old Testament Israel,
was still in a tent. And David wants to build a temple.
He wants to build a magnificent temple to put the ark in to God's
glory. And in our passage of scripture,
the Lord does not allow David to do that. He said, David, I've
always lived in tents and I'm going to remain living in tents
as long as you're alive. But after you die, your son,
Solomon, will build a temple and it'll be a magnificent edifice
to my glory. And in this story, we have a
picture of the house of God as it is now in tents and tabernacles,
and the house of God as it shall be. David is a picture of Christ,
of course. David's name means beloved. And we are accepted in the beloved. David was a man of war. David
was a man who had shed blood and these were the reasons why
the Lord did not allow him to build the temple. And yet, when the Lord speaks
to Solomon in 1 Kings chapter 8, the Lord commends Solomon's
father, David, for having in his heart a desire for God's
glory in building a temple. The Lord commends Solomon's father. The Lord says to Solomon, your
father David had a good thing in his heart, but I did not let
him do that. But now you're going to be the
one. And Solomon, the Lord Jesus is the man of war. He's the man
who shed blood for the redemption of his people. We are living now in that period
of time that David is reigning and the house of God is still
in a tent. But here's our hope. We look
forward to the day when we shall see him as he is. And Solomon,
Solomon. What's a Solomon's name mean?
Peace. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. We rest from our labors. We don't seek to earn our salvation by our works. And in that sense, spiritually,
we rest in Christ. But the scripture speaks of another
rest. a greater peace that we will
have because in this world we still have tribulation. We have the spirit worn against
the flesh and the flesh against the spirit so that we cannot
be what we would be. We have demonic influences and
worldly things that are keeping us from the fullness of our glory
in that day. In that day, Solomon, the Lord
Jesus again, the man of peace, will bring us into that temple. Let's look at this story together.
Chapter seven, verse one, and it came to pass when the king
sat in his house and the Lord had given him rest round about
from all his enemies. that the king said unto Nathan
the prophet, see now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the
ark of God dwelleth within curtains. And Nathan said to the king,
go, do all that is in thine heart, for the Lord is with thee. Nathan
was presuming that because the Lord had blessed David in these
other ways that Nathan didn't, had Nathan gone to the Lord in
prayer before he answered David, he would have had a different
answer. But the Lord intervenes. And
here's a good encouragement for us. How many times we steam ahead
and do things we haven't really prayed about. And we have a God who restrains his
children and brings good out of evil and always accomplishes
his purpose, even when we, like Nathan, don't bring things to him as
we ought. So the Lord's going to intervene. And it came to pass, verse four,
that night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan saying,
Go and tell my servant David, thus saith the Lord, shalt thou
build me a house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt
in any house since the time that I brought up the children of
Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in
a tent and in a tabernacle in all the places wherein I have
walked with all the children of Israel, spake I a word with
any of the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to feed my people
Israel, saying, why build ye not me a house of cedar? Have
I ever asked for a house of cedar? Have I ever asked you to make
me such? Is that what I need? I've always
lived in tents. Now, therefore, so shall thou
say unto my servant David, thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took
thee from the sheep coat, from following the sheep to be ruler
over my people Israel. And I was with thee, whithersoever
thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy
sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the
great men that are in the earth. What a picture of our Lord. The father went with him, everywhere
he did and gave him success, particularly at the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ was successful
in accomplishing the salvation of his people when he bowed his
mighty head on Calvary's cross and said, it is finished. He
wasn't making an offer of salvation, trying to save the whole world.
He was offering himself to his father and the father rewarded
him with his bride, the ones for whom he died. Our David, the son of David,
the beloved, the one in whom we have, this is my beloved son
in whom I'm well pleased. And you have your acceptance
before God in the beloved. Here's the, here's the, Here's
the picture in the volume of the book it is written of me.
These stories are about Christ and his church, the purpose for
everything. Verse 10, moreover, I will appoint
a place for my people Israel and will plant them that they
may dwell in a place of their own and move no more, neither
shall the children of wickedness afflict them anymore as before
time. That's our hope. That's the longing
of the believer's heart, to be in that place where the children
of wickedness afflict them no more. No more sin, no more sorrow,
no more death. This is the promise of God. But
David, you're not going to do it. Your son Solomon's going
to do it. As long as you're alive, I'm
going to reside in tents, in curtains. And as since the time I commanded
judges to be over my people, Israel, verse 11, and have caused
thee to rest from all thine enemies, also the Lord telleth thee that
he will make thee a house. God is going to make you a house. He's talking about his kingdom,
the kingdom of God, which is an everlasting kingdom the Lord
has promised. David, he's promised his son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of David, to establish for him
an everlasting kingdom. And when thy days be fulfilled,
and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed
after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will
establish his kingdom, and he shall build a house for my name,
and I will establish the throne of this kingdom forever." Speaking
of Solomon now, the man of peace, another picture of Christ who's
going to set up this eternal kingdom. Right now we're still,
you remember the vision that Nebuchadnezzar had of the great
Picture that, a head of gold and arms of silver and belly
of brass and legs of iron and feet of clay. Those are the kingdoms
of the world and we are now living in the feet mixed with iron and
clay. And then Nebuchadnezzar saw it and Daniel interpreted
it, the hand of a man carving a great stone out of a mountain. And that great stone comes and
smashes that figure and cast the dust of that figure into
the wind. And then that stone carved from
that mountain becomes an everlasting kingdom. And that rock is Christ. And that's what our Lord's saying.
Now the kingdoms of this world, they're, God raises them up,
God brings them down. The kingdom we're interested
in, kingdom I'm interested in, I trust the kingdom you're interested
in is an eternal kingdom, the kingdom of God. Verse 14, and I will be his father
and he shall be my son. And if he commit iniquity, I
will chasten him with a rod of men and with the stripes of the
children of men." Even here we see a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ, who though he was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate
from sinners, he was tried in all ways that we are, yet without
sin. The Lord Jesus committed no sin, yet he bore the sins
of his people when he went to the cross. He owned the sins
of his people as his own, he suffered all the shame and all
the judgment for those sins separated from his father and the father
saw our sins on his son and the father used the stripes of men
to punish him, you see that? I will chasten him with the rod
of men and with the stripes of the children of men. But my mercy
shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I put
away before thee." Solomon dies in shame. Solomon, in a lot of
ways, does things that even Saul didn't do. And yet the Lord took
his hand off of Saul. Left him to himself. And the
promise here is that I'm not going to take my hand off of
Solomon. He's going to establish your kingdom. It's going to be
an everlasting kingdom. It'll be a glorious kingdom.
And though I will chasten him with the rod of men and the stripes
of the children of men, I'll not take my mercy from him. In
verse 16, in thy house and thy kingdom shall be established
forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established
forever according to all these words and according to all this
vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. David wanted to build the Lord
a house. The tabernacle that the ark was
in was close to 500 years old. Moses had first built it when
they came out of Egypt. It was made of poles and ropes
and badger skin and linen. And though the scripture says
that the clothing of the children of Israel, a picture of our righteousness,
never wore out those 40 years they were in the wilderness and
that their shoes never wore out, The Lord preserved them. It doesn't say that about the
tabernacle. This tabernacle was folded up and rolled up and moved
every time the pillar of fire moved, every time the pillar
of smoke moved. The Levites had to gather up
the tabernacle. How many repairs had to be made
on that tabernacle? Not just in the 40 years of the
wilderness, but now for the 450 years that it had been in Israel. And it was moved around several
times. It was a tent. Pieces of it had to be replaced.
I mean, you think about things. 500 years old? Made of fabric and sticks and
ropes? How frail was that? What is it
a picture of? It's a picture of the tent that
the Lord Jesus lives in now. It's a picture of his house as
it is compared to the house that we long to be with him in. The house that Solomon will establish,
that glorious temple where we will see him in the fullness
of his glory and be made like him, but for now, For now, though
the heart of the child of God is like David, longing for that
more permanent residence where we can be with him and know him
and glory in him and worship him as we ought and all without
sin, the Lord says to us, even as he said to David, not yet. Not yet. I've always lived in
tents. I'm gonna continue to live in
tents. As frail and temporal and changing as they are, that's
where I'm gonna live. That's my house. The scripture speaks of four
tabernacles where the Lord lives. The first one is the place of
public worship. And this is but attempt, we're
not talking about the building, nothing, you know, we don't anoint
a building, we don't really call it a sanctuary, although Sanctuary
means to be set apart and this building is set apart. I get
calls from people who want to rent our facilities to do weddings
or they want to, do you all have, recently I got a call from a
church who's looking for a place to, do you all have services
on Sunday night? I said, no. Well, we want to rent your building
so we can meet there on Sunday night and have services. I said,
no, we don't do that. We don't do that. This place
has been set apart for the purpose of worship and the preaching
of the gospel. And we would never let anyone
else use it for any other reason. And because this is the house
of God, in that regard, not because of the building but because of
the people that are in the building and because of what they're doing
in that building. And that makes it where two or
three are gathered together, there I am in the midst of them.
Let me show you this in scripture. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter
three. Hebrews chapter three. You know, when you, Know where
someone lives. And you have access to their
home. Somebody you love, you want to
be there. What a blessing. The Lord has told us where it
is that he resides. I reside in tents. And this assembly
is but a tent, isn't it? You know, the Bible speaks of
the church in two realms. There's the temporal church,
that's what we're talking about right now. That's you and me
right here, right now. Made up of sheep and goats, made up of
wheat and tares, fragile, frail. We should do everything we can
do to protect the local assembly, the visible church, if you will,
because she's precious. and she can be wounded and she
can be hurt and we need to do everything we can to pray for
and encourage one another in this assembly. And then the Bible
speaks of the eternal church, the invisible church, the church
that's in heaven. all the elect of God chosen in
Christ before the foundation of the world who were redeemed
by Christ at Calvary's cross and are now being regenerated
by the Spirit of God and will one day, as we saw in the previous
hour in Revelation chapter 19, be gathered together at the great
wedding feast of the Lamb. That church is a perfect church. Not one member can be added to
it, not one member can be taken away from it. That church is
in Christ, that church is without sin, that church cannot fall,
cannot. It's perfect church. Hebrews chapter 3, we're talking
about this assembly, this tent, this tent made of curtains. He said, however many years it
requires, it requires repairs, doesn't it? And it requires,
you know, members of the church have to
apologize to other members of the church. We have to clean
up one another's mess. We have to do what we can to
patch this tent up and keep it going. This is what the Lord,
this is what this story's about. And here, look at Hebrews chapter
three at verse six. But Christ, as the son over his
own house, whose house are we if we hold fast the confidence
and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end? God forbid if there
should come a day when the gospel's no longer being preached here,
The Lord's going to leave this church. He's going to write Ichabod
over this church. The glory of the Lord has departed. And this will no longer be his
house. It's happened over the millennium
to every gospel church. Let it not happen in our life.
Let us do all that we can do to preserve this curtain This
tent, because this is the place where God says, I will meet with
you, where my gospel is preached, where my people come together
to worship me, where they look to me in faith and in prayer. This is a place. This is God's
house. God says to David, I'm not going
to let you build that tabernacle, that temple, like your son Solomon's
going to build. It'll be magnificent. But I've
always been in tents. And as long as you're alive,
David, I'm going to remain residing among my people in tents. When our Lord began his public
ministry, and the last thing he did at the end of his public
ministry, he did it twice, cleansed the temple. He went in and he
made whips of cords and he chased the animals out and he turned
over the money changers tables and it infuriated the religious
establishment. And he did that at the beginning
and end of his public ministry for this purpose, the zeal. When he did it, the apostles
remembered Psalm 69, because he said, you have turned the
house of God into a den of thieves. And the apostles remembered Psalm
69, the zeal of my house has eaten me up. You see, our Lord
has a zeal for his house. David had a zeal for the house
of God. He wanted God's glory. The Lord Jesus, his zeal for
his house is the glory of his Father. It's his glory. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name be glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. It is his glory. And we come here to glorify him,
to lift him up. And he said, if I be lifted up,
I'll draw men to me. Our Lord has a zeal for his house. What did these Pharisees do?
Well, they turned. You see, the house of God was
the place where blood was shed. We're talking about Old Testament.
It's a place where sacrifice was made. It's a place where
prescribed worship given by God was performed among his people.
And it's the same today. We don't shed literal blood,
but in preaching the gospel, what are we doing? We're exposing
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only hope of our salvation.
God said, when I see the blood, we look to the same place that
the Father looks. We look to the shed blood of
the Lord Jesus for all the hope of our acceptance before God.
And so every time we preach the gospel, This is God's prescribed
place of worship. And if we started preaching a
man-centered works gospel, then we will have turned the house
of God into a den of thieves. What did these Pharisees... Here's
how bad it had gotten. You went to the temple to worship
in Jerusalem. And you went through your flock
and you picked out the lamb that was the best lamb you had and
you brought it. And the money changers at the
temple would say, no, they'd find something wrong with it.
No, that lamb won't work. You got to buy one of our lambs.
And so they'd make a profit on selling you a lamb and they'd
take your lamb. Of course, they'd sell your lamb to somebody else
later on. And then there was currency that was only good in
the temple. So you had to exchange your money when you got to the
temple and they made a profit on that. What were they doing? They were turning the place that
God had ordained as a place where God's people came and they shed
blood and they worshiped God in spirit and in truth. They
turned it into a den of thieves. And here's what the Lord Jesus
said. All that come before me are thieves
and robbers. Thieves and robbers, they have
stolen from God his glory. They have manufactured a works
gospel. and they've robbed from my people
the hope of their salvation because there is no hope in a works gospel.
You never know if you've done enough, you never know if you
believed enough, you never know if you've met the qualifications,
you can have no hope. All that come before me, all
that are presented as a means of salvation other than the Lord
Jesus alone, that's what it means to come before him. Have no other
gods before me. Don't bring any other gods before
my face. Put no other gods in preference
to me. I alone will save all by myself. That's what worship is. And that's
what we come to declare. And God's people are comforted
by that. And if we do anything else, we are but thieves and
robbers. This is the place, this is the
tent, the temporary home. Our Lord has a perfect, holy
hatred for man-centered, self-righteous, God-denying works gospel. He said, it's a stench in my
nostrils. I'll not have it. I'll not have it. But where Christ
is preached, there I am. There I am. Let us remember,
brethren, when we come together, we open God's word and we preach
Christ, we sing hymns together, we join our hearts together in
worship, that we do it to an audience of one. We do it to our God who has promised
to be here in his house. Tent as it is, frail as it is,
it's God's house. The tabernacle of the flesh of
the Lord Jesus Christ it too was frail, it was subject to
pain, it was subject to hunger, it was subject to fatigue and
most importantly it was subject to death. And the scripture says
that the word was made flesh, John chapter 1, and he dwelt
And that word dwelt, if you look it up, it's the word tabernacle.
He tented among us and we beheld his glory as the glory of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth.
When the Lord Jesus was here in this life, in this world,
he was born of a woman, born under the law to redeem them
who were themselves under the law. responsible to the law. The Lord Jesus suffered death
in his body upon the cross in order to satisfy the demands
of God's law. When he rose from the dead, he
conquered death, he conquered the grave, he put away sin, he
conquered Satan, never, ever, ever to die again. He ever lives to make intercession
for us. You still have your Bibles open
to Hebrews. Look with me at Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2, look at verse 14. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, you're in a tent, I'm in a tent,
flesh and blood. He also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had power of death, that is the devil, and to deliver them who
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Wherefore, in all things, it
behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God, to make reconciliation for the sins of his people, of the
people. For in that he himself hath suffered
being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted. David, not gonna let you build
a temple. You will be in a tabernacle.
My son's gonna come in the tabernacle of the flesh. And he's gonna
accomplish as the God-man Great is the mystery of godliness that
God was manifested in the flesh. How can we understand that? How
can we understand that the Lord Jesus of Nazareth walking in
the face of the earth for 33 years was the fullness of the
Godhead bodily? How can we comprehend that? But
that's what he was. And that's what he had to do
in order to redeem us as a man. This is the tent. God said to
David, this will be my house, this will be where I live, this
will be where I reside. Thirdly, turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Each individual child of God,
each believer, each one of God's elect, each regenerated child
of God has the presence of God in them. Christ in you is your
hope of glory. And in that regard, We are the
tent that the Lord has housed himself in, in this world. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14, be
not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship
hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light
with darkness? He's saying you're different,
you're a different child of God. And what concord hath Christ
with Belial, and what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are
the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, and will be their God, and they shall
be my people. Wherefore, come out from among
them and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing, and I'll receive you, and will be a father unto you,
and you should be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord. 1
Corinthians 3, verse 16 says, Know ye not that you are the
temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in thee? Mortify therefore the members
of your body which are upon the earth. fornication and uncleanness
and inordinate affections. That's extreme emotional responses. You're not, you're a child of
God. You're a temple of the Holy Spirit. Oh yeah, we're a tent. And these tents, you know, they
get dirty and they get torn and they get tattered and they're
always in need of repair. But here's what God says to David,
I'm going to live in tents. That's where I'm going to live.
Until that day when Solomon brings that new Jerusalem down
from heaven. Uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence, evil covetousness, which is idolatry. through the temple of God. Well,
I tell you, if we ever get a handle on that, it'll make a big difference
in a lot of things. So this tabernacle, this tent,
is a place of worship. When we gather together, it is
the body of Christ. It is the body of each individual
believer. and no question about it, it
is heaven itself. And that's where we look and
wait and watch. Look with me at Philippians chapter
three. This is such a wonderful reminder. Philippians chapter three, after
having been reminded that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit.
And as humbling as that is, look here what the Lord says about
the new heaven. Philippians chapter three, verse
20. For our conversation is in heaven. from whence also we look for
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall change our vile body
that it might be fashioned like unto his glorious body according
to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
to himself? That's what Paul's talking about
in 1 Corinthians 15 when he says, corruptible cannot inherit the
incorruptible. The corruptible must be made
incorruptible. The mortal must be made immortal. Flesh and blood cannot enter
into heaven. We've got to be given a new body,
a glorified body. We set our affections now on
things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. knowing that one day, one day, we'll be out of this
tent. God won't be living in a tent
anymore. We'll be living with him in the
full splendor of his glory. Oh, what a day that'll be. Solomon's gonna build that temple,
David, not you. Peace. Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews chapter four. Verse eight. For if Jesus had given them rest,
then would he not afterwards have
spoken of another day? There remaineth therefore a rest
to the people of God. We rest now. We rest from our
labors. We rest from trying to earn our
way to heaven by our works and by our will. We rest in Christ. This word rest is the word Sabbath. Christ is our Sabbath. But the
Lord's telling us there's yet a rest to come. Because this
rest right now involves labor as well. That rest there'll be
no more laboring. Look what he says about this
rest. For he that entereth into his rest, he also hath ceased
from his own works as God did from his. That's what God did
on the seventh day of creation. He ceased from his works. Why?
Because he was finished. and we ceased from our works
because it is finished. The work of redemption is accomplished.
Let us, therefore, labor to enter into that rest, lest any man
fall after the same example of unbelief. Strive, the Lord said, to enter
into the straight gate, for many will seek to enter in and shall
not be able." What is the difference between
those who seek to enter in and shall not be able and those who
are striving to enter into the straight gate? Well, those that
are striving to enter into the straight gate are laboring to
rest. They are looking to the Lord
Jesus Christ in all of their sin and all of their self-righteousness
and all their pride. They're in faith, looking to
the Lord Jesus Christ for all their righteousness before God.
God has given them faith in Christ. And that is a constant labor.
Why are you thus? Because there's two nations in
you. Those who seek to enter and shall not enter are those
who are trying to enter by their own righteousness, by their own
works. Well, if I just do better, God
will reward me. God rewards Christ for his work
and all those that are found in him. Those who are seeking to be established
by their own righteousness might have a zeal for God, as the Bible
says in Romans chapter 10, but it is without knowledge. Being
ignorant of the righteousness of God, they go about trying
to establish their own righteousness, not knowing that Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Strive to enter in at that straight
gate. Look to Christ for all the hope
of your salvation. He's in a tent. He's in a tent. The tent of His church, the tent
of His incarnation, His body of flesh, the tent of his children. One day, one day Solomon's gonna
come. And the rest, the fullness of his rest, the
fullness of his glory, oh. First Thessalonians chapter four
after the Lord talks about the coming of Christ. The trump of
God shall sound, the dead in Christ shall be raised, those
of us which are alive shall be caught up together with them
in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. The last verse
of that chapter says this. Comfort ye one another with these
words. Those who have the Lord in a
tent need to be comforted. that one day that tent's gonna
be rolled up, one day it's gonna be put away, never to be set
up again. And the full splendor of His
glory will be seen in that new Jerusalem that comes down from
heaven. No more tears, no more sorrow, no more sin, no more
tents. Our Heavenly Father, thank you
for your word. Thank you for this table and
the bread and the wine and how it reminds us of the sinless
life of thy dear son, our Savior, the sacrifice that he made in
shedding his precious blood for the covering of our sin. And
might we receive these elements in faith. We ask it in Christ's
name. Amen. Adam, you come please lead
us. What? 466. 466? 466. Let's stand
together. 466. Once far from God and dead in
sin, no light my heart could see. But in God's word, the light
I found. Now Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Oh, what a salvation this, that
Christ liveth in me. As rays of light from yonder
sun, the flowers of earth set free, so life and Love came forth from Christ living
in me. Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Oh, what a salvation this, that Christ
liveth in me. As lives the flower within the
seed, as in the comb the tree, So praise the God of truth and
grace. His spirit dwelleth in me. Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Oh, what a salvation this, that
Christ liveth in me. With longing all my heart is
filled that like him I may be. As on the wondrous thought I
dwell, that Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. Oh, what a salvation this, that Christ
liveth in me.