We'll be turning the Bible with
me to Ezekiel 48. Ezekiel, chapter 48. That's the last chapter in Ezekiel. Final lamentations. Ezekiel and and gave him some medication
for some tooth work he'd done that bothered him. So maybe he's
stuck to Hoopsley and Sands. Paul Pennington is in Crow, West
Virginia. And him and his brother and that
congregation there have all just given him an ability and experience
to contact TV stations. know their lingo, know what questions
to ask and all that. So he's been in contact with
several TV stations in this area. And he's waiting for feedback
on one or two more, but at the current time, it doesn't look
like that's gonna be possible. We knew it was gonna be expensive.
You think gas, you think chicken. I try to get it on TV. So we'll wait and see what the
Lord has for us. to get the gospel out. As it
stands now, there's several individuals, believers around this nation
that's supporting this work here. Helping us, praise for us, and
donates to us. Helps me, offer their help, whether
it's online, setting up sermon audio, FaceTiming to show you
what button to push. I'm thankful for those. And then
Church there in Ewing's been helping us, and Ashland for a
year now. They've been consistently helping
in Rocky Mountain, Virginia. Paul Mahan and those believers
out there, they've recently sent us some large support. I'm thankful. Lord's there. I hope this morning I'm gonna
try to, I restarted that, I'm gonna try to shoot for time.
Try to be shorter. But wouldn't that be something?
Lord's always there. He sees all. That ought to terrify
the people that make a mockery of his gospel. He's always there. He's always, knows all. Wouldn't
it be something if he was here with us this morning and after?
That's what we ask him often. Don't be with us, Lord. Don't
leave us to ourselves. Be with us. Whatever's going
on. What was he writing? That turn
you frown upside down? Won't return to you, but we'll
be with you. There in Ezekiel 48, the last
nine chapters of Ezekiel, it speaks of a city. A city is described
in these last nine chapters. The prophet tells us of this
new Jerusalem that's going to be. Not that city over in the
Middle East, but a new Jerusalem that's going to come. And it
sounds just like what the apostle John saw coming down from God.
He was telling of that second coming of our Lord. that city,
that kingdom that would be with Rose Spurgeon, commented on these
last nine chapters, and he said, the prophet Ezekiel has been
telling us of many remarkable things which I shall not attempt
to explain to you. And my chief reason for not doing
so, for not explaining it to you, is the fact that I do not
understand them myself. Read them last nine chapters.
You can dive deep in the ocean, and how far down do you have
to go to get wet? I can say with confidence we
won't see everything on this earth. We will understand all
the scriptures on this earth, all the gospel that's to be revealed
in this book. While we're here, we ain't gonna
get it all. We're gonna run out, but we ain't
gonna get it. We won't exhaust the scriptures. But I can rejoice
in what has been revealed. I can rejoice in what we can
see. All that's been revealed to a believer is everything needed
to be revealed to that believer. Get ahold of that. All that's
needed to be revealed to a child of God is what God's revealed
to you. Why don't I need to know more? I don't think so. If you
did, God would make you know. He would teach. And don't fear about knowing
too much. I think it'll happen to you. At the end of these nine
chapters, we're reading verse 30. Here in Ezekiel 48, verse
30. And these are the goings out
of the city on the north side. 4,500 measures, that's how big
it is. Verse 31, and the gates of the city shall be after the
names of the tribes of Israel. Three gates northward, one gate
of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi. And at the
east side, 4,500, same length, and three gates, that's the same,
and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, and one gate of
Daniel. At the south side, 4,500 meters, and three gates, one
gate of Simeon, one gate of Iscahar, one gate of Zedon, and at the
west side, 4,500, and there are three gates, one gate of Gad,
one gate of Asher, and one gate of Nachdalon. It was round about
18,000 meters, all the way around. And the name of the city from
that day shall be, the Lord is there. Jehovah Shammah, the Lord
is there. He's present, he's there. There's
some things about this city that I just can't understand. There's
things that we won't understand about this city because we ain't
in that city when we ain't been there. It's hard to tell about
a place you've never been in. Don't try to describe a kids
concert if you've never seen one. It's hard to describe something. But there's some things that
are simple about this city. There's some things that are
lovely about this city that we can read about throughout the
script. This is God's city. This is his
city. That's what Abraham looked for
in Hebrews 11. For he looked for a city which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Abraham, he
was sent to a physical place. Yes, of course, but he was looking
for that spiritual place. He knew as he walked through
this earth, well, there'll be a place God will have for me,
and that's where my physical family will be. I ain't gonna
be here forever. He was looking for that spiritual
building. This city, it's God's city, it's a city of peace. Who
rules that city? This city, this great city that's
come down from perfection, who's gonna rule that city? Christ,
our peace. Jehovah Shalom, the Lord, our peace. We just looked
at it in Judges 6. He's the Lord of peace, and he's on the throne.
It's a city of peace. It's a safe city. There's walls
all around. Just describe the walls to us,
big walls. Walls all around. Isaiah 26 says,
In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah. We
have a strong city. Safe and strong. Salvation will
God appoint for walls and bulwarks. The Lord set the walls. He's established the walls of
this city. Safe. How can I be sure that these
walls won't hold out? How can I be sure that these
bulwarks, what can turn us back? What if that concrete starts
to fail? What if the sun works on it? What if the wind beats
on it? Can they be climbed over? Can somebody come over them walls? Can they be knocked down? In
Zechariah 2, 5 it says, For I, saith the Lord, will be unto
her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the
midst of her. How safe is this city that's
coming? God is a fire round about. His glory is in the midst of
us. He's present. He's there. He's with us. This
is a perfect city. These walls are making a perfect
square. See that? There's three gates on every
side. Perfection. Perfect city. Perfect entrance.
Sinners can come from any direction. Won't be down low. Come through. Won't be off to the side. Oh,
I veered way off the path. perfection and entrance. Well,
my head's in the clouds. I can't get my thoughts together.
Perfect entrance. Centers can come from any direction,
and they may enter by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the
way. He's the gate. He's the door.
And He's opened those gates for every believer, every one of
His children. From our text here, something
I know of this city is its name. Its name. What's the name of
this place? Verse 35 says, it was round about 18,000 measures,
and the name of the city from that day shall be the Lord is
there. The Lord has given this city
several names throughout Scripture, and that's okay. You know that? Well, it says this over there.
That's all right. We have different names for cities,
don't we? You go Philadelphia, you can go City of Brotherly
Love. You quote different things, don't you? Jeremiah 33 says,
in those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell
safely. And this is the name wherewith
she shall be called, the Lord our righteous. Is that the people
in the city? Yes. Is that the city's name?
Yes. There shall be no more, in Isaiah
62, there shall be no more term forsaken, neither shall thy land
any more be turned desolate, but thou shalt be called Hezbollah. and thy land, the Luba. For the
Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. What
about this city? It's married to the Lord. What
about those in the city? They're married to the Lord.
To be a part of this city is to be in the city. You get that? To be part of the kingdom of
God is to be in the kingdom of God. To be a partaker of Christ
is to be in Christ. You see, that's where this is
going. be in them. This name given to our city here
in our text is the Lord is there. The only way for this city to
be safe, the only way for it to be governed in peace, the
only way for it to be a perfect city, the only way for it to
be called the Lord of our righteousness, the only way this city that the
Lord could delight in it, the only way it could be married
to the Lord is that He is there. He's there. His presence is there.
When we think of this name of the city, the Lord is there.
This is his name, the name of his city. We think, well, of
course he is, right? We know big, $5 words, omnipresent. He's everywhere. We know that.
Everybody knows that. He's always there. But this doesn't just
mean he's there only to run things or to govern or to monitor everything. He happens to be there. That's
not the case. He is there in the way of grace.
For this city, he's there in a way of mercy. He's there in
a way of salvation for his people. He's there in a way of tenderness
and kindness and leadership over God. He's there in healing and
peace for that city. Jehovah's shame means the Lord
is there to make himself known to his people and to dwell with
them in unity forever. What a thought. That's where
he's going to reveal himself to his people, make himself known
to his people, and he's going to dwell with them. We're going
to be with him forever. I want the child of God to see
proof of Jehovah Shema in the past, in the present, and in
forever to come, in the future. I can't say that for everyone
else. The Lord sees all. He knows the heart. He knows
the mind. You can keep your mouth shut.
He knows every word you're thinking. I can't do that. He's there.
But for the believer, for his children, those that he's given
life to, we need to know that. We need to be reminded that the
Lord's there. The Lord's there. You're just not all alone. All
alone. You ain't because He's there.
I don't see him. Does that mean he ain't there?
He is. He always has been. For his people,
before this world was created, the Lord represented his people. He was our representation. He
was our substitute. He was that satisfactory hope,
propitiation, that bloody sacrifice. Before the world was ever made,
that covenant of grace took place. It's in Revelation 3, 8, 13,
8, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He was the Savior
before there was a sinner. Before sin came into this world,
He had saved His people. How wonderful is that? God's
not reactive. Get that? Oh, that happens. What
are we going to do now? Let's get a plane. No. His will is done. The big difference.
He purposed to save a people. He was there for His elect before
we fell on that first Adam. That second Adam was already
established. That covenant of grace was sure, ordering all
things He promised for us. When that world was made, the
Lord was there. This didn't happen and He said,
well, there's a world there. What am I gonna do with it? Ah, maybe
I'll put some people on it. No. Genesis 1-1, in the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth. He was there. That's our
Lord Jesus Christ. He and the Father are one, aren't
they? He created this Earth. He went into the covenant with
the Father, was our surety before time was, and then He created
the Earth. It says in John 1, the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The
same was in the beginning with God, and all things were made
by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.
He was there. He made this perfect creation.
He gave it life. He made the dry ground come up.
He put grass on that dry ground. Made vegetation come up. Gave
it wildlife. Gave us fish and the birds. Then,
then, he put man right in the middle of perfection. That was
what the first happened. After everything was prepared,
then his child was born. What will be with the second?
before our minds come to, before we woke up, before we're given
spiritual birth. Everything has been prepared. He said, I've
got a prepared place for you. And then, at that point in time,
and it's right when it pleases God, He'll put us in perfection,
put us in His city. There in Genesis 3, Acts says,
And they heard a voice of the Lord God walking in the garden
in the cool of the day. The Lord walked with Adam. He
was there with Adam. Isn't that something? He walked
with Adam like a friend that's walked with another friend. He's
there. The glory of the Garden of Eden was that the Lord was
there. It was beautiful. It's probably had plants in it,
and animals, and we ain't never even considered how beautiful
it is. It was beautiful. But the glory of that place,
the glory of it was because the Lord was there. And Adam fell. Where was the Lord when Adam
fell? Where was the Lord when something bad happened, we say?
Well, where was God? He was there. He was there. He allowed that to take place
to accomplish his eternal purpose. Even after Adam fell, God came
to him. Well, what did Adam do? The Lord
came to him after he disobeyed God, and then Adam blamed him.
That's your fault. You gave me hurt. That woman
he gave me. Did the Lord kill Adam immediately?
No, he was there revealing himself to that woman. He gave the prophecy
to see the woman, and then he took the lamb, slew it, and clothed
Adam and Eve in their nakedness, showing Christ in Him crucified.
And he said, that serpent that beguiled you, that seed's gonna
come. He's gonna crush his head. He
came to his disobedient child and revealed himself, revealed
his purpose, his will to that child. He was going to provide
himself to Adam. Adam, you can't heal the sickness
you brought upon all this race. Jehovah raped a few. The Lord
healed them. How are you going to be healed?
That's out of righteousness. You don't have any, Adam. You
can't. You're in a hole. You're in debt.
Your iniquity is inequity. Jehovah's sick kin and the Lord
our righteousness. Where you gonna get that? How you gonna
provide that? Who's gonna do that? Jehovah Jireh, the Lord
that provide. Where is this Lord so I can call
on him? Do I have to be in a building? Do I have to be around the right
people? Do I have to put on the right clothes and shine myself
up just right and smile real big? No, he's there. Where's
the Lord we can call on for mercy? He's there. He's there. He's
right here. Man did not improve even with
that promise. God came to Adam and Eve and
spoke to them. Told them what he was going to do for them.
Boy, they got their act together now. Now they've evolved something,
right? They got going on a good Christian
living. Genesis 6 says, God saw the weakness of man was great
in the earth and the ever-imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continuing. How'd he know that? The Lord
was there. He saw it. There's gonna be a flood coming. He's
gonna deal with what he saw, but there's good news in there.
God of all grace was there. He was there, and Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. What would Noah do with the knowledge
God was gonna destroy everything on this earth? What was he gonna
do? What would you do with that?
The Lord came to him and said, I know everything. I know the
wickedness of man, and I'm gonna destroy everything I've created.
That's all I told him. Oh, you gonna be crushed? The Lord told Noah, this is what
I'm gonna do, and he says, now, build an ark. Build an ark. The Lord was there to tell Noah.
Abraham and Isaac went up to worship, to sacrifice to God.
The Lord was there. He told them to go, and he was
the lamb there in the brussels with them. Jacob fell asleep
on that pillow of stone, and he saw Aladdin going up to the
heavens, And there was angels ascending and descending. What
was that? At the top of the ladder, the
Lord was there. He stood above it. He gave word to Jacob that
the land that he was on was gonna be given to his seed and they
would be blessed. Why? Genesis 28, 15, it says,
behold, I am with thee. The Lord was there. Jehovah showed
him. The Lord was there in every sacrifice
we see, in every picture we have, in every top, in the tabernacle,
in every feast that's pictured, in the Passover, The high priest, he was there.
He was revealing himself to his children. That smitten rock that
followed Egypt, that followed Israel in the wilderness after
they left Egypt, he was there. That brazen serpent lifted up. Look to him. There he is. Those three Hebrew children were
my favorite. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Nebuchadnezzar got so mad at them, they wouldn't bow to his
little pagan gods. He said, cast them in the fire.
See, it heated up seven times hotter than it's designed to
be. I don't care what the engineers say, get it hot. They did. And those men that threw them
in were consumed. And he looked and said, I got them now. But
he saw four. What was that? The Lord was there. The king answered and said, Lo,
I see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire. They
have no hearts. They come out of there not even
smelling like smoke. The form of the fourth is like
the Son of God. He was there with me. That's
my second one. First one, before time was, the
Lord was there. That self-existent one. He always
has been there for his people, for his glory and our good. Always
has been, before time. What about through all the prophets,
all the Old Testament? That's all the scriptures. The
New Testament believers had, but we have the New Testament
on top of it. Through all the Old Testament, the Lord was there.
He was there working for his people, revealing himself for
his people and in his people. And then our Lord came physically
to this earth. He was here like he'd never been here before,
in the flesh, as our representative, made like unto us. Therefore,
the Lord himself shall give you a sign. A virgin shall conceive
and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. What's that
mean? God with us. There he is. He's with us. The Lord is there. The word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. He always has been there. He
was there. He's there on this earth now.
Why? Why was he there? Why did the
God, Jehovah Shema, the God that is there, why did He come to
this earth? To save His people from their sin. To honor His
Father. To fulfill the law. That way
justice and mercy can meet. Simeon saw that the Lord was
there. Physically he didn't. He saw the Lord with him. He
knew Him. But now he said, Lord, now let
us thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine
eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before
the face of all people. There was the Lord. He held him.
You say, that's a baby. That's God Almighty. He's there,
as he promised, exactly as he promised, as all the prophets
had pointed to. The Lord lived a perfect life
on this earth. He came to this earth and then he lived a perfect
life on this earth. Why? He was there in my place.
For you that believe, you that are his, he was there in your
place. He was a teenager that walked this earth and never had
a disrespectful look with his parents. Somebody just squeak clean. You
think you might have done one of the best? Oh, what a rich
I am. How perfect He was. That's unimaginable. Unimaginable. Living for His
people, giving us His righteousness, His perfect life, His perfect
obedience in this world, made of a woman, under the law, for
His people. Then the Lord died for His people.
He was there for us before time. He was there for us in promise,
Old Testament. He was there for us in person. And then he died for his people.
He was there for some people. He was there on that cross at
Calvary. He was there. Physically, he
was there, yes. But was the Lord there? Oh, have
mercy. Acts 2, 23 says, He had been
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. Ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.
Was the Lord there at Calvary? God turned His back on God. God
the Father forsook His Son in perfect righteousness because
He was there for His people. Because I was supposed to be
there. Remember? Words of man. That omnipresent God is on His
throne, isn't it? We've looked at that. Where's
God? He's on His throne in heaven, doing whatsoever He pleases.
He intercedes for His people. But He also dwells in the hearts
of His people. Well, how can He be in two places
at once? He's God. He's there. What about over there? He's there
too. He dwells in the hearts of His people. He told her, she
said, Lo, I am with you always, even until the end of the world.
Until this world is over, until my time on this earth is completed,
He's with me. Now, your time on this earth
is completed. The Lord's with you. Well, it doesn't feel like
He's there. Oh, everything's going to shambles. How horrible
is everything? The Lord's there. The Lord's
there, isn't He? Then Isaiah 41, Fear not. Fill
the fear that I want, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for
I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. Every trial that we have, if I could get a hold of this,
if I could get a hold of 1% of this, every trial that I have,
every frustration that I have, this is bad. I'm not happy right
now. God is there. He ain't out of business. He's
working in His people. This is for His glory and our
good. He's there. What about every
moment of joy? He's there. He purposed it. He
sent it. Every moment of relief, He sent
it. Every moment of loneliness. David had some low days, didn't
he? The Lord's mercy clinged on forever. Where are you? You're
hiding your head from me. He's there. He may have hid himself
from us. He may have been where we couldn't
see. We can't feel his presence, but he's there. He's there. What if I get up in the morning
and go to work? Bull's there. Got a boss you don't like? Old
buddy there. You get up and go to school?
You shouldn't walk into that schoolhouse down there. There's
principals and teachers and substitutes and people running around. Bull's
in that place. Bull's there. He's in his local assemblies. Did he promise that? I'll give
you a word of caution. Don't take it for granted. I have a miserable thing. And the Lord made us to drive
the wheel. He may put out a lot. Don't take it for granted. What's
to come? The Lord's with us four times.
He was there representing us. He was there in creation. He
was there as we fumbled through this world. He was there in all
the prophets and all the pictures, all the tops. He was there in
person. He was there at Calvary. He's on his throne. He's with
his people now. What's to come? There will be a new heaven and
a new earth. His city will come. His kingdom will come. What's
heaven going to be like? What will be the glorious part
of heaven? You want to go to heaven? What
fool don't? Right? Can you find out what
it is? Is there no sin there? That's
correct. Oh, my, thank you. There's no law there. Law of
Christ, love, that's it. We'll be holy, we'll be perfect.
Is that good? Yes, it is. There'll be no pain. You hurting? There'll be no pain. You'll never shed another tear.
It won't happen. It'll dry your eyes. That's good. No illness. I'll never have to
take Zyrtec in the morning, never again. No allergies, no acid. Don't have to do it. But there's
something far greater in those things. Peace. Didn't our brother Moose
Park preach on that Wednesday night? Peace, peace. Put away my sin, and I'm eternally
grateful for that, and I'm appraised for it. That's wonderful. He took me out from underneath
the curse of the law. That's wonderful. But I need to know
Him. I'm thankful for all those things.
And it is vital. It's vital. The Lord ain't nothing
without Him. He's the one that did it. The
glory is because He's there. It says there in verse 35 of
Ezekiel 48. It was around about 18,000 measures. And the name
of the city from that day shall be the Lord is there. The Lord
is there. That's good news for one that
knows Him and loves Him. That's good news. And we see
those things afar off. We look for his coming, his children,
as he's promised. And we see him in the past. We
see all of his work and his promises throughout time to his people.
We've seen a lot of them fulfilled. Picture that spiritual promises
he's given us. And we know he's to come. But
boy, if he'd be with us now. We'd wake up on a Thursday morning,
and it's raining or not raining or whatever, and you stub your
toe getting out of bed, and you catch yourself shaving, can't
find your hairbrush, and know right then, the bulb's there.
That one that was before, and that one that always will be.
He's there with us, baby. I hope that's a blessing. Father,
thank you for being with us. time, he was fulfilled in the
prophets and the law. He came to this earth, was made
like we are, as I represent the Lord, and you accepted that sacrifice. And now, you can meet with us
there. Thank you for being with us.
We ask that your will be done, and may the taste of your kingdom
come. What a day that'll be. Keep us
as you promised you will. Preserve us. Forgive us for what
we are. Give us our hearts that wander
so fast. Be with us always. Be there.
In Christ's name that we ask. 1030.