Good evening. Let's open tonight's
service with hymn number 103, 103 from the hardback hymnal. 103, one day. Let's all stand
together. One day when heaven was filled
with His praises, one day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin, dwelt among men, my
example is He. Living, He loved me. Dying, He saved me. Buried, He carried my sin far
away. Rising, He justified freely forever. One day He's coming, O glorious
day. One day they led Him up Calvary's
mountain, One day they nailed Him to die on the tree. Suffering anguish, despised and
rejected, Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He. Living, He loved
me. Dying, He saved me. Buried, He carried my sins far
away. Rising, He justified freely forever. One day He's coming, a glorious
day. ? One day they left him alone
in the garden ? ? One day he rested from suffering free ?
? Angels came down o'er his tomb to keep vigil ? ? Hope of the
hopeless, my savior is he ? ? Living he loved me, dying he saved me
? Buried he carried my sins far away Rising he justified freely
forever One day he's coming, O glorious day! One day the grave could conceal
him no longer. One day the stone rolled away
from the door. Then he arose over death he had
conquered. Now is ascended my Lord evermore. Living, He loved me. Dying, He saved me. Buried, He carried my sins far
away. Rising, He justified freely forever. One day He's coming, a glorious
day. One day the trumpet will sound
for His coming. One day the skies with His glory
will shine. Wonderful day His beloved ones
bringing, Glorious Savior, this Jesus is mine. Living He loved me, dying He
saved me, Buried He carried my sins far away. Rising he justified, freely forever. One day he's coming, a glorious
day. Please be seated. Maybe today. What a glorious
day it'll be. Let's open our Bibles to Psalm
90 Psalm 100 Psalm 100 for our call to worship. Oh. Pray the Lord will. Cause us to long more for that
day. He comes and shows the fullness
of his glory and. Takes his people home. Psalm 100, a Psalm of praise.
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the
Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with
singing. Believers have a reason to be
glad. We have a reason to sing. We
have a reason to rejoice. Our God reigns and he does all
things well. Know ye that the Lord, he is
God. It is he that hath made us and
not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep
of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving. Oh Lord, make us thankful. And
into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless
his name for the Lord is good. He's good. He can't do anything
but that which is good for his children. His mercy is everlasting, and
his truth endureth to all generations. Let's pray. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
once again you have brought us to this place, and you've promised
that where two or three are gathered together in thy name, there you
would be in the midst of them. Lord, we pray that you would
open what no man can shut. We pray that you would open the
windows of heaven. We pray that you would open your
word. We pray that you would open our hearts. We pray, Lord,
that you would reveal to us the glory of thy dear son and cause
us, cause us to long for that day that we just sang about.
Cause us to long to see the glory of thy dear son. Give us a taste
of that in this hour and give us a longing for the fullness
of that in the hour in which the Lord returns. Father, we pray for the service
on Friday and ask Lord that you might be pleased to call out
one of your sheep and bring them to yourself. Pray that you'd give me words
to speak. Lord, that you would give hearing
ears to your people. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. We'll have that service for Abby's
Memorial this coming Friday at 3 o'clock. If Florida puts it
on your heart to pray for that. Be good. Tom. Number two, let's stand together. Lord, we come before Thee now,
At Thy feet we humbly bow. O do not our suit disdain, Shall
we seek Thee, Lord, in vain? Lord, on Thee our souls depend,
In compassion now descend. Fill our hearts with Thy rich
grace, Tune our lips to sing Thy praise. In thine own appointed
way, Now we seek thee, here we stay. Lord, we know not how to
go Till a blessing thou bestow. Send the message from thy word
that may joy and peace afford. Let thy spirit now impart Christ's
salvation to each heart. Please be seated. If the Lord is pleased to answer
that prayer. He will reveal to us the glory
of Christ. He is our exceeding great reward. And if he's pleased to bless
his word, it will be to the revelation of his son. I've titled this
message the Lord rain. If you'll see that as the first
three words of Psalm 99, if you'll turn with me there in your Bibles.
The Lord reigneth. How shameful it is that believers
are not always happy. How shameful it is that they're
not content. How shameful it is that we complain. We were accusing God wrongdoing. Our God reigns. He knows he knows
the purpose that he has for us. He can't do anything but good
for his children. Look at this passage. The Lord
reigneth. Let the people tremble. Let them
shake in fear of him. Let them rejoice in the goodness
of his purpose. Don't you love Psalm 2? Turn to me back to Psalm 2. Why
did the heathen rage? Why do the heathen rage? They
don't believe that God reigns. And the people, what do they
do? They imagine a vain thing. They imagine an empty thing.
They imagine that somehow they're in control of things. The kings
of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against his anointed, they do. They raise
up in rebellion against the God who reigns. And what do they
say? Let us break his bands asunder. We'll not have this man reign
over us. Isn't that what they say? Let us cast away his cords from
us. And he that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. The Lord shall have them, hold
them in derision. He's not threatened by man's
unbelief. He's not, he's not at all concerned
about, about man's rebellion. Look at look at verse. Verse
five, then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them
in his sword displeasure. Yet I have set my king upon my
holy hill. What's his holy hill? Zion. Zion's
his holy hill. Who's the king? The Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the king. He reigns. If we, if we could, if we could
just believe that and rejoice in that. You believe that he
reigns in creation from the rising of the sun to the setting of
the same. He's the one to be praised. He's the one to be worshipped. He's the one to be acknowledged
as the one who created and sustains and holds together all things
that we enjoy in this world. They show forth his glory. if
we could just see the hand of God created and sustaining all
things. The Lord reigneth. Let the people
tremble. Our God reigns. He reigns in
providence. He really does. He really does. He works all things together
for good. I asked Michael, I said, Michael,
how was your day? He said, right on schedule. Everything's right
on schedule. And that's the way our God reigns. He works all things together
for good for them who love him and those that are called according
to his purpose. He does everything according
to the counsel of his own will. And he says, I know, I know the
purpose that I have for you. I know, it's good, not evil. I'm gonna bring you to your expected
end. The Lord reigneth. That's the
message from God's word. That's the message from God to
our hearts. Our God reigns. And he reigns
in salvation. How much more secure can we be
than to know that our God reigns in salvation? He reigns in election. He chose his people according
to his own will and purpose before the foundation of the world.
He reigns in redemption. The Lord Jesus was actually successful
in accomplishing the salvation of his people when he bowed his
head on Calvary's cross and said, it is finished. He reigns in
regeneration when he makes his people willing and causes us
to believe and turns us and makes us to come to him. He reigns
in sanctification, keeping us from falling, and he reigns in
glorification. He's going to present every one
of his people. He's not going to lose one of
his sheep. Our God reigns. He reigns in creation. He reigns
in providence. Most importantly, he reigns in
salvation. The kings of the earth don't
believe that. They believe they're reigning. They believe they're the ones
that are calling the shots, and they're the ones that are making
the difference, especially that's true in salvation. You remember
when the Lord spoke to young Samuel? Samuel was ministering
to Elihanna. Remember, she was without a child,
and she asked the Lord for a child, and then she dedicated Samuel
to the Lord and to his service. took him to the temple and he
worked there and served under Eli and, and the Lord spoke to
Samuel one night and Samuel thought it was Eli talking to him and
Samuel got up out of his bed and went into the room where
Eli was say, yes, sir. What, what can I do now? Go back
to bed. Second time, third time, Eli
realized it was the Lord speaking to Samuel. And so. Eli advised Samuel, he said,
you just tell the Lord that you're ready to hear. And so Samuel
said, speak Lord for thy servant heareth. And the Lord gave him
a message of judgment against Eli's family, Hophni and Phinehas
in particular. And when Samuel, when Eli asked
Samuel the next morning, what did the Lord say? Samuel didn't
want to tell Eli. And Eli said, you tell me exactly
what God said or the curses that he pronounced are gonna be against
you. Samuel, Eli knew that it was
against his boys. And so Samuel told Eli everything.
You remember what Eli said? It's the Lord. Let him do whatever
seemeth good to him. Oh, that we could respond that
way. Our God reigns. It's the Lord. Let him do whatever
seemeth good unto him. Everything he does for his children,
our God reigns. Let the people tremble. Lord,
we tremble at our rebellion. We tremble at your power and
your grace and your love towards your people. You know, Job, later on had a lot
of problems in trying to reconcile the things that were happening
in his life. The whole purpose of the book of Job is law and
grace, just like it is everywhere else in scripture. But Job's
first response, you remember? When his wife tried to get him
to curse God, what did Job say? The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh
away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Whatever our God does is right.
Shall we receive good from him and not evil? As evil come to
the city and the Lord's not caused it, our God reigns. How comforting is that? How encouraging
is that? The politicians aren't reigning,
let them squabble all they want. The industry's not reigning,
the education system's not. God reigns, our God reigns. If we could believe that, we'd
be so secure, so content, and so happy. And these things that
the Lord tells us to do, we would do. The Lord reigneth, let the
people tremble. Look at verse one. He sitteth
between the cherubims. Now, in Exodus chapter 25, The
Lord gives Moses, Moses and Aaron, very specific instructions on
building the Ark of the Covenant. They were to make it out of Shittem
wood, they were to overlay it with gold, they were to hammer
out two angelic-looking beings called cherubims, one on each
side, and they were to face one another and the wings were to
touch over what? The mercy seat, over the mercy
seat. And that ark, inside of the ark,
the ark, it was two feet by two feet by four feet. That's the
size of the ark of the covenant. And it had gold rings on the
side of it, and they were to put a stave through the rings. And once that stave was in there,
it was never to be, they were never to be taken out. The ark
wasn't to be touched. You remember when Uzzah, they,
The Ark was about to fall off the cart and Uzzah reached up
his hand to steady the Ark and God killed him right there on
the spot. You don't touch the work of Christ. That Ark was
all about the Lord Jesus Christ. What was in the Ark? The tablets
of stone, the commandments representing the Lord Jesus Christ as our
King, the ofar or jar of manna, which represents the Lord Jesus
Christ as the bread that came down from heaven, our prophet,
our prophet, the one who brought himself as the word of God. And what else was in the ark?
Aaron's rod, which had budded, representing the Lord Jesus Christ
as our priest, prophet, priest, and king, all inside that ark.
The ark was made out of wood, representing the humanity of
Christ, overlaid with gold, representing his deity. But the most important
thing about that ark was what was between the cherubims. That
was the mercy seat. That word mercy seat translated,
it's a word that means propitiation. And the priest, the high priest,
Aaron particularly at the beginning, but the high priest was to go
into the holies of holies, Scripture tells us all about this in Romans
chapter 9, Hebrews chapter 9, that the priest was to go into
the holies of holies through the veil and put the blood of
the sacrificial lamb on the mercy seat once a year, once a year. And they kept doing it year after
year after year after year. But over there in Exodus chapter
25, when the Lord told Moses and Aaron how to build the ark,
the Lord said to them, Here, I will meet with you. Here, I
will meet with you. Right here at the mercy seat,
at the propitiation, at the place where sin is atoned for. And Hebrews, turn with me to
Hebrews chapter nine. Verse 1, then verily the first
covenant had also ordinances of divine service and a worldly
sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made,
the first, wherein was the candlestick, the table, the showbread, which
is called the sanctuary. Now all those things were pictures
of the Lord Jesus Christ as the bread of life, as the light of
the world, And after the second veil, the tabernacle, which is
called the holiest of all. So now through this second veil
and that veil, the scripture is very specific about that veil.
It was, uh, it was royal blue on the top of the veil and it
was red on the bottom of the veil. And in the middle of the
veil was purple. As you mix red and blue together,
you get the color purple. And it's a picture of Christ,
his deity coming from heaven, his humanity and his shed blood,
and the dual nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because that's
the veil, when the Lord bowed his head on Calvary's cross,
that's the veil that was rent. All those Old Testament sacrifices,
only the high priest could go in and only once a year, And
now what happens? Our Lord's body is rent, and
the access to the holies of holies is open. So the Lord says in
verse 4, which had the golden censer, the ark of the covenant,
overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot of
manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.
Those are the three things that were in the ark. and over it the cherubims of
glory shadowing the mercy seat of which we cannot now speak
particularly. Well, there's so much to be said
about the mercy seat. The Lord's directing the append
of the writer of Hebrews to move on, but the mercy seat, that's
what it was all about. That's where the blood was put. Back to our text in Psalm 99,
our God reigns. He reigns. Let the people tremble. He, and that word, that word siddoth
is the word dwelleth. It's the same word found in Psalm
80 verse one, thou that dwelleth between the cherubims. Thou that
dwelleth between the cherubims, shine forth. So here's where
our God dwells. He dwells at the mercy seat. One more passage of scripture.
Turn with me to Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three. will begin in verse 23, for all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation. That's mercy seat. God has set
him forth to be our mercy seat, to make God propitious to put
away the wrath and the anger and the judgment of God through
faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God to declare
I say at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. hearing his love, not
that we love God, but that he loved us and gave his son to
be the propitiation of our sins. There's the mercy. God says,
I'm raining and the people tremble and I dwell between the cherubims. That's my dwelling place. You
want to meet with me? Come to me through the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
is the means by which God brings his people into his presence. The Lord reigneth. Go back with
me to Psalm 99. The Lord reigneth. He's not at
all threatened. by the rebellion and the unbelief
of those who do not believe that he reigns. Let the people tremble. He sitteth between, he dwelleth
between the cherubims. Let the earth be moved. I like that word moved. It's
the word stagger. It's the word stagger, and that's
what the world's doing. The world just staggers at the
reigning and the propitiation of our God. They stagger at it. They don't understand it. They're
like a drunk man. They don't have any ability to
bow and to believe and to rejoice. Look at verse two. Our God, the
one who reigns, the one to whom we say truth, Lord, is great in Zion. No one else believes he's great.
Only in Zion is our God great. They use his name as a byword,
they'll honor him with their lips, and then they'll turn right
around and deny the fact that he reigns. Only in Zion is our
God great. And he is high above all the
people. That's not true anywhere else.
Man has set himself on the throne of God. Man has decided that
he's the deciding factor about his salvation. And in religion,
what do they have? Well, they've got priests and
popes and cardinals and elders and all sorts of men that are
reigning over the people. And what does, in Zion, in Zion,
the Lord is high above all the people. They all bow in unison
to his sovereign authority. Look at verse three. Let them praise thy great and
terrible name, for it is holy. So many names given to us in
the scriptures referring to the Lord Jesus Christ and revealing
different aspects of his character. Whether it be Jesus, Jehovah
saves, salvation is of the Lord, I shall save my people. or whether it be King, King of
Kings and Lord of Lords, whether it be Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, the first and the last, the cause and the completer
of our faith and of our salvation. So many names, Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
God with us. He said, where you gather together,
I'm there with you. I'll never leave you. Never leave
you, nor forsake you, the Holy One of Israel. Let us praise
thy great and terrible name, for it's holy." You see, every
one of his names are holy. In other words, those names cannot
refer to anything or anyone else. The Holy One of Israel only refers
to Christ. Emmanuel only refers to Christ.
Now I know in some cultures, particularly in Spanish culture,
I've met people in Mexico that are named Jesus. I can't imagine. That name's holy. I don't know
what's happened in that culture. It's Catholicism is what it is.
It's what it is. I know what it is. But we would
never dare name our children Jesus, would we? That name's
holy. It's holy. We, he's Lord, he's King. He's the glorious I am. I guess it was a year or so ago,
this Joel Osteen out in Texas wrote a book and titled it, I
Am. And each chapter in the book,
is a self-help motivation. I am beautiful. I am strong. I am good. I can't imagine. His name is holy. And we stand
before him. He's the only one that son of
David can go to. He's the only one that the seat
of the woman can go to. All the names in scriptures are
holy. He's the hiding place. We wouldn't call anything else
a hiding place. We don't refer to anyone else
as a redeemer. We don't return to anyone else
as savior. His name is holy. He's called the wisdom of God,
the savior of sinners, the friend of sinners. the husband of his
bride, the church, his name is holy. And all the different characteristics
and aspects of the glory of God revealed in his name. Now your name speaks about you,
doesn't it? Somebody mentioned your name
and they vision you as a person and the different aspects of
your character and your person, so it is with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look, let them praise thy great
and terrible name for it is holy. Look at verse four, the king's
strength also loveth judgment. The Lord Jesus Christ is his
strength. He's the strong right arm of
God and he loves judgment. He rejoiced in knowing that his
shed blood actually satisfied the justice of God. He rejoiced
in that. He knew that what he was doing
on Calvary's cross was going to accomplish justice and judgment
for God's people. And the strength of God rejoiced
in that. Thou dost establish equity. And we see that word at a few
places. You remember, you remember, uh, Sunday morning in, in, uh,
Malachi chapter two, uh, where the scripture says of Levi that
he walked with me in peace and in equity, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the only one that could equal up to the demands of God's holiness. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. And here he says, the King strength
also love of judgment. Thou dost establish. He established
it. And I looked up that word establish.
It means to do or to work. He established equity. He worked
out equity so that, so that in him, we are equal to God. Now that sounds almost too wonderful
to say, doesn't it? But it's what the scripture says.
As he is, so are we in this world. We're found in Christ, we're
equal. He has established equity. He has worked out equity so that
his people are able to stand in the presence of a holy God
and not be consumed. He loves judgment and he's established
equity look at verse 9 of chapter of Psalm 98 before the Lord for
he cometh to judge the earth with righteousness shall he judge
the world and the people with equity we we want equity don't we we
don't want God to compromise his law we want judgment and
equity because the Lord Jesus Christ loved judgment and established
equity. And we have the judgment of God
fulfilled and equity with Christ in the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Thou executeth judgment and righteousness in Jacob. In Jacob, our God reigns. He dwelleth between the cherubim
on the mercy seat. He does that which is good for
his people and that which is good is the forgiveness of their
sins and the establishment of judgment and equity and righteousness
and justice, all accomplished, all accomplished by the doing
and the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's reason to rejoice. Let, you know, let the world,
look at the, look at the, look at the previous chapter, Psalm
98, verse seven, let the sea roar and the fullness thereof
and the world and that that dwell therein. Let the, let the world
roar all they want. Our God reigns. He reigns. He really does. He's in full control and full
charge of everything. most especially the accomplishment
of our salvation. He went in once and put his blood
on the mercy seat, not a mercy seat made with hands or a tabernacle
that was established by men, but one that was in heaven. According
to Hebrews chapter nine, the veil was rent. And now what is
the spirit and the bride say? Come, come. Prior to that, prior
to that, those priests would not let you get near the holies
of holies. They would have killed you before
they let you touch that veil or enter into that room where
that ark was. And now the Lord says, come unto
me. I'm the ark, I'm the prophet, I'm the priest, I'm the king,
I'm the God man. I reign, I've established equity
and righteousness and judgment and justice for Jacob, for Jacob. I didn't do it for the world.
Father, I pray not for the world. I pray for them which thou hast
given me out of the world. Thine they were, thou hast given
them unto me. He's done this for Jacob. And so in light of that, verse
five, oh, if the Lord, faith comes by hearing. You know, we
ought never to complain about anything. We do, but we ought
not to. Our God reigns. And so he says, exalt ye the
Lord, our God, and worship at his footstool for he is holy." What is the footstool of God?
It's his feet. The father said to the son, sit
thou here at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Now, all men are going to find
themselves at the foot of Christ. Some under his foot and some
at his foot. But all men are going to find
themselves at the feet of Christ. We're either going to be like
Mary. Remember Mary sitting at the feet of Christ and Martha
was so concerned about so many things and complaining. She was
complaining. She wasn't she. Lord, you tell
Mary to get up and come help me. I'm, you know, this is too
much work for me. Oh, Martha, you're encumbered with so many
things. You're worried about so many. Mary's chosen that one
thing that's needful. What is the one thing that's
needful? To sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's what
we're doing right now. Sitting at his feet. He reigns
in Zion. He inhabits the praise of his
people. He speaks to the hearts of his people by his spirit,
by his word. If we leave this place rejoicing
that our God reigns and believing, believing that our sin's been
put away, that his blood's been put on the mercy seat, that God
has been made propitious through the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus
Christ has made, then we leave here with reasons to rejoice,
to believe, to rest. We come into this world at enmity
with God, every one of us. Oh, to sit at his feet and to
acknowledge that he is holy. Holy. He's not anything. That word, you know, the vessels
in the sanctuary were called holy. The instruments of worship
were called holy. The sanctuary was called a holy
place. And that word holy means to be
set apart. It means to be set apart. That's
what it means to be sanctified. And God's people are called holy
and that they're set apart or sanctified. And the Lord Jesus
Christ is holy to eternal infinite degree. He's
holy. He's set apart. He's holy, he's
harmless, he's undefiled, he's separate from sinners. He's higher
than the heavens, the scripture says. Higher than the heavens,
he's holy. And what he's saying to us is,
I'm not like you in any way. I reign, I reign sovereign. And you can trust me, I'm holy. Look at verse six. Now Moses,
Aaron and Samuel were all Levites, they were all Levites. And what
were the Levites? The Levites were the priestly
tribe. And God says of his church, you are a holy nation, a royal
priesthood. He has made of his people to
be priests and kings. We have access into the very
presence of God through our high priest. So in that sense, we're
all Levites. Now, what else was distinguished
about the Levites? There's 12 tribes in Israel,
right? Well, 12 sons of Jacob, but Joseph didn't have land in
the promised land. That was divided between Ephraim
and Manasseh, Joseph's two sons. So now, in place of Joseph, we
have two, which makes it 13, but there's only 12 tribes. Why? Joshua only divided the land
up among 12 tribes. Why? Levi didn't get any land. The Levites didn't have property. This world is not our home. They
served as priests. They lived in cities in all the
different tribes and they served the people with the gospel. But they didn't have property
in this world. What a picture. And so the Lord
said, look at verse 6. Moses and Aaron among the priests
and Samuel among them that called upon his name. They called upon
the Lord and he answered them. Now let me ask you a question. We know that Revelation is progressive.
Did the Old Testament saints have something that New Testament
believers don't have? Did they? When God says in Hebrews chapter
12, after speaking of all those Old Testament saints in Hebrews
chapter 11, seeing that you are compassed about with such a great
cloud of witnesses, lay aside the sin that doth so easily beset
you. What is that sin? It's unbelief. It's calling into
question the fact that our God reigns. We've got blessings the Old Testament
saints didn't have. They looked for those things
that have now been fully revealed. God who at sundry times and in
divers manners spake to our fathers by the prophets have now spoken
unto us by his son. We've got the full revelation
of God in Christ. So when the Lord's telling us,
you know, Moses and Aaron and Samuel, they all called out to
me and I answered them. What's the Lord saying to you
and me? Call out to me, I'll answer you. You have not because
you ask not. And then what the Lord said to
his disciples, oh Lord, help thou mine unbelief. I believe
that you reign. You've shown us in these Old
Testament saints that you were faithful to provide for them. And if you're faithful to provide
for them who had but a shadow of the revelation of the gospel,
how much more faithful would you be to provide for those of
us who have the fullness of the Godhead bodily revealed to us
in the Lord Jesus Christ? What's the Lord? He's encouraging
us to believe that he reigns. and that he would do for us what
he's done for his children through the ages. Call out, call upon
me. He answered them. Hey, look at
verse seven. He spake unto them in the cloudy
pillar. Now that cloudy pillar is a reference
to Exodus chapter 33. When Moses went to the tabernacle
and God appeared as a cloudy pillar at the door of the tabernacle.
And the scripture says, and Moses spoke to God face to face, even
as do friends. Child of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ is called a friend of sinners. He said, No longer do
I call you my servants for a servant has no idea what his master is
doing. I call you my friends. I'm not ashamed to be called
your brother. If Moses was able at the cloudy
pillar to speak face to face with God as a friend. What's the Lord saying to me
and you? Come. Yeah, there's a cloud there.
It's like we saw a couple of weeks ago. There's a big difference
between a cloud and darkness. You remember that cloud, that
same cloud appeared when the children of Israel were stuck
between a rock and a hard place and the Egyptians were behind
them and the Red Sea was in front of them and they didn't have
any place. And God put a cloud between them and the Egyptians
and made a difference between the Egyptians. And that cloud
became light to the Israelites and became darkness to the Egyptians.
God's made a difference between Jacob and Esau. Between Zion, this is the place
where our God reigns and he's calling on us to call on him. Come, come. The blood's been
put on the mercy seat. This is where I'll meet with
you. Your sins have been put away. God's been made propitious. He's not angry with you. You
don't have to be afraid to come into the presence of God. Come
before the throne of grace with boldness. And that word boldness
doesn't mean cocky, it means with confidence. We are confident,
not in the flesh. We're confident that the Lord
Jesus Christ accomplished what he came to do. And that we have
access into the presence of a holy God. The world doesn't believe
that. He spoke unto them in the cloudy
pillar. They kept his testimonies and the ordinance that he gave
them. And we do too. We believe God. Now I made this
statement Sunday. I'm going to make it again. Sometimes believers act like
unbelievers, shamefully so. And sometimes unbelievers act
like believers. There's only one sure way to
tell the difference between a believer and unbeliever. There's only
one thing that believers always do and unbelievers never do.
And that's belief. That's belief. Believers always
believe. They can't not believe. They
try all the time and they can't do it. And an unbeliever never
believes, never believes. And so when the scripture says
that Aaron and Moses and Samuel kept the ordinance, they kept
the testimony, they believed God. They believed God. And that's what everybody, we
come through faith. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for. That's how our access into God is through faith in
the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou answered them. Look at verse eight. We'll finish
this up. Look at, Thou answered them, O Lord, our God. Thou was
to God that forgave us them. Did Moses need to be forgiven?
Oh, yes. Did Aaron need to be free? Samuel
need to be forgiven? Yes, yes. Oh, all those Old Testament
saints needed to be forgiven. He forgave them. He forgave them. That blood, you see, the mercy
seat goes all the way back into the covenant of grace. The Lord
Jesus Christ is called the lamb that was slain before the foundation
of the world. So before the foundation of the
world, his blood in that covenant was put on the mercy seat. And
when Christ shed his blood on Calvary's cross, it was the fulfillment
of everything that God had already purposed and promised in that
covenant. Thou answered them, O Lord our
God, Thou wast a God that forgave us them, though Thou tookest
vengeance on their inventions. How many inventions you and I
have. The Old Testament saints had inventions too. How many
times we complain, how many times we rebel against God. And the Lord said, I know how
to discipline my children. And I said Sunday, you know,
God knows how to correct his children. Yup. Yup. I'm not, I'm not worried about,
about that or about preaching against sin. There's God or you,
you know, what, what y'all ought to be doing, what y'all ought
not to be doing. And the Lord is certainly capable. He said
that I chastised my children. Hebrews chapter 12 makes that
clear. Doesn't it? He takes vengeance on their inventions. Verse nine, exalt the Lord our
God and worship. You remember what the word worship
means? The Hebrew and the Greek word worship means to bow or
to kiss or to even lick like a dog. It's to be prostrate before
God. But the English word, I like
the English word. It's a conjunction of two words,
worth-ship. And worship is just acknowledging
the worth of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the pearl of great price.
It's his blood that's precious and priceless. Exalt the Lord our God and worship
at his holy hill for the Lord our God is holy. He's holy. Our God reigns. He really does. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
for your word and for the revelation that you've given us of Christ.
And Lord, we ask that you would forgive us for the many expressions
of unbelief that remain in our old man Lord, we thank you for
the miracle that you've worked in our hearts. Putting faith. In the new man and causing us. To rest our hope. On thy dear
son. Who is our propitiation and who
has put his blood eternally on thy mercy seat? For it's in his name we pray,
amen. Number 20, let's stand together,
number 20. you Long, long before the world was
made, God chose to save me by His grace and blessed me in my
covenant head with every blessing of His grace. In Christ my surety
was found, a ransom for God's chosen one. Deliverance was then
proclaimed and God's great work of grace begun. In the due time my Savior came
to do His Holy Father's will. A body was prepared for Him that
He might righteousness fulfill. When Christ had righteousness
brought him, He took my awful load of sin. Dying for me upon
the tree, My Savior put away my sin. Though I was born a child
of wrath, depraved and helpless, dead in sin, and though I chose
the rebel's path, despising God and loving sin, My Savior's love
could not be quenched. He sought and found me by His
grace. Awakened by His Spirit's call,
I'm saved, I'm saved by sovereign grace. Amazing free and sovereign
grace, in love Christ Jesus took my place. Chosen, redeemed, and
called by grace, to Christ alone I give all praise. My only hope,
my only plea, is that Christ lived and died for me. In Him alone I am complete, To
Christ alone my praise shall be.