I'd like us to follow the Lord
and turn in our Bibles to Psalm 118. And for what a time, I pray that
you would go and spend time reading this glorious psalm. It's a great
description of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It's
a great description of what was going to happen in Jerusalem
that week. And it's not for nothing that
the Lord in sovereign power caused these people as the Lord marched
into Jerusalem as a triumphant king. He's both a king And he's
riding humbly on his donkey and he shows his great kingship as
he rules over all things. Even in that temple he just takes
complete and utter charge. I'll start in verse 16. The right
hand of the Lord is exalted, the right hand of the Lord does
valiantly. The right hand is his hand of
power. David says, I shall not die but
live and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord has chastened
me sore, but he has not given me over to death. Why? You just read on and you'll know
why. It is impossible for because their death has already
been died in their Saviour and in their substitute. And he speaks
now of this glorious entrance of the Lord. Open to me the gates
of righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ in John
chapter 7 says he's the door for the sheep. And it's always
a door of righteousness, isn't it? It's only in perfect holy
righteousness can you enter in to this temple. Open to me the
gates of righteousness, I will go in unto them. I will praise
the Lord. This is the gate into which the
righteous shall enter. It's him, it's all about the
Lord. He's the door, he's the entrance into the sheepfold. I will praise thee for thou hast
heard me. Don't you love that? God hears
the cries of his people. He keeps their tears in a bottle.
He hears. He hears, not only does he hear,
but he hearkens. For thou hast heard me, and thou
art become my salvation. the Lord Jesus Christ. And here
we have this glorious picture. I wanted to just look at a few
things here. I wanted to look at this stone.
I wanted to look at the fact that this is the Lord's doing.
I wanted to look at the fact that this is that day. And I
want us to look in verse 27 just briefly about the sacrifice which
is bound with cords even under the horns of the altar. The stone, the stone which the
builders refused. That's a wonderful description
of man-made religion, whatever description, whatever. That is the difference, isn't
it? Works and grace. All they're doing is building,
isn't it? Romans 10 says they're ignorant
of the righteousness of God and they're going about to establish
their own righteousness. They're always going about it.
If you go to any religion, it'll always have you doing things.
It'll always be encouraging you to join and do and do and do.
God's children. rest in one who has done it all
but also is doing it all in them. And he has ordained works for
us to do and we walk in them. So God's children are anxious
to be doing. But we're not doing what these
people are doing. These people are building a religious
name for themselves. The stone which the builders
refused has become the headstone of the corner. the headstone
of the corner. The Lord Jesus Christ in Genesis
49 is called the shepherd, the stone of Israel. In Deuteronomy 32, Moses says
about the difference between the children of God and the rest
of the children of the world. our rock. He says he's not like
their rock. And then he describes our rock.
He is the rock. His work, Deuteronomy 32.5, his
work is perfect. For all his ways are judgment
of God, of truth and without iniquity, just and right, Is
he? Our rock is not like their rock. This is a rock, this stone that
was cut out in Daniel 2 and not cut out, not with the hands of
men. It was a stone that was cut out
and it destroyed that great image that Nebuchadnezzar had seen
in his dream. This is the stone which the builders
refused has become the headstone of the corner. You might recall
there was a rock in the wilderness. There was a rock on Mount Sinai
and the rock was split and Moses was hid in that rock when he
saw the glory of God. And then for 40 years there was
a rock that followed them around the wilderness. That didn't mean
that a rock actually grew legs and walked up. Every time they
camped there was a rock. Every time they camped there
was a rock, and out of that rock flowed enough water to feed water
to a million people and all their animals. And abundance flows
out. And it's that fountain that's
opened, isn't it, for sin and uncleanness that Zechariah speaks
of. In Daniel 2, it's a stone cut, not by the hands of men.
It's that rock. It's that rock. But in Isaiah
chapter 28, if you just turn there briefly, Isaiah 28 verse 16 he's speaking
to a people who have made a religious covenant in verse 15 they've
made a covenant with death and he's speaking to people in verse
14 who are scornful men, scornful of God and scornful of His character
that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. And the reason
for their scorning is because you have said, we have made a
covenant with death. We acknowledge there's a death
and it's not going to touch us. And with hell, we're in agreement.
We agree that there is a hell, but I'm not going there. When
the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come
unto us. When God's judgment comes, it's not going to come
to us. We're above all of that. For
we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid
ourselves. Therefore, because of all that,
thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation
stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste. And how do you lay that foundation
stone? If you're a builder, you lay
that first foundation stone with the greatest of care. You make
sure that that foundation stone is sitting on a very firm foundation
itself. You make sure that that foundation
stone will mark out perfectly the corners of the building.
It will mark out a wall in that direction, and it will mark out
a wall exactly in that direction. And that foundation stone must
be perfectly level to be built upon. And listen to what he goes
on to say. Judgment also will I lay to the
lion, and righteousness to the ploughed. There is only one righteousness. What he's saying is that there
is a righteousness from God and a plumb bob just has a weight
with a point on it. And the idea was that you hold
it up when there is no wind and it marks one spot perfectly,
perfectly plumb. That's speaking of the perfection
of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It must be perfect
to be accepted. Judgment also will I lay to the
line, and righteousness to the plummet, and hail shall sweep
away the refuge of lies, and waters shall overflow the hiding
place, and your covenant with death shall be disannulled. How
many multitudes of people go out of this world believing that
they are right with God because of what someone has told them,
believing that they are right with God because of what they
have done. Believing they're right with God because of who
they belong to. Believing they're right with
God because of their doing, their building, their building. Your
covenant with death shall be disannulled. Your agreement with
hell shall not stand when the overflowing scourge shall pass
through and you'll be trodden down by it. This is the stone. This is the stone. This foundation
stone. This stone is laid in Zion. This stone According to Peter
in Acts chapter 4, when he was speaking to those people who
had crucified the Lord Jesus Christ and then persecuted the
church, he says, you builders have set this stone at naught. This is quoted many times in
the New Testament. But this stone has become the
head of the corner, the headstone of the corner. It marks the height. It marks the glory of what was
built on that foundation. It reveals the power and the
strength of the foundation and it stands in perfect vertical
relationship with it. It's in that, it's that plumb
line that's there. The corner is where two walls
meet. And in the Lord Jesus Christ
there is a meeting, isn't it, at the head of that corner? In
the Lord Jesus Christ there is a meeting between God and man. In the Lord Jesus Christ there
is a meeting. He was suspended between heaven
and earth. He can touch God and not be consumed by his holiness. He can touch man and not be defiled
by his sin. And he joins the two together.
He can join together at the corner sinners and a Saviour. He can
join together at the corner Jew and Gentile. He can join to the
corner the perfect obedience to the law of God and perfect
suffering under the law of God and be gracious to his people.
He can join together the holy wrath of God upon sin and the
satisfaction of God upon us. The head of the corner is what
you look to most, don't you? God says, I have laid help on
one that is mighty. There is a stone. There is a
stone. God is a rock. There is a meeting. There is a meeting between us
and a rock. What a glorious rock we have.
What a sure foundation. A tried stone, how he was tried,
everything about him was tried. Don't you love the fact that
they examined the Lord Jesus Christ to the most minute detail,
examined everything he ever did, everything he ever said, and
at the end of it they have to declare, this is a righteous
man. That lamb was examined before
the sacrifice. This stone is an examined stone. Turn with me in Matthew 21 because
this speaks of the stone. The Lord Jesus said, did you
ever, verse 42 of Matthew 21, said unto them, did you never
read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected?
The same is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's
doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. It's stupendous, it
is wonderful, it is surpassing, it's extraordinary in our eyes.
Therefore, say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken
from you. and given to a nation, bringing
forth the fruits thereof. He's taking that kingdom from
the Jews and he's giving it to his people that will give honour
to him. And he says, and whosoever shall
fall upon this stone shall be broken. You fall upon the Lord's
stone, who is the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll be broken.
You'll be broken from your self-righteousness. You'll be broken from your dependence
upon anything other his people and he's bringing them to himself. He'll break us from this world,
he'll break us from Satan's bounds. He will break his people, but
on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. There's one answer, brothers
and sisters, isn't there? Just bow. Bow. Bow to God. Raise the white
flag and bow to God. And this is all the Lord's doing.
And it is marvellous in our eyes. And if it's marvellous in our
eyes, you'll be able to say, this is the day which the Lord
hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. We may not at the time rejoice
and be glad in it, but when we see the Lord's hand upon the
circumstances of our lives, we will be caused in time to rejoice
and be glad in it. In his day, in the day of his
revelation of himself, in him being crucified. And here we
have in verse 25 that verse that they cried out to the Lord on
his way into Jerusalem. You can imagine what they're
crying. When you come to the Old Testament quoted in the New
Testament, you not only read all of that passage, but you
read around it. That's what these people did.
They were singing the whole psalm. We had words quoted, but they
were singing the whole song. Save now, save now, Abbasidji,
O Lord, O Lord. I beseech thee, send now prosperity,
and we know for the children of God this is not material prosperity. Send now the prosperity of knowing
you. Send now the prosperity of having
all of our spiritual blessings given to us in Christ Jesus.
All of our spiritual blessings are blood-bought blessings in
Him. We're heirs of the universe,
brothers and sisters. Don't go worrying too much about
the little things down here. We are eternal beings. The things of this world are
fleeting. The things of eternity are forever. Blessed be he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the
house of the Lord. I keep reminding you that the
name of the Lord is not just a name. Countless multitudes
talk about Jesus and countless multitudes talk about Lord and
countless multitudes talk about Christ and have no knowledge
of him. It's all about his character. All of his character revealed
is his name. Every little last bit of it.
People, God's children, love every attribute of God and you
wouldn't want to change a thing. But listen to verse 27. I want to spend just a few minutes
here looking at this. you God is the Lord which has
showed us light. What's the light that he shows?
John chapter 8 makes it abundantly clear that the light of the world
is the light of how he can have an openly wicked sinner deserving
of death brought into his presence. That lady was probably brought
there with hardly any clothes on at all. They made a public
show of her as much as they possibly could with the intent to entrap
him. But the light of the world is
the light of how he can say to her, I don't condemn you. That's what the light of the
world is. The light of the world is how he's a saviour for sinners. He showed us light. That's what
he's saying in John chapter 12. The light's with you for a little
while. Walk while you have the light. Darkness come upon you. Walk in the light. Walk in the
light of who He is. Walk in the light of Him being
this glorious Saviour. Walk in the light of Him who
does marvellous things in our eyes. Walk in the light of Him
who lays His eye on this cornerstone, this foundation stone and this
head of the corner. But what's the light? Listen
to what it is. How will you see light? You'll see
the light of who God is when you see this next phrase, bind
the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
Why did the Lord Jesus Christ come? Why did he come into Jerusalem
and set his face like a flint? He came there to die. He came
there to save his people from their sins. He came there as
a sacrifice. He came there as a substitute.
He came there as a lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world. We see his light when we see his salvation, when we
see his substitutionary sacrificial death. What was he bound with
behind the sacrifices with cords to the horns of the altar? There's a lovely picture, isn't
it, in Genesis 22 of Abraham taking Isaac up on the mountain
and he bound him. And Isaac asks the best question
that could ever be asked, isn't it? He says, here's the wood
and here's the fire, where's the lamb? And Abraham's answer
in Genesis 22 is absolutely wonderful, isn't he? He said, God will provide
himself a lamb. And Isaac, picturing the Lord
Jesus Christ, is bound by his father on that sacrifice. And
then we have that glorious substitution, and God says he will provide. He's bound by his covenant promises. He's bound as a faithful son
to his father. He does exactly what his father
asked him to do. He's perfectly obedient in everything
he does. He's bound as the surety of the
eternal covenant. He's bound by the promise that
he made before the foundation of the world. And in the blood
of the eternal covenant, the lamb was slain from the foundation
of the world. And here's the surety. Here's
the surety. When he bound himself in those
eternal promises, he said, I'm taking full responsibility. And
as Judah did with Jacob, he said, I don't bring him back to you.
Then you lay the blame on me forever. That's what the surety
is. He's the surety. Genesis 40 true
and Hebrews 10. A surety swears to his hurt. Psalm 15 is a wonderful description
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It can only be a description
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's only a description of him
and it's a description of all who enter in him. He swears,
verse 4, he swears to his own herd and changes not. Why aren't you consumed, children
of Jacob? Because he changes not. He swears
to his herd. Love bound him. I had bound him. In John Chapter
18, before he went to the cross, he went out of that garden they
came looking for him. He went out and he declared himself
to be God Almighty and a small army fell to the ground, Judas
included. And he says, Now that you know
who I am, you can bind me. He went as a lamb to the sacrifice
bound by covenant promises, bound by love to his bride. 100% of
our salvation is tied up in him being bound eternally. He's bound
himself, brothers and sisters, to you, his children, to you
who believe he's bound himself. And that's the light. The light
of the Gospel is the death and the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the glorious substitution, the glorious sacrifice. It's
marvellous. Is it marvellous in your eyes
that he builds his church upon this foundation of the Lord Jesus
Christ and him crucified? He goes out into this world as
a triumphant king and he sends his people out into this world
as a triumphant king and he gathers all of them to himself. We have an altar. He's bound
to that altar. And the fire of God fell on that
altar, and the Lord Jesus Christ consumed the fire of God's wrath. And he wasn't consumed himself.
It cannot fall a second time, brothers and sisters. It has
fallen on him. You might have heard the story
of the people going across the prairies of America a long, long
time ago, and there was this huge fire coming. And everyone
was panicked and terrified because it was coming fast and it was
just too big for them to outrun and you just couldn't get away
from it. And so what one of the people did is he lit a fire behind
them. burnt this huge patch of ground
and then he moved all of their caravans, all of their wagons
into the burnt piece of ground. Because the wrath of God cannot
in justice fall twice. The smoke came, but the fire
cannot come. The fire of God's wrath cannot
fall on the Lord Jesus Christ and then fall on us. Which is
why in verse 28, just to finish, and 29, Thou art my God. This God, I will praise thee.
Thou art my God. I will exalt, I'll praise thee. I'll praise you for what you
have done. I'll praise you for showing me
the light of who you are. I will exalt you. I won't be exalted myself, but
I'll exalt you. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good and his mercy endures forever. If a man vow a vow unto the Lord
or swear an oath to bind his soul with a band, he shall not
break his word. The Lord Jesus Christ is faithful.
May he add his blessing to his word. Let's have a break. Thank
you.