You remember the verse 22. The Lord being the chief cornerstone
refused, rejected of you builders it says. The scripture calls
mankind a builder and we all are. We all build some kind of
structure. Our Lord told the parable of
the man who built his house on the sand and the one who built
his house on the rock, but everybody builds something somewhere. And so the picture is clear,
the cornerstone, that's the stone by which the building is made
square and strong and supported, the foundation is laid by that
stone. And what the picture here is,
man rejected him, Christ, as the chief as the foundation,
as precious, as you see the word there, elect and precious in
the scriptures. It says he's the cornerstone,
it's elect of God and precious. Rejected in that regard by mankind
but exalted by his father. And so we see that here in the
text. The stone which the builders
refused has become the headstone of the corner This is the Lord's
doing, not man's doing. Man didn't exalt him. Man rejected
him. He came unto his own and his
own received him not. But the Lord, the exaltation
of the Son in spite of his rejection by this world, that's the teaching
here and that's the Lord's doing. The Father hath exalted the Son.
If you remember Psalm 2, if you want to read that later and remember,
God says, I've set my king on my holy hill of Zion. That's
Christ. And if you read that Psalm, it
talks about how the heathen rage against him and defy him and
say, we'll cast his bands from us. He won't control us. We won't
pledge allegiance to God's king. And they reject him. But at the
end of the psalm, the Lord gives very solemn advice. He says,
you kiss the son lest he be angry and you be destroyed. You'll
acknowledge Christ as God's King or you'll perish in your sins.
You'll bow to him or you'll be broken. That's the message of
this book all through. The heathen rage and they plot
to exempt themselves from the authority of Christ, but the
Father, he says in that Psalm, Psalm 2, he laughs at them. He'll
laugh them to scorn, and he'll do what he purposed to do to
begin with. Establish his king on his throne, and he'll call
all the shots, and man will talk about his free will, and he'll
rant and rage about how that's not fair, and God will still
do what he purposed to do, and man will either bow or be damned. kiss the Son, or be destroyed. So the Father hath exalted Him.
The Son of God, God's Son, Jesus Christ, as He is revealed in
this book, as the Sovereign King of Glory, may not be someone
that you want to submit to, but the Father says, submit you shall.
Every knee shall bow, the willing ones and the unwilling ones.
every kneel down. So this is the Lord's doing,
it's the Father's doing, it's also the Son's doing. He has
succeeded in becoming the chief cornerstone of the structure
of all of God's universe and all of God's purpose in spite
of the opposition of all of earth and hell. by accomplishing perfectly
and satisfactorily the work that the father gave him to do you
remember he said I must be about my father's business and he said
I come here to do the will of him that sent me and here's what
it is of all those he's given me I'm not going to lose any
of them I'm going to redeem them I'm going to raise them up at
the last day and he prayed in that high priestly prayer in
John 17 those that you've given me I've taught them prayed for
us, interceded for us. So the Son, in accomplishing
the work that the Father gave Him to do, this is His doing,
Christ's doing has led to Him being the Chief Cornerstone. His work that the Father gave
Him to do is to redeem His people and to raise us up. And think
about this, because of the work And think about this, the Father
exalted the Son, so this is the Lord's doing, the Father, and
remember we're talking about the exaltation of Christ, the
acknowledgement of Christ as the chief cornerstone, rejected
of men, but exalted by God. The Father exalted him, but why
did the Father exalt him? Because of what he did, what
he accomplished. So it's the Lord's doing in the sense that
the Son deserves to be the chief cornerstone.
He earned it. He is the chief cornerstone.
Listen to Hebrews 3.1. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers
of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of
our profession, Christ Jesus. Think about Christ for a minute.
The apostle and high priest of our profession, who was faithful
to him that appointed him. He did the work that the Father
gave him to do. He was faithful to accomplish what God sent him
to do. As also Moses was faithful in all of his house, so he is
compared to Moses in that regard. But this man, Christ, was counted
worthy of more glory than Moses inasmuch as he who hath builded
the house hath more honor than the house. So Christ Being the
chief cornerstone, being exalted, being elect and precious, and
being preeminent is the Father's doing, but it's also Christ's
doing, because he was faithful to him that appointed him. He's
worthy of more glory than any other creature, than any creature,
period, because he's the eternal Son of God. Inasmuch as he who
built the house is worthy of more glory than the house, that's
quite a bit more isn't it? Christ is the one who is faithful
and who does the building. He is the one who built the house
and we're the house. Moses is a sinner just like us.
Moses is the one who was built and so are we. We are built up
a holy spiritual house, living stones it says in the scripture.
But Christ is the chief, and it's the Father's doing and it's
the Son's doing. And think about this, because
of the work, the doing, to use the language of our text again,
of the Holy Spirit, the Father exalted Him. But why? Because
of what He did. So it's the Christ's doing, but
because of the Holy Spirit's work, He's the chief cornerstone
to me. This is important. Disallowed, rejected, refused
of men. But not all men. All men for
a time. But do you reject him as the
chief cornerstone? If not, it's because this is
the Lord's doing, the Holy Spirit. So you see Father, Son, and Spirit. The reason he's your chief cornerstone,
the reason he's preeminent in your eyes, the reason he's precious
to you is because the Holy Spirit has changed you, has done a work
in you. The Father purposed all of this
and he himself exalted the Son. He said, come and sit on my right
hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Son finished
the work that makes him the foundation of all of God's purpose. But
if it is going to be marvelous in my eyes, as the scripture
says here, as the text says, the Holy Spirit must come and
take these things and reveal them to me. So you see, when
it says this is the Lord's doing, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. I also refused that stone at
one time. But now to me, he's precious.
This is the Lord's The Holy Spirit's doing. The Father loved and purposed
all of this for me. Christ accomplished the work
of salvation for me and the Holy Spirit accomplished the work
of salvation in me. Christ in me is the hope of glory
for me. And because he did, the stone
that I once rejected has become in my heart forever to me the
chief cornerstone. I wouldn't build anywhere else
but you. Other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid,
Jesus Christ. This is the Lord's doing, all
of it, in all of the Lord's persons, and it is indeed marvelous. In
the eyes of His people, perhaps not to this world, but to His
people it's marvelous, that Christ is exalted. That everything rests
on Him, the cornerstone, the whole building, rests on Him. That's the way I like it. How
about you? That's marvelous to me. The Lord did that. People say, well, you need to
make Him Lord. No, you don't. The Father already did that.
He's Lord whether you like it or not. I kind of like it. By
His grace, I like it. Verse 24. This is the day which
the Lord hath made. We will rejoice be glad in it. A lot of people quote that verse
out of context and I guess that's fine. Today is a day that the
Lord has made and we have every reason to rejoice and be glad
in it. This is talking about in the context of this passage. This may refer to the day of
our Lord's exaltation to the throne. In some specific sense
some other day maybe but none can be sure about that. It would
seem that if we are rejoicing in it then it must have something
to do with the day that the Lord reveals this to us, that he's
exalted in our eyes, because we're rejoicing in it. So maybe
that's what it is. It's likely not meant to be a
certain specific day, but likely is symbolic just as the sun rises. What is day? It's the sun rising
in its glory. And that's what our text is talking
about. The sun, S-O-N, rising, exalted. Acknowledged as the chief cornerstone. Disallowed of men, but exalted
by God. In the purpose of God, everything
rests on Him, His glory. So you see, that's the day, I
believe, that it's talking. It's symbolic of the sun rising
in His glory and exaltation. That's what day is, the sun rising.
But the S-O-N, sun. is being exalted here. Either
way, it's His doing, isn't it? It's His doing. It's marvelous
because of who it is that is exalted and acknowledged as preeminent. We will rejoice in it because
we're partakers in it with Him. Him being exalted, I have an
interest in that. If we suffer with Him, we reign
with Him. You see, If our Lord is exalted, if our representative
is exalted, then we're going to be exalted. If he rose, we
rise. So that's one reason we rejoice
and are glad in this. And we rejoice and are glad in
it because we love him. I'd like to see anybody that
I love honored, don't you? Oh, well how he's honored here.
And so I rejoice and am glad in it because somebody that I
love by His grace is very highly honored here. Turn with me to John chapter
3. I was going to just read this to you, but I think you need
to look at this. This is the day the Lord has
made and we will rejoice. It's the Lord's doing. He's the
Chief Court. You see how it's all about Him.
What's our part in it? We're just glad. That's a pretty
good part in it. We're just rejoicing because
Christ is honored and exalted. That's what's happening here
in John 3 and it's perfectly suited to our text. Listen to
John 3, 25. Look at it with me. Then there
arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews
about purifying and they came to John the Baptist and said
unto him, Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom
thou bearest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men
come to him." It's like they were sort of jealous, you know. He's got more disciples than
you have, you know, than we are. And there seemed to be some sort
of competition kind of going on here. But John answered and
said, A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.
You yourselves bear me witness that I said I'm not the Christ.
Don't be surprised that everybody's going to Him. That's what we
want them to do. John the Baptist is the one that
said, there's God's Lamb, right there, not me, there. The one
that takes sins away. There's the, behold, the Lamb
of God. I'm not the Christ, but I am sent before Him, and He
that hath the bride is the bridegroom. Everybody's going, everybody's
believing on Him. Well, He must be the bridegroom
then, because whoever has the bride is the bridegroom. But
the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him,
rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. This
my joy therefore is fulfilled. What are you so happy about,
John? He's increasing and I'm decreasing. And that's, boy,
it's got to be that way, doesn't it? Got to be. That's just right. You see that? He must increase
and I must decrease. Christ is going to get all the
glory in the salvation of sinners. Is that alright with y'all? If you're saved, if you've got
any reason to not say that you belong to God, that you're one
of His, that you're saved, this book says you're saved by free
grace through faith and that's not of yourselves. You didn't
come up with that. It's the gift of God, that your
faith is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should
boast. Nothing could be clearer in the word of God. Christ is
called the author and finisher of our faith. The fruit of the
Spirit is faith. You don't just come up with that.
You don't just wake up and decide, I'm going to believe someday. He must increase. He's going
to get all of the glory and salvation. Well, doesn't that bother you?
They said, doesn't that bother you? That everybody's, you know,
he's getting all the glory. Your works are counted as loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord. Your
will, come to find out, preachers are lying to people. Your will
is the problem. It's not the solution. Your works are the problem. His
work is all of our righteousness. Salvation is by free grace through
faith in Christ alone, and that's not of yourselves, it's the gift
of God. And boasting of any kind for you is utterly excluded,
Ephesians chapter 2. I'm not making it up. It's called
the Word of God. Is that going to be a problem
for you? No, we will rejoice and be glad in it. It's His day. It's His doing. It's His will. It's His grace. And he's going to be exalted
and we're not. And we're going to be glad about
it. Thank God. Not unto us, O Lord. Not unto us, but unto thy name
give glory. Verse 25. Now look at this. Boy, you talk about beautiful
now. Save now. Save now. I beg you, O Lord. I beg you. Oh Lord, I beg you. You see how he says that twice?
He says, Oh Lord, twice. And he says, I'm begging you,
twice. Save. Save now. What does this have to do with
our context? Never take any scripture out of context. We're talking
about the establishment of Christ as the foundation of all of God's
purpose. His exaltation, the honoring
of Him. All of this has been the Lord's
doing. Everything. He chose us. He loved us. He purposed to save
us. He sent His Son. In the person of His Son, He
sought us and found us, redeemed us, called us, preached to us,
revealed the Father to us. In the person of his Holy Spirit,
he came where we were, blew where he pleased, and he was pleased
to come my way. And he gave me life. Called me. And regenerated me,
saved me. All of this has been his doing.
But you know, if anything's gonna happen right now, he's gonna have to do that too.
save now. You see the progression of thought
here. Lord you have loved and you have purposed and you have
chosen sinners in eternity. You have come where we are. You
were made of a woman made under the law that you might redeem
them which were under the law. You have finished the work that
the father gave you to do and have lost nothing. All through
history you've opened sinners hearts and given life where there
was only death. A new birth, birth from above. You opened Lydia's heart. You
opened the understanding of your disciples that they might see
you in all of the Word of God. You changed Saul of Tarsus from
your worst enemy into a submissive, willing servant in a moment. All of this is your doing and
it's marvelous and we rejoice and we're glad, but Lord, We
need you too, right now. We need you right now. We have
children right now that need the life-giving touch of the
Savior. Those we love, there are those
that I love that are grievously vexed with devils, just like
the scripture says. And we can't do anything about
that. We can't do anything about that. We call on you. We pray,
save now. Oh Lord, oh Lord, save. We beg you. And we say, oh Lord,
oh Lord. Why do we say that? Oh Lord,
oh Lord, because first of all, we know that it's his prerogative
to save. Oh Lord. You see people with a bumper
sticker that says Jesus is Lord. But I tell you this, when you
know Jesus is Lord, it's when you acknowledge and submit to
the truth that he'll save who he wants to save, and he'll damn
who he wants to damn. That's what he said to Pharaoh.
He said, I raised you up to drop you in hell, and I'll have mercy
on whom I will. Oh Lord, oh Lord, have mercy
on me. You see, now you can say, oh
Lord, when you bow like that. If not, then just take the bumper
sticker off your car and quit saying it. Because He's not your
Lord. He's your Lord, but you're not
acknowledging Him as Lord. We say, Oh Lord, Oh Lord, because
salvation is at His discretion. He saves whom He wills. The Lord
Jesus Christ said, as the Father quickeneth whom he will, so he
has given authority to me to give life to whomsoever I please. And he walks through a crowd
of Jews and says to Zacchaeus, you come down, I'm going to go
live at your house today because you're a Jew. Not an earthly
Jew, a spiritual Jew. He comes to the pool of Bethesda
and passes by dozens and says, how about you? Would you like to be made whole? Doesn't sound like the Jesus
of religion today who's waiting on somebody to make a decision
for him, does it? You read the Bible, you'll see a different
savior than the one that's being preached today. We know that he will do what's
right. We're crying out for our children,
for ourself. I'm still praying God save me.
If he has begun a good work, he'll finish it. But we still
cry, aren't we? Save me, save us, save my children,
save my friends, save those that I love. And we know that he'll
do what's right, whatever he does, oh Lord. All of creation
will bow to your will, and rightly so. But also we cry, O Lord, O Lord,
because we know that he's able. Only the Lord can save a sinner.
Only the sovereign Christ. That leper said, Lord, if you
will. He didn't come to the Savior
talking about his will. He said, what about your will?
If you will, you can save me. And the Lord said, I will. Sounds like that kind of hinges
on his will, doesn't it? But think about this, his power.
The one who can just say, I want to, and so I'll do it. What do
you say to him? Oh Lord, oh Lord, save. If you will, you can. You can
make everybody in this room whole. You can make everybody that I
know whole if you want to, if it pleases you to do it. Just speak the word only. That's
what that centurion said. Just speak the word only, Lord,
and my servant will be made whole. Just say it. Just say it. Our children and our grandchildren,
our wives, our husbands, our dear loved ones will be healed. Just say it. And we cry to you, O Lord, because
we know that you delight to show mercy. You're plenteous in mercy. You're kind and gracious to sinners. And so we call upon you. Be kind
and long-suffering with our sons and daughters as you were with
us, O Lord. Save. And don't miss that word. Say,
don't just skip over that word, save, now. And then think, well,
we know what that means. Do you? Save. Don't give them a chance. They
need more than that. They don't need a chance. They
need to be saved. We don't want them to do anything.
We're calling on the Lord to do something. That's what salvation
is. It's not you doing something.
It's God doing something. So we're begging, we're begging
the Lord to save our children. And to that word prosper there
at the end of the verse, make your word, your ministry, your
purpose of mercy towards sinners, your gospel prosperous right
here in our midst. Save now. That's a good prayer. Oh Lord, I'm begging you. We're mercy beggars. I wish I could preach him high
enough and us low enough. We are mercy beggars. We don't
deserve anything from God but hell. If you're going to have
mercy, you're going to beg for it. Blessed be he, verse 26, that
cometh in the name of the Lord We have blessed you out of the
house of the Lord. Blessed be He. These were the words that were
shouted at our Lord's, what's called our Lord's triumphal entry
into Jerusalem. Recorded in Luke chapter 19.
We probably ought to turn and read that. It won't take a little
bit. Let's look at it. Luke chapter
19. We need to look at it because
we're not preaching my opinion tonight. This is the clear plain
word of God. Luke 19. Let's start in verse 28. When he had
thus spoken, he went before ascending up to Jerusalem. And it came
to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany at the
mount called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,
saying, Go ye into the village over against you, in the which,
at your entering, you shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never
man sat. Loose him, and bring him hither.
And if any man ask you, why do you loose him? Thus shall you
say unto him, because the Lord hath need of him. Probably worth
something, don't you think? An animal like that. Worth quite
a bit now, probably a whole lot more then. I imagine if somebody
did find you taking their mule, they probably would say, what
are you doing? Here's the answer, the Lord needs him. The Lord
needs him. And they that were sent went
their way, and found, even as he had said unto them, and as
they were loosing the coat, the owners there have said unto them,
Why are you loosing the coat? What are you doing? That's my
coat. And they said, The Lord hath need of him. And they brought him to Jesus.
And they cast their garments upon the coat, and they set Jesus
thereon. And as he went, they spread their
clothes in the way. And when he was come nigh, Even
now, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude
of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice
for all the mighty works they had seen, saying, Blessed be
the King that cometh in the name of the Lord, peace in heaven,
and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from
among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.
They are calling you the Lord. They are calling you the High.
They're giving you too much credit. And He answered and said unto
them, I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the
stones would immediately cry out. The Lord's going to be praised. He's going to be exalted. He's
going to get the glory He's due. Are you in on it or out of it?
Are we in on that? Or is He going to get somebody
else? Blessed be he, blessed be he
that cometh. Now you think about this, blessed
be he because of who he is, he's God. Blessed be he because he
cometh, he's God with us. Blessed be he and he comes in
the name of his father to do the will of his father and that
will is God's purpose of love and grace toward his people.
He's God for us. Blessed indeed be his name. Blessed
be he because of why he cometh. Think with me. We know by God's grace and light
why he is coming into Jerusalem. Why is our Lord entering into
Jerusalem on a colt? Verse 27 in our text. Think with
me. Almost through. God is the Lord
which hath showed us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords,
even unto the horns of the altar. Blessed be he that cometh in
the name of the Lord. The words that again that they
use when he's entering into Jerusalem on a colt and he's being exalted
and praised and lauded and glorified. But why is he coming? Bind the
sacrifice with cords even to the horns of the altar. Christ came to Jerusalem because
he is that sacrifice. It's in Psalm 118. Matthew 20 and verse 18. Behold
our Lord Jesus Christ said we go up to Jerusalem. While we
go in there Lord the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief
priests and unto the scribes and they shall condemn him to
death and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge
and to crucify him and the third day he will rise again. Why is
he coming into Jerusalem? What's the occasion of this glory
of his triumphal entry and all the praise that he's receiving.
He's coming to be betrayed, condemned, mocked, scourged, and crucified. And this is cruel language, bind
the sacrifice to the altar with cords. You think about that little
innocent animal, a lamb, and you can imagine him struggling.
Why'd they bind him? You can imagine him crying, but
our Lord opened not his mouth. And the Old Testament sacrifices
were bound with some kind of rope, but the binds that held
our Lord to the altar were his love for his people and his love
for his father, his determination to do what his father gave him
to do. for the joy that was set before
him, the author and finisher of our faith, despising the shame,
endured the cross, and now he is set down at the right hand
of the throne of God. He is the chief cornerstone,
elect and precious and preeminent, but before he was preeminent,
he was despised. Before he was exalted, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. And don't miss the first part
of verse 27. We see Christ crucified. We understand
who he is. We know why he came into Jerusalem.
Why? Because God gave us some light. That's why. You ever heard a message like
this? Lately? Anywhere? But from the men that
we God gave some light, didn't he? You see what he did? You see
who he is? You see what this is all about?
You see why he did it? God gave some light. I've never heard this on TV,
have you? Not one time. God gotta give some light, doesn't
he? God has shown it to us. And what
is our response? We see Christ as the sacrifice,
bound to the altar of God's justice by his love. Herein is love. We see the print of the nails
in his hands, as Thomas did. The hands that formed the universe. had nail scars in them. And we're called upon by him
as Thomas was to thrust our hand into his side. And what will
we say? It's just what he did. You see verse 28? You're my God. When you see Christ exalted and
why he's exalted, Because of what he did, what he accomplished,
what he did for you. Because of the death that he
accomplished. And you see him in that character as Thomas did.
Now he stood there and the Lord, just a couple of minutes ago,
he said, I will not believe. And the Lord appeared. The door
being shut, the Lord was in the room. And he said, Thomas, See
the nail prints in my hands, reach hither and put your finger
in there. And thrust your hand in my side and be not faithless,
but believing. He saw Christ in his redemptive
character. He saw Christ as God's sacrificial
lamb. And he said, just what David
did. You're my God. And I'm gonna praise you. As long as I have any breath
in me, I'm gonna praise you with it. You are my God, I will exalt
you. What does this mean, you are
my God? Utter allegiance. I'm your man. You're my God and I'm your man.
What does this mean? Utter trust. Do with me what
you will. You're my God. You do whatever
you will with me. What does this mean? Utter worship. You are worthy of all glory. I don't want any. Not unto us,
O Lord. Not unto us. But unto thy name
give glory for your mercy and for your truth's sake. That's
what it means to say you are my God. Utter worship. What else does it mean? Utter
submission. Not my will, but thy will be
done. Not my will. I hear a lot of people in religion
talking about their will, but they're not saying not my will. That's not what they're saying
about it. What does it mean? Utter devotion. You know all things. You know
that I love you. Because you love me first, I
love you. Now what would you have me do?
You're my God. This is our response to our Lord. As he held out his nail-scarred
hands and showed them to Thomas, he does that in his gospel to
us. He says to us, also, come here. Come hither, Thomas. Come here. And be not faithless,
but believing. Come here. When you see those
scars and know that they are for you, you will say, my Lord
and my God. And there's only one way to finish
this. First David says to God, you're
my God and I'm gonna praise you. And then he says to the church
in the final verse of our text, now all of you give thanks unto
him. Give thanks unto him. All who
will hear, all who know him by that light that he shines, all
of you who know this, everything is thanks to him.
And so thanks be unto Him. We owe everything to the goodness
and mercy of God, which is in Christ Jesus. He's good and He's merciful. You see that in the last text?
Why are we giving thanks to Him? Because everything is thanks
to Him. And His goodness and His mercy, as David said in another
place, pursues us, hounds us throughout all of our lives. There's never a reason, there's
never a time when we can't stop and be overwhelmed with gratitude
unto Him. Never a time. David said, surely His goodness
and mercy shall follow me. That word is pursue, shall chase
me, shall hound me. all the days of my life. And
then I'm going to dwell in His house. That's pretty good isn't
it? Give thanks. Give thanks unto
Him. He's worthy of all gratitude.
Now David says give it to Him. Give it to Him. And may we by
His grace do so. Let's pray.