Thank you, Jaime. We'll be there in Psalm 7. Before
I forget, be sure to read the bulletin this morning. There's
actually an article in there about the purpose of these bulletins. And I had a good question asked this
week about how do I read the Lord's Word and how do I become
more willing to read His Word? And that's a good, honest question.
Maybe the Lord could use this bulletin to help you to study
His Word and to read His Word. But also, encouragement in judgment. This is a message I preached
some time ago, but it goes right along with the message this morning.
I've titled this message, The Judgment Commanded. Psalm 7 and verse 6. Now David was being hounded by some enemies
who were raging in their hearts against him. Wicked King Saul
and all his wicked cronies. They were coming after David.
And David prays in verse 6, Arise, O Lord, in thine anger. Lift
up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies. Now the judgment
that God had commanded was that David would be the king in Israel. He would be the king in Israel.
So David asks there in verse 6, and awake for me to the judgment
that thou hast commanded. Now when David would take the
throne in Israel, King David would put down the reign of wicked
Saul. He put down the reign of his
wicked men. King David would bring the Ark
of the Covenant back and establish the true worship of the true
and living God in Jerusalem for the children of Israel. It would
be a wonderful day for the children of Israel. He would bring them
into the peace of the righteous and just reign of the true and
living God. King David would do this. And
all of this King David would do for the children of God once
he was exalted to that throne, once God had risen to the judgment
he had commanded. And so he prays in verse 7, So
shall the congregation of the people come past thee about. So shall they be drawn to your
throne, drawn to your house of worship, drawn to worship you. because you commanded the judgment
and put me on the throne, and I'll do this for your name's
sake, O Father." And he says, for their sakes, therefore, return
thou on high. Now God took the restraints off
King Saul. He took the restraints off all
those wicked men so that they could rage against David and
bring out all their venom and everything that they could. They
could muster within themselves against King David and bring
him out there in the middle of nowhere and hound him looking
to persecute him unto death. God did that. He took all the
restraints off and He did it to show the faithfulness of David.
David committed everything to the hand of God. That's what
we need to do. Commit it all to His hand, to
Him that judgeth righteously. But God did that to show His
children then and to show His children today, right now, the
faithfulness of Christ our King, of Christ our King, King Jesus. You see, when Christ walked this
earth, He was hounded by the wicked prince of this world,
Satan, and a host of wicked men who loved a form of religion
but hated God. He was, and this was His prayer,
Arise, O Lord, verse 6, in thine anger, lift up thyself because
of the rage of mine enemies. You know who the enemies of God
are? The enemies of Christ. You know who the enemies of Christ
are? The enemies of God. You know who the enemies of God
and Christ are? The enemies of His people. Because
God, because you are in Christ, you are Christ and Christ is
God. That's why we're in Him. And
anybody that's our enemy is His enemy. He said, Arise, O Lord,
in thine anger. Lift up thyself because of the
rage of mine enemies. Now, the judgment that God had
commanded was that Christ his Son rise to the throne of glory,
King of kings and Lord of lords. That glorious high mountain,
Brother Hyman just spoke about, that mountain in heavenly Jerusalem,
that mountain where he now sits reigning and ruling right now.
And so he prays in verse 6, Awake for me to the judgment that thou
hast commanded. This is Christ speaking. When
Christ took that heavenly throne in heavenly Jerusalem, King Jesus
put down the reign of wicked Satan. He puts down his reign
and his wicked men, and King Jesus brought back the ark of
the covenant, that ark that he is. He came into heaven's glory,
the mercy seat, that one whose blood overshed the broken law,
that one who is the manna, the bread, that one who is Aaron's
rotted, but he's gone into the ark, into the holiest of holies,
in whom the whole law is fulfilled. And King Jesus gets the glory
for sending forth his ambassadors. The Lord said, I'll give you
pastors after my own heart which shall feed you with knowledge
and understanding. Because he's going to get the
glory, as David did, for restoring all this in the kingdom. And
by the power of the Holy Spirit, he receives the glory for bringing
every elect, redeemed child of God into the peace of the righteous
and just reign of the true and living God. King Jesus does this. So all of this that King Jesus
prayed for when he was in this earth, surrounded by his enemies,
hounded by Satan and all the wicked enemies that were raging
against him, he did all of this praying this, not just for himself,
but for his children. Verse 7, he says, So, by you
raising me to the throne, by you raising me to be king of
kings and Lord of lords, saving me from my enemies, so shall
the congregation of the people come pass thee about, so shall
they come to God's throne of grace. For their sakes, therefore,
return thou on high. Now, let's look at a few things
about this passage. First of all, Let's talk a bit about the rage
of his enemies. In verse 6 he says, Arise, O
Lord, in thine anger. You see down in verse 11, God
judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every
day. He says, Arise in thine anger.
Lift up thyself. Because during that time when
the enemies were prevailing, when they were raging against
our Savior, it appeared as if the Lord had slumbered, though
he never slumbers. He permitted that rage to come
about. He says, but raise up thyself because of the rage of
my enemies. I'll tell you who raged against
Christ while he walked this earth more than anybody else. Satan,
the prince of the power of the air. like King Saul, he raged
against him. As soon as our Lord was baptized,
he was driven into the wilderness and the tempter came and tempted
him. He said, God spoke and said,
this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him.
And the first words out of Satan's mouth was, if thou be the son
of God, if thou be the Son of God. And
he was hounded by a host of wicked, religious, vainly wicked men,
vainly religious men. And one of the first words out
of their mouth was, if thou be the Son of God. What are a few of the ways that
they raged against Christ? Well, read here in verse 8. First of all, let me make a positive
comment on this and then we're going to look at something in
a negative way here. This is what David said. This
is what Christ said. The Lord shall judge the people.
Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according
to my integrity that is in me. Christ could say this unequivocally,
not of another, only of himself. He is the righteous one who only
did righteousness. His integrity is his heart, his
wholeness, the integer of his heart, wholeness, complete. He
said, Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked one come to an
end, but establish the just. God established His Son because
His Son is just and His Son is the justifier. That's what He
came for was to just and justify His people. Now all of His people
who were born of Him created anew. That new man is created
in righteousness and true holiness. Now David had done some right
things here and he'd done them from the heart. But David could
say without a doubt concerning being robed in Christ's righteousness
and being made new in the heart by the Spirit of God, he could
say, Lord, judge me according to righteousness, according to
the integrity that's in me, because it was the work of God. He wasn't
saying judge me because of something I've done. Judge me by what you've
done, Lord, what you've created. Let the wickedness of the wicked
come to an end and establish the just. God establishes those
He's justified. He establishes them. For the
righteous God trieth the hearts and reigns. He looks on the heart
and the reigns. He knows the heart He's created.
He knows the heart He's given. He knows the heart where He's
put grace and peace and where Christ abides, where the Spirit
of God abides. And He upholds that heart. He
upholds holds that heart. My defense is of God which saveth
the upright in heart. But now look at that very same
word and we'll see. Look at it the opposite now.
We're going to see something here about this is exactly how
the wicked persecuted Christ. The scripture says the Lord shall
judge the people. The wicked enemies set themselves
in the judgment seat of God. They set themselves up of God,
judges of God's word, judges of God's way, judges of God,
judges of Christ, judges of His disciples. He says here, according
to my righteousness, according to my integrity that's in me.
They spent every ounce of energy they had laboring exceptionally
hard to find some unrighteousness in Christ and to smear his holy
character. Let's look at it. Luke chapter
6. Luke chapter 6. Look at verse 6. It came to pass
also on another Sabbath. Now this is Christ. This is God
who gave the law of the Sabbath. I think he understands it. I
think he knows what it means. He's the fulfillment of the law.
On another Sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and taught. And there was a man whose right
hand was withered who was sitting there. And the scribes and Pharisees
watched Him. They were watching Him. I pray
God this morning He make you watch Him in grace and truth. Not like they watched Him. They
were watching Him. They watched Him whether He would
heal on the Sabbath day. Why were they watching? That
they might find an accusation against Him. They were looking
for something to lay to his charge. This is what wicked enemies do. This is what the wicked enemies
of God, of Christ, of his people, this is what they do. They're
watching for something to accuse with. But he knew their thoughts
and said to the man which had the withered hand, rise up and
stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.
Then Jesus said unto them, I love this, now watch. They wanted
to be the judges. They wanted to stand in the judgment
seat and determine whether this is the true God or not. So Christ,
in His wisdom, He puts them right in the judgment seat. And says,
alright, you're in the judgment seat. Let's hear what you answer.
I'll ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath days
to do good or to do evil? To save life or to destroy it? And looking round about them
all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so,
and his hand was restored whole as as the other, and they were
filled with madness." Rage. They didn't say anything,
but they were filled. They couldn't answer that question.
They were filled with madness and communed one with another
what they might do to Jesus. Can't you just see him? As soon
as they got home, picked up the telephone. Hey! Did you see what he did?
Did you see that? Did you catch what he did? We've
got to do something about this. We've got to do something about
him. I saw it. Just wait. We're going to get
him. Sooner or later, he's going to mess up and we'll get him.
We'll be watching. We'll be watching. Look over at Luke 7, verse 39. Let's just read this for verse
36. One of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him.
Trouble's always on the horizon when that's the case. When a
Pharisee asked you to come eat at his table, something's about
to happen. Beware. And he went into the Pharisee's
house and sat down to meet. And behold, a woman in the city,
which was a sinner. When she knew that Jesus sat
at meet in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster box
of ointment, the most costliest thing she had, stood at his feet
behind him weeping and began to wash his feet with tears and
then wiped them with the hairs of her head and kissed his feet
and anointed them with the ointment. Now watch the Pharisee. He's watching this. He's seeing
all this. I think his heart is just rejoicing
over the grace of God in saving this poor harlot. Now when the
Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself. This rage is in the heart. That's
where it's at. It's heart rate. He said within
himself, said, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known
who and what manner of woman this is that touches them, for
she is a sinner. Put himself right in the judgment
seat, didn't he? Judge God. Judge that God's grace
was not right. Judge that showing mercy instead
of judgment was not right. So the Lord says you want to
be in the, and the Lord knew his thoughts. And so the Lord's going to put
him in the judgment seat. He's going to put him in the
judgment seat. So his own mouth condemns him. Watch what he says. Jesus answering said unto him,
Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. He saith, Master,
say all. I can just picture this Pharisee
thinking, oh, he's fixing to say something good about me.
I'll read it. Say anything you want to. Say on, Master. Brag
on me now. Tell me about how good the food
was. Tell me something. Brag on me
about something. There was a certain creditor
which had two debtors. Don't you love how the Lord gets
right at the heart of the problem? I have to just keep my mouth
shut because I can't say, you know, A day later you go, that
would have been the thing to say. But our Lord, he's wisdom
and he could just say right to the heart of what the problem
was. And here's the heart of the problem.
There was a certain creditor which had two debtors. One owed
him 500 pence, the other 50. You got a certain creditor and
here you got two debtors. One owes him 500 pence and the
other, he just owes him 50. And when they had nothing to
pay, absolutely nothing to pay their debts with, that's me and
you, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which
of them will love him most? He's put Simon in the judgment
seat now. He said, you want to be the judge?
Answer this question for me. And Simon answered and said,
I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto
him, thou hast rightly judged. You've rightly judged. Now the
Lord said, now let me tell you what I mean. And he turned to
the woman and he said unto Simon. Don't you love that? He turned
to the woman and he said unto Simon. Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house. Thou
gavest me no water for my feet, but she hath washed my feet with
tears, wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no
kiss, but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased
to kiss my feet. My head withal thou didst not
anoint, but this woman hath anointed my feet withal. Wherefore I say
unto thee, Her sins which are many are forgiven, for she loved
much. But to whom little is forgiven,
the same loveth little. That's the problem, Simon. That's
the problem. Look over at Luke 20. Luke chapter
20. Just showing you, they were always
on the lookout. Watch this now, Luke 20, look
at verse 19. The chief priests and scribes,
the same hour, he just got through preaching in their midst, and
they perceived our Lord could preach to His disciples and teach
them in parables and make them to see the glory of His grace.
And at the same time He was edifying His sheep, He was throwing rocks
at the Pharisees, and they knew it. They knew He was talking
to them. Watch this, this is what the gospel, that's the amazing
thing about the gospel. Luke 20 verse 19, the same hour
they sought to lay hands on him. But here was the problem, they
feared the people. For they perceived that he had
spoken this parable against them. They heard him loud and clear,
but they feared the people. You gotta be careful how they
go about this. And they watched him, they watched him. And they
sent forth spies. which should feign themselves,
pretend, wear a disguise as though they were just men, that they
might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him
unto the power and authority of the governor. They came trying,
it wouldn't surprise me. Would it surprise you if men
did this in our day? Wouldn't surprise me at all.
You could do it with an email in a heartbeat. You could do it with a telephone
in a heartbeat. You could record a conversation in a heartbeat.
That wouldn't be hard. That wouldn't surprise me at
all today. It wouldn't surprise me if it's been done to me. It
wouldn't surprise me at all. Look back at Psalm 714. Notice
what the Lord says, all this was. The enemies of Christ working,
working, working to make their case against the Lord. against
the Lord. Look at verse 14. Behold, he
travaileth with iniquity. He's travailing with iniquity. He's trying to conceive iniquity. That's all he's doing. And he
hath conceived mischief. He's just become pregnant with
mischief. And instead of saying truth,
Lord, instead of restoring brethren, Instead of travailing in this
good news and laboring to Christ be formed in them, instead of
conceiving grace in the heart, they travailed with iniquity
and conceived, impregnated with mischief, cunning, and craftiness
in the heart. And instead of restoring brethren,
brings forth falsehood, accusations against them to try to make their
case. That's what they were all about. Look at verse 15. This is like that verse we read
in Luke 20. He made a pit and he digged it. He laid a man trap. They were
trying to lay a trap for the Lord. They were trying their
best to entangle him in his words and get him caught up in a trap.
Uh-oh, but he fell into the ditch which he made, fell into his
own trap. God shall arise in anger against
his enemies, against all his enemies. Look back up at verse
11. God judgeth the righteous. God is angry with the wicked
every day. The wicked man's got his sword out, he's got his bow
ready, he's trying to do things by his power and his might. The
Lord says if he turns not, God will whet his sword. He hath
bent his bow and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him
the instruments of death. He ordaineth his arrows against
the persecutors. Look at verse 16. His mischief
shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall
come down upon his own pad. He put a crown on his own head.
He crowned himself the king and the judge, the prophet, priest,
and the king. But the Lord says, all this mischief's
gonna come back on his own head. Now, why, let me ask you this
question before we go any further. Why was it that these enemies
of Christ tried to find something with which to charge Christ?
Why did they try so hard, and labor so hard, to find something
to, in his words, to entangle him with? Only one reason. They didn't
believe His words. They didn't believe God. That's
why. They didn't believe God. These men knew that God chooses
whom He will. He had shown great mercy to Israel
all their days and none of the nations around them. But they
didn't see and believe the elect of God. They knew that he saved
through the blood of a lamb, that he saved through a high
priest, that he saved effectually. They saw it every year in the
Day of Atonement. But they didn't believe and recognize
the lamb standing in their midst. They didn't behold the high priest
standing right there. They knew God calls His sheep. They knew God calls His people.
And they saw people all around coming to Christ by His effectual
grace and bowing down like that woman with the alabaster box
and pouring it out and praising Him. And they hadn't ever been
able to make a man do that. And they were jealous and envious
that Christ could. And they said He's going to take
away from us what we were trying to build. He's taking away from
us what we were trying to create. He's taking away from us what
we're trying to get the glory for. And God says that very mischief
is going to come down on His own head. It's going to come
down on His own head. Let's look now at the Lord Jesus
Christ. He was heard. Our Lord was heard. Back up at verse 6. Arise, O
Lord, in thine anger. Lift up thyself because of the
rage of mine enemies, and awake for me to the judgment that thou
hast commanded." Brother Hymie read it. This was the judgment
that the Lord commanded. Jeremiah 23.5, Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous
branch, a king shall reign and prosper. God just speak to us
in terms we can understand. Brother Harvey pointed out that
about the branch. He showed us, we see what a tree
is, a vine. Gotta be in a vine. Gotta be
in the branches. Gotta be a branch engrafted in the vine. And now
he says, now let me tell you, he's a king. He's a king too. A king shall reign and prosper
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. A king
shall. In his days Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell safely and this is the name whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. He's not Jesus. He's King Jesus our righteousness. He's the Lord Jesus our righteousness. That's who he is. And Christ
petitions the Lord here based on His promise. He says, Arise,
verse 6, to the judgment thou hast commanded. This persecution got worse and
worse. The persecution our Savior endured
got worse and worse. You can read Psalm 22. Let me
read this to you. Psalm 22 concerning His enemies. Round about Him. He said, there is none to help. Verse
12, he said, many bulls have come past me. Strong bulls of
Bashan have beset me around. That had to be. The only way
his people are going to be able to come and compass God and come
around God's feet is for all the enemies of hell to compass
his darling son round about. They gaped upon me with their
mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. I'm poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax. It's melted in the midst of my
bowels. My strength is dried up like
a potsherd. My tongue cleaveth to my jaws.
Thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have
come past me. The assembly of the wicked have
enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my
feet. I may tell all my bones they look and stare upon me.
They part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me,
O Lord. O my strength, hasten thee to
help me. Deliver my soul from the sword,
my darling, from the power of the dog. He says in our text,
Arise, O Lord, in thine anger. Lift up thyself because of the
rage of mine enemies. Awake for me to the judgment
that thou hast commanded. And having satisfied justice,
having completely, thoroughly satisfied justice, having completely
wrought righteousness for his people, having completely, highly
exalted God, his Father, his own holy name. Philippians says,
wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a
name which is above every name. that at the name of Jesus every
knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and
things under the earth, that every tongue shall confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. He's Lord. God honored His promise
to His Son. His Son honored His promise to
the Father. And He cried out in the midst
of His suffering, Father, arise because of mine enemies. Arise
to the judgment that Thou hast commanded. And God said, Enough. And He arose. And He seated at
the right hand of God on His throne. in heaven's Jerusalem,
in the midst of Israel, in the midst of Zion, in the midst of
His church and He is ruling and He is reigning in the earth and
in His days this King shall prosper in judgment and in truth. He
has and He is and He shall. Let's see what that means for
us. Verse seven, he said that this
prayer wasn't only for himself, but it was for his people. He
said, verse seven, so shall the congregation of the people come
past thee about. For their sakes, therefore, return
thou on high. Who's the congregation of the
people? It's God's Israel. It's God's elect. It's those
God put in Christ before the world began. That's who the congregation
of the people are. How are they gonna be brought
to congregate together? How are they gonna be assembled
together back into Jerusalem, back into
Israel, back into this kingdom? How's that gonna happen? By King
Jesus. That's how it's gonna happen.
For Christ, look at 1 Peter. Let's look at a few scriptures.
1 Peter 3.18. This is how it's done, first
of all, 1 Peter 3.18. And hold your place in 1 Peter,
I'm going to come back there in a moment. 1 Peter 3.18, For
Christ also hath once suffered four sins, the just for the unjust,
that he might bring us to God. That's how we're going to be
made to compass God about. That's how we're going to be
made to be brought to God. He brings us to God, being put
to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. Look over at John
chapter 12. Well, I'll just read this to
you. You'll be turning to Ephesians chapter 4. In John chapter 12,
He said, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw
all men unto Me. I'll draw all men unto Me. That's
where we're being drawn, unto Him. He said, I will draw all
men unto Me. How? I'll tell you how His people
are going to be assembled. When they hear His voice, they
just come to Him. When He walked this earth and
men heard His voice, and heard His voice effectually, you know
what they did? They came to Him. They followed Him. You know what
happens in this earth? Through the preaching of the Gospel,
He makes His voice to be heard. And you know what men do? They
come to Him. They assemble together at the
sound of His voice. He gets the glory for that because
look at this. He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill
all things. That's what he said. Lord, if
you arise to the judgment you've commanded and put me on the throne,
I'm going to fill all things. And he gave some apostles and
some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
because that was part of the promise. I will give you pastors
according to my own heart which shall feed you with knowledge
and with understanding. That's what God said. I will
give them to you. Christ the King said, Arise to
the judgment you've commanded. I'll do it. I'll send them forth. I'll send forth your messengers. I'll send forth our ambassadors. I'll send them forth that'll
go forth and declare my word because I'll save them so effectually
they can't do anything but that. They'll declare my word that
I've sent forth. Why? For the, verse 12, for the
perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for
the edifying of the body of Christ. You see that? He's the head of
the body. It's His body. Till we all come
in the unity of the faith, the congregation assembled and of
the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. till not
one saint be left out, till they all be gathered together in him.
That we henceforth be no more children. That's why he's done
this. Carnal, having to be back, go
back and talk over and over what dead works are. Having to go
back and be taught over and over again what dead works are. Not to be divided, not to be
bickering back and forth about how God saves sinners. There
would be henceforth no more children tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning
craftiness whereby they lie and wait to deceive." He said, I've
borne that. I've borne that cunning craftiness.
I've made a sham of it, Christ said. And he said, I'm going
to send forth this gospel and through it, I'm going to save
my people from that very cunning craftiness of my enemies. He
makes His dumb sheep wise. You know that? And saves them
by His grace. Whereby they lie and wait to deceive. But speaking
the truth in love, we grow up into Him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ. This is why He sent for us. This
is King Jesus. This is why He said, Lord, arise
to the judgment Thou hast commanded. So shall the people come past
Thee about. They'll be brought to You And he gets the glory
for this whole work because it's from, look, verse 16, from whom
the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every
joint supplies. According to the effectual working
in the measure of every part makes increase of the body unto
the edifying of itself in love. This is what Christ does. He does it through this gospel. The gospel is the word. The word is the gospel. You cannot
have this work performed without the word. You can't. It's connected
vitally. You know what the Pharisees were
doing? They were trying to justify themselves for rejecting His
Word. And saying, we can come up to
God some other way. Not like you say we have to come.
God's people are all coming the same way. All the same way. And the life for it to be so.
The life for it to be so. Let the potsherds strive. Let
the... Look, look, go back to... Let
me just read this to you before I move forward. I want you to...
When the Lord first did this was on the day of Pentecost.
He began doing it on the day of Pentecost. He didn't send
forth a bunch of Pharisees to preach on the day of Pentecost.
He did not send forth any Sadducees to preach on the day of Pentecost.
He didn't send one Herodian to preach on the day of Pentecost.
He didn't call Gamaliel and ask Gamaliel to go preach on the
day of Pentecost. He sent his ambassadors on the day of Pentecost.
Why are you so adamant about that, Clay? Because the glory! That's why it's King Jesus' glory. Don't look at man and try to
determine by looking at things you see with feeble sense how
God saves sinners. This is how God says he does
it. This is how God says he does
it. And he did it that day. He sent
forth and they preached the Gospel. And this was their message to
him. This is what they said. Peter stood up there and he said,
David, Acts 2.34, David is not ascended into the heavens, but
he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou in my
right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore
let all the house of Israel know assuredly, God hath made that
same Jesus whom you have crucified, King and Christ. He's Lord and
He's Christ. And He saved 3,000 that day through
the Gospel, through the preaching of the Word. And look at verse
47. And the Lord added to the church
daily such as should be saved. And that's what He's doing right
now. That's exactly what He's doing right now. He's adding
to the... How are these people going to
congregate? How are they going to be brought to the feet of
His throne? They're going to be brought from
the four corners of the earth into the local assemblies that
He has established? They're going to be brought by
the King who has assembled them? They're going to be brought by
the Head who is Christ who filleth all in all? They're going to
be brought into this heavenly Zion, into this heavenly Jerusalem. They're going to be brought into
the presence of just men made perfect, to the throne of His
grace where He feeds us through His gospel in spirit and in truth. I love this verse, Jeremiah 17,
12. A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of
our sanctuary. Where have we come to this morning? where two or three are gathered
in my name." Who gathered them? He said, Lord, command the judgment
that you've commanded and I'll gather them. Because this king's
prospering in the earth and he gathers them and when he gathers
them, in this local assembly where
the gospel is preached, in what every other local assembly that
he's placed in this earth, where he's put the gospel, where it's
being preached today in spirit and in truth, not with cunning
craftiness and deceitfulness, where it's being spoken in truth,
where sinners have been told they're dead sinners, and Christ
is being exalted as the only Savior. You know where we behold
our sin? in Christ crucified, they'll
look upon me whom they have pierced and mourn for their sin. You
know where we behold our forgiveness? In Christ crucified. Why don't
we preach Him? Why don't we preach Christ and
Him crucified then? But everywhere where that's the
case, where Christ and Him crucified is being preached, there's not a wall, there's not
a roof, anything like that. There's not a hill dividing us.
There's not a mountain dividing us. There's not anything dividing
us that we can see with these natural eyes. There's not anything
separating the earth and those saints in heaven. Everybody,
at the same time that the Word is preached, is gathered together
around His throne of grace, looking at Him, some here below with
the eye of faith. but those there with sight. And all the hosts of angels and
all the hosts of heaven and earth together worshipping Him. And everybody else, blind, walking
around, acting like a bunch of know-it-alls. Brother Darwin Pruitt, You'll
be turned into revelation. We'll end with this. Brother
Darwin Pruitt had an observation. He preached a message last week
on the flies, the plague of the flies
in Egypt. He made this observation. He
was looking through the scriptures about how the scriptures calls
us worms. It's a maggot, that's what it
is. A fly is just a glorified maggot. A man that gets religion is no
different than the fly and the maggot. The man who has religion,
the man who doesn't. Without God working to work,
you're no different than a maggot and a fly. The man with the religion
might be like the fly. He might buzz around, he might
have a little color on him and he has some wings and he can
zig and zag and he can debate and show you and tell you all
a bunch of things he knows and doesn't know about God and all
these things. But wherever you find death,
you're gonna find the maggots and the flies together. Together. That's so. Who does God's people worship?
Who do they glorify? Who do they sing about? Look
at Revelation 5, 9. This congregation is His elect
people. This congregation are those that
He's drawn through His Gospel. This congregation are those who
are worshipping Him. And this is what we say. Revelation 5, 9. They sung a
new song saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open
the seals thereof, for Thou was slain and has redeemed us to
God by Thy blood. out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation." He didn't say he redeemed every kindred,
tongue, and people, and nation. He said, you've redeemed us out
of every kindred, tongue, people, and nation, and has made us unto
our God kings and priests. Now that's a crown on which the
mischief of the ungodly will never come down. and we shall reign on the earth.
Oh, I've got to show you this, Revelation 19, 16. And he hath on his vesture and
on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. You know what the Lord said through
Isaiah? He said, of the increase of his
government and peace, there shall be no end. He said, upon the
throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it, to establish
it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this. If truth mattered, if it was
worth God sending his own son and him laying down his life,
being made sin for his people and putting away our sin, then
this gospel is vitally important. It's vitally important. If truth
means anything, if justice and satisfaction means anything,
He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and He is working this
work. Now what do we do? Oh, I do have
one more script. What do we do? I want you to
go home today and read your bulletin. Go to 1 Peter. Go home today
and read your bulletin. So what do we do? Here's the
sum and substance of it. Never think that God deals more
kindly with the wicked because He suspends His judgment. Instead,
seeing that Christ has come, seeing that He's put away the
judgment of our condemnation, seeing that this reproach that
we will receive is due to God's grace because His Spirit rests
upon us, seeing that Christ stands ready to avenge His own, here's
the word of instruction to us. 1 Peter 4.19. This judgment's going to come
at the house of God. That's where it always comes.
There must needs be heresies that they which are approved
may be made manifest. That's a must. That his children
be strengthened through the fire, and they'll come through the
fire strengthened. It'll be bitter, it'll be sad, it'll be sorrowful,
but it will happen. But here's what we do in the
midst of all judgment, in the midst of all enemies. Wherefore,
verse 19, let them that suffer according to the will of God
commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing as unto
a faithful Creator. That's exactly what David did
in our text. Lord, arise to the judgments
You've commanded. That's the only way the children
are going to come past Your throne. Do it for them. That's my prayer. That's my prayer. Amen.