Well, it's good to be back. I'm
so glad that you had a good time with Brother Bob Coffey and Brother
Todd Nybert. I listened to some of the messages
and I know you feasted well. And I trust your fellowship was
just as good. So, turn with me to Psalm chapter
84. When I think about the work that
the Lord has done, in this church. How that he's caused his voice
to be heard and has drawn his sheep out from among various
places and drawn us together. When I think about how that those
saints down in Australia began to correspond because they heard the voice of the Lord in the
message. They heard the same voice that
we gather to hear. They didn't know me, I didn't
know them, and none of that mattered. They heard the voice. And I was
so blessed when I was there, and it's got me thinking on this,
Psalm 84.1, How amiable are thy tabernacles,
O Lord of hosts. Look now at verse 10. For a day
in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a
doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents
of wickedness. I want you to just look at this
psalm with me and let's go through it verse by verse and consider
what a great blessing that God has wrought for us in our midst. Verse 1 says, How amiable are
thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! There were many tents, many tabernacles
tabernacles of the wicked, tents of the wicked throughout the
land. There were many, many. Scripture
talks about the tabernacles of Ham, the tabernacles of Edom,
the tabernacles of the Ishmaelites, the tabernacles of Moab, the
tabernacles of the Hagarim, many tents. So it is in our day. There's many. And all of them
claim to be worshiping the Lord, all of them, every one of them.
But what makes God's tabernacle so beloved, what makes his tabernacle
so longed for by his people, so amiable, is that it's God's
tabernacle. It says here, Thy tabernacles,
O Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts means He's
the Lord over all. The Lord of hosts could have
dwelt any place He chose. He could have made Himself manifest
any place He chose to make Himself manifest. And yet the Lord of
Hosts commanded Moses to erect a tabernacle, to erect a tent
in the midst of the wilderness. Nothing to look at on the outside.
Just very uncomely. Nothing about it to draw your
attention to it whatsoever. But it's where the Lord, the
Shekinah glory, God's presence, it's where He took up His dwelling.
It's where He made His presence known to a sinful people. It's the place where all the
sacrifices that were offered were offered to Him only. It was the place where God commanded
His blessing to the people. I'll meet with you, He said,
over the mercy seat. It's where I'll meet with you.
First, this tabernacle is a representation of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. God dwells in Christ. In that man, Christ Jesus, is
the dwelling place of the triune God of glory. Just like that
tabernacle was the place where God made his presence known to
sinners he had chosen by his grace, Christ is that tabernacle
in whom God makes his presence known. His name is Immanuel,
God with us. God was in Christ reconciling
the world of his elect, Jew and Gentile, from all the four corners
of the earth, reconciling them unto himself. And all the sacrifices,
just like in that tabernacle, all the sacrifices that the Lord
Jesus Christ made, yea, the offering of himself was all to God. All for his glory, all to declare
his righteousness, to declare God is just and the justifier
of all who believe. To declare the righteousness
of God. And God has commanded, just like
He did in that earthy tent, God has commanded that all His blessings,
all His blessings come to His people through His Son, Christ
Jesus, that one who has tabernacled among us. That's where they all
come through. And so secondly, this tabernacle
also is a picture of the church, is a picture of the church in
union with Christ, who is the head of the church, the church
who is His body, and the church in whom He dwells in the midst
thereof. Christ is, or the Spirit of God,
has assembled together. those who are gathered together
in His name. There may be many who come, but
if we're gathered together in His name, it's because Christ
the head gathered us. It's because He drew us near
together. He fit us together into His body. And it's because He brings us
by His Spirit and makes us to worship God in spirit and in
truth. He brings us to rejoice in Christ
Jesus the Lord. And He brings us to have absolutely
no confidence in the flesh whatsoever. And He does this through His
gospel. This tabernacle, Christ the tabernacle,
this tabernacle, the church which is His body, this whole thing
erected and formed and built up by the very Word of God. That's
how we know anything about a tent. The Lord said, to Moses, you
see that you make it exactly according to the pattern as I've
given you. Because it all patterned something,
or pictured something. It all was made after the pattern
of something, and that's Christ and His church. Every bit of
it. But it was made to glorify. And
so when He does this in us, brethren, verse 2, this is what He makes
us to do. My soul longeth Yea, even fainteth
for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth
out for the living God." It's not merely the courts we long
for. Church, to 99% of the people
in this world who call themselves Christians, church is something
you're obligated to do. Church is something you've got
to do. Church is something, one more work that you got to perform
to try to work your way to heaven. But God's people don't come because
we got to, we come because we want to. We come because He's
created a longing in our soul, not just for a form and a ceremony
and an outward show, but for God Himself. You see here, He
says, My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth, my heart and my flesh
cry out for the living God. God, this place is the place,
the church, the pillar and ground of the truth. The church of the
true and living God. The place where He's determined,
or purposed to set His name. Oh, I pray Lord, when you speak
now, speak into the hearts of your people. Cause us, the word
goes forth, cause us to behold Christ our High Priest entering
into the holiest of holies. the very presence of God with
His own blood. Calls us to see the Lamb who
is God providing Himself, who has entered in and perfected
forever all them that He laid down His life for. Calls us now
to come and sit down at His table and to truly eat and feast and
be nourished by this bread from heaven. That's my desire. That's the desire of every believer
when we come into the Lord's house. You know, what man ever
would think, what man would ever think naturally that if he refused
to sit down at God's table or at a dinner table, just a natural
dinner table and eat physical food that No, I don't believe
I will have to be nourished that way. I believe I can be nourished
some other way. God designed that way for us
to be nourished, didn't he? By coming and sitting down and
eating at a table. Food going in our bodies and
nourishing our bodies and causing us to grow. That's what the gospel
is. It's sitting down at His table
and feasting upon the bread, Christ the bread, upon the water
of life, upon the feast of fat things, of wine on the leaves
well refined, everything provided and spread forth by the Lord,
and everything being the Lord Himself. The whole message we
feast upon. I spoke with a man recently who
was spending a great deal of time in other things, away from
the worship of the Lord. And I was trying to encourage
him to go to hear the gospel preached. And he said, you're
trying to make me feel guilty. What? man, what woman would think you
were making a child, trying to make a child feel guilty who
was malnourished and who wasn't eating when you simply said,
here son, eat something. Take a bite, you got to eat something
so you can grow. Which one of us would say, quit
making that child feel guilty. You're doing it because you love
them. You're doing it because you want to see them eat. You
want to see them strengthened and growing. Look at this next
picture, verse 3. Yea, the sparrow hath found a
house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay
her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and
my God. You consider that image, that's
a beautiful image. You think of the happiness of
a sparrow. A little defenseless sparrow. And it comes and it's resting
quietly in its nest with its young, right there in some nook
of the altar of God. At peace, at rest, not having
to worry about Enemies not having to worry about being disturbed
or harmed or endangered by any outside, just be able to sit
there with her young in a quiet, comfortable nest right there
in the altar of God. He says, even so, verse 4, blessed
are they that dwell in thy house, they will be still praising thee,
Selah. The believer is stilled. He is
quieted. The believer is settled, chosen
and drawn of God and made to come and rest in Christ Jesus
our altar. We find there sweet rest abiding
in our living tabernacle. We find sweet rest abiding in
Christ who is our altar. This is the very purpose for
which we're assembled together by God, to praise and to glorify
His name. And this is what God's saints
will be doing for all eternity. This is what we're going to be
doing for all eternity. I pray that God will enable us
to never take for granted what he's given us in the midst of
this wilderness. To never take that for granted.
When we were down in Australia, there was four people who came
up to the meetings, who live four hours south of where the
meetings were held. And it was a glove Eggleston,
his wife, Isabel and their daughter, Evelyn, And it was a man named
Brother Hausenlage. And they had been sitting for
10 years listening to the gospel preached by Brother Henry and
Brother Don Fortner, Brother Todd and I were online, been
gathering together just listening online. And they didn't think
there was anybody on that continent that they had met. that they
could worship with, that worship this true and living God that
we serve. Would anybody preaching this message consistently, anywhere
that they could sit and find peace in their soul. And they
saw this advertised on the internet, and they began to look it up,
and they came up there, and the saints at Naurua had no idea
that these folks were four hours south of there. And you can imagine,
you know the rejoicing there was on both sides. And Evelyn
said to me that this was the first time she ever heard the
gospel preached in person. Let me read you what she wrote. I'm not quite sure how or where to start expressing
all the things I feel and think since I have left Nowra yesterday. And I would probably not do it
justice trying to contain in my words the joy God has allowed
me to feel the past few days. It's like having seen aliens
for the first time in my life. And I guess in a sense that's
not far from the truth. We are all aliens in this world.
We're in this world, yet not of it. I have prayed so long
for true fellowship in Christ and had all but given up to find
it, at least in Australia. The Lord's hand has moved in
wondrous ways to bring us all together and fix it so that we
all found the encouragement and blessed fellowship we all so
desperately crave. Sheep will travel a long ways
for green pasture, you know that? We see in these next verses the
spirit of those going up to worship the Lord. And it's a picture
of the believer's whole pilgrimage through this life. A great encouragement
for us to assemble together week in and week out. Psalm 84.5 says,
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, and whose heart are
the ways of them. You know, the Lord called the
saints to go up three times in the year. And He said, when you
go up to worship Me, they're going to leave everything. And
He said, when you go up to worship Me, neither shall any man desire
thy land when thou go up to appear before the Lord thy God thrice
in the year. All the strength for the travel.
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee. All the strength
for the travel. All the strength of protection
from the enemy. is God alone. It's God alone. God's word of promise is our
assurance. Christ in our heart is the way. He's the way to whom we come. And He is the one who's directing
our steps through all the valleys we've got to travel to get to
Him. All the long distance we have to come. Look at verse 6,
"...who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well. The rain
also filleth the pools." On that pilgrimage to Zion, when they're
going up to worship the Lord, trusting God that He's going
to protect them from all their enemies on their way and all
their property they left behind. trusting that Christ will weigh
in their hearts, trusting that He's going to direct their steps
as they go. As they were going, they had
to pass through this veil called Bacchus Veil. This place was
a great difficulty for travelers. I think of the struggles against
our own sinful flesh. That's the veil of weeping. I think of the obstacles this
world presents to us, how so easily we become tangled up in
the things of this world. I think about all the tents of wickedness all
around. I think about all the valley
of weeping, yet God's our strength. God's our strength. Christ is
the way set in our hearts so that He makes wells of refreshment
even of our tears. That's what He says there in
Psalm 84 verse 6, who passing through the valley
of Baca make it a well. They make it a well. And it says,
and the rain also. That comes from above. It fills
the pools. The Spirit of God moves and He
makes our hearts where there's a wilderness. He makes it to
rejoice and to blossom as a rose. Look at verse 7. And they go
from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth
before God. You know what he's telling us?
if God has put into our hearts the desire to draw near to Him
in Christ Jesus the Lord. As we walk in the light that
God's given us, though we walk through the veil of weeping,
our God will surely add His strength to the strength that He's already
given. He'll add strength to strength.
He will. And we'll go from strength to
strength in His strength. And all, every one of them, in
Zion, appeareth before God. My heart's been so reassured.
The Lord is just so gracious to constantly reassure us, constantly
renew His promises, constantly to make us see He's working. He's working. He constantly makes
us to see that He's not going to lose one, not one whom He's
everlastingly loved, not one whom Christ has redeemed, not
one whom He's entrusted unto His Son. He's going to provide
in the wilderness an oasis. He's going to protect in all
the valley of weeping. He's going to bring us to Him
so that we delight in the fatness of His house. He's going to do
that. Look at Psalm 133.1. I just want
to read this whole Psalm 133.1. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It's like the precious
ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's
beard, that went down to the skirts of his garments, as the
dew of Hermon, as the dew that ascended upon the mountains of
Zion. For there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. Our Lord is the tabernacle, and
our Lord makes us to see that His church is the tabernacle
where He's commanded the blessing. All so vitally connected, all
so one in Him. Oh, what mercy. Here's the third
thing, and the last thing I want you to see. Everything that God
promises to give is Christ Jesus our Lord. And everything He gives is in
Christ Jesus our Lord. And Christ is our only petition
before God. Watch this, verse 8. O Lord God
of hosts, hear my prayer. Give ear, O God of Jacob, Selah. That word Selah means think on
this. Think on this. Now think on this,
verse 9. Behold, O God, comma, our shield,
and look upon the face of thine anointed. Our shield is Christ
Jesus, and Christ is the anointed of God. Do all that you do for
us, Lord, beholding your son, our shield, your anointed. Do
everything for his sake. That's our petition. That's our
prayer. Look at verse 10, and this is
our prayer, it's to dwell in his house. For a day in thy courts
is better than a thousand. I'd rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For
the Lord God's a son and a shield. O God, for the sake of Your Son,
for the sake of Him who is my shield, for the sake of Him who
is Your anointed, Lord, let me just sit on the steps of Your
house and hear a word about the Son and shield, this One who
is the Son of life, this One who is the shield of Your glory,
and the shield of righteousness, and the defender of my soul. Lord, let me just come in and
hear about the Lord, my righteousness. Let me just have this food for
my soul. Let me just come like a dog under
your table and just get a crumb from the Master. Because I'm
not fed in the tents of wickedness. They're everywhere, on every
corner, in every place, but I can't find one morsel of bread in them. Lord, let me just come and sit
at the threshold. Let me just come and sit and
be a doorkeep in your house and hear a word from God. Let me
just be the least in the house and let me just eavesdrop on
everything you've done for your people. It's better than a thousand
days anywhere else. Better than a thousand days anywhere
else. Can you say that, brethren? Look here, he says, for the Lord
is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give. I like, just break this down.
The Lord will. The Lord will. I can't. You can't. preacher can't, the church can't,
the Lord will. The Lord will give. The Lord
will give. He will give freely, abundantly. The Lord will give grace. Free, unmerited, abundant grace. He'll give electing grace. He gives justifying grace. He gives redeeming grace. He
gives sanctifying grace. He gives keeping grace. He gives
edifying grace. He gives instructing grace. He
gives directing grace. He gives glorifying grace. He gives grace, grace, grace,
grace. And there's always more grace
to give. plenty of grace from this never-ending
fountain that our Lord is. Plenty of grace, never-ending
grace. He will, the Lord will give,
the Lord will give grace and glory. You know what glory is? Glory is the end for which He
gives grace. Glory is the end to which He's
bringing His people. And if He gives us grace, He
will give us glory. The Lord gives grace and glory. He doesn't give glory without
giving grace, because that's how glory is given. But when
He's given grace, He will give glory. Look what He says here. For nothing, no good thing, will
He withhold from them that walk uprightly. How do I walk uprightly? Lord, teach me to walk aright. More by faith, less by sight. Guided by your heavenly light. Lord, teach me thy way. That's
how we walk. That's how we walk aright. faith
in Christ, faith in His Word, faith in His instruction, faith
in this good news that He'll provide all for us. And He says
here, O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in Thee. You know, the first hour that
salvation comes to the heart of a sinner, It's going to come
through hearing. Just as God could have dwelt
anywhere and made His presence known anywhere else, He chose
to. But He chose to make His presence known in a tent. So
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. He's chosen foolish things. He's chosen weak things.
He's chosen base things. He's chosen things that are absolutely
nothing. You know what people thought
about when they looked at that tent in the wilderness? Who in the
world would ever want to go there? What kind of God is worshiped
that way? But you know what was in that
tent? gold and silver and precious jewels, fine linen, beautiful
tapestry, beautiful instruments that God had put there and placed
there, all to glorify his son and to glorify his work of grace
in the hearts of his people. There's no form, no covenant
that's about his work that's going to draw men's attention
to it. But it's God's way of saving
that no flesh, no man be able to glory in his presence. And blessed is the man. Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee. By his grace, he makes us satisfied
with the fatness, the goodness of his house. so that we say,
when we're not able to be there, to be with His saints, to be
in His presence, to be there, having Him drop down honey out
of the rock, having Him drop down His finger of grace and
dip it into our hearts and cause us to behold Him in truth and
in spirit and rejoice in Him, we say with David, O Lord, I
long for Your courts. I long for You. Living God, I
long for you. A day in your court is better
than a thousand anywhere else. That man's blessed. He's happy. He's happy because he's given
something the world knows nothing about. Oh, Lord of hosts, blessed
is the man that trusteth in thee. And from that first hour, the
same way God was pleased to cause us to to have faith given and
rooted and planted in us, the same way He granted repentance
to turn from all else. the hearing of the gospel, the
hearing of Christ and Him crucified. So the Lord continues to send
forth His word to draw us and feed us and to make us continue
worshiping Him, continue edifying one another, continue to be a
blessing in the midst of a cursed, dry, and thirsty land. And so He makes us happy. So
blessed. to know what He's done for us.
I pray the Lord will continue to use this word and continue
to use this gospel, continue to cause the sparrows to find a nesting
place, a good quiet place to just rest. Have you found that place? Have
you found that place? We found it in Christ. We found
it here in this place He's given us to draw near. Doesn't look
like much from the outside. We went into a little place at
the end of our visit. We went in to see some black
opals. We were sitting there looking
at these opals and there was a lady named Maria. And she asked
why I had come down there and said, came down to preach the
gospel of God's free and sovereign grace. And she said, what is
that? And she wanted to know. And we
sat down and talked for about 20 or 30 minutes. And she asked
some good questions. honest questions, searching questions,
seeking questions, not questions to try to ask and then turn around
and say, now let me tell you what I know about that. Real
questions. And we talked and talked and
talked and we got ready to leave. I said, you know what? We came
in here to look at just some jewels, some rare jewels. It might just be God sent us
in here because he's got one of his precious jewels. Wouldn't
that be something? That would thrill me. That's how God's gonna save his
people. He's done it from the beginning,
and that's how he's gonna keep doing it. Thank God. Amen.