The Lord's Help would like to
draw your attention to that passage of scripture that we read together
from 2 Chronicles chapter 6 we read part of the chapter because
it is quite a long chapter and the passage I want to speak from
The Lord's Help is found before the actual prayer from verse
6 through to verse 11, again it's a fairly lengthy passage
so I won't read it, but just the first verse, that I have
chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there, that I have chosen
David to be over my people, and then verse 10, the Lord therefore
hath performed his word that he hath spoken for I am risen
up in the room of David my father and am set on the throne of Israel
as the Lord promised and have built the house for the name
of the God of Israel. I was reading in my daily readings
last Monday this passage I read consecutively through the Old
Testament and through the New Testament and I was reading this
chapter and as I read this portion of scripture it seemed to open
up in a gospel way to me the presence of the Lord Jesus
Christ is here in the Old Testament and my mind went of course to
Luke chapter 24 where those two were on the road to Emmaus and
the Lord Jesus himself drew near and walked with them and he opened
the scriptures Luke chapter 24 and verse 25 then he said unto
them that is the Lord Jesus O fools and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken or not Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter into his glory and beginning at Moses
and all the prophets he expounded unto them in all the scriptures
the things concerning himself and when we look in the Old Testament
we should be looking for the Lord Jesus Christ he is there,
he is there in the in the book of Genesis he is there in the
garden of Eden the voice of the Lord God was walking in the garden
in the cool of the day in the third chapter of Genesis there is the promise of the incarnation
of the Lord Jesus Christ and I will put enmity between thee
and the woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise
thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel and the Apostle Paul
as he writes to the Galatians he tells us that that the seed
of the woman was and is the Lord Jesus Christ. So when the Lord
says to Adam and Eve, it shall bruise thy head, it says to Satan,
I should say, to the serpent, it shall bruise thy head. He
is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ crushing the work of Satan,
and then he goes on to say, and thou shalt bruise his heel. He
is there talking how that Satan caused the Lord Jesus Christ
to be crucified upon Calvary's cross. And so we can go through
the whole of the Old Testament, and not just looking at the prophetic
parts, but we can also see in the history, the divine history
of the children of Israel, how they crossed the desert, how
the Lord provided for them, how they came into the land of promise
how they came to establish the kingdom there and how the temple
was built we can see that this all prefigures the Lord Jesus
Christ and it points to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ because
he is the eternal son of God who came down to this earth as
the Apostle Paul writes to the Philippians he made himself with
no reputation became obedient unto death even the death of
the cross and therefore God highly exalted him and given him a name
which is above every name so it was in we come to this part
of history of the children of Israel where Solomon had been
made king he was the third king the first king of course was
Saul who was removed from his kingship by death but he was
first of all rejected by almighty God because he took upon himself
too much he sought to do the work of a priest and he also
consulted with the witch's ender and the Lord rejected him and
so David was anointed to be king over Israel and David had this
desire to build the temple so he gathered material together
but the prophet came to him and said no that he was not allowed
to do so because he was a man of war but his son Solomon would
build the temple and in 1 Kings chapter 3 we have the vision
in Gibeon where the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and said
ask what I shall give thee and he asked for wisdom give therefore
thy servants an understanding heart to judge thy people that
I may discern between good and bad for who is able to judge
this for thy so great a people and the Lord blessed him and
honoured him with that and also with riches and honour amongst
the nations and so we commenced our reading with
this verse thus all the work that Solomon made for the house
of the Lord was finished everything that was laid upon his shoulders
to do to accomplish in the work of God it was undertaken it was
undertaken thus all the work that Solomon made for the house
of the Lord was finished and does not that remind us of the
work of the Lord Jesus Christ that he has finished? There the
Lord Jesus Christ came. I just quoted a few moments ago
those words of Paul from Philippians, that he made himself of no reputation,
that he was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which
is above every name. And there upon the cross we read
the various words that he uttered, the various sentences that he
spoke from the cross under that great agony of pain. And then
he just spake one word. as he came to the end of his
earthly life, that is, and gave his life a ransom for many. He
said one word, it's the only word of Greek that I know, teteleste. Teteleste, finished, complete. Of course, the Lord Jesus Christ
was speaking from the Psalms when he said that. You remember
he says earlier on the as he was there on the cross he quotes
verse 1 of Psalm 22 my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping
me? and from the words of my roaring?
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why? because he took upon himself
the guilt and the punishment of our sin all my iniquity on
him was laid he nailed them all to the tree Jesus the debt of
my sinfully paid he paid the ransom for me but if we move
to the last verse of Psalm 22 we read that they shall come and shall declare his righteousness
unto a people that shall be born that he hath done this and if
you look in your authorised version you will see the word this is
in italics which means that it was not there in the original
the translators put it there to simplify the reading and understanding
of this verse but the last clause is that he hath done this and
the Septuagint version I understand has that same word that the Lord
Jesus Christ spoke from Calvary, that he hath finished, teteleste,
that he hath finished, that he hath done, that he hath completed.
What a mercy it is that our Lord Jesus Christ finished the work
that he had done, and so there is nothing left for you and I
to do. Not the labour of my hands, writes
Toplady, not the labour of my hands can fulfil thy Lord's demands. Could my zeal no respite know?
Could my tears forever flow? All for sin could not atone.
Thou must save, and thou alone. And so we began our reading with
this phrase, thus all the work that Solomon, greater than Solomon
is here, even our Lord Jesus Christ, thus all the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ was finished. the house was finished. And it
tells us also that the Lord Jesus Christ has a complete church.
Everyone for whom the Lord Jesus Christ shed his precious blood,
they shall be there in the church. All the work was finished. It
was finished there upon Calvary's cross. Indeed, the Lord Jesus
Christ was a lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
In the mind of God, In eternity past, the Lord chose a people
for himself that would show forth the praises of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And they are brought one by one.
They are brought one by one to stand in the blessings of the
covenant of grace. And they stand complete in the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's all the work that Solomon
made for the house of the Lord was finished." The church is
complete. But then we took up the reading
again in chapter 6 of this book. The first two verses are really
a preface to the dedication of the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. But I have built a house of habitation
for thee and a place for thy dwelling forever. And then from
verse three, through to verse 11 there is
the benediction upon the children of Israel and then from verse
12 right through to verse 42 there is the prayer that Solomon
made on that occasion citing various cases of conscience and
if thy people be put to the worst before the enemy because they
have sinned against thee and shall return and confess thy
name and pray and make supplication before thee in this house then
hear thou from the heavens and forgive the sin of thy people
Israel and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to
them and their fathers does that not remind us of the backsliding
Christian? how he wanders away, prone to
wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love, but
when he turns, when he calls again upon the name of the Lord
Jesus, then hear thou from the heavens and forgive the sin of
thy people Israel. and bring them again into the
land, bring them back into that place of blessing, bring them
back into that place of fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ and
he concludes his prayer by saying, O Lord God, turn not
away the face of thine anointed remember the mercies of David
thy servant and elsewhere we are reminded in the book of Acts
how the apostle spoke to the people of the covenant mercies
of God being settled in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then in chapter 7, the celebration,
the rejoicing continued and the The king and all the people offered
sacrifices unto the Lord. And from verse eight, there was
that feast. And then that evening, verse
12, the Lord appeared to Solomon by night and said unto him, I
have heard thy prayer and have chosen this place to myself for
a house of sacrifice. And then the Lord goes on to
say to Solomon, if my people, which are called by my name,
shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from
their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive
their sin and heal their land. So these three chapters then
deal with the dedication of the temple where the people of God
would worship. But it's not so much the whole
of this, it's far too much for us to consider this morning. We've just taken a glance at
it. But it is just that passage from verse 6 to verse 11 that
I would like us to consider for a short while this morning. And
I've noted three things in this passage. First of all, there
is the place that I have chosen at Jerusalem. And then there
is a person mentioned, I have chosen Jerusalem that my name
might be there and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. And then there is a posterity.
The Lord therefore hath performed his word, verse 10, that he hath
spoken. For I am risen up in the room
of David my father and am set on the throne of Israel. So first of all, We notice the place, but I have
chosen Jerusalem. Why Jerusalem? Why Jerusalem? I was looking this morning in
Joshua, chapter 24. Joshua was the one who had led
the children of Israel, as you well know. and he led them over into the
promised land across the Jordan and we read these words, and
Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and called
for the elders of Israel and for their heads and for their
judges and for their officers. Why was the temple not built
at Shechem? It was a place where the leadership
of the children of Israel gathered. well, Jerusalem was a particular
place it was a particular place and if we go right back to Genesis
chapter 22 we read how that Abraham was told to take his son to the
land of Moriah chapter 22 and verse 2 verse 1 and it came to pass after
these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him Abraham
he said behold here I am and he said take now thy son thine
only son Isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of
Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of
the mountains which I will tell thee of and then in verse 13
we see the provision that was made for the sacrifice and Abraham
lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him a ram caught
in a thicket by his horns and Abraham went and took the ram
and offered him up for his burnt offering in the stead of his
son and then if we go over to 2 Samuel chapter 24 verses 15 to 18 we have the occasion
in this chapter when David sought to number the children of Israel
and he was warned not to do so but he went ahead with it found that he had sinned. He
says in verse 10, I have sinned greatly in that I have done. And now I beseech thee, O Lord,
take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done very
foolishly. and the Prophet's guard came
to him and offered him and the instruction of the Lord three
forms of chastisement shall there be seven years of famine come
unto thee and thy land? or will thou flee for three months
before thine enemies? or that there be three days pestilence
in thy land? now advise and David said to
God I am in a great strain let us fall now into the hand of
the Lord for his mercies are great and let me not fall into
the hand of man and so the angel was sent with a pestilence and
there in the threshing floor of Arunah
the Jebusite David spake to the Lord and said I have done wickedly
And God came the next day to raise up, instructing him to
raise up an altar to the Lord in the threshing floor of Arunah,
the Jebusite. Well, why do I turn to those
various passages? Well, in chapter 3 and verse
1 we are told, Then Solomon began to build the house of the Lord
at Jerusalem in Mount Moriah. cast your mind back to the book
of Genesis. That was where Isaac was going
to be offered as a sacrifice to Almighty God, but there was
that provision of the lamb. The Jerusalem in Mount Moriah,
where the Lord appeared to David his father in the place that
David had prepared in the threshing floor of Onan, or Arunah, the
Jebusite. we see the connection from Abraham
down to David and then here is Solomon building the house in
Jerusalem where Almighty God had said that he had to build
that house there but why? why was it particular? go up
and rear the altar of the Lord well, because Jerusalem was a
place of sacrifice Jerusalem was the place of sacrifice after
the tabernacle was replaced by the temple the children of Israel
came to Jerusalem and there they brought their lamb their peace
offerings, their sin offerings it was there that their day of
atonement was enacted when the high priest went into the holy
of holies and not without blood and sprinkled the mercy seat
seven times on the floor before the mercy seat seven times on
the mercy seat and there he made intercession for the people of
God wearing the breastplate of righteousness it is the place
of sacrifice And we come on further in years. We come from the time
of Solomon to the one who is greater than Solomon. And there
without the city, outside the wall, there is a green hill far
away without a city wall. There the dear Lord was crucified,
who died to save us all. It was there the sacrifice was
made, the supreme sacrifice. And Paul tells us in Hebrews,
that this man, after he had made one sacrifice for since forever,
sat down on the right hand of God, henceforth waiting till
all his enemies be made his footstool. You see, that's why Jerusalem
was chosen, because it was the place of sacrifice. but not only
was it the place of sacrifice it was the place of substitution
it was the place where the substitute was provided going back to Abraham
and Isaac the ram was provided God will provide himself a sacrifice
said Abraham to his son and truly he did and he provided that and
they call the place of it Jehovah Jireh the Lord will provide we
come to that provision that is made for sinners like you and
I The Lord Jesus Christ was our substitute. Bearing shame and
scoffing ruin in my place, condemned he stood, sealed my pardon with
his blood. Hallelujah! What a saviour! or again to quote Mrs Alexander
there was no other good enough to pay the price of sin he only
or he alone could unlock the gates of heaven and let us in
he is the way, the truth and the life and he is the substitutes
and Jerusalem is chosen because it is the place of repentance
see how David repented of his pride Because that's what the
counting or taking a sentence was all about in the Old Testament by David. It
was his pride. depending upon his soldiers as
to be victorious in battle without trusting in the Lord and he came
to that threshing floor of Aruna and he came in repentance there
was repentance so Jerusalem speaks of repentance how we need to
constantly come before Almighty God in repentance. We sin every
day in our lives, we break the law of God, the holy law of God,
and we, for want of a better word, we disappoint the Lord
Jesus Christ. Why do we do it? Because we have
a fallen nature. because we have a fallen nature.
And the Apostle Paul says, the good that I would, I do not,
and the evil that I would not, that I do. O wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death. what
a mercy he is able to go on to say under the inspiration of
the Spirit of God I thank my God through our Lord Jesus Christ
there is that substitution there is that sacrifice and there is
that repentance and all these particulars point to the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ they point to him Christ is in all
the Scriptures. But there is more. We see here
how the father gave his only son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was given, God so loved the
world that he gave his only begotten son that whoso believeth in him
should not perish. Just as Abraham was about to
give his son, before the substitute was made. There was no substitute
for the Lord Jesus Christ. He came from the glory of heaven
he was found in fashion as a man and he humbled himself and became
obedient unto death and he gave his life a ransom for many and
he laid down his life so the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ
is a substitutionary atonement it was in our room instead we
should have been there But it was Christ who took our place.
He took the place and we see that everything is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. What is your need this day? What
is your need? where you find it in the Lord
Jesus Christ, just as Abraham and Isaac needed that sacrifice. So we have our needs in our salvation,
and it is all provided. Remember how the Apostle Paul
said, how Abraham said that God himself
would provide the sacrifice. Well, on our behalf, God provided
the sacrifice and he called the name of it Jehovah-Jireh. That is the provision. And there We see the provision in Philippians
chapter four and verse 19. For my God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory. What is our need? Forgiveness of sins. It is in
Christ. A holy life, a holy walk. it
is through Christ, a hope of eternal life, it is in Christ,
the hope of glory, Christ in you, the hope of glory, indeed
everything. As the Lord Jesus appears to
John on the Isle of Patmos, he says, I am Alpha and Omega, the
first and the last, the beginning and the ending Alpha is the first
letter of the Greek alphabet and you know the New Testament
was written in Koine Greek and Omega is the last letter of the
Greek alphabet and he says I am the Alpha and the Omega and he
is saying that he is everything in between remember how Paul
writes to the Corinthians that church that was so full of problems
but he says to them, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus. Now are
we in Christ Jesus? Has he become, is he our saviour? Is he our saviour and lord? But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. You see, he is the wisdom of
God. The world calls it foolishness
that someone should give his life for another. But this is
the wisdom of God that Christ came from the glories of heaven
and he came to go specifically to Calvary's cross and there
give his life a ransom for many. This is the wisdom of God. Not
our wisdom, but God's wisdom. He is our righteousness. Not
our own righteousness, not what these hands have done, can save
a guilty soul, writes Horatius Bonner. No, it's not our righteousness. It is the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And there in the book of the
Revelation, the saints are described as being dressed in fine white
linen, which is the righteousness of the saints. And that righteousness
comes from the sinless life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's
our righteousness. But not only that, here's our
sanctification. we are separated unto him for
that's what the word sanctification means we are separated unto the
Lord Jesus Christ we are not sanctified by keeping the law
but we are sanctified by the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ
and most of all he is our redemption my father used to work in what
is called a pawn shop I don't think there are any about these
days But a pawn shop up in the north of England, which is, as
my accent will display, is a place where people used to take items,
a pair of silver candlesticks, even a suit. My grandfather was
so poor that my grandmother had to take his suit on a Monday
morning to the pawnbroker to get a short-term loan. so that
they could eat and then on Friday it was paid off and the suit
was rendered and on the Lord's day he was able to go to church
because he wouldn't go to church in his working clothes. But the price of redemption they had a short term loan and
there was a redemption price to be paid so when my grandmother
went to the pawn shop to get my grandfather's suit she had
to pay the principal loan and then a couple of coppers in those
days pre-decimalisation, I hasten to add. The redemption price
was paid and the suit was released. Now apply that to us. We are
guilty, lost, helpless and hopeless in our sin. But the price has
been paid. Look back to Calvary. Look back
to the cross upon which Jesus Christ died. He shed his precious
blood. The price is paid. And the redemption
has been obtained. The law is fulfilled in every
jot and tittle. And we have free salvation in
the Lord Jesus Christ. But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus? But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus? Who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. Everything is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. But my God shall supply all your
needs. according to his riches in glory. So that's why Jerusalem was chosen. But there's more. There's more
about Jerusalem. It speaks of peace. Salem. Place
of peace. The Jebusite city. It was the place of peace, or
as the original Hebrew has it, the possession of peace. The
Lord Jesus spoke I looked over Jerusalem and spoke to the people
as he was observing Jerusalem. And he says, if thou hadst known even thou,
at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace,
but now they are hid from thee. they couldn't see in the Lord
Jesus Christ that He is our peace. But when the Spirit of God comes,
when He comes and makes us alive and you have been quickened who
are dead in trespasses and sins, when we are made alive and we
are quickened into spiritual life, we can see in the Lord
Jesus Christ, the substitute, but we can also see that he is
our peace. And so Paul writes to the Romans,
therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. We're no longer enemies. We're
no longer away from God, but we're walking in fellowship with
him. And it speaks also, the Jerusalem
also speaks of security. If we turn to the psalms, after
psalm 119 you have a series of psalms which are all headed psalms
of the grace and those psalms were sung or chanted by the pilgrims
as they were walking towards Jerusalem from Galilee or wherever
from where they came that they saw the security that is there
and they sang these psalms Psalm 125 for example they that trust
in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be removed
but abideth forever as the mountains are round about Jerusalem so
the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even forever
when nations go to war with each other they talk their own side
up and whether they think they can win the war whether they
think they can be victorious is down to the tactics that are
used by the various military forces But David wasn't speaking
here in hope, just as a country would hope that they would win
the war. But he was speaking of certainty.
He was speaking of certainty. They that trust in the Lord shall
be as Mount Zion, which cannot, it cannot be moved. which cannot
be removed, but abideth forever. As the mountains are round about
Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people, from henceforth
and even forever. And as they journeyed, as they
walked toward Jerusalem, they would look to Jerusalem. I will
lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My
help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth, and so
on. They were looking forward to
that time that they were in Jerusalem. But if you look at history, Jerusalem
has been sacked many times. It's been sacked by various armies,
the Babylonish army, the Roman army, and down into secular history. We see how Jerusalem has been
sacked. It is now divided between two
nations and so on. Mount Zion, in that sense, doesn't
exist. But the Church of God, the church
of God, the empire of God. So be it, Lord, Lord, thy throne
shall never, like earth's proud empires, pass away. Thy kingdom
stands and grows forever till all thy creatures own thy sway. It is a permanent city, it is
a permanent place. Well, that's what David was writing
about, not just the earthly Jerusalem, but also the heavenly Jerusalem
that John writes about as it comes down from heaven, adorned
as a bride for her husband. It is built upon, the New Jerusalem
is built upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember in Matthew 16,
the Lord Jesus asked his disciples
who the people said he was. And Peter said, the heart of
the Christ, the son of the living God. And the Lord Jesus said
to him, flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto you. but
my Father which is in heaven. And upon this rock, Peter, upon
this rock thou wilt build my church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it." Now, Peter is not the rock. If you look at the Greek, you'll
see that Peter is Petros I get all my knowledge of Greek from
the Concordance it's not my own understanding but Peter is a
stone like one of the pebbles you can pick off the beach at
South Sea just down the road but the Lord Jesus Christ is
the rock that's the difference and sadly I've had a commentary
by a reformed publishing house from America on Juan Peter And
the Reformed Presbyterian minister, he says that Peter, in his commentary,
Peter is the rock. Not so. The Lord Jesus Christ
is the rock. Don't be fooled by that. Our
authorised version loses the sense of the original Greek,
but the Lord Jesus Christ is the rock. It would have been
no use if David had been lifted out of the pit and then tried
to be put on a little stone. No, he was placed on a rock.
He brought me up also out of a horrible pit. out of the mirey
plain and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings." And
neither would it be any use to those that were listening to
the Lord Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. It would
not have been any use for that man to have built his house upon
a pile of stones. They would have been washed away.
but he built his house upon the rock. And says the apostle, other
foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the head of the corner,
the one upon whom we build for time and for evermore. And finally, this morning, it
speaks of of the covenant and in it have I put the ark
wherein is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the children
of Israel there in the temple the Ark of the Covenant was placed
in the most holy place the inner sanctum of the temple there was
that great hanging sheet before it that no man could open and
the Ark of the Covenant was placed therein on top of the Ark of
the Covenant was the Mercy Seat why? because in the Ark of the
Covenant was the Law that none of us can keep The 20th chapter
of Exodus has the law there. It was written on two tablets
of stone, placed in the ark. But above it was the mercy seat. The propitiation, the covering. And our Lord Jesus Christ is
the covering of the law. he covers the law because he
fulfilled the law and looking down upon that mercy seat there
are the two cherubim gazing, gazing at the mercy seat and
looking as it were through the mercy seat to the law that is
fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ oh what a mercy it is if we are
there able to see that propitiation if we are brought to see the
Lord Jesus Christ because he is the surety of the covenant
Solomon placed in the ark of the covenant with the stones
of the law there in the holy place but it was fulfilled in
the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, every year, as I mentioned
earlier, every year the high priest went in with the breastplate
of righteousness to represent the children of Israel, and he
went with blood in a basin, he went in those clothes, those
ropes, and round the bottom, around the hem of the garment
that he wore there was a bell and a pomegranate a bell and
a pomegranate a bell and a pomegranate all the way round why was that? well you see there
was no place in the Holy of Holies for the High Priest to sit he
was standing all the time and he was moving all the time and
the people, the priests outside in the court of the priests they
could hear the bells tinkling making a sound I know what a
picture that is of the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven. And you can
read all about this in the epistle to the Hebrews. You read all
about the high priest going in and making atonement. And the
Lord Jesus Christ entered into the holy place and he made atonement
not with the blood of bulls or of goats or of sheep, but he
made atonement with his own blood. And it is the blood-sprinkled
mercy seat. What a mercy it is that that
atonement has been made and the old covenant, the mosaic covenant,
the mosaic economy has been put aside and we have the covenant
of God's everlasting grace. so much so that David could say
on his deathbed, although my house be not so with God, yet
he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things,
and sure. It is ordered, it is sure, and
that's the covenant of grace if we're a child of God into
which we've been grafted. and we are safe and secure just
as the psalmist said in that Psalm 125 they that trust in
the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be removed but abide
there forever As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so
the Lord is round about his people from henceforth, even forever. He is there, he is with us. And
the seal of it is that he has placed the covenant there. But
there's one more thing to say about the covenant. Jesus Christ, our Lord Jesus
Christ, he fulfilled it all. And therefore there is no veil
between the veil has been rent as you'll read in the gospel
records you'll read how the veil was rent from the top to the
bottom if man tried to tear that curtain he would have had to
start from the bottom and work his way up but no, the hand of
God rent the veil in two, from top to bottom, and we have direct
access unto him. O Solomon built that temple so
many years ago, it's gone, it's gone. But the new Jerusalem,
the temple of God is with man. this is in heaven, even our Lord
Jesus Christ, here's the temple, here's the one whom we worship,
here's the one that made the sacrifice, and here's the one
from whom we receive. Our blessing is all in Christ,
all in Christ. But I have chosen Jerusalem,
that my name might be there, and I have chosen David to be
over my people Israel. and in it I have put the ark
where is the covenant of the Lord that he made with the children
of Israel." Well the Lord grant that we might be amongst that
covenant people and that we might indeed be brought to that place,
that new Jerusalem where we will see our Lord Jesus Christ and
we will sing his praises forever and ever. May the Lord add his
blessing for his name's sake. Amen.