Before we begin the message, we'll go to God in prayer. I do ask for your prayers. God, the Holy Spirit, would take the message, make it applicable to our hearts, open our minds and hearts to see Christ. You know, in heaven, He is the center and object of everything. Isn't it just reasonable that He is the center and object of every worship service? That He is worthy of honor, blessing, and praise.

Tonight I'm going to be preaching on God delighting in Christ. I don't even think the word is sufficient enough. But it is so. The Father delights in Christ and only delights in those that are in Christ. And I'm thankful that God the Father, by grace, has put us in Christ, that these things are a blessing to us. The gospel is a, it's refreshing. It's refreshing to the soul of God's people, and I do ask your prayers for me as I desire to preach it, and then pray that God give it to your heart.

Remember those who are sick. The Whitehead family is all of them sick. And so pray for them. Tammy is not feeling well. And others may be going through that same sickness. So it's going around. It's going around. So pray for them, if you will.

I just received a letter from some people that are listening in Oregon. And what a comfort it is to know that God's people are enjoying the gospel and that God's word goes forth out of His mouth and it does not return void. It accomplishes the thing wherein He sends it. Now, I don't know what He's going to do. Reprove, rebuke, exhort. That's His work. Save, comfort, chase. I don't know. I have no idea what He does with His Word. It is astounding. The same message has different effects on God's people and God sends it. And I'm thankful that He is in absolute sovereign control of this and not us, not me.

So it was encouraging. I thought I'd let you know. And there are others that have sent letters that are a blessing to thank the congregation for the support of the ministry that the gospel goes out to them where they're at. I'm very thankful for it.

So I was in Danville last night and They send their love to you, and I think we had a good service there. I pray the Lord will do the same tonight with us here.

Any other requests that need to be mentioned before we go to God in prayer? Anything else? I know you guys are, you know, your daughter's getting married. Pray for them, ask God's mercies upon them and your family.

Let's go to Him and pray.

Our most gracious Father in Heaven, we bow ourselves before You, recognizing that in ourselves we have no ability, Father, no ability to worship or praise or honor or magnify Your name except by the power of Your Spirit that You give it. And I pray tonight, Father, that you would send your Spirit, that the Holy Spirit would come and do his work of magnifying the Lord Jesus Christ, that you would take the Word that is preached, the Gospel that is declared in your Word, make it effectual to the hearts of your people, refresh them, Father, I pray that you would comfort them, that you would strengthen them, that you would encourage them.

We're surrounded by our enemies. Doubts and fears assail us constantly. We pray you would forgive us our sins and cleanse us of our unrighteousness through His blood and righteousness. Father, I pray for those that are sick. I lift them up. I beg you for healing upon them. and others who have needs, whether they're physical or whether in their mind or their hearts. I pray, Father, that you would reach down and testify again of your great power in delivering them. And I ask these things. I plead for these things in the name of Jesus, our Savior, for his sake. Amen.

Alright, if you take your Bibles and turn with me to Esther. The book of Esther. We'll be studying from chapter 6 this evening. Esther chapter 6. My text will be found in verses 9, 6 through 10. 6 through 10. And I'm going to give you the first few verses that lead up to this. I'm going to set this up. So bear with me. Every time in the Old Testament, I have to set up the situation and the story so that you get the full measure of the picture. The picture is Christ. Now that's going to be my message. It's not Esther and the situation and the political climate of Israel. That's not my message, but I have to set it up. So I pray that God give us grace to bear with me in this, and we're going to see what takes place in here.

And I've entitled this message, The Man in Whom God Delights. The Man in Whom God Delights. And we get that from verse 6. It says, So Haman came in, and the king said, And what shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth, to honor.

Now, this book of Esther, in this time, Israel was in grave danger. This one Haman, this man, was a very wicked man, an evil man, who hated the Jews. He hated the nation of Israel and God, and he had just received authority of the king to destroy the entire nation of Israel. He had received authority from the king to destroy the nation of Israel.

But God in providence had set up two people in this place, in this book, Mordecai and Esther, and He uses them as instruments They were the instruments of God in the preservation of Israel. Why? Because we were promised that Christ should come from the line of Israel. That He should be of the seed of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, of Judah, of David. Why was this line to be preserved? Because Christ would come from this people. And so He sets these people up to preserve the line and integrity. And God intends to destroy His enemies, and that's exactly what takes place.

Now, if you read the book of Esther, you will not find one mention of the name of God in the whole book. It's the only book in the Bible that His name is not mentioned. Yet, you cannot help but see God's providence moving in this book. You can't help it. Divine providence is all in this book.

Now in this chapter, now the king, for some strange reason, loses sleep. He just can't sleep. Why is that? You'll find out. But he can't sleep, so what he gets is he gets the reader of the Chronicles to come and he reads the history of the days gone by. And it just so happens to read of the time of Mordecai, when Mordecai saved the life of the king, he foiled a plot that they were attempting to assassinate this king, and so then he says this, what has been done for Mordecai? What has been done? And the reader, he's reading the Chronicles, he says, well nothing, nobody did anything for him. So the king determines here to do something. And he calls out and he says, Is there any servant in my court? Is there anyone that has authority in my court? Well, again, it just so happened that Haman, who come early, he come early to the court because he was desiring that the king should kill Mordecai. He had made this big gallow, and he was ready to hang Mordecai on it, and that morning he went to the king to ask permission. He was going to the king to ask permission to hang Mordecai. And so in verse 6, the king brings him and says, Is anybody here? And they said, Well, Haman's here. He said, Go fetch him. Get him. And Haman comes up there, and this is what the king asked. He says in verse 6, And Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor?

Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to honor more than myself? Haman thought it was him. And so what does Haman say? Haman thinks of the greatest thing possible. He thinks of the thing that is the highest honor that a man could have without being killed. He couldn't say, make me king, but he said this. He said, make me equal with you. Notice what he says. He says, in verse 7, he said, Haman answered the king. He said, for the man whom the king delighted to honor, let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse on the king which the king rideth upon, and the royal crown which is set upon his head. And let his apparel and his horse be delivered in the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man wherewithal with the king delighted to honor, and bring him on horseback through the streets of the city, proclaim before him, thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor.

And here's where Haman gets a rug pulled out from underneath, in verse 10. And the king said unto Haman, Make haste, take the apparel, the horse, as thou hast said, and go down to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate. Let nothing fail of all thou hast spoken. He said, you go take my robe and my crown and my horse and you put Mordecai on it and I want you to lead him through the city streets and don't let anything fail. And that's exactly what happened.

So then Here's the picture. Now then, that's the history. That happened. What does it mean? What's this? It's a good story. People use the book of Esther all the time for a moral story or a political purpose. That's what they use this book for. No, this book is to be used, just like every other book, it is to be a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ and His salvation. And we have a picture of that here. We have a picture. The enemy of God is Haman. He pictures the enemies of God, the enemies of his people. And here, Mordecai is going to be a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's going to be a picture of Christ. And the king, of course, is the father. In whom does the king delight more than his son? And so this is a picture of Christ here in this text. And I ask the Lord that He would open this to our hearts. I want this to be a vivid picture on your heart concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the first thing is, the question I ask is this, in whom does God delight? Now isn't that more important than in whom the King delights? Who does God delight in? Who does God delight in? I'm going to tell you first of all who He doesn't delight in, and then I'm going to tell you who He delights in. First of all, God does not delight in the natural and religious man. Haman is a picture of the natural and the religious man. Haman here, when he thought that the king was going to honor him, who did he think that he was going to honor? Himself. This is the thought and the feeling and the religion of the natural man. The natural man. Just as Haman desired the crown from the king's head, the robe from the king's back, the honor that was only due the king, so does natural man strive to rob God of His glory. To be equal with God. This is the natural man's thoughts. This is what the temptation of Satan was, wasn't it? In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt be as God. And this is the thoughts of natural man.

In Malachi chapter 3 and verse 8, the question comes, will you rob God? Will you rob God? And then the natural man says, where have we robbed God? And he says, in tithes and offers. In other words, in your blatant disobedience to my law, you have robbed me of my glory. You've robbed me of my glory. God demands obedience, and yet man in rebellion is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

God, man says in his heart, I will not have him to rule over me. I will not submit to Jesus Christ, nor will I worship him. Now they say, look, I don't say that blatantly, but this is what they say, well, I'll worship God my own way. I'll worship my God. I know what that says, but this is how I feel. This is what I think.

And this man by nature, he strives to be sovereign. Man longs to wear the crown that belongs only to God. He thinks of himself worthy then of God's acceptance. Who would God love to honor more than me? That's what the natural man says. This is best seen in free will works religion. The religious man of our day says, Surely God has not determined all things. Surely man has a will in which he is capable of choosing or rejecting God.

Man says, I can surely, if I exercise my free will, God must honor it. They say if I surely do my best, if I sincerely worship, if I do my best to obey the law of God, then God must accept my sincere efforts, my attempts at obedience. Surely if I strive to be moral, then God must honor me.

Friends, I want to make this as plain as I can. Man's will is not free. There is no such thing as free will. Every time you talk to somebody who believes in free will, they automatically state that as though it's a given. They say, well, we know man has a free will. No, we don't. Man has a will. Do you want to do something? Go ahead. Will it. But you can't tell me it's sovereign. Man's will is always limited within the confines of his nature. He can't do something outside of his nature.

And even within the confines of our nature, aren't we limited by providence? Aren't we limited by other people? Events you can say well, you know what I will to have a hamburger and you drive down the store and somebody Broadside you your wheels not sovereign. This is not free. You didn't get to do what you wanted to How much less is it free to choose those things that are spiritual? Man doesn't have a free will that's a myth of man and Look people can jump up and down hold their breath get mad all they want to How many times have you been disappointed? How many times have you determined to do something and been disappointed? That proves what I'm saying. Your will is not free. You have one, it's just not free. It's not free.

You see, man's will is enslaved. It's enslaved to sin and His nature. You know how I know that? Because the Lord Jesus Christ said it Himself. No man can. No man has the ability to come to Me. Now is that clear? Is that plain? That's very simple, isn't it? He's using kindergarten sentences. Just to make sure you understand. No man has the ability to come to Me except... Except what? The Father which has sent Me draw him. It takes divine power for a man to come to Christ. Why? Because we are dead in sins. And what can a dead man do but sin? What could a man do by nature but sin? Nothing. Scripture says, can a leper change his spots? Can He will the spots to go away? Can an Ethiopian change his skin simply by willing it? Isn't this what this evil and wicked society that we live in is? A man says, well, I will to be a woman. You idiot! What they're doing is that is a continuation of free will thought, is that they believe that if they will it so, it's so. Which is what? It's a lie, it's a myth, it's a deception.

If any man thinks he'll be accepted of God because he wills to, if he thinks that God delights in him because he has made some choice for God or he's made some sincere effort to obey God's law, that man is deceived, that man like Haman. will be hanged on his own gallows. You know Haman, that gallows he built for Mordecai? Eventually he was hanged on the thing he built. And that's exactly what will happen to freewill works religionists. They'll be hung by their own gallows, by their own sin of pride and self-righteousness.

When this thing happened, can you imagine the anger and hatred that Heyman had when he found out he wasn't the man to be honored? That's exactly how freewill works religion are when they find out they're not the ones to be honored. They're full of hate and vileness, contempt. And I know this, Haman was surprised. And so will everyone who believes in free will works religion. Everyone who is saved by their will, saved by their works, when Christ comes, listen, they will be the most surprised that they're not going to be honored.

Remember what the Lord said, not everyone that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Remember what he's going to say to those, he said, that you profess to know me. He said, but the Lord's going to make a profession. He said, depart from me, you that work iniquity. I never knew you. These who believe salvation is made effectual by the will of man, by the works of man, they will be surprised in the day when they stand before God, when God does not honor them, but instead casts them into eternal darkness and damnation.

See, God's not going to delight in men. God doesn't delight in men. Well, then who does He delight in? There's only one in whom God delights. There's only one in whom God delights, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Since we all have sinned by nature and have strove to rob God of His glory, in whom does God delight? The Scriptures are clear that only God delights and has pleasure in Jesus Christ, His Son. That's the only one that God delights in.

First of all, I want you to see this, God delights in His person. God delights in the person of the Son of God. Why? because He Himself is God. Scripture says God cannot deny Himself. God delights in Himself. Scripture says there is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved. You see how God delights in His Son? That there's only one in which He delights in, His Son. There's none other name. There's no other name except this one. The Lord Jesus Christ.

You remember when our Lord Jesus was baptized, He begins His ministry, and He suffers John the Baptist, He suffers him to be baptized, and He enters into His servanthood, into His work. And you remember what happened immediately after He was baptized. The Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove, and God the Father could not refrain from speaking. And He said, Behold, this is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. In whom I am well pleased. This one who was baptized, we know that this one is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Now, I want you to understand this. God delighted in Christ before that moment. Before He said it in public. I want you to understand that God always delighted in His Son. When there was nothing but God Himself, He delighted in His Son.

You remember the scripture in Proverbs chapter 8? I read that to you this last week. Proverbs chapter 8 and verse 22. The scripture says, The Lord begat me possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth was. And then down in verse 30, He said, then. When I was begotten, when was that? In eternity. When was I set up? When was Christ set up to be our Redeemer, our King? From eternity. Listen to what He says in verse 30. Well, then. Was I by him as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight." Who does God delight in? There's only one. Do you not see how this abases all of us? How this puts us all on the same plane? God delighted in none of us. The only one God delighted in was His Son. Why? Because He was God. He was God, very God. And yet He was set up from the beginning to be the Christ, the Savior of the elect.

And then He came into this world as a man. The Scripture says He came in the likeness of sinful flesh. in the flesh, He pleased God by His obedience. You realize there's only one whose work God delighted in? It was Christ. He came into this world to provide righteousness by His obedience, to be the Redeemer of God's people. I like Mordecai's picture of this. There's old Mordecai. He's a poor man. He sits at the king's gate. That's where he lives. He has no home. He has no place to go. He's in his rags. And there he is, the deliverer of the king. You see, Christ must have condescended in humility in order to deliver the glory of God. He established it. You see, man tried to bring down the glory of God, just like those men tried to kill that king. And Mordecai, he steps in, he intervenes, and the king is saved. What a picture of Christ. When Christ comes down, what did He do? He established the glory of God. What we tried to rob, He established. He established the glory of God. John 17, isn't that what He said? Father, I have glorified Thee on the earth. That's what He came to do. He came to glorify God, to magnify God's law, both in obedience and by His suffering.

So God cannot or will not delight in anyone who is not as holy as He is. Do you understand that? God cannot delight in someone who is not holy. But Jesus Christ being God was always the delight of the Father because of His person. He was God. The one we believe in, the one you trust, I want you to know this, He is God, very God. But see, God was not just pleased with His person as being the Son, but He was also pleased with His office and His work. He was pleased with His work. In Isaiah chapter 42, look at Him now as the Son of God. He was God's delight from eternity. But now watch how He comes into humanity. He comes down from heaven and becomes a man. And this was foretold, to be the servant of God. And look at Isaiah 42 verse 1, Behold My servant whom I uphold. mine elect, in whom my soul delighted." See, God delighted in Christ Jesus who humbled himself and became the servant of God. Why? Because he actually honored God. God delighted in him because he, by himself, honored God, magnified the law. When you saw Christ walking on earth, what were you seeing? You were seeing the magnification of the Law on display. Perfect obedience. Perfect love. Perfect mercy. Perfect justice. He was perfect in every way. He honored the Law of God. He loved the Lord with all his heart, his soul, strength and he loved his neighbor as himself so therefore he alone by his righteousness pleased God and as his servant he humbled himself not only in obedience but in death.

See in his life he magnified the obedience to the law but in his death he satisfied the justice of the law. You see he did both. He did what you and I could never do. We could not obey and we could not pay. And He did both. And by this He merited God's acceptance.

Is there anyone that can compare to Him? Is there anyone who can compare to Him who is the brightness of God's glory and the object of His delight? No. He alone is a man-approved God.

Now what Peter said, you men of Israel, didn't you see Him? A man-approved of God. He was always well-pleasing to the Father in His righteousness and in His death. He satisfied the justice of God for all that the Father gave Him. All that the Father loved and gave to Christ as our surety and our high priest. He saved His people from their sins.

Is there any reason, is it not just reasonable for God to delight in Him? tell you that you should behold the man in whom God delights to honor who's the man God delights to honor none of us there's only one man God delights to honor and that's his son I just told you that in the beginning in heaven you understand that that he is the center of everything that everything that is said and done is done to the glory of this man whom God desires to honor. You know what we'll do in eternity? We'll honor Him. Why? Because God delighteth to honor Him. God delights to honor Christ.

Because of this, God delights to honor Christ because He is a successful Savior. When Christ bore our sins in His body on the tree, and God's wrath poured out on Him, when God's wrath could ask no more, when it could ask no more, our Lord Jesus Christ said, Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit, it is finished. It is finished. It was done.

I like that hymn Newton wrote, I saw one hanging on a tree in agony and blood. He fixed his loving eyes on me as near his cross I stood. Oh can it be that on a tree the Savior died for me. My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled to think He died for me.

And when He died, how do we know God honored Him? Because God raised Him from the dead. That's how we know. Because the tomb is empty. We know that the man that God desired to honor, He has honored. He rose from the dead and now He has ascended into the heaven. And God daily delights in His Son. Daily delights in Him.

Now then, I want to read this to you, Psalm 45. Listen to what God says about His Son. He says in Psalm 45, My heart is indicting a good matter. I speak of things which I have made touching the King. My tongue is the pen of the ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore God hath blessed thee forever.

Now tell me, who does God delight? Does He delight in men and their religious works? Does He delight in man's will or man's obedience? No. Why? Because sin is mixed with all we do. The only one God could delight in is Jesus Christ His Son. And that's in whom God delights. Now then, what shall be done for Him? We know that God delights in the Son, but what is to be done for the man in whom the King delighteth to honor?

First of all, a crown must be given. A crown. The glory of any king has always been his crown. You know that? I think they recently showed one of those crowns in South Korea or Japan or one of those foreign nations. Those crowns would stand five and six foot tall, taller than the king itself. Why? Because however glorious the crown was, it pictured the glory of the ruler. And no one was allowed to wear the king's crown but the king. Why? Because to wear his crown would mean he would share his glory.

Now, there's a story of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was traveling and his crown fell off into the river. And one of his servants jumped in And he got the crown and he come up out of the water with the crown on his head. Immediately Alexander had that man's head cut off. Why? Because that man was trying to share in Alexander's glory. God declares in Isaiah 42 and verse 8, I will not share my glory with another. Yet here we see this, the one in whom God delights, he says, he shall wear my crown. He shall wear my crown.

Friends, after Jesus, in his glorious person, the God-man had come in his office and accomplished the work, accomplished the salvation, of His people established the glory of God, what did God do? God raised Him to glory and sat Him down on the throne of God where right now the man in whom God delights to honor now wears the crown of glory and majesty and dominion and power and He rules over all things in heaven and in earth. Why? Because God delights to honor Him.

Make no mistake, the Lord Jesus Christ is in absolute sovereign rule over every event that takes place in time and eternity and He is doing all things after the counsel of His own will. You wonder what's happening? What's happening is Christ's will being accomplished. That's what's happening.

And God, you know, I'm so thankful that this Glorious, majestic king is not only a king, but he says that he's our friend. Isn't this something? He said, a king doesn't tell his servants what he's doing. He said, but I don't call you servants, I call you friends. Why? Because I'm telling you what I'm doing. I'm going to let you in on what I'm doing. You know what he's doing? He is saving his people from their sins.

In that chapter in John 17, He said, Father, glorify the Son, that Thy Son may glorify Thee, as Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as Thou hast given Him. What is He doing? He is giving eternal life to as many as the Father gave Him. You don't have to ask what He's doing. Now, you may not understand His providence, you may not see which way it's going, but you know what He's doing. You're not fooled. I don't know why this is happening over here. He's going to save His people from their sins. Well, what about this over here? Well, He's going to save His people from their sins. That's what He's going to do. Everyone the Father gave Him. Why? He wears the crown. He wears the crown. And listen, He ain't going to share this with anybody. This is His authority.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is ruling all things, wearing the crown of glory, and is giving salvation to his elect. He who wears the crown now rests in glory on his head. And so then I ask anyone this, is there anyone in need of mercy? Because my King is merciful. My King is gracious. float anger and plenteous in redemption. Does anyone need mercy? Does any sinner need mercy? Listen, come and bow to the King. Look, He's the only one that has the authority to give you life and faith. I can't give you life and faith. Only He can give you life and faith. Why? Because God has placed the crown on His head. He's King. He's King.

Secondly, a robe must be given to him. This is the robe of God's righteousness. Our text said that this robe, he said, take the robe from your own back. That's what he's telling him. He said, let the royal apparel be brought which the king uses to wear. Not that other stuff, the very robe that you wear. and give it to him. The robe that was worn by the king alone, even the robe that God wears, listen, is a robe of righteousness. A robe of righteousness.

Over in Psalm 104, this is what it says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, Blessed is the Lord my God, Thou art very great, Thou art clothed with honor and majesty. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ had this robe from the beginning, didn't He? He Himself was God. He was robed in majesty. And yet, what did He do for us? He laid aside that glory and He became a man. He humbled Himself. For what? That He should earn the robe of righteousness. That he should earn the robe of righteousness. This is what Paul says in Romans 3 in verse 22. Even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. By the faithfulness of Christ. He merited that righteousness. The robe was given to him because he earned it. Earned it.

Now we know this, that in us there is none righteous, no not one, but this man by his obedience has earned the righteousness of God, and God robed him in it. God robed him in righteousness, he is covered by it, and alone is worthy of it. He earned the robe of righteousness.

Now this horse and the herald, he said now then, you got a crown on his head, you put the robe on his back, now give him the king's horse, and take your best servant and haul him through the streets saying, this is the man. This is the man in whom the Lord delighteth. Now, what's the horse and what is the herald? The horse is simply the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is what carries the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. It is the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of God carries the gospel of Christ to the four corners of the earth, proclaiming this, Christ is the man whom God desires to honor. Christ Jesus is the man. And he alone is the delight of God. He has honored God, and he sends his servants to declare through the preaching of the gospel that he has honored God. This is what we do. Whom does God delight to honor? Not you and not me. This is the man. This is the man. The Lord Jesus Christ.

And I like this. In this text, you notice that God made His enemy to do that? Made Mordecai's enemy to say these things? Do you realize that God even now is ruling over His enemies to testify of Christ? and His authority. And we know this, in the end, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

And lastly, I want you to see that God honors Christ. God magnifies Christ by saving His people. By saving His people. There's nothing more dishonoring to Christ than the idea of universal atonement. There's nothing more dishonoring to Christ than the idea of universal atonement. If Christ died for all men, and all men are not saved, it is dishonoring to Christ. Matter of fact, you marked this down. If He did die for all men, there would be no hell. You know why? Because He is successful. He is victorious. You see, if Christ died for all men, and all men are not saved, then He would have failed. But the King in our text, look at your text again, look what the King said. He said this, Look at verse 10, the last part. He said, Let nothing fail of all thou hast spoken. Let nothing fail.

My friends, nothing I have said will fail. God desired to honor him and God has honored him. God delighted in him, God has given him a crown, a robe of righteousness, seated him on his throne, and now he rides victoriously and triumphantly to save his people from their sin. This shall not fail. This shall not fail because Christ has paid the price for the sins of his people. He has brought in an everlasting righteousness and God is well pleased with him. Therefore, the scripture says, he shall not fail nor be discouraged.

Well, if we cannot honor God, and Christ is the only one in whom God delights, then how could any one of us who are sinners stand before God? How is that? If God only delights in Christ, and He does, how then can we stand before God? There's only one way if you're in Christ. If you're in Christ.

Friend, hear the great message of grace that all who believe on Christ alone, who trust in Him alone, in His sinless perfection, in His death that paid for sin, those who see Him alone as all their salvation. Listen, you that believe on Him, you are in Him. Therefore, if you are in Him, God delights in you through Him. That's it.

Consider Mordecai. Mordecai is an example of this. Because the king honored Mordecai, the Jews were safe. He represented His people. That's what Christ did. He represented His people. And so then you who believe, listen to this, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Because God delighted in your representative, He delights in you.

Now what does that have to do with you? Nothing. Nothing. I didn't do anything. I had no part in this and I didn't merit any of this. It's all an act of free grace and mercy that Christ was my representative. But of God are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Why? That he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. So you are in Christ.

Listen, there is therefore now no condemnation, believer. We who are in union with Him are also the delight of our Father. The Scripture says in Deuteronomy, talking about Jacob, He said, I found him in the desert and I kept him as the apple of My eye. Isn't that where He found us? Isn't that how He kept you? Now why would He keep you? Why would He sustain you? Why would He call you to Himself? Why should you believe when millions perish? Because God delights in Him who is your representative.

When Christ died, He died for His people. When He earned righteousness, He earned righteousness for His people. Therefore, it is the Father's delight to save His people. Why? Because it honors the Son, doesn't it? It honors the Son. And now He has given us by nature, He's given us a new nature. He has robed us in the very righteousness of Christ. He is now. Isn't that astounding? I don't look in the mirror and see that, do you? Do you look in the mirror and see that? When you actually contemplate your own nature, do you feel that? Righteousness? You don't. But listen, you that believe it's none less yours. He gave it to you. And it won't be seen fully until we disrobe this flesh. And listen, the scripture tells us that we should be clothed in fine linen, clean and white. Why? Which is His righteousness. And listen, this glory that He has, He also will crown us with the glory of His own self. Isn't this astounding? That we shall share in His glory.

Why? Because God delighted in Him. Don't you see? It's not about you. You get none of this because of you. All of this is a work of grace. God now has given us his gospel, wherewith we should preach this message to everyone. Behold the man in whom God delights to honor. What's your hope? The man in whom God delights to honor. Well, where does your righteousness come from? The man in whom God delights to honor. That's where it comes from. How are you going to be saved? The man in whom God delights to honor. That's our message we herald wherever we go.

Salvation is of the Lord. Therefore, don't despair. Israel was in a bad place here. Their enemies were closing in. All seemed lost. And then God delivered them. Why? Because God delights in Christ. Because God would send His Son in this world. Listen, I know things get dark. I know the troubles abound. And you say, how in the world could God save a man like me? Is there any hope that God could delight Himself in me? Only through Him will God ever show me any favor or love or mercy is in Christ. And you that believe, If God is delighted to honor him, then he will honor his promises toward him and save you, keep you. That's my hope. That's my hope.

I do pray that God bless this to your heart. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Gracious Father, be merciful. By the power of your spirit, bless our hearts concerning Christ. We should bow ourselves before him and adore his majesty, his dominion, his power, his victory. Father, we should find all our hope and salvation only in him who you delight to honor. Give us grace that we should worship and praise and adore him. Forgive us our sins through His blood. Robe us in His righteousness and none our own. And let us shout, salvation is of the Lord. I pray you would do this for your own glory in Jesus' name. I don't want to hear what's going on.