Psalm 96. Let's read this psalm
together. Oh, saying unto the Lord a new
song, saying unto the Lord, all the earth. Saying unto the Lord,
bless his name, show forth his salvation from day to day. Declare
his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. For the Lord is great and greatly
to be praised. He is to be feared above all
gods. For all the gods of the nations
are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Honor and majesty
are before him. Strength and beauty are in his
sanctuary. Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds
of the people. Give unto the Lord glory and
strength. Give unto the Lord the glory
due unto his name. Bring an offering and come into
his courts. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. Fear before him all the earth. Say among the heathen that the
Lord reigneth. The world also shall be established. That it shall not be moved. He
shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice and let
the earth be glad. Let the sea roar and the fullness
thereof. Let the field be joyful and all
that is therein. Then shall all the trees of the
wood rejoice before the Lord, for he cometh, for he cometh
to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with
righteousness and the people with his truth. Verse nine says, oh, worship
the Lord. That's what my heart very much
wants to do this morning. And I'm sure I'm not the only
one with that desire this morning. But how do we worship the Lord?
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Can I do that? Can one such as me, a wretch
who knows nothing of holiness within myself, worship the Lord
in the beauty of holiness? This verse was on my mind and
has been for a few weeks while we were on vacation. Last Sunday,
we were able to go to services with the Brethren of Pucca, Florida,
and afterwards, we went out to eat. We had to stop and get something
for lunch. And while we were waiting for
our order, a lady came in and she noticed how we were dressed,
said, have y'all been to church? Yeah, yeah, we have. Oh, I need
to go to church. I told my kids the other day,
we need to get back and go to church again. And then she proceeded to say,
well, we always try to go to church, especially on Mother's
Day and Christmas and all the Easter service. Oh, the Easter
service, that's such a good service. You know, they serve food and
they let the kids go Easter hunt. Easter egg, honey, that's a good
service. We need to go to that one. This
poor lady, like so many, as we all are by nature, she stood
there firmly convinced that if she were to appear before the
Lord that day, she would be perfectly all right because she thought
about going to a church building She actually made it to a church
building from time to time, so therefore, when she stands before
the judge of all the earth, she'll be okay. My heart breaks for this lady,
for her family, for my family, my friends, my neighbors that
I know who have the same belief. I'm so disappointed in myself
that at that time, at that moment, I like the wisdom, the ability
to point her to the Lord Jesus Christ. Having this verse on
my mind while she talked, I couldn't help but think she's in the same
boat I was in not so very long ago. She sees no beauty in the Lord
Jesus Christ. I knew and I know that if the
Lord ever revealed to her her great need of a Savior, she would,
as Paul, forget those things which are behind and reach forth
unto those things which are before, pressing award the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. Again, I hope and I pray that
this morning I have come here to worship, to bow down, to submit,
to fall, before him, before the Lord God
in reverence. And I sincerely pray that's why
we are all gathered here this morning. That we have not fallen
into the trap that is so easy for us to fall into. I've got
to go. I've got to go to that church
building this morning to prove that I am safe. I don't want
to come here just out of obligation. I want to come here to worship
the Lord. If I'm here to truly worship,
it means that I'm here to worship the Lord. How is that accomplished? In John 4, 24, our Lord says,
God is a spirit. and they that worship him must
worship him in spirit and in truth. Our text says, worship
the Lord in the beauty of holiness. What does that mean? To put it
simply, as a sinful, wretched man, who of myself knows nothing
of holiness and definitely nothing of truth, I cannot worship. I'm a liar from my mother's womb
and of myself. But our Lord Jesus Christ in
Hebrews is described as holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, who declared, I am the truth. In Christ, even this
wretched man can worship the Lord in the beauty of Christ. Our topic this morning is the
beauty of Christ. He is beautiful because of who
he is, because of what he did, and because of where he is. Let's
consider the beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ and who he is. He is God. He is the eternal,
almighty, all-sufficient God. He is the God described in Daniel
as the one who doeth according to his will in the army of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay
his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Lord Jesus Christ is the sovereign
God. In Genesis, it's recorded that
he said, and it was. He alone reigns. Turn with me
to Deuteronomy chapter 32. Deuteronomy 32. So often when a disaster strikes,
men will say, the God of love didn't do this. This is the result
of the devil's work. And so saying, they're saying,
God lost the battle this time and the devil won. He put them
on equal footing. Deuteronomy 32 verse 39. There are only 3239. The Lord
declares, see now that I. And in case you missed it, even
I. Am he and there is no God with
me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal, neither is
there any that can deliver out of my hand. Our Lord Jesus Christ
is the sovereign God and that is beautiful because he not only
has the authority to declare a thing, but he has the power
to perform that which he declares. More specifically, our Lord is
God the Son. In Isaiah 45, 21, he proclaims,
there is no God else beside me, a just God. Sin cannot be swept
under the rug. The penalty must be paid in full. A just God and a Savior. There is none beside me. Why one God in three persons? That God might be just and save
sinners. To the praise of the Father's
glory, he chose from a sinful dead race a number to show mercy
to. He gave those sinners to the
Son, who for his love to the Father, and for his love that
he has to those people, He became their surety and our Savior. The beauty of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is God. He is God the Son. And in time he revealed himself
as a man. A man born the seed of woman
without the fallen nature of Adam. But a man who endured all
the infirmities of a man. He is a man who learned what
it was to rejoice, to mourn, to endure the frailties of the
flesh, such as hunger, thirst, fatigue. A man who was touched
with the feelings of our infirmities, who was tempted in all points,
like as we are, yet without sin. the beauty of our Lord Jesus
Christ, he is the man in whom dwelleth the fullness of the
Godhead bodily. Lord Jesus Christ is the sovereign
God-man, and who he is cannot be separated from the beauty
of what he did. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Consider the love of God for
his people. Before he created them, before
he gave the law, he knew they could not and would not keep
his law. His law is like unto himself,
eternal, perfect, holy. But he loves us with an everlasting
love. And before the world's foundation
was laid, he purposed to save his people with an eternal salvation. God is just. Man is sinful. Our transgressions of the law
cannot be ignored. The debt must be fully paid. God the son came into the world
from his place of honor and glory upon the throne. He condescended,
coming in our likeness, and he did that which only God can do. He fulfilled the law. He who
made the law came down and dwelt under the law's dominion. He,
in living perfectly under the law's demands, purchased a righteousness
that he didn't need. But we sinners so desperately
need it. Having then fulfilled the law,
he offered himself burying our sins, the just for the unjust,
to redeem us to God. What did Christ do? He loved us. The wonder of that statement. He loved us. We who have nothing
lovely about us. He loved us. We are loved of
God. Why would he love this? It pleased him to do so. For
his glory. He will show mercy and have compassion. The praise of the glory of his
grace. He loved us. As it pleased him
to do so. He loved us so much that he left
his glory and honor, which is his alone, behind. And he took
upon himself the form of a servant. He lived as a man in perfect
obedience to the law. Having no guilt of his own, he
went before the judge. He appeared before Pilate, yes. But he went before the judge
of all the earth, bearing the guilt of his bride as his own
guilt. And he, life himself, submitted
to death, even the death of the cross. Upon the tree he endured
the wrath of God in his body until every last debt of sin
his people owed was fully paid. Then, as the wages of sin is
death, to complete that payment, he laid down his life and he
entered the tomb on the third day. to show that all the debt
was paid, to prove that law and justice were satisfied, to reveal
that he had obtained peace between God and men, the Lord Jesus Christ
rose from the grave, our victorious Savior. Lord Jesus Christ is
beautiful because of who he is, the sovereign God, the just God
and Savior of sinful men, the God-man who saved sinners, and
he is beautiful because of where he is right now. Colossians 3.1
says, Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. He isn't nervously
pacing. He isn't worried about if what
he did will work out. No, he is resting, seated, knowing
the salvation he bought is secured. Knowing that all those he loves,
those he lived for, those he bled for, those he died for,
and those he rose again for, shall be with him where he is. And as he sits there, he makes
intercession for his beloved bride. He paid our debts, and he ever
lives to ensure that we will be with him where he is. For every person born of the
seed of Adam, Isaiah recorded how we regard him and love ourselves. Isaiah 53, 2, he hath no form
nor comeliness. And when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him. While we are yet in our
sin, while we live believing that by something we do, we can
be found righteous before God, we're blinded to the beauty of
Christ. We see no form nor crumbliness
about him. no beauty that we should desire
him. But for those God the Father
chose, God the Son redeemed, and God the Spirit regenerates
with every passing moment of our lives, we find him to be
altogether lovely. We find him to be our all and
end all. And when we come together and
the Lord is pleased to enable us to enter into a time of worship,
we will find that we are worshiping in the beauty of the Lord Jesus
Christ. My prayer for this morning, my
sincere desire as you come to speak, we come back this evening,
every time we meet here, Oh Lord, let us worship the Lord in the
beauty of holiness, who is Christ Jesus our Lord.