Psalm 132. Psalm 132. I titled this message, For Christ's
Sake. For Christ's Sake. That's so powerful. If we really,
really come to understand This, for Christ's sake, it opens
up the scriptures, every channel of blessing, and we will give unto the Lord
the glory that's due unto his name properly, all for Christ's
sake, all for his sake. Now, since the fall of Adam,
Man has found many ways to take God's name in vain. Isn't that something? They'll protect the name of their
parents, their kids, you don't say anything about my kids, but
turn right around and use God's name in such awful language. God who sends them rain and sunshine
and food and everything they have. You know, everything everyone
has on this earth is God-given, the just and the unjust. That
sun shined out there today on the just and the unjust. The
rain fell on the just and the unjust. And yet man has found
many ways to take God's name in vain. And one of the most
abused statements that I've heard is, well, for Christ's sake, to say it in that manner, to
say his name, to take his name in that kind of manner is vain. The Lord said, and I'm going
to paraphrase, those who take his name in vain will not be
held guiltless. They will not be held guiltless.
That'll come back. Now the Word of God tells us
that all things were made by Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, and
for Him. Everything is for His sake. Everything. And by Him, all things consist,
all things are maintained and held together. Everything has been turned over
to the Son. Everything. All power, all authority,
all glory is given to the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything that is done in heaven
and earth is for Christ's sake. That's so, it's for Christ's
sake. And that being so, then everything
we do and seek is to be for Christ's sake. Wouldn't it be something
if we actually, if we truly held this before us in everything
we do for Christ's sake? Now he says in verse nine, let
thy priest be clothed with righteousness. Let thy saints shout for joy. You know, the Lord's ministers
here, he calls him his priest, plural. His ministers are clothed
with the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are
righteous in their conduct. They are righteous in their ministry.
They conduct it in a righteous manner. They're not a bunch of
crooks. They are clothed in righteousness. And their message is one of righteousness,
his righteousness. I never thought a thing about
righteousness until God saved me. My view of righteousness,
my view of holiness was boring. That's how I saw it, it was boring.
But here it says, and let thy saints shout for joy. You know,
his righteousness brings to every one of his children peace. It
says the work of righteousness is what? Peace. The work of righteousness
is peace. And it brings joy. Real joy. Not just giddiness. It's a real
deep joy in the heart. Even in sorrow, there's joy. It's unexplainable. You can't
explain it. You can't define it. Because
it's of God. And you'll notice here, let thy
priest be clothed with righteousness and let thy saints, they're his.
The ministers are his and the people are his. He purchased
them. And he put everyone in the body
as it pleased him. Where it pleased him to put you
and where it pleased him to put me. And I'm happy with that. I'm happy with that. The last
thing, I'm telling you, the last thing I would have ever thought
that I would do would be standing and talking in front of people.
I wouldn't even do that in a classroom. You give me the cheat sheet and
I wouldn't raise my hand. I sat in the back of the class
the whole time through school. And yet God has put me here.
He's put me here. And he's put you where he's put
you. We are his priest, and listen,
he has made us kings and priests under God. You're a priest too.
Do you not offer up praise at Thanksgiving? Do you not offer
up prayers for one another? You do. He's made us kings and
priests also. But here in verse 10, he says
here, for thy servant David's sake, turn not away the face
of thine anointed. And this is Solomon saying, because
of the oath that you made with David, my father, don't turn
me away, don't turn your face away from me. But we have to
look beyond this to the greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything God does is for Christ's
sake. Isn't it? It's for his sake.
Let me give you some scriptural examples of this, some in the
Old Testament. Well, all these are in the Old
Testament. But let me give you some examples
here. I looked this up today. I put it in there for thy name's
sake, and then all of a sudden it started this jumping back
and forth, like climbing a ladder. Listen to this, in 2 Samuel 9.1,
And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house
of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? You see, a few years before this,
David and Jonathan had made a covenant with one another, and David promised
to take care of Jonathan's house. And he says here, that I may
show him kindness for Jonathan's sake. You know why the Lord is
kind to us? You know why he's kind to us?
I'm talking about us whom the Lord has saved. You know why
he's kind? For Christ's sake. For Christ's
sake. If you go back to the beginning
of this psalm, he says, Lord, remember David and all his afflictions. And we looked at that the last
time. Remember Christ and all his afflictions. And for his
sake. For his sake, show kindness.
Let me taste of your grace and your kindness. Genesis 39, five. And it came
to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his
house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's
house for Joseph's sake. for Joseph's sake. You know,
God's blessed my house. He has. He's blessed my house.
He's blessed your house for Christ's sake. That's why he's blessed
it. He blessed the Egyptian's house
for Joseph's sake and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that
he had in the house and in the field. Oh, his blessing is over all
of us, all his children, and we are blessed for Christ's sake.
Genesis 30, 27, and Laban said unto him, I pray thee, he's speaking
to Jacob, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, Terry,
for I have learned by experience, I like this, that the Lord hath
blessed me for thy sake. Have we learned that? Have I
learned that God has blessed me, really blessed me, for Christ's
sake? Everything I have, the blessings
I have, I have them because of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 2511, for thy name's sake,
O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it's great. For your name's
sake, for who you are, you're the God who pardons iniquity.
for your name's sake, pardon my iniquity. And last of all,
Psalm 79.9, help us, O God, of our salvation, for the glory
of thy name, and deliver us and purge away our sins for thy name's
sake. What do we read in Hebrews 1?
He purged us from our sins by himself. He did this by himself. And for Christ's sake, God forgives
us. He forgives us. Now everything
that God does is for Christ's sake. And that being so, what
kind of person must the Lord Jesus Christ be? I'll tell you
what kind of person he is. God's son. God said, this is
my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. He never said that about
anybody else. This is my beloved son. Over
in John chapter three and John chapter five, he says, the father
loveth the son and has given everything over to him. Turned
everything over to him. And everything he does, and we're
talking about God, We're talking about God, God the Father. Everything
he does is for the sake of his son, his glory, his honor. God shows mercy for Christ's
sake. Listen here in Ephesians 4.32.
And this is the ground, this is the ground, this is the foundation
for us showing mercy to one another. Here it is. And be ye kind one
to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for
Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. That's why God's forgiven
me. That's why God called me. That's
why God revealed his son in me. He did it for his son's sake,
his glory. We are heard. for Christ's sake,
you know that? God hears our prayers, our intercession,
for Christ's sake. That's why he hears our prayers.
He says in that verse, for thy servant David's sake, turn not
away the face of thine anointed, hear me. Hear me for Christ's
sake. Brethren, that's powerful praying.
When you pray and you greatly desire to be heard, ask the Father
to hear you for Christ's sake. Oh, for Christ's sake, hear my
prayer. For Christ's sake, answer. Our Lord said in John 14, 13,
and whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that
the Father may be glorified in the Son. But whatever you ask
in my name, that will I do. And our ministry is for Christ's
sake. The preaching I do here is for
Christ's sake. The ministry that you support
here, we support it for Christ's sake, for his glory, his honor.
That's why we do it. Over in 1 Corinthians 2, verse
2, for I determine not to know anything among you save Jesus
Christ and him crucified. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4,
5, for we preach not ourselves. We're not the subject of our
ministry. You know, I think the best message
is preached when you can forget about the one that preached it
and remember the one that was preached. When you go home, when
you go home and you are really thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ,
then I have preached the best I can. If you go home thinking
about me, I missed it. If that's all you're thinking
about is me, I missed it. I want you to go home thinking
about Christ. He's our ministry. He's our ministry. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ, Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves, your service for Jesus'
sake. Our ministry is for Christ's
sake. And the life we live day by day, day by day, the life
we live is for Christ's sake. Our walk, our talk is for Christ's
sake. Often I ask the Lord to put a
watch on my tongue. Sometimes I can get a loose tongue.
I want the Lord to put a watch on my tongue for Christ's sake.
I don't want to bring reproach on his name, by word or by conduct. And God receives our worship
this evening. You know why God receives our
worship this evening? For Christ's sake. For his sake. That's why. And we have learned
truth when we learn that all things are for Christ's sake. Now we've learned truth. We've
learned the scriptures. We've learned the purpose of
everything is for Christ's sake. And then he speaks here of an
oath that was given to David, which we know is given to Christ.
The Lord, Jehovah, the self-existing one, has sworn in truth unto
Christ. You see, this happened. Now this
statement right here, the Lord has sworn in truth unto David,
and he will not turn from it. Of the fruit of thy body will
I set upon thy throne. That's over in 2 Samuel chapter
7. But it's given to the greater David. It's given to the Lord
Jesus Christ, this promise that he's going to set upon the throne
He's gonna be incarnate. He's gonna come through the lineage
of David and he's gonna sit on the throne. And you know what?
He's sitting on the throne. He's sitting on the throne of
David right now. And he's ruling among his people
in Zion, the church, over his Israel. We are his Israel. His promise is fulfilled in the
Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to turn over to Acts
chapter two. In Acts chapter two, look in
verse, let me see here. 29. 29 through, I'll read down
to 36. Men and brethren, let me freely
speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and
buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. He's talking
about his body. Therefore being a prophet, and
knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ
to sit on his throne. He's quoting that scripture. He's seen this before, spake
of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in
hell, neither his flesh to see corruption. This Jesus hath God
raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore, being by
the right hand of God, exalted, and having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this which
you now see and hear. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand, right there at the throne. That's where
our David is. Our David is seated at the right
hand of God. Until I make thy foes thy footstool,
therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God
hath made that same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and
Christ. Right now, he's Lord and Christ.
He's Lord and Savior. And God made that oath to his
son and we now have the scriptures testifying to us that it's been
fulfilled. The Lord Jesus Christ has come
of the seed of David, and he has ascended on high, he went
to the cross and died, he ascended on high, and he's seated at God's
right hand, right now. You know, I see this world so
differently than when I was young. It's all his, I see it. I mean,
that's like, I see it. It's his. And he's working all
things after the counsel of his own will. And he's bringing this
thing to a conclusion. And here's what the conclusion
is going to be. God's going to populate that
new earth with the people like his son and God's going to dwell
with him. That is God's rest. You are God's rest. Let's go on. I'll show you this. God, and here's something else
here, he said, of the fruit of thy body will I sit upon thy
throne. Who is it, in the body, that
body that was prepared, the Lord Jesus Christ said, the body has
thou prepared me. God is sitting upon that throne
as a man, in the flesh, of the lineage of David, ruling heaven
and earth. The king, the second Adam, he
is the king of glory, the Lord from heaven, who rules over all. And here's our confidence. He
will not turn from it. He will not change his mind.
God is immutable. That means he's unchanging. He
will never change. Once he is sworn with an oath,
he'll never change, never change. And God speaks concerning this
covenant and the children of his children. He says, if thy
children will keep my covenant and my testimony. that I shall
teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne forevermore. Now Solomon succeeded David,
but eventually the house of David became like a root out of dry
ground. You know over in Isaiah 53 it says, there's no beauty
we should desire him, he's like a root out of dry ground. That
could be making reference to the house of David. It was all
but forgotten. I mean, the house of David was
just about forgotten. until the Lord came along. Here's
that promise. Here's the promise of that seed
that goes all the way back to Genesis, the seed of the woman.
It's going to be a seed of David. And here it is. And we know this,
we know that in the Old Testament, Israel could never keep that
covenant. Good day. They broke it on every turn.
They went into captivity so many times because of their sinfulness.
But here's the good news. Here's the good news. We have
kept the covenant in Christ. We have kept the covenant in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the covenant is sure,
and we shall sit upon the throne in Christ. Listen to this in
Revelation 321. We are seated. And I know this
is hard to grasp. We can believe it. We can believe
it. I know we can't really grasp it because of this sinful flesh. We're so limited in our understanding.
I know that. But we are seated right now on the throne in Christ because
he kept the covenant and we kept the covenant in him. We actually
kept the covenant in him. And he says here in verse 13
now, for the Lord has chosen Zion He has desired it for his habitation. We are God's chosen dwelling
place. God, God, of all the things that
God could desire. I mean, you can't even, I mean,
we can't even imagine that. And yet he says here, he has
desired to dwell in you. You're his dwelling place. The
church is his dwelling place. Zion is his dwelling place. God
dwells in you, you who believe. God dwells in you. That's real. That's real. And he says here in verse 14,
this is my rest. God said, this is my rest forever. Here will I dwell. Well, I have
desired it. God dwells in Christ. The church
dwells in Christ. The place of God's rest and the
church's rest is in the same place in the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says, this is my rest
forever. I'm not looking for anyplace
else. I'm not going anyplace else. There's not going to be
another one. There's not going to be another situation like this. This is
it. This is it. God has created a people that
he's going to dwell in and rest in. And we're it. We are it. We are God's resting
place in Christ. We are his resting place. That's just phenomenal to me.
And he says, because of this, because I have desired Zion as
my resting place and my dwelling place, I will abundantly bless
her provisions. You know the scripture says all
things are yours in Christ. All things are yours in Christ.
You and I have everything we need to stand before God. And
not only that, he says I bless her abundantly now. We're not
just barely blessed, we're abundantly blessed. We have all things,
all things that belong to Christ belong to us. And I will satisfy
her poor with bread. That's what he's doing right
now. That's what he's doing right now. He's satisfying. And we
are poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
That's us. It's everyone whom God saves
is poor in spirit, poor sinners, poor broken sinners. And he says,
I'll satisfy her poor with bread, the bread from heaven. That's
what we're being satisfied with right now. Not just flesh, but
spirit. Spiritually, we are being satisfied
with Christ. You know, it says this over in
2 Corinthians 1.20, for all the promises of God in him are yea,
and in him, amen, unto the glory of God by us. But all the promises
of God, all the provisions and all the promises are sure to
us. They're sure. It's not maybe,
they're sure. All God's promises. You'd think
we'd get in the word of God and find out all those promises,
don't you? If they're sure and they're ours,
you'd think we'd look for them like treasure. You'd think we'd
dig in the scriptures like treasure. The promises of God. And there's
nothing more powerful in prayer than pleading the promises of
God. But if you don't know them, you
can't plead them. But boy, if you know them, they're
powerful to take to the throne of grace. Powerful. And I will also close her priest
with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. The
gospel of salvation, that's what you get here every week. There's
a lot of junk, heresy, just I don't know what all to tag it with,
but being priest here in this community. But I'm telling you
the truth. I'm confident, I'm 100% confident
of this. You get the gospel. You get the
gospel of salvation every week. God has kept it here. He's kept
it here. And you're joyful about it. You're
joyful for it, aren't you? You shout, he says here, and
her saints shall shout aloud for joy. I know we try to be
quiet during the service, and I know we do, but our hearts
are shouting, aren't they? I mean, you've got to have some
order. But my heart shouts. I say amen. I'm not one to speak out. Anybody
knows, but I'm not one to sit there and just speak out loud.
It's just not me. But boy, my heart is. My heart
is saying amen, amen. You know, that comes from the
way I was raised. I was raised to be seen and not
heard. And that just, you know, train
up a child in the way he'll go, and he'll not depart from it.
And I was trained up that way. And that's why I sit quiet. But my heart's not quiet. God
knows my heart. And God knows your heart. He
knows when you hear the gospel, you really hear the gospel, your
heart just leaps. It's a joy. It's a real joy. Listen, I will also clothe her
priests with salvation, her ministers with salvation, the gospel of
salvation, and her saints will shout aloud for joy, and there,
in Zion, there will I make the horn of David, that word horn
stands for power, there will I make the power of Christ known. He says but here, but he says
I'll make the power of Christ known. Have you known the power
of Christ? You know, when I read over in 1 Thessalonians, and
Paul said that the gospel came not unto you in word only, but
in power and in demonstration of the spirit, I know what he's
talking about. I've experienced that. I can
say I have experienced the gospel coming to me in power. Changed
my whole life. Life changed my life. He gave me life, but it changed
everything. I was never the same since that
day. I have not been the same. You
can't be born of God and stay the same. Now that's just too
much of a change. You can't do it. And when the
gospel comes in power, what a change is made. What a change. But he
says here, There, that's in Zion, and here's another powerful reason
to be here, is the power of Christ is known right here. It's known
among his people, in his church, in this gathering. There will I make the horn of
David to bud. You know, our Lord said this.
Well, it said this in Isaiah 53, he shall see the travail
of his soul and be satisfied. Isaiah 42 said, my servant shall
not fail. The church may look, it may look
small to the world, and even to us, it may look small. You
know, we're the gospel's priest, you rarely find a large congregation,
really, rarely. Find a large congregation. It'll
be a handful of sheep here and there. And it's just, it's never
really large. But I tell you this, it is 100%
successful. Because Christ is saving everyone
for whom he died. Everyone for whom Christ died.
You may be, I don't know. You may be all the sheep that's
around here. But I tell you this, as long as there's sheep, God,
the Lord's gonna feed you. He's gonna feed you. The shepherd's
gonna feed the sheep. Even if there's one out in the
wilderness, he's gonna go out there and get him or her. Either one, he's gonna get it.
He's gonna get that one lost sheep. There may just be one
lost sheep still out in this community that the Lord's gonna
bring in. And if there is, the ministry's gonna stay here. He
brings that lost sheep in. I'd love to see him fill this
place up. Listen, there's no greater prayer to pray for the
reason for God to fill this place up other than for Christ's sake.
This is not a business. The church is not a business.
It's a living, thriving body of Christ. And I would love to
see the Lord fill this place up for Christ's sake. We ought
to pray to that end. We ought to pray to that end
and actually expect God to do it. Most of the time we pray,
we don't expect him to do what we're asking. But if he would
do it for Christ's sake, my son, this place wouldn't hold that amount of people. There in Zion, I add in Zion
because that's what he's talking, that's who he's talking about.
There will I make the horn of David bud. I've ordained a lamp
for mine and Lord. That word lamp has the meaning
of like a candle, it's a light. Christ said, I'm the light of
the world. You know that since the creation, even since the
fall, the light's been burning. At times it looks like a little
candle, at times it looks like that, but the light, God has
ordained the light. Christ is the light of the world.
He said, you are the light of the world. You're children of
light. God's ordained that. And last of all, verse 18. Here's
the reign of Christ, and he says in this verse, the reign of Christ,
the crown of Christ shall flourish. How many kings are still left
on this earth? They've all died. I mean, how
many, probably millions, but how many thousands upon thousands
upon thousands of kings have been and they're not now? But
this one king is eternal. This one king, his power is only
gonna flourish. Christ's enemies, he says here,
will be put to shame in the end. All who do not believe are gonna
come to shame, but the reign of Christ is only gonna prosper,
and it's gonna prosper throughout eternity. Our king, our king,
his crown, You know, over in England, they talk a lot about
the crown. The crown of our king, the glory
of our king, the majesty of our king, the power of our king is
only going to flourish. Sooner or later, he will conquer. He will conquer everything and
everyone. And it'll just be him and his
church, his bride, his people, his body, and we are going to
enjoy him forever and ever and ever. And I get to be a part
of that through no fault of my own. I did everything in the
world for God not to save me. The last thing I wanted was God
to save me, until he saved me, and then that's all I've wanted.
That's all I've wanted since, is the Lord to save me. I don't
care what, it doesn't matter what I have, or achieve, none
of that matters. Lord, save me. That's all. For Christ's sake. For Christ's
sake. I can say this in my prayers. I often ask the Lord to forgive
me, and I always, and I do use that term. I do, I do often. I say, Father, forgive me for
Christ's sake. And I say, let his blood be propitiation
for my sins. There's nothing more powerful
than that. All right.