and I just heard that Earl Wooten's gonna have a heart cath early in the morning and we want to remember him in prayer. I thought the last time he had surgery he's cleaned out and good for life, but I guess they gotta check him out again.

Psalm 89, we'll read the first 16 verses. I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. With my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness, to all generations. For I have said, mercy shall be built up forever. Thy faithfulness shall thou establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn unto David, my servant. Thy seed will I establish forever and build up thy throne to all generations.

And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord, thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

O Lord of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea, when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain. Thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.

The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine. As for the world and the fullness thereof, thou hast founded them. The north and the south, thou hast created them. Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name. Thou hast a mighty arm, strong as thy hand and high as thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

All right, Sean, come lead us in our singing, if you would.

Okay, if you would, turn in your hymnal to song number 112, Blessed Redeemer.

112. Up Calvary's mountain, one dreadful morn,
Walk Christ my Savior, weary and worn,
Facing for sinners, death on the cross,
that he might save them from endless loss.

Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer,
seems now I see him on Calvary's tree.
Wounded and bleeding
For sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding
Dying for me

Father forgive them, thus did he pray.
Meanwhile his lifeblood flowed fast away.
Praying for sinners while in such woe,
No one but Jesus ever loved so.

Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer.
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree.
Wounded and bleeding
For sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding
Dying for me

O how I love Him, Savior and Friend!
How can my praises ever find end?
Through years unnumbered on heaven's shore,
My tongue shall praise Him forevermore.

Blessed Redeemer, Precious Redeemer,
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree.
Wounded and bleeding
For sinners pleading
Blind and unheeding
Dying for me

OK, if you would now turn over to song number 125, Jesus Paid It All.

125. I hear the Savior say, thy strength indeed is small.
Child of weakness, watch and pray.
Find in me thine all in all.

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe.
Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow.

Lord, now indeed I find thy power and thine alone can change the leper's spots.
and melt the heart of stone. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow For nothing good have I Whereby thy grace to claim I'll wash my garments white In the blood of Calvary's lamb, Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.

And when before the throne I stand in Him complete, Jesus died my soul to save, my lips shall still repeat, Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.

If you would, now open your Bibles with me to Exodus chapter 28. Exodus chapter 28. We'll begin reading in verse 31.

And thou shalt make the robe of the ephod olive blue, and there shall be a hole in the top of it, in the midst thereof. It shall have a binding of woven work round about the whole of it, as it were the whole of a habergeon, that it be not rent. And beneath, upon the hem of it, thou shalt make pomegranates of blue and of purple and of scarlet round about the hem thereof, and bells of gold between them round about, a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate upon the hem of the robe round about. And it should be upon Aaron to minister. And his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord. And when he cometh out, that he die not.

We'll end our reading there. Let's bow together. Our Father, we're so thankful that you've given us this opportunity to gather together out of the world in the middle of the week. And Father, I pray that this evening you would be pleased to give us a refreshing, a refreshing from your word, a refreshing from the water of your word, a refreshing of one more time hearing of Christ our Savior, hearing of his love for his people, hearing of his sacrifice that has justified his people from all of their sin and made us accepted in your sight.

Father, we are so thankful for our Lord Jesus Christ. We're thankful for your wisdom in sending a savior who would save sinful men and women such as we are. Father, we're thankful that you have seen fit to give us the gospel of your son, the gospel that tells us of him, that points us to him, that calls us to look to him, to trust in him, to believe in him, to cast all of our souls upon him that gives him all of the glory.

Father, we're so thankful and pray that you would set our affection upon the Lord Jesus Christ that we not be easily shaken and easily turned away from looking to him and him alone. Father, we thank you for this place. We thank you for the place that you've given to us and you've preserved for we can meet together peace and unity. Father, I pray that you'd preserve it for many, many years to come, that this could be a place where sinners can come and hear the Savior, where your sheep can come and be fed of the green pastures of your word.

And Father, we thank you for our country. While it is far from perfect, we thank you for the freedoms that you've provided us in it. Father, pray that you would lead and guide our leaders, that you'd lead them and turn their heart to good, that your people could continue to enjoy the freedoms we've so long enjoyed here. Father, how we beg that you would forgive us of our sins, us here individually, and that you would be pleased to have mercy upon our country, not give us what we deserve. But Father, for your great namesake, you'd preserve it so that your gospel would continue to sound forth from this land. Father, all these things we ask, and we give thanks in that name which is above every name, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Now I've titled the message tonight, The Sweet Sound of Christ. I pray so earnestly that the Lord will tonight and always Enable me to preach the gospel in such a way that the sound of it is sweet to the ears of sinners. I don't ever want to be found guilty of taking the gospel and trying to beat people over the head with it. I want this to be a sweet, sweet sound of our Lord Jesus Christ and redemption in him.

And I get that from the passage that we just read, the robe of the ephod. Now this is the first time the word robe is used in scripture. And it's used as a picture of Christ in the clothing of the high priest. And these types of robes were only worn by men of rank and status in the community. Just common men never wore these robes. And this particular robe, the robe of the high priest with the bells on the bottom of it, was only worn by the high priest. This isn't something that the other priest's war, the Aaron's Sons war, this is only for the high priest because this is a picture of Christ our Savior, how he has all preeminence.

There's no one that can be compared to the status and to the rank of Christ our Savior. Christ our Savior is not first on the list, like he's first on the list of a bunch of other important things. Christ is the list. He's the only thing on the list. And that shows us the importance because of his preeminence, because he is the list. I just can't overstress to you the importance of knowing Christ. That's why we, by God's grace, continually preach him. That's why I tell you all the time to seek him because of his preeminence. There's just nothing else matters if we don't know Christ.

You just can't really overstress the importance or the blessing of being found in Christ, to have His righteousness, to be in Him, so that when the Father sees us, all He sees is Christ, to be washed in His blood, to be under His love. You just can't overestimate the blessing of that. There's just nothing better. And if God, by His grace, is given that, to you and to me, we ought to be a thankful people. I mean, despite everything else that's going on, we ought to be a thankful people, because there's nothing better than this, because of the preeminence of our Savior.

And the Lord tells Moses here that this robe of the ephod is to be like a habergeant. That's what he says in verse 32, a habergeant. I had no idea what that meant. I had to look that up. And it's body armor. that would fit over the soldier's head and would cover him from the neck all the way down past the thighs. And that's how this robe hung on the high priest. And it's a picture. It's a picture of the robe of Christ's righteousness. Nothing can harm you. Nothing at all can ever harm you. Now, something can hurt your body, something can make you uncomfortable, but nothing can harm you. Nothing can harm your soul if you're covered in Christ's righteousness.

Verse 35, the Lord says that this robe of the ephod should be upon Aaron to minister, and his sound should be heard when he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not. Aaron, as long as he's wearing this robe, the robe of the ephod, can go into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies. and come out alive, not be killed, which is a picture of Christ, our great high priest. He comes into the Father's presence and he's accepted because he is righteous, because he is, it's not like he's got somebody else's on, because he is righteous. And all of his people, everyone the Father gave him in divine election, everyone for whom he died can come before the throne accepted by the Father. We won't die. He won't put us to death coming into his holy presence because of Christ's righteousness.

Because Christ has not just given us a righteousness that covers and hides our sin, but that makes his people righteous. And because of Christ's righteousness, we can come into the presence of God and die not, but be accepted and have our prayers heard. Not just that the Father will, you know, allow us into his presence, but you gotta sit over there in the corner and shut your mouth, and be heard. Have our prayers heard, our praise. As weak and as full of holes as it is, have our praise be heard. Have our thanksgiving be heard. As far beneath the level of thanksgiving that it should be, heard for Christ's sake, because of Christ's righteousness.

We can come into the presence of the Father and pour out our heart before Him, asking Him for the things that we need. And you know some things that we ask for, our Father wisely doesn't give us, because it's fleshly things that we ask for that we just waste on ourselves. But to come into the presence of the Father, in the righteousness of Christ, and ask for the forgiveness of sins, to ask for mercy, to ask for grace to help in time of need, the Father will always give it, always, every single time, for Christ's sake, because of his righteousness that we're wearing.

And this ephod was woven. It wasn't like, you know, pieces sewed together. It was all one piece, sewed together, so that it could not be torn. That's the righteousness of Christ. It can't be torn. It can't be damaged. It can't be harmed. We're always righteous. God's people are always righteous in Him. And even our sin and our failures and our weak faith can't mess it up because it's the righteousness of Christ that He's given His people.

And it was all blue. It had a hole in it for the head that fit over the top of the high priest. And it was all blue. So many things that we look at here in the tabernacle had many different colors, didn't it? It had the blue and the white and the purple and the red. This is all blue. This is blue, the color of heaven. This is God. This is his deity. And this is given to us as the high priest in contrast to men. The first man, Adam, He was of the earth. He was earthy. The second man is the Lord from heaven, this blue. Christ, our great high priest, is a heavenly high priest. He's not ministering here on earth. He's not ministering in a building here on earth. He's ministering for his people in heaven itself, before the Father himself.

Aaron, all he could do was serve in that tabernacle. His sons after him would serve in that tabernacle down through the years until they served in the temple. But all they could ever do was serve on earth. They could serve in pictures of heavenly things, but it was just on earth. Aaron could only offer sacrifices that never put away sin. And every year he's reminded his sacrifices didn't put away sin because he's got to do them over again. On the Day of Atonement, he has to keep doing it over and over and over again every year because sin is not put away. Christ, our great high priest, he came and he offered one sacrifice for sins forever. And he offered it. I know he suffered and he died on a cross on earth, didn't he? But he took his blood into heaven itself. He took his blood on the altar before the father and the father said, it's enough. The father said, that has justified my people, put away all of their sin.

All Aaron could do was offer an animal sacrifice. Those sacrifices, the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sins. Christ, our high priest, he not ministering here on earth. He didn't take a picture and offer it before the father. He offered himself. He offered his holy, sinless, righteous self as a sacrifice that put away the sin of his people. For by one offering, he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.

Now that's amazing. That's amazing. I know I say this all the time, but I don't ever want us to have an over familiarity with the things of the gospel that we talk about, about the blood, about the sacrifice, about Christ's righteousness. We hear it in every, I don't think I've ever preached a message that did not have in it the sacrifice of Christ. And I stopped to think about that this week as I was studying. This is amazing, that the sacrifice of this man, now he's the God man, he's the son of God, But to the people that lived at that time, they thought he was a man. They didn't know he was God, not unless God gave him faith to know. Peter knew, you're the son of God, but people that did not have this kind of faith, that weren't given these eyes to see, they thought he was just a man.

This man suffered and died and put away all of the sin of all of his people from all generations. Those that lived before him, those that lived after him. Sins that had already been committed, sins that hadn't even been committed yet. He put away all of that sin. He could do that because of who died.

And then I thought how amazing this is. I mean, that his sacrifice actually literally put away sin. That's so amazing. But then to consider who died and who did he die for? The son of God suffered and died for sinners. Not good people, not people who could do something to save themselves, not people who could do something that would help themselves, not somebody who could take the first step toward God and then he'd go the rest of the way. He died for dead sinners. to do all of the saving for them.

That's amazing. That's a sweet, sweet sound. If you're a sinner, that's a sweet, sweet sound. And where I'm getting all that from is the hem of this robe, and that's where I want to spend most of my time. On the hem of this robe, they made pomegranates, metal. Somehow they fashioned these pomegranates in blue, purple, and scarlet. And they had golden bells. And they hung them all around the hem of this robe. So that when the high priest walked, that robe would move and those pomegranates and bells would hit each other and make a sound that everybody could hear. I mean, this high priest, he's wearing this robe of the ephod. He can't sneak up on anybody. I mean, because these bells would be ringing.

Now, you might wonder, Why pomegranates? Why not some other kind of fruit? Why not a stone? Why does it have to be a pomegranate? Well, pomegranates are called the perfect fruit. Now, I've never eaten one. I don't know why people call them that, but they call them the perfect fruit. It's a picture of the perfections of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's perfect. And that pomegranate is also a picture how he makes his people perfect. They're perfect and complete in Him. I'm told if you cut a pomegranate in half and open it up, you're going to see the seeds of that pomegranate and they float in the juice of that. It's a red fluid. Obviously the blood of Christ and the seeds in there. That's the seed of Christ. All of His elect who are saved by the blood of Christ.

And I know we frequently read of the blood being sprinkled, the blood being applied, and we think of that being sprinkled, but these pomegranates show us what this thing of the believer and the blood of Christ is. We're immersed in it, immersed in the blood of God, immersed so that we're washed from all of our sin. That's that pomegranate, the perfect fruit. It's a picture of Christ. and how he makes his people righteous and justified in him.

And those bells, they didn't have clappers in them. They didn't ring because you'd shake the bell and there's a clapper in it. The bell only rang when the pomegranate that was beside it hit it. And that's when the bell rang. And the pomegranate, the blue pomegranate, picture of Christ from heaven, the scarlet pomegranate, the picture of the Christ, our sacrifice, his blood. The purple, the God man, you mix blue and red, you get purple. Well, all those pictures of Christ, when they hit that bell, produced the perfect sound. The perfect sound. And that's a picture of the perfect sound of the gospel. The perfect, sweet sound of the gospel. That's what that sweet sound pictures,

we're getting ready for Christmas time. And it seems like a hundred years ago now, and Janet and I had our 25th wedding anniversary. I bought her a silver bell that hangs on our Christmas tree. And every year she gets it out and shines it up, you know. I think that bell sounds so pretty. I just like to ring it, you know, and I think it just has such a pure sound, different from other bells and stuff, you know, we have going around around Christmas time. That's the gospel. There is nothing more pure sounding than the gospel when you hear it.

And I thought of three times that these bells rang on the high priest, the hymn of this road. First, when people could see the high priest. You know, there are times that people could see the high priest going about, you know, his work and going about his day. And when they'd see him and they'd see him walking around, they'd hear those bells ring. That's what the four Gospels are to us. You read the four Gospels, you read the account of the life of the Lord Jesus, and you see Him going about doing the work of salvation, doing the work that the Father sent Him to do. And everywhere He walked, the sweet bells of the Gospel rang. They were sweet if you had eyes to see Him and ears to hear Him. They were so sweet. Preaching.

And you know, the Pharisees, they sent some men one day to take the Lord Jesus. This is the time we're gonna take him and put him to death, they said. And they went to find him, and they found him preaching. And they listened to him preaching. And they came back to the Pharisees and the high priests and all those folks, and they said, where is he? Why didn't you bring him? They said, never man spake like this man. This man, not only did he speak in power, he spoke in the power of the Holy Spirit, not like the scribes and the Pharisees talk. He spoke in power. He spoke in power so that when he spoke, people understood the word of God. They thought, I've been hearing these scriptures, these scrolls read my whole life. I never understood that before until I heard this man preach. Now I understand, now I see what God's saying there. He preached of grace. All the Pharisees could ever do is beat people up with the law and tell them to do better. Christ came preaching grace, and it was a sweet, beautiful sound.

If you look at John chapter six, there's many examples that you could use of this, but I saw this when I thought this is a good one for us to read. John six. Verse 38. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on Him may have everlasting life. And I'll raise Him up at the last day,

The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? See, they thought he was just another man. How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?

Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him, and I'll raise him up at the last day. It's written in the prophets, They shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Not that any man has seen the Father, save he which is of God. He has seen the Father.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath, right now, has everlasting life. I am that bread from heaven. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

The Jews therefore strove among themselves saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat? And Jesus saith unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father, So he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever.

Now in just that short bit of what our Lord was talking about there, he told his people, the people that were there listening, that salvation is by the will of God. It's not by the will of man. This is my father's will, he says. Salvation is by the will of God.

Salvation began with God's electing love, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing. You know, there could have been Gentiles that were hearing him preach that day. And the Gentiles, the Jews, told them, well, you have no hope. You have no hope of salvation. You have no hope of righteousness, because you've got to be Abraham's seed. You've got to be a Jew. That's who God chose to save, is Jews and only the Jews.

And our Lord came telling sinful Gentiles, all which the Father hath given me. I'm not going to lose one of them. It could be you. It could be these Gentiles. It's not just the Jews. This is the will of God.

He told them that salvation is by grace. It's not by works, you keeping the law and keeping the ceremonies and doing these things well enough. Salvation is by grace. God saves sinners that cannot save themselves.

Salvation is by faith in Christ. It's not our works, it's faith. God gives his people faith to believe Christ because he saved them.

Salvation is in union with Christ. It's not you being united to Abraham or to, you know, the right synagogue. It's union with Christ. Being found in Christ, you are as righteous as Christ himself. You're one with him. Not by your works, not by your fleshly circumstances.

Oh, isn't that sweet? That's sweet if you're a sinner, I can't do anything save yourself, that's so sweet. And then everywhere our Lord went, seemed like he was always healing folks, wasn't he? He healed the sick that there was no earthly cure for. That's a picture of him curing all the sin sicknesses of all of his people. by washing them in his blood, pouring in the sweet balm of Gilead. When he gave sight to the blind, it's a picture of how he gives spiritual sight to his people. I heard so much preaching. I mean good, excellent preaching when I was a boy. Couldn't see, could not see Christ. And one day, God gave me sight. That's him giving sight to his people so that I see. I see Christ now. I see myself. I don't think I'm a good boy anymore. I see myself. I see my need of Christ. In Christ and his sacrifice, I see how God could save a sinner like me and be right to do it. Not give up his right as God, his holiness and his right. I see, I see. If you've ever been blind, sight's sweet.

Our Lord came and he touched the ears of deaf people and made them hear. Maybe you are like me, you heard the gospel and you just didn't hear. You didn't hear what the big deal was about. You didn't hear, you couldn't hear those bells ringing, could you? And now you hear. And the gospel is so sweet and no other message sounds good to you now because now you can hear. Our Lord went and raised the dead. He just passed by one day a funeral possession, and touched the platform, the coffin, whatever they had the young man in, and raised him back to life. He stood outside Lazarus' tomb and said, Lazarus, come forth, and he that was dead came forth. That's a picture of how through the gospel, one day you quit hearing a man speak, and you hear God speak to the heart, and he says, come forth, and he that was dead comes forth. He gave you life, and it's eternal life. It's spiritual life. It's the life of Christ.

He walked up to people. People came to him and he forgave their sin. He said, son, they brought that paralyzed man to him, let him down through the roof. He said, son, be of good cheer. Thy sin be forgiven thee. Now, if you got some righteousness of your own, you see yourself as better than somebody else. That might not sound so sweet, but if you're a sinner, oh, that's sweet. Your sin be forgiven thee. The Pharisees, all they could do is point out your sin, couldn't they? Beat you up for it. But they never could tell you how it was forgiven. Christ came, and he said, your sin's forgiven you. Because I'm gonna go to the cross, willingly, He went where everybody could see him. That mob, big mob came and took him. He said, who you looking for? They said, Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I am. He went willingly. They watched him go willingly. They took him where the whole council of the Jews were gathered together and they beat him and they mocked him and they made fun of him. They all saw him there. Everything they accused him of never opened his mouth. because he's bearing the sin of his people. They beat him and they plucked out his beard to fulfill the scriptures, that the scriptures might be fulfilled.

Then they took him to Pilate. And Pilate interviewed him and examined him and brought him out on the balcony before all those Jews gathered out there. He said, behold the man. Behold the man. Behold the man, the sacrifice, You all see him, I find no fault in him. And they said, crucify him. And he stood there silently, going to the cross willingly.

Then Pilate turned him over, not just to a few Roman soldiers, but to the whole band of soldiers gathered and stationed at Jerusalem at that time. And they beat him and they mocked him. and they took him out to crucify him and led him along the streets where everybody in town was there to gawk and watch this man carrying his own cross, until he couldn't carry it anymore, beaten and battered and bloodied and bruised, going willingly to the cross to be the willing sacrifice for his people because that is the only way his people could be saved, is by his sacrifice for them. And he went willingly to do it, because he loved them. He loved them with an everlasting love.

I tell you, you ring that bell as loud as you can, as well as you can, because there's no sweeter sound. Not to a sinner, there's not.

And then there were times the people couldn't see the high priest. especially on the day of atonement. He would go into the Holy of Holies. He was there all alone doing the work that was required of him under the law on the day of atonement. And while he was there, they heard those bells ringing.

Now there he is, he's in the temple and he's in the Holy of Holies all alone and nobody could see him. But you know, that's all right that nobody could see him because he wasn't ministering to men at that time. He was ministering to God for men. And the way they knew that he was doing what he was supposed to be doing is they heard the bells ringing.

I mean, the high priest is supposed to take the blood of the sacrifice and go in there to the Holy of Holies and sprinkle that blood on the mercy seat. That's the only way God's not gonna put this nation to death. How do we know he's doing it? You hear the bells ringing. As he walks from the altar into the holy place and then goes behind the veil into the holy of holies, you hear those bells ringing. Well, he's in there doing what he's supposed to be doing. How do you know God's accepting it? How do I know God's accepting the sacrifice? I mean, I got a vested interest in this. If God doesn't accept the sacrifice, I'm gonna die. How do I know God's accepting that sacrifice for my sins? because you hear the bells ringing. The priest is still moving around. If you didn't hear the bells ringing, that meant God killed him. He did something wrong and God put him to death for it. But as long as you hear those bells ringing, you know God is accepting the sacrifice and the sprinkling of the blood on the mercy seat for us.

Well, that's a picture, isn't it? Oh, that's a picture. On the cross, we read of three hours of darkness. The sun went out so that nobody could see. Nobody could see Christ on the tree. Nobody could see what was going on. But that's all right. We didn't need to see because that sacrifice of Christ, contrary to what people in false religion tell you, is not being offered to you and me. Christ is offering himself to the Father. He's taking his blood into heaven itself to the Father. This is God. doing business with God. This is God, our high priest, God the Son, our high priest, ministering to God for his people. So we didn't need to see, do we?

But even though we can't see, and you and I were never there, we've never seen the cross, probably most, I don't think anybody here's ever been to Jerusalem or seen Golgotha's hill or anything like that, you know? You can't see, we can't see 2,000 years later anything that was going on that day. How do you know that what Christ was accomplishing on the cross was accomplishing the salvation of his people? How do you know that? Because 2,000 years later, the gospel is still ringing out loud and clear, telling us what Christ accomplished on that cross.

How do we know? that Christ, our high priest, did everything that it took to save his people from their sin. How do we know that the transaction is complete? How do we know? Because the bell rings down through the ages. It is finished. There's no more work left for you to do. Just believe him. Just believe on him.

How do we know that Christ has made his people righteous? because the gospel is still ringing out all these years later that Christ was made sin for his people. He took the sin of his people away from them, and he made it his. In the great exchange, he gave his people his righteousness and made it theirs. Now you can't see that, and what's more, you and I can't understand it. I mean, I can't understand how Christ was made sin. It's just absurd. to try to figure that out. But by God's grace, I believe it. I mean, Sean, that's all my hope of righteousness is that Christ took my sin away from me and put it away by the sacrifice of himself. Now, I can't see that. When I look at myself, I can't see righteousness. How do I know he made me righteous? When you hear the gospel of Christ, he is the mighty, successful, victorious savior. That's how you know.

How do you know that you're justified by the blood of Christ? We can't see his sacrifice. We don't have physical evidence of the sacrifice of Christ. We don't have physical evidence of his blood. How can you possibly know that you're justified from all of your sin? Justified means made without sin. Hope that wasn't something big. Like I said, when I look at myself, I see sin. It's the sound of the gospel ringing down through the ages, being justified freely by his grace. Through what? The redemption. The redemption that's in Christ Jesus by his sacrifice.

How do you know the curse of sin has been removed? How do you know that? The curse of sin is death. How is it possible that a person can lay on their deathbed with no fear? Matter of fact, with anticipation. To die and go face God. How can I do that with no fear? The sound of the gospel. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For cursed is everyone that hangeth. on a tree. Christ wore that crown of thorns, a picture bearing the curse of the sin of his people. He showed he was made a curse as he hung on that tree and he took the curse of sin away from his people forever. Now, how do you know he did that for you? You hear the sweet sound of the gospel and God gives you faith to believe it. When Christ suffered and died, he fulfilled God's promise Satan's gonna bruise his heel, but he's gonna crush Satan's head.

How do you know Satan is defeated? I mean, he's the accuser of the brother, and he's a mighty adversary. You and I couldn't stand for a split second in front of him. How do you know Satan is defeated? It's the sweet, sweet sound of the gospel. If Christ has taken your sin away, Satan can't accuse you. I mean, he will accuse you, but he can't make any accusation stick because Christ took your sin away. You're not guilty. The only way you can possibly know that is the sweet sound of the gospel.

And there's a harmony here, a harmony of the bells, a harmony of the blue and the purple and the scarlet bells hitting the pomegranates, hitting the gold bells. There's a harmony here. There's a harmony in the sound of the gospel. The gospel tells you how God is both merciful and true. How is it that mercy and truth have met together? How is it that righteousness and peace could ever kiss each other? These seem like two opposites to a sinner. Righteousness and peace with God. It's the harmony of the gospel that Christ, by his sacrifice, took your sin away and made it right for God to be merciful to you. Made it right. to a doubting sinner, there is nothing more sweet and harmonious than that.

You know, if someone was just merciful to you and didn't punish you, but you're still guilty, they could come back and punish you later, couldn't they? But if Christ made you not guilty, you can never be condemned. That's the sweetness, the harmony of the gospel.

And what happened when we cannot see Christ hanging there in that darkness on the cross. And then third, when the high priest in his daily activity went into the holy place, into the tabernacle, the normal people, like you and I, we wouldn't be allowed to go in there. Only the priest could do that. Well, how do you know that high priest is in there doing what he's supposed to be doing? How do you know he's not laying down just taking a nap, you know, and coming out later and saying he worked all day? because of the bells. You hear him moving around, doing the service of God for you, and you hear those bells ring. The priest was supposed to go in there and offer incense on those hot coals of the golden altar. And that smoke that went up is a picture of the intercession of Christ for his people. How do you know he was doing it? You heard the bells. He's moving around, you heard the bells. How do you know he's putting the oil in the lamp stand? You hear the bells, he's moving around doing what he's supposed to be doing.

Well, you and I can't see Christ right now, can you? How do you know he's making intercession for you? How do you know that he's at the Father's right hand making intercession for you? How do you know he hadn't forgotten you? How do you know that the Father's accepted you because of the intercession of Christ? How do you know that? It's the sweet, sweet sound of the gospel. that keeps ringing and ringing and ringing and ringing every time somebody preaches the gospel.

Let me show you 1 John 2. 1 John 2. Verse one. My little children, these things write unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate. with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. He's making intercession for us. He's our advocate, and he's the propitiation for our sins. He's the one that's covered our sins and made them to not exist, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Here's how we know that Jesus Christ is making intercession for us right now. It's the word of God that keeps being rung and rung and rung down through the ages. One more scripture, John chapter 17. There is a time that we get to peek in at our Savior making intercession for his people. I'm gonna read you just a couple verses out of here. Sometime when you need some encouragement, sit down and carefully and slowly read John 17. It'll comfort your heart.

But let's look at verse nine. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, I'm praying for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine. In verse 20, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word. That's you and me, we believe on Christ through their word, through the scriptures that they have written, that they all may be one. As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, and that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Now that's Jesus Christ our Savior, the Son of God, 2,000 years ago. And here is one thing I know for sure about our Savior. He hadn't changed. He's immutable. He hasn't changed. And what he was doing then, he's doing now. He's doing now, making intercession for us. And when he makes intercession for us, he's pleading his blood. He didn't say, Father, they didn't mean to do it, because we did. He didn't say, doesn't say, Father, no, just forgive me. They won't do it again, because we will. He pleads his blood. And the Father always says, accept it. And that's our assurance, isn't it?

Now, that's a sweet sound. That's a sweet sound. As long as somebody is preaching Christ, you know, I titled this message, The Sweet Sound of Christ. As long as somebody's preaching Christ, there's not gonna be a sour note in it. It'll be sweet, it'll be harmonious, it'll be true. If you hear a clunker, you hear a sour note, you know why? It's not Christ. But as long as a man's preaching Christ, it's gonna be a sweet, sweet sound. I hope that's sweet to you tonight.

Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you for the sweet sound of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, I pray that you'd cause it to ring out loud and true, that it would be heard and believed in the hearts of all of us here tonight, that we might leave here rejoicing in Christ our Savior, that we might leave here thanking you. Thank you, Lord, that you've made us hear the sweet sound thereof. Father, it's in Christ's name. For his sake and his glory, we pray. Amen.

All right, Sean. Okay, if you would, turn in your hymnals to song number 75, and stand as we sing, Abide With Me.

75. Abide with me.

Fast falls the even tide.
The darkness deepens. Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O, abide with me.

Swift to its close, ebbs out life's little day.
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see.
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.

I need Thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who, like thyself, my guide and stay can be.
Through cloud and sunshine, O, abide with me.

Hold thou thy word before my closing eyes.
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven's morning breaks. and earth's vain shadows flee.
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.