If you would open your Bibles
with me to the book of 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3. Lord willing, this Sunday morning
I'll be preaching in Danville, Kentucky. After that, Janet and I are going
to stay out of town for a few days of much needed R&R. So Elder
Eric Floyd will be preaching here both messages Sunday morning
and Jonathan Tate will be preaching for us Wednesday, a week from
today. I know we all covet your prayers as we prepare to preach. All right, 2 Thessalonians chapter
3. Finally, brethren, pray for us
that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified
even as it is with you. and that we may be delivered
from unreasonable and wicked men. For all men have not faith,
but the Lord is faithful, who shall establish you and keep
you from evil. And we have confidence in the
Lord touching you, that you both do and will do the things which
we command you. And the Lord direct your hearts
into the love of God and into the patient waiting for Christ.
And we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh
disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of
us. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us. For we behave
not ourselves disorderly among you, neither did we eat any man's
bread for naught, but wrought with labor and travail, night
and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you, not
because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example
unto you, to follow us. For even when we were with you,
this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should
he eat. For we hear that there are some
which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such, we command
and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they
work and eat their own bread. But ye, brethren, be not weary
in well-doing. If any man obey not our word
by this epistle, Note that man, and have no company with him,
that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy,
but admonish him as a brother. Now the Lord of peace himself,
give you peace always, by all means. The Lord be with you all. The salutation of Paul with mine
own hand, which is the token in every epistle, so I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Alright, Shawn, come lead us
in a song. If you would, turn to song number
353, Leave It There. If the world from you withhold
of its silver and its gold, and you have to get along with meager
fare, just remember in His word how He feeds the little bird. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Leave it there, leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. If you trust and never doubt,
He will surely bring you out. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. If your body suffers pain and
your health you can't regain, and your soul is almost sinking
in despair, Jesus knows the pain you feel. He can save and He
can heal. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Leave it there, leave it there.
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there. If you trust and never doubt,
He will surely bring you out. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. When your enemies assail and
your heart begins to fail, don't forget that God in heaven answers
prayer. He will make a way for you and
will lead you safely through. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Leave it there. Leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. If you trust and never doubt,
He will surely bring you out. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. When your youthful days are gone,
And old age is stealing on, And your body bends beneath the weight
of care, He will never leave you then. He'll go with you to
the end. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Leave it there. Leave it there. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. If you trust and never doubt,
He will surely bring you out. Take your burden to the Lord
and leave it there. Okay, if you would now turn to
song number 393, Take My Life and Let It Be. Take my life and let it be consecrated,
Lord, to Thee. Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of Thy love, at the impulse of Thy love. Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee. Take my voice and let me sing
Always only for my King Always only for my King Take my lips
and let them be filled with messages for thee. Take my silver and
my gold, not a mite would I withhold, not a mite would I withhold. Take my love, my God, I pour,
At Thy feet its treasure store. Take myself, and I will be Ever
only all for Thee, Ever only all for Thee. Let's open our Bibles together
for our Scripture reading to Psalm 144. That first song we
sang, Leave It There. I sure hope someday the Lord
teaches me to do that. Don't you? Take it to Him and
leave it there. Why in the world would we take
it to Him and then pack it up and take it back with us? We
can't do anything with it in the first place. Maybe I'll still yet be able
to learn something, I don't know. All right, Psalm 144. Blessed be the Lord, my strength,
which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight, my goodness
and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield,
and he in whom I trust, who subdueth my people under me. Lord, what
is man that thou takest knowledge of him? Or the son of man that
thou makest account of him? Man is like the vanity. His days
are as a shadow that passeth away. Bow thy heavens, O Lord,
and come down. Touch the mountains, and they
shall smoke. Cast forth lightning and scatter
them. Shoot out thine arrows and destroy
them. Send thine hand from above. Rid me and deliver me out of
great waters, from the hand of strange children, whose mouth
speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
I will sing a new song unto thee, O God, upon a psaltery, and an
instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee. It
is he that giveth salvation unto kings, who delivereth David his
servant from the hurtful sword. Rid me and deliver me from the
hand of strange children, whose mouths speak of vanity, and their
right hand is a right hand of falsehood. That our sons may
be as plants, grown up in their youth. That our daughters may
be as cornerstones, polished after the similitude of a palace. That our garners may be full,
affording all manner of store. That our sheep may bring forth
thousands and ten thousands in our streets. That our oxen may
be strong to labor. That there be no breaking in,
are going out, that there be no complaining in our streets.
Happy is that people that is in such a case. Yea, happy is
that people whose God is the Lord. Thank God for his word. Let's bow together. Our Father, we bow before your
throne. We bow in your awesome presence. giving thanks that you are God
alone, that none can stay your hand, or saying to you, what
doest thou? We bow before you in fear and reverence, thankful
that thy will is always done, and that thy will for thy people
is always a will of grace and mercy and love and redemption. And Father, in the times of trial,
darkness, and the things of this world that happen around us that
we do not understand, cause us to rest in that great truth that
everything you're doing is for your glory, for the good, the
salvation, the ultimate glorification of your people. Enable us to
rejoice in it. Fathers, we bow before you. We
pray that tonight you give us a heart of that You'd enable
us to, with a heart bowed before You, with the empty hand of a
beggar lifted up, that You might give us a word from Thee. Give
us a word from a far country, a word of grace, peace, salvation,
and security in our Lord Jesus Christ. Enable His name to be
exalted in everything that we say and do. Father, I beg of
You in this hour that you not leave me to myself. For your
glory's sake, for the good of your people, that you not leave
me to myself. But Father, uphold me with thy
spirit and aid me to rightly divide the word of truth and
to clearly and simply preach Christ and Him crucified. That
He is all we see and all we hear, that you give us a heart of faith
to flee to Him, believe Him, rest in Him. Father, we thank
you for this place. Thank you for this family that
you have called together. And Father, pray that you would
bless each home. Be with your people, Father. Lead and guide
and provide according to thy will. We pray a special blessing
for your people who are in times of great difficulty and deep
waters. Father, you know your people.
It seems at this time there's so many, There's no case too
hard for thee. Father, we pray you'd comfort,
that you'd heal, that you'd see fit to deliver as soon as it
could be thy will. Now, Father, again, bless us
in this hour. Bless us with a special hour of worship where the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ is exalted. It's in his precious name we
pray and give thanks. There is coming a day When no
heartache shall come No more clouds in the sky No more tears
to dim the eye all is peace forevermore on that happy golden shore what
a day Glorious day that will be What a day that will be When
Christ Jesus I shall see And I look upon his face The one
who saved me by his grace When he takes me by the hand And leads
me to the promised land What a day, glorious day that will
be There'll be no sorrow there No
more burdens to bear No more sickness, no pain No more parting
over there And forever I will be With the one who died for
me What a day! What a day that will be When
Christ Jesus I shall see And I look upon his face The one
who saved me by his grace When he takes me by the hand And leads
me to the promised land What a day, glorious day Well, I have no doubt that was
the song we were supposed to hear tonight. I told Brady on
my way here tonight, I was singing that song. Boy, I'm in the car
all by myself. I can sing. And I was belting
it out, buddy. And he came in and started practicing
that song. I was so glad. That was for us
tonight, wasn't it? Alright, if you would open your
Bibles again with me to Psalm 144. I've titled the message tonight,
Oh Lord, Come Down. Oh that the Lord would come down
where we are. Look what David says here in
verse five. Bow thy heavens, oh Lord, and come down. Touch
the mountains and they shall smoke. Cast forth lightning and
scatter them. Shoot out thine arrows and destroy
them. The psalmist says, oh Lord, come down. Bow your heavens and
come down. And that's a mighty good prayer
for us. And I want to give us six reasons
tonight why this should be our prayer. Oh, Lord, come down. I read that and I thought of
several different times in Scripture that the Lord came down to men.
He bowed down. He came down to earth to men.
It seems to me like every time, every time that I could think
of, every time I could read of, that when the Lord came down
to men, He touched the earth. He touched men. He came and made
His presence known. Every time He did that, great
things happened. Miraculous things. Things of salvation. Things of
mercy. Things that revealed the redemptive
glory of Christ and caused God's elect to flee to Him and to rest
in Him. And that's my prayer for us tonight. That the Lord would be pleased
to come down and meet with us. that He touch us, touch our hearts
and reveal to us His glory. And like I said, I thought of
several times, I limited myself, I believe to six, but I thought
of several different times that the Lord came down, made His
presence known. And many of them have to do with
mountains that David mentions in verse five, but look back
in Exodus chapter 19. This is the first one I thought
of. When the Lord came down in the giving of the law at Mount
Sinai. He came down and touched that
mountain. Exodus 19, verse 9. And the Lord said unto Moses,
Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear
when I speak with thee, and believe thee forever. And Moses told
the words of the people unto the Lord. Now look down at verse
16. And it came to pass on the third
day in the morning, that there were thunders, and lightnings,
and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet
exceeding loud, so that all the people that was in the camp trembled."
Now that sounds exactly like what David described in our text,
didn't it? The Lord come down and touch the mountains, and
lightnings, and thunders, and dark cloud would come out from
it. And that's what happened when the Lord appeared at Sinai.
He gave the law, that mountain shook. the thunder and the glory
of the Lord. And you know the story how the
Lord called Moses up there into the mountain and gave Moses so
many different commandments. The law is not just those ten
commandments. The law that God gave Moses consists of pages
and pages and pages of commandments and ceremonies. The Lord is about
to give the whole law to Moses. He's going to record it and bring
it back down to the people. But look back at verse 12 if
you would. Here's the summary of the whole
law of God. Exodus 19, verse 12. And thou
shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, take heed
to yourselves that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the
border of it. Whoever toucheth the mount shall
be surely put to death. There shall not a hand touch
it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through. Whether it be
beast or man, it shall not live. When the trumpet soundeth long,
They shall come up to the mount. They're going to come up to the
mount, but they cannot touch it. Now that's a summary of the
whole law of God. Don't come to God in your sin.
Don't think that as you are, you can come and touch God. Don't
even touch the law. Don't ever touch the law in an
attempt to earn righteousness to please God. Because if you
do that, you'll surely die. Surely die. That's a summary
of the whole law And all of the law that God gave Moses shows
us this, our desperate need of Christ. We can't keep any of
the law. Even if you could just pick one
commandment of the law, we can't keep any of it. We desperately
need the Lord Jesus Christ to come and keep it for us. And
all of the ceremonies that the Lord would give, the ceremonies
of worship and the different feasts and things that they were
supposed to observe, All those things that the Lord gave Moses
on that mountain told us, gave us a picture, somebody's coming. This is all a picture of somebody
who's going to come and keep the law for his people. Make
them righteous by his obedience for them. Because this is something
we cannot do for ourselves. Someone else is going to have
to do it for us. So all that tells me I can't touch the law. So my prayer is, Lord, would
you come? Would you come in the person
of our Lord Jesus Christ and touch the law for me so I'll
not die? Now here the law was given on
Mount Sinai and the fulfillment of it happened thousands and
thousands of years later on another mountain. Not Mount Sinai, Mount
Calvary. There the Lord Jesus Christ touched
the law for His people. He touched the law and He kept
it for them. Made them righteous. And then
He took their sin, the sin that would have killed them, and He
died. He died in their place as their
substitute. And on that day, that mountain
smoked with the fury of God against sin. All poured out in one pinpoint
place on the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. That transaction
was so great that Christ being made sin, the transaction to
pay for that sin was so great, darkness covered the whole earth
while our Lord suffered, while the Son of God died to put away
sin. Now that's always the end result of the law, is death.
All the law can do is kill, but Christ gives life. He gives his
people life. He set his people free from that
Mosaic law. But you know God's people still
live under the law? Not under the law of Moses, not under the
Ten Commandments. That law could only give thunder
and lightning and smoke that caused people to be afraid of
God. That law could only kill people. God's people live under
a different law. They live under the perfect law
of liberty. The law of freedom in Christ.
They live under the law of love in Christ. And that law That
gives clear skies, it gives peace, and it gives God's people a way
to come to God. Here's a way. You come, you touch
the Lord Jesus Christ. You crawl up to Him like that
woman with the issue of blood, and you just reach out and touch
Him. Reach out and just touch the hem of His garment. If you
did that to Mount Sinai, if you do that to the law, you'll surely
die. If you come and touch the Lord Jesus Christ in faith, you'll
surely be made whole. Surely, come to God in peace
through the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no peace in the law,
but there is in Christ. Oh, that the Lord would come
down and He'd reveal to us our need of Christ. And then He'd
reveal Christ to our hearts like that. Alright, next, look back
in Exodus 12. Here's the second thing I thought
of. The Lord came down to earth.
on the night of the first Passover. You know all the instructions
that were given concerning the lamb and how it was to be cooked
and eaten and so forth. And look at verse 11. And thus
shall ye eat of it, with your loins girded, your shoes on your
feet, your staff in your hand, and ye shall eat it in haste.
It's the Lord's Passover. You're leaving this place. For
I will pass through the land of Egypt this night. and will
smite all the firstborn of the land of Egypt, both man and beast,
against all the gods, the princes, the rulers of Egypt. I will execute
judgment. I am the Lord." And this night
of the Passover, the Lord Himself, He didn't send a death angel.
He didn't send one of the cherubims or seraphims. The Lord Himself
came down and He touched that great nation of Egypt. Look at
verse 29. Here's what happened when He
did. And it came to pass that at midnight the Lord smote all
the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of
Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the firstborn of the captive
that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.
And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants, and
all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for
there was not a house, for there was not one dead." And look back
at chapter 11. This cry is exactly what the
Lord said would happen. Exodus 11, verse 5. This is the
Lord telling Moses what he's about to do. And all the firstborn
in the land of Egypt shall die, for the firstborn of Pharaoh
that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the
maidservant that's behind the mill. And all the firstborn of
beast, and there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of
Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it. anymore. There is no cry like
this cry. A great cry. This is what happens
when the justice of God comes to men. The Lord came down and
He touched me. The earth shook. He touched the
greatest of men. Pharaoh was a mountain among
men. God touched his household. It
shook and trembled. Egypt was covered with darkness
and thunder and lightning. presence and God's justice sweeping
through that land. Now that night of the Passover,
we have to remember this, shows us both the justice of God. Every
firstborn that was not in the house that had blood on the door
died. God's justice. But there's also salvation. There's
mercy of God. Salvation under the blood of
Christ. Every house where there was blood on the doorpost, the
firstborn lived. There's mercy. But there's also
justice there, wasn't there? The firstborn didn't die because
somebody else died. Somebody else died to satisfy justice
for them. There's justice and mercy to be found under the blood
of Christ. And thousands of years later,
that type was fulfilled on Mount Calvary where Christ, our Passover,
was sacrificed for the sin of his people. How the Lord, the
Prince of Glory, had to come down to arrive at that day. Our Lord came down further than
our human minds can comprehend. We cannot comprehend the distance. Our Lord came down when God became
a man. God became a man so that He would
be the perfect Lamb of God without spot and without blemish. And
the Lord came down even further. The Holy Son of God was made
sin for His people. Oh, how He came down. What suffering
that was to His holy soul to be made sin for His people. And
He came down even more. He died. His blood was shed. He was sacrificed. He didn't
just die a sudden painless death like somebody dies in their sleep,
you know. He suffered. He was slaughtered. He died so that His people would
live. Just like that lamb died so the
firstborn would live, Christ the Savior died. He died as the
perfect Lamb of God so His people would live. Justice satisfied
for everyone for whom He died. Christ died so His people would
live. And this is how every enemy was defeated. God touched that
mountain and lightnings and thunders went out to destroy every enemy.
They were all destroyed by the death of the substitute, by the
death of the Lamb of God. And when the Lord came down that
day and touched that mountain, The most miraculous thing happened.
Eternal redemption was purchased for God's people through the
bloody death of God's son. And everyone who believes on
him, everyone who hides under the blood of Christ, everyone
who has the blood of Christ applied to their hearts, they'll live.
They'll live. They cannot die. Justice has
already been satisfied for their sin. The substitute has already
died in their place. Our prayer, our cry is, oh Lord,
come down. Come down and touch us. Put us
under the blood of Christ. Come down and touch us. Apply
the blood of Christ to our hearts. Put us under the blood so we'll
be safe in the shepherd's fold. Put us under the blood of Christ.
We'll be safe while the ages roll. Although the world may
crumble, we'll be safe. Safe though the stars grow dim.
Safe though this whole world falls apart around us, safe under
the blood of Christ of Passover land. All right, thirdly, look
in Isaiah chapter 9. I already mentioned this a moment
ago, but here's the third thing. The Lord, how He came down. He came down to men in His virgin
birth. Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6. For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government
and peace, there shall be no end, upon the throne of David
and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment
and with justice, from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the
Lord of hosts will perform this. That prophecy was given to Isaiah
roughly 700 years before our Savior was born. And that prophecy
was fulfilled. One day, roughly 700 years later,
the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem of the Virgin, the Virgin Mary. She knew not a man. The Lord
Jesus had no earthly father. He wasn't born from the fallen
sinful seed of man. So he did not partake in Adam's
sin. Christ could not be born from
the seed of man. If he was, he'd have partaken
in Adam's fall. Adam would have been his representative.
But Christ was not born of an earthly father. He was not conceived
of an earthly father. He's the seed of woman that God
promised us in Genesis chapter 3. The Lord Jesus Christ was
miraculously conceived in the womb of the virgin by the Holy
Ghost. And that makes him. both the
Son of God and the Son of Man. He was a real baby boy, just
like our babies born to Mary. But that baby, his name's wonderful. His name is Counselor. That baby,
that baby is the mighty God. That infinite of days is the
everlasting Father. He's the Prince of Peace, because
that baby is God. He's God come down in human flesh
to save His people from their sin. And salvation is in that
man, that God-man alone. Alone. Peter said in Acts 4 verse
12, Neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. One. Salvation is in Christ alone. How many ever years, Lord gives
me on this earth, I pray at the end as I'm laying
on my deathbed, I'm still shouting this, it's Christ alone. It's Christ alone. God help us
to believe, to see, to rest in Christ alone. If you look at
Matthew chapter 17, I'll show you where that prophecy, that
type, was fulfilled. One day, on a mountain, the Mount
of Transfiguration. Matthew chapter 17, verse 1.
And after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother,
and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured
before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment
was as white as light. And behold, there appeared unto
them Moses and Elias, talking with him. Now the Lord came down
to this mountain, and on this mountain He revealed His redemptive
glory. He peeled back that curtain of
the flesh, and somehow inexplicably to our minds, He let out His
glory. The glory of God. That glory,
it must be so bright. Revelation says that in glory
and heaven, there's no need of the sun. The Lamb's the light
of it. His glory is so bright, He's
going to light up heaven. He let that glory appear on this
mountain. And Moses and Elijah appeared
from the dead, standing there, talking with the Lord. Luke tells
us this is what they're talking about. They spake of his decease,
which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. The death of the Lord
Jesus Christ was an accomplishment. Life himself died. Now that's an accomplishment,
isn't it? Our death is not going to be an accomplishment. Our
death is just going to be the defeat of this flesh by sin.
But the death of Christ was an accomplishment. He accomplished
something in his death. He gave up the ghost. They couldn't
take his life from him. If he's going to die, he has
to give up the ghost. He gave up the ghost to accomplish
something so that his people would be saved from their sin.
By his death, the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished the eternal
redemption of his people. By his death, he accomplished
the eternal purpose of his father, the redemption of God's elect.
And that salvation is in Christ alone. Look at verse six, or
verse four. Then answered Peter and said
unto Jesus, Lord, it's good for us to be here. If thou will,
let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses,
and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a
bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold, a voice came out
of the cloud, which said, this is my beloved son, in whom I
am well pleased. Hear ye Him. And when the disciples heard
it, they fell on their faces and were sore afraid. God came
down and He touched that mountain, didn't He? He touched it with
His presence. The darkness and the cloud appeared,
and it filled the disciples with fear when God touched that mountain.
I'll tell you why God touched the mountain this way, why He
spoke this way, why this cloud and darkness appeared. is because
God is displeased with anyone who tries to mix Christ with
anything. Don't try to mix Christ plus
your morality. God won't accept it. Don't try
to mix Christ with the law. That's what happened here. Moses
represents the law. You can't mix Christ and the
law. No, it's Christ alone. Don't try to mix Christ plus
the great prophets, these great men. That's what Elias, Elijah
represents. That just pleases God. God touched
the mountain and it smoked. It filled the disciples with
fear. They fell on their faces just
shaking and trembling. I want you to look what happened
when Christ touched them. Verse 7, And Jesus came and touched
them and said, Arise and be not afraid. And when they had lifted
up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. That's salvation. It's seeing Jesus only. It's
trusting Christ only. The Savior came and touched those
weak, frail disciples. He touched them. And when He
did, all their fear was gone. All their fear was gone because
they saw Jesus only. That's salvation. It really is
that simple. It's Christ only. Now, if we
try to please God by believing Christ and keeping the law, which
is what Moses represents, all we're going to find is smoke
and cloud and thunder in God's presence. We're not going to
see God's face that way, trying to mix Christ plus us keeping
the law. All we're going to find through
that way is fear and death. Try to please God with our theology.
Try to please God with these great men. That's what Elijah
represents. They consider him the greatest
of the prophets. If we try that, all we're going to find is smoke
and cloud and thunder in the presence of God. We're not going
to see the face of God that way. All we're going to find through
the motions of religion, through trying to mix Christ with the
motions of religion, having the right motions, or having the
right favor of all these great men, following these great men,
I'm going to follow Christ plus Elijah. All we're going to find
that way is fear and death. The only thing we can have from
it. Oh, but if we come to God through
Christ alone, with no other hope, with no other plea, with no other
righteousness, no other way, I'll tell you what we'll find.
We'll find peace in life. But it's got to be Christ alone. Oh, Lord, come down and touch
our hearts so we see Christ alone. So we're taken up with Christ
alone and see His glory as the successful Savior. Then here's
the fourth one. The Lord comes down. How far
He comes down to dwell in the hearts of His people. Now what
a miracle of grace that Almighty God condescends to dwell in the
hearts of His people. But you know, that's what the
new birth is. The new birth is having Christ formed in you.
That's what Paul said, I labor, I travail to Christ be formed
in you. That's the new birth. Christ
in you, the hope of glory. Now that's a mighty humble dwelling
for the Spirit of God, isn't it? Us. That's a mighty humble
dwelling. But that's what He does. That's
the new birth. Look over Romans chapter 8. I want to show you
how important this matter of the new birth is. How important
it is that Christ come down and dwell in our hearts. How important
it is this be our prayer. Oh Lord, come down and dwell
in my heart. Romans 8 verse 8. So then, they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. But you're not in the flesh.
but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you."
Dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the
Spirit of Christ, he's none of His. That's how important this
is. If you just have one nature, if you only have Adam's nature,
the Spirit of Christ does not dwell in you, then you're dead. You have not Christ. You don't
belong to Christ. And God says, you're going to
perish. But, if Christ dwells in you, You have spiritual life
and look at verse 10. If Christ be in you, the body's
dead. The flesh is always going to
be dead. The body, the flesh is dead because
of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. But
of the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell
in you. He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken
your mortal bodies. by His Spirit that dwelleth in
you." See, that shows us that eternal life comes through union
with Christ, by Christ dwelling in you and you dwelling in Him. Now, if you look back at Zechariah
chapter 2, next to the last book of the Old Testament, that union
with Christ, eternal life coming through union with Christ is
seen in a picture of Mount Zion. Zechariah 2, verse 10. Sing and rejoice, O daughter
of Zion, for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of
thee, saith the Lord. And many nations shall be joined
to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people, and I shall
dwell in the midst of thee. And thou shalt know that the
Lord of hosts has sent Me unto thee." God dwelling in Zion. And Zion always represents God's
people. It represents God's church. That's
a picture of the new birth. Christ being formed in us. And
God says, I'm going to come and dwell in My people. That's how
they're going to have life. Now look back in our text, Psalm
144. Here we're talking about the new birth.
And David said in our text, he said, I'm going to sing a new
song. God's people sing a new song. And this is their new song. It's not how much I've kept the
law and what I've done for Jesus. Christ is my righteousness. Christ
is my holiness. Christ is my life. I have life
because Christ dwells in me. That's a new song that can only
be sung by the new man. And that's what David says in
verse 9. I'll sing a new song unto thee, O God, upon a saw
tree and an instrument of ten strings, Well, I sing praises
unto thee. It's he that giveth, giveth. Unearned he giveth salvation
unto kings, who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful
sword. That's the song only the new
man can sing. And it's the new man, the new
man of God who puts down that old man of the flesh. Look up
at verse 7. Send thine right hand. The right
hand of God is who? It's Christ. Send thy right hand
from above. Rid me and deliver me out of
great waters from the hand of strange children whose mouths
speak of vanity and thy right hand is a right hand of falsehood. Now the flesh, that old man,
is a hypocrite. He's a religious hypocrite. He
smiles and he extends the right hand of fellowship to reach out
and shake your hand. He got that fake religious smile
on his face. But in his heart is hatred and
death. He's extending that right hand,
making you think it's the right hand of fellowship. You know
what he's trying to do to you? Pull you back under the law. He's a hypocrite. And only the
Lord can deliver us from that old man. And when he does and
gives his people life in Christ, that life is rich. It's full. It's eternal. David gives us
a description of it, verse 11. He says, rid me and deliver me
from the hand of strange children. That old man is a stranger to
me, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right
hand of falsehood. Deliver us from that, that our
sons may be as plants grown up in their youth, that our daughters
may be as cornerstones polished after the similitude of a palace,
that our garners may be full, affording all manner of store.
That our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in
our streets. That our oxen may be strong to
labor. That there be no breaking in
or going out. That there be no complaining
in our streets. Happy is that people that is in such a case.
Yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord. Oh, happy is
the man that has this life. So our prayer is, Lord come down. I mean come down, come all the
way down to where I am and give us this rich, full, spiritual
life that's in Christ. Give us union with Christ so
we'll have this life of God dwelling in us. Then here's the fifth
one. The Lord comes down to be with
His people in times of trouble and trial. And there are so many
examples of this all through scripture. The Lord coming to
be with his people in times of trial. But this is the one that
first came to my mind. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Being thrown into Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace. Now that furnace
was man's rage. That furnace was heated seven
times hotter than it was, the engineers made it to sustain.
That's man's rage. I mean the maximum rage they
could come up with. And those three Hebrew children
that would not give in to this idolatry, they were thrown into
that fire by man's rage. Man's hatred of God. But they
weren't hurt. They bound them up and they threw
them in that furnace. And they looked down in that
furnace and they saw not three, but four men. Loose and walking
around. They were just taking a walk
in that furnace. Not being burned, not being hurt.
And I don't know how they knew this. How them heathen knew this?
I don't know. But they looked and they said, the image of the
fourth one is like the Son of God. How'd they know that, Eric? I don't know, but they did. They
were right, weren't they? That's who it was. And they brought
those three out of that furnace. There wasn't even any smoke on
their clothes. Not even a smell of smoke on them. They weren't
touched by man's fury. You know why they weren't touched
by it? Why weren't they hurt by it? Because the Lord Jesus
Christ was with them. in that trial. He was right there
with them. And that's what happens to Mount
Zion. God's people. He comes and He dwells in them. He doesn't come and stay a while
and then leave. And come back and stay a while
and then leave. He's with them always. And the times we think we're
the most alone, God's people, we think this is when we're the
most alone, That's when He's most near. God came down and
He touched that mountain where His people dwell. And when the
Lord's with us, no form of hurt can harm us. It'll still hurt,
but it's not going to harm us. There's no fire of man's wrath,
no hatred of man that can withstand the presence of God with us.
His presence shields us. And I'll tell you what's a whole
lot more important. The fire of God's wrath. He can't touch
us either. Because Christ is shielding us.
He's with His people there. And I'll show you that in Isaiah
chapter 43. Isaiah chapter 43. All of this will hurt, but it
will never harm God's people for one reason. Because the Lord
is with us. Isaiah 43 verse 1. Thus saith the Lord that created
thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, you fear not,
for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name,
and thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shall not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Saba for thee, since thou was precious in my sight.
Thou has been honorable, and I have loved thee. Therefore,
I'll give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not, for I
am with thee. I'll bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west I will say to the north,
give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from
far, my daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone that
is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory. I have
formed him, yea, I have made him." And not one person here
needs any explanation on that. Fear not, for I, I'm with thee. I'll accomplish my I'll bring
My people. I'll bring you. Oh Lord, come
down. Come down and touch us and be
with us in our troubles. And we'll sing a new song. It's
well with my soul. Alright, here's the last one. Look at 2 Peter 3. There's one
more time that the Lord's promised to come down. His second coming. 2 Peter 3. Verse 10. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up, seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved. What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation
and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the
day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless we,
according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth
wherein dwells righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
you look for such things, be diligent that you be found of
him in peace, without spot, and blameless." Now seek to be in
Christ. He's coming again. We know He
is. Seek to be found in Him. That's the only way to be blameless.
That's the only way to have peace is seeking to be found in Christ.
Now, Peter here, there's so much mystery of the Lord's second
coming, isn't there? He tells us something about it,
and it sure looks like it's going to be an awesome display of God's
glory and God's power. We don't know when He's coming,
but we know He is coming. We don't know how it is that
He's coming, but when He comes, we're going to know He's come.
And it sounds kind of scary, doesn't it? The heavens being
on fire, the elements melting, rocks and elements and things
melting with fervent heat, all the works of this earth being
burned up. Just everything you see around you, one day, is going
to be burned up. I mean, it sounds kind of frightening,
doesn't it? You know, the Lord's going to
come down and touch this earth and the smoke and the fire and
it can sound kind of scary. But there's no reason for the
believer to fear. Now don't you fear the Lord's
second coming. Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Actually, instead of being fearful,
there's every reason for the believer to look forward to that
day with great, great, great anticipation. 1 Thessalonians
4 verse 13. But I would not have you to be
ignorant, brethren. concerning them which are asleep, that you
sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you
by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
until the coming of the Lord should not prevent or proceed,
go before them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout and the voice of the archangel. and
the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then
we, which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we
ever be with the Lord." Wherefore, comfort one another with these
words. See, don't use the second coming
of Christ to scare folks into doing something. All the things
people do with that are just utterly absurd. The Lord's return
is a thing of comfort for God's people. It's not a scary thing.
If you'd comfort the hearts of God's people, talk to them about
the Lord's return. He's coming. This is not all
there is. He's coming again. We'll meet
Him in the air forever to be with the Lord. Now Gene, I don't
care the circumstances that surround it. I don't care about it. I'm
forever with Him. I don't care a bit. That's comforting
it. Our text says happy is the people
that is in such a case. Happy is the people whose God
is the Lord. And that's true. We're a happy
people. Happy to be looking for our Lord's
return. You who trust Christ, aren't
you happy? I mean right now, aren't you
happy? Think how much happier we'll
be when he returns, we're caught up in the air to be with him
in the twinkling of an eye, made just like him, forever to be
with him. The happiness of that cannot
be stated in human language. It just can't be. The only thing I can think of
to say that, to think of the untold happiness to be with Christ. For every beholding His face
is even so come, Lord Jesus. Oh, come down. Come down one
more time and gather us together. Take us home. That'll be glory,
won't it? Alright, let's bow together.
Our Father, how we thank You for Your condescending grace
How often you've come down and touched the earth, touched men,
gathered your people. How you came down so far down
to be the representative, to appear in flesh and be made the
representative of sinful men and women, boys and girls like
us. Father, how we thank you. How
we thank you that you touched the law for us. You took the
death that your people deserve, that we might live. Father, how
we thank You. How we thank You for Your mercy,
grace, calling Your people to Christ, coming and taking up
residence in their heart, giving them life, faith. Father, how
we thank You. How we thank You for Your keeping,
preserving, comforting, guiding grace that keeps us all the days
of our lives. And Lord, how we look forward.
How we look forward to Your return. But until then, Father, we pray
You keep us faithful. Keep us faithful to depend only,
to look only, to rely only on our Lord Jesus Christ, whom to
know is life eternal. Father, till that day that You
return, how we pray You bless Your Word. Bless Your Word to
the hearts of Your people to continue calling out Your sheep,
calling them to Christ, Continue to bless your word to feed the
hearts of your sheep and comfort the hearts of the broken hearted. Father, bless us. How we thank
you that you've promised that you'll not leave us alone. Now,
Father, bless your word, we pray. Bless it to your glory. Enable
us to see your glory in the word preached. Let us take it with
us, that it take root in our hearts. For it's in the precious
name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray and give thanks. Alright,
Sean can lead us into closing here if you would. We would turn to song number
287 and stand as we sing. Like a River Glorious. Like a river glorious is God's
perfect peace, Over all victorious in its bright increase. Perfect yet it floweth Fuller
every day Perfect yet it groweth Deeper all the way stayed upon
Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed, finding as He promised, perfect
peace and rest. Hidden in the hollow of His blessed
hand, Never foe can follow, never traitor stand. Not a surge of worry, not a shade
of care, Not a blast of hurry, touch the Spirit there. State upon Jehovah, hearts are
fully blessed, Finding as He promised, perfect peace and rest. Every joy or trial falleth from
above, traced upon our dial by the Son of Love. We may trust Him fully, all for
us to do, they who trust Him wholly. find Him wholly true. Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are
fully blessed, finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.