Let's read together the second
chapter of the Gospel of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter two. We'll begin
reading at verse one. For the sake of time, we'll not
read the whole chapter, but portions pertaining to the message this
evening. Isaiah chapter two, verse one. The word that Isaiah, the son
of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, concerning God's
church, God's kingdom. Judah and Jerusalem were but
typical representations of God's church and kingdom. Judah and
Jerusalem were the visible church of God on this earth in the Old
Testament era. And it shall come to pass in
the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be
established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted
above the hills. The church of God in the last
days will be exalted above the mountains, in the top of the
mountains and above the hills. And in that day, all nations
shall flow unto it. That is God's elect out of every
nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. God's elect from the north, south,
east, and west shall flow into his church and kingdom by his
mighty grace. And many people shall go and
say, come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the
house of the God of Jacob. When you get ready to come here,
you ought to have this attitude in your heart. And you fathers
and mothers, you call your sons and daughters, let's go worship. Let's go to the house of God.
And he will teach us of his ways. And we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth
the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Out of this place,
God will send his word into all the world for the gathering together
of his elect out of the four corners of the earth and cause
all nations, people of all nations to flow into his church and kingdom. Yesterday morning, Brother Tom
Harding and I were visiting a little bit, and he was asking me about
the Freegrass Radio and the reports we have. And I said, Tom, I don't
look at them very often. I hadn't looked at one in at
least a year or two. And so I told him I would let
him know what I found out. And I just looked at it a little
bit ago. I was surprised. I was surprised. And thus far,
since I think it was 2006 you started that, Larry? There have
been more than a million and a half sermons downloaded by
folks from over a hundred countries and all 50 of the United States. Imagine that. Out of here, God
sends his word into all the world. and calls out his elect, and
they gather together in his house and worship him. Verse four,
and he shall judge among the nations by this word that goes
out of his church and shall rebuke many people. He will convince
his own of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. And when he
does, they shall beat their swords into plowshares. and their spears
into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Now that
is not talking about some imaginary utopian time when there's going
to be a thousand year reign on this earth and the Arabs and
the Israelites and the Gentiles and the Jews and the blacks and
the whites and all the nations of the earth are all going to
get along fine. It's going to be peaceful and all that stuff.
That's, that's not what it's talking about. That's talking
about right now in his church and kingdom. Men and women, when
they're converted by his free grace, God brings his people
together and they are one in Christ and all social barriers,
all social distinctions, all of those things that naturally
divide peoples, race, color, ethnic background, education,
wealth, prosperity, power, poverty, weakness, all of those things
that naturally divide men and women are made to be meaningless
in the body of Christ. Read on. Oh house of Jacob, come
ye. Let us walk in the light of the
Lord. Verse 10. Enter into the rock and hide
thee in the dust for the fear of the Lord and for the glory
of his majesty. Come enter into Christ our rock,
God our rock. Hide in him for the glory of
our Lord and for the majesty of our God. The lofty looks of
man shall be humbled. and the haughtiness of men shall
be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts
shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone
that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low. Verse 17, and
the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness
of men shall be made low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day, and the idols he shall utterly abolish. When God's
exalted in you, he will utterly abolish the works of your hands,
your idols, those things you cherish. and they shall go into
the holes of the rocks and into the caves of the earth. How come? For the fear of the Lord and
for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly
the earth. In that day, in that day, the
Lord's going to abolish your idols, but he's not just gonna
do that, he's gonna fix it so you do. In that day, a man shall
cast his idols of silver and his idols of gold, those things
he cherishes, those things he cherishes, his righteousness,
his goodness, his uprightness, his works, those things by which
he has distinguished himself from others, which they made
each one for himself to worship, the work of his own hands. He'll
cast it to the moles and to the bats. to go into the clests of
the rock where they belong and into the tops of the ragged rocks
for the fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty
when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Now watch this. Cease
ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils for wherein is he
to be accounted of. Cease from man Cease from all
trust in man, especially in yourself, man, whose breath is in his nostrils,
just, he's gone. Don't trust the flesh. You'll
find my text and the title of my message in verses 11 and 17. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. When God dwelt alone, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, in the ineffable glory of his own holy being,
the Lord alone was exalted. He had no rival, no enemy, there
was no evil. God dwelt alone in the unrivaled
excellence and glory of his own being. And when he began his
works, those works he began before the foundation of the world,
those works he began from the beginning, God dwelt alone and
was exalted. When he made the covenant, ordered
in all things ensured, he said, I will be their God and they
shall be my people. When he made that covenant, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost, by which our salvation was accomplished,
when he said, I will forgive their iniquity, their transgressions,
and their sins, I will remember them no more, and they shall,
every one of them, know the Lord. In that day, the Lord was exalted,
Christ was made to be our surety, and the Lord God, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost trusted into his hands his glory, his will, all
his purpose, and the saving of his people when he created the
angels of heaven, those angelic hosts. created by our God to
be ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall
be the heirs of salvation. I am certain we know very little
about angels, very little, but there is a multitude innumerable
of heavenly beings created by God. who were created by God
for one specific purpose, to minister to, to watch over, to
care, and to keep His chosen until the day appointed by God,
when He would call them by His grace. Created by God. to be ministering
spirits, serving spirits, to minister to those who shall be
the heirs of salvation. Oh, how the angels of God watched
over us secretly when we played with death and played with hell
and defied God. The angels of God watching over
us when he created them, the Lord alone was exalted in that
day. created this world. In the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. And he alone was exalted
in that day. When he made Adam in the garden
and brought Eve to Adam, made that woman out of that man and
brought her to him and joined the two together in the garden,
Adam and Eve walked with God. And the Lord alone was exalted
in that day. God walked with man. And man
walked with God and God had no rival. Imagine that. What creation
must have been in the days of innocence? I don't know how long
the day of man's innocence lasted. We're not told in the book of
God. And I'm sure we have no idea what myriads of creatures
the Lord made for the pleasure, just for the pleasure of Adam
and Eve in the garden. But I know this in the day of
man's innocence in the garden, the Lord alone was exalted, but
at some point we're not told when, but at some point we read
in revelation 12, that Lucifer, the son of the morning made war
with the Lord, our God in heaven and was expelled from heaven.
And then the prince of darkness deceived our mother Eve. And
Eve enticed Adam to rebel against God and sin entered into the
world and everything has been messed up ever since. How man
has fallen. Man. Man. Created in the image and likeness
of God. Man who walked with God every
day, 24 hours a day, walking in sweet communion with God,
man with whom God walked upon the earth. Now, God is no longer
in all his thoughts. God is not exalted in his heart,
but despised in his heart. God is no longer exalted in his
desires, but everything else but God. But our text speaks
of a day, a day before the drama of the world's history comes
to a close, in which the Lord alone shall be exalted again.
The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. The great object
of God in all his works of creation, providence, and grace is the
exaltation and glory of his own great name. and God will accomplish
his purpose. This we're told in Isaiah 63,
verses 12 and 13. This is what God's doing in this
world. He is making himself an everlasting
and a glorious name. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day of which our text speaks. There is a day coming
when God shall alone be exalted. What is that day? What's Isaiah
talking about? Without question, the prophet
is talking about a great day of grace when the mountain of
the Lord's house shall be established. But it would be difficult if
not impossible to pinpoint any single specific day when that
has been done or shall be done. In fact, the text begins by talking
about days. in those days. And then he talks
about that day, that day, that day. And Isaiah keeps on talking
about that day, that day, that day. So he seems clearly to be
talking about something more than just a 24 hour period of
time. The day Isaiah is describing
is the whole day of God's grace in this gospel age. I've told
you this many times, but when you read the book of Revelation,
back in 1988 or 89, whenever it was, evangelical press asked
me to write a commentary on Revelation. I said to Brother Clark, who
spoke to me about it, I said, everything I write comes as a
result of what I preach, and I've never preached much from
Revelation, because I don't understand much about it. I said, if I can
get some understanding of it, then I'll be glad to do what
I can do, whatever God enables me to do. And I picked up a little
book, about 125, maybe 150 pages, by William Hendrickson, who taught
at Calvin College up in Pennsylvania. He wrote a book called More Than
Conquerors. And he made this observation,
which caused the book of Revelation just to open up, just like you'd
walked in and turned on a light switch. It just caused it to
open up. He said, the whole book of Revelation is the revelation
of Jesus Christ. It is not the revelations of
Jesus Christ, but the revelation of Jesus Christ. And it's given
in seven distinct visions. Each vision stands on its own,
and each vision declares the same thing. The visions begin
with the first coming of Christ, with his first advent, with his
incarnation, and the vision is concluded with the second advent
of Christ in the glorious accomplishment of all things. And if you read
through the book of Revelation, you start at chapter one, and
you see those visions. Each one begins with Christ coming
into this world. and concludes with Christ coming
again. And the message of all seven
visions is the sure triumph of Christ and his church by the
gospel, the certain accomplishment of the glory of God. And this
is what Isaiah is talking about. He's talking to us about the
unfolding drama of redemption. It began with the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus. In Hebrews chapter 10, when the
Lord Jesus was coming into the world, we read that he said,
Lo, I come to do thy will, O my God. And then in verse 9, he
says, This will which Christ came to accomplish is that will
by the which we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. It is that will of God accomplishing
our redemption by which God glorified himself. And all the time that
our Lord walked on this earth, all the days of his humiliation,
Our Lord Jesus was going about performing the will of God to
the glory of God, glorifying God. Our Lord spoke to his mother
and dad when they rebuked him when he was 12. And when he was
12 years old, he lagged behind and they didn't know where he
was. He stayed in the synagogue and he was teaching folks. And
they said, don't you know what pain you caused us? And he said,
I must be about my father's business. He said to his disciples, I must
do the will of him that sent me. And then when he, began to
closely anticipate suffering the wrath of God when he was
made sin for us. He said, my soul is exceeding
sorrowful even unto death. What shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. And there was a voice from heaven
that said, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. And the Lord Jesus went on, his
face set like a flint to the cursed tree to be made sin for
us, as he had prayed, not my will, thy will be done, and bowed
to his Father's will for the glory of God in the accomplishment
of redemption. In that day, in that day of our
redemption by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord
alone was exalted. Turn over to Isaiah 59. I want
you to look at two texts in this regard. Isaiah 59, verse 16. Let's look at three texts. Isaiah
59, 16. When the Lord God, our Savior
saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. Now remember that word, no intercessor.
Therefore, his own arm brought salvation unto him and his righteousness,
it sustained him. Now look at verse five of chapter
63. I looked and there was none to
help. And I wondered that there was
none to uphold. No intercessor, none to uphold.
Therefore, mine own arm brought salvation unto me, and my fury,
my righteousness, it upheld me." What's he talking about? And
the one place he speaks about the intercessor, and the next
place he calls him the one who upholds. And the one place he
speaks about righteousness, his righteousness, and the next place
he speaks about his fury that upheld him. What's he talking
about? He's talking about the revelation of the glory of God
in the accomplishment of redemption. The righteousness of God, He
came to perform. And by the righteousness of God,
He suffered in our place, in our room, and in our stead. And
the fury of God was poured out upon Him until fury was exhausted
in Him and altogether satisfied in Him. Now let's see if that's
not exactly what it says in Romans chapter three. Romans chapter
three. This very familiar text of Scripture.
but it cannot be read, thought about, meditated upon, or preached
about enough. Romans 3, 24. Paul says we are justified freely. The word means without a cause.
Without any cause in us. Justified without us doing anything. Justified without us feeling
anything. Justified without us being anything. Justified freely. But oh, what a cost, justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood. God set him forth in his decree,
set him forth in time, and sets him forth in the gospel as the
propitiation through faith in his blood. What's that talking
about? the propitiation through faith
in his blood. Christ is that one who by the
sacrifice of himself thoroughly, completely, absolutely satiates
the triune God. Fully satisfies God so that God's
fury is satiated by his sacrifice. We have a similar term. It's
called pacifier. I mean, I don't think I've ever
seen it, but flipping through channels, I see there's some
kind of movie or program or something on television called the pacifier.
I presume it's talking about somebody who makes peace between
folks who are at odds. There's a better illustration
than that. You who are parents, you have your children. It doesn't
matter whether your son or daughter was breastfed or bottle-fed.
At one point or the other, they get fussy. And you know they're
not hungry. And you know they don't need
anything else to eat. So you're quieting them down. And you know
what you do it with? That little old rubber piece
you stick in their mouth and they settle down. It's called
a pacifier. Pacifier. Our daughter never would take
one. She just wouldn't have it. I didn't keep her often by myself,
but when I did, I tried everything. I put honey on it. I put sugar
on it. She wouldn't have it. She just
wouldn't have it. When she got older enough to want it, then
I wouldn't let her have it. But she wouldn't have it when she was
younger. But most of the time, you can stick a thing in their
mouth and they're just as happy as they can be, just quiet and
down. That's the idea. Christ has pacified an angry
God for his people permanently. But Paul speaks here of him being
a propitiation through faith in his blood. What's that talking
about? The Lord Jesus is that one who
comes to his people by the power of his spirit in saving grace. And when he sprinkles his blood
upon the terrified, terrible, guilty conscience of his own,
he pacifies his people as well. so that his blood is that which
satisfies the very demands of our consciences, to declare God's
righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. Now we understand. Now we understand. Now we understand how God can
forgive our sin. Christ is enough. That's enough. God can't give
more and God can't require more. That gives peace to the conscience. To declare, I say at this time,
God's righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus. So that in the sacrifice of Christ,
all the glorious attributes of God's being are manifest, brought
to light and showed to us. In the death of God's son, we
see his love and his wrath. We see his mercy and his truth,
his goodness and his severity, his righteousness and his peace,
his grace and his justice, his immutability and his kindness. In the day of Christ's resurrection
and exaltation, the Lord alone was exalted. Turn to Psalm 24,
Psalm 24. The Lord Jesus, after he bore
our sin in his body on the tree and put away our sin by the sacrifice
of himself, was buried in the earth. And then the day came
when he arose from the dead, being justified in the Spirit. What happened? He, with his own
blood, had entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for us. Now watch Psalm 24. The earth
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The world and they that
dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the
seas and established it upon the floods. Who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in God's holy
place? Who can get into heaven? Who
can get into heaven? That's the question he's raising.
This is who can stand in God's holy place. He that hath clean
hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul into vanity,
nor sworn deceitfully, he and he alone shall receive the blessing
from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Now that hardly makes any sense.
Find me somebody who has clean hands and a pure heart who's
never lifted up his soul to vanity and has never told a lie. He
doesn't need to be saved. Well, what's David talking about
there? Only those who have clean hands, hands that have never
been dirty with iniquity and a pure heart, a pure heart. Israelite indeed in whom is no
guile, no guile, a pure heart, a pure heart, just nothing to
hide, a pure heart. That man, that woman who's never
lifted up his soul to vanity, who's never wanted something
worthless and meaningless, that one who has never sworn deceitfully,
he, she, Here they alone shall receive the blessing of the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the
generation of them that seek thy face, O Jacob. Now stop and
think about that. This is the generation of God's
people. This is you and me. This is God's
chosen, God's redeemed. Those who are saved by God's
grace, how can that be? Because in Christ, we are one
with Christ. And just as she's saying, just
as he is, so are we in this world. Oh, bless God for free grace. They who are made perfect by
the perfect substitute, they can enter into heaven. The Lord
Jesus walked on this earth in obedience to God for us. He fulfilled
righteousness for us. He put away our sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And he rose up from the grave
and entered into heaven and sat down on the right hand of the
majesty on high. And the apostle Paul writes by
divine inspiration and tells us in Ephesians chapter two that
we did it all in him. In him. Who shall ascend up to
heaven? Read verse nine. Or verse eight. Let's back up one more time,
verse seven. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come
in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
lift up, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King
of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord of hosts. He is the King of Glory, and
the Lord is exalted, the Lord alone in that day. No place,
no place found for man's pride or arrogance, no place found
for man to be lifted up, no place found for men to be honored.
Christ, the King of Glory, has won everything for us, and we
are made in Him to be altogether righteous and without sin. On
the day of Pentecost, when the Lord Jesus poured out his spirit
upon his church, the Lord alone was exalted. The Lord alone was
exalted. Ah. I remember years ago, you know,
all the stuff went on Family Radio back years ago, back in
1994, they asked me to come up and preach a conference up in
Tuscarora, just inside the Pennsylvania line, just a little ways from
Newark, New Jersey, about an hour and a half from Newark. And I was scheduled
to preach there on September the second, or first, second,
and third. And Mr. Camping had made that
silly, ridiculous, unbelievable prediction that Christ was coming
on September 4th, 1994. And you can't believe what I
observed those few days. You can't believe. I preached
every night and every day to something well over 1,500 people. Folks from all over the country.
Folks from outside the country. They were absolutely scared to
death. I'm talking about folks who sold
their property and sent the money into Family Radio, folks who
cashed in their retirement, cashed in their bonds, sent the money
because the Lord's coming. The Lord's coming. I remember
discussing with Mr. Camping, I said, what are you
going to do when this doesn't happen? What are you gonna do
with this stuff? There's never been anybody in
history who claimed to believe free grace, who made such a prediction.
And worse than that, there's never been anybody in history
who made such a prediction, who later said, I was wrong. I just,
I made a mistake. But folks were terrified that
the Lord's coming. When our Lord Jesus comes, he
will come as a thief in the night. Now I've said all that to say
this, on the day of Pentecost, when the Lord Jesus took his
seat on David's throne. David's son sitting on David's
throne. That's the millennial kingdom
folks talk about. That's the kingdom of God the
scriptures speak of. Christ Jesus took his seat on
David's throne. That's what David's throne portrayed.
Christ ruling the universe as the God-man, our mediator. Peter,
on that day, the fellow said, well, these folks speak in a
strange tongue. He said, they're drunk as skunks. Peter said,
not hardly, not hardly. He said, I'll tell you what,
I've been wondering all my life since God taught me to know anything
about his grace, what on this earth is Joel talking about?
What's he talking about? And he said, boys, this is it. This is it. The Lord alone is
exalted. And this is how you will understand
prophecy. And the only way you'll understand
it when it's done, when it's done, when Christ comes again,
we'll say this is it. This is what he'd been talking
about. This is it. The Lord alone was exalted when
he poured out his spirit on the day of Pentecost. And Christ,
by that act, had his inaugural act as the king of heaven in
the day of grace. Every time God's saints meet
together in the name of Christ, by the preaching of the gospel,
the Lord alone is exalted. It please God that in Christ
all fullness should dwell. The Lord's determined that Christ
alone have the preeminence. And in the house of God, when
we gather in God's house, and this ought to be a clear distinction
in anybody's eyes, wherever men and women gather to worship God,
the Lord alone is exalted. The Lord alone is exalted. You and I pray as our Lord taught
us to pray, our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name. And we want God's glory. I'm as sure of that for Rex Bartley
as I am that he's sitting there right now. That's what God's
people want. We want God's glory. But we've
never thought or said or done or even wanted anything purely
for God's glory. But when we come to God's house,
in this place, When God's people are gathered together in the
name of Christ, the Lord alone is exalted in the message we
preach, in the ordinances we perform, in the hymns we sing,
in the prayers we make. We honor God and God alone. Go church somewhere in something
else's honor, somebody else's honor. That's not the gathering
of God's people. In God's house, the Lord alone
is exalted. We preach the gospel by which
God's pleased to save sinners, and we do so, declaring that
Christ alone is made of God and to us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. In that last great day at the
great white throne judgment, the Lord alone shall be exalted
when Christ comes again and every eye sees him and the dead are
raised up. And the judgment seat is over
when he has gathered on his right hand all the sheep nations and
on his left hand all the goat nations. And that's not talking
about nationalities and civil nations. That's talking about
all of his elect out of the nations of the world over here. and all
the ghosts, all the reprobate out of the nations of the world
over here. And it says to these, depart
ye cursed and everlasting fire. I never knew you. And it says
to these, come, you blessed in my father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Well done, thou
good and faithful servant. In that day, everybody over here,
everybody over here, and everybody over here, everybody over here,
will bow down and exalt the Lord alone. In that day, there shall
be a complete restitution of all things to the glory of God. In each of these great days in
history, the Lord alone is exalted, and we rejoice to know it. If
the text had nothing more than that to say, that's plenty. But
if I read the chapter correctly, and I'm sure I do, our text is
referring specifically to every chosen, redeemed sinner's experience
of the grace of God in this world. In every experience of grace,
the Lord alone is exalted. When God the Holy Ghost comes
and makes a man or a woman a new creature in Christ, when God
the Holy Ghost comes and puts in us a new nature, when we're
born again by God's Spirit, convinced of sin, righteousness, and judgment,
Christ the Lord and He alone is exalted. He takes the things
of Christ and shows them to us. He takes the things of Christ
and reveals them to us by the might of his power, causing us
to rejoice no more in our goodness, no more in our works, no more
in our doing, but in the doing and dying in the accomplishments
of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. The Lord alone shall
be exalted in that day when we see Christ crucified upon the
cursed tree. Turn to Zechariah chapter 10
for a moment. Our Lord Jesus says, is it nothing
to you? All ye that pass by behold and
see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done
unto me wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his
fierce anger. In Zechariah 12, verse 10, he
says, And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants
of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication. I'll teach
you to pray. And they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth
for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one
that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Look at chapter 13.
Verse one, in that day, in that day, when Christ pours out his
spirit on you, in that day, there shall be a fountain opened, opened
to the house of David, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for
sin and uncleanness. Oh, blessed, blessed day. Blessed, blessed day. When the
Lord reveals Christ to you, He makes Christ to you a fountain
open for cleansing. A fountain open to make you clean. Turn to the Song of Solomon.
Turn back to Song of Solomon. I'll wrap this up. When you read through the Song
of Solomon, understand that this sweet, sweet, tender book of
love It's called the Song of Loves. This Song of Loves is
a description of the relationship of Christ and his church, Christ
and his bride. And it's describing in intimate
detail our relationship to our Redeemer. And as you read through
it, you will see your day-by-day experience in this world. There are times of sweet communion
and refreshing, and then times of horrid coldness and indifference. And the Lord hides himself, and
then he comes and makes himself known again, and our souls are
revived, and then there's more indifference, hardness, coldness. Because we constantly war with
our flesh, But in the day when the Lord Jesus comes and draws
us near to himself in sweet communion, oh, how he's exalted. Look at
verse four of chapter two. He brought me into the banqueting
house and his banner over me was love. The Lord Jesus comes
and brings you to the banner of Banqueting House and you feast
upon his grace and his mercy. He spreads his banner of love
over you. Oh, you bask in his love. And you cry, stay me with flagons,
comfort me with apples, for I'm sick of love. His left hand is
under my head and his right hand doth embrace me. Verse eight,
the voice of my beloved, behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains,
skipping upon the hills. What delight! My beloved is like
a roe or a young heart. Behold, he standeth behind our
wall. He looketh forth at the windows,
showing himself through the lattice. We're about to take the bread
and wine. through the ordinances, baptism, the Lord's supper, through
the songs of praise we get, through the preaching of the word, he
shows himself. My beloved spake and said unto
me, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, winter
is past, the rain is over and gone. And then the Lord causes
our souls to hunger and thirst after him. In chapter five, He
says, I've come to my garden, my sister, my spouse. I've gathered
my myrrh with my spice. I've eaten my honeycomb with
my honey. I've drunk my wine with my milk.
Oh, friends, eat, yea, drink abundantly, oh, beloved. And
her response is, I sleep, but my heart wakes. It's the voice
of my beloved. He's knocking at the door. He
says, open to me, my sister, my spouse. My love, my dove,
my undefiled. My head is filled with the dew
and my locks with the drops of the night. And after the tenor of our nature. Lord, don't bother me now. I
got other things to do. But blessed be his name. He won't
be put off. He won't be put off. He puts
his hold in by the hand of the door. And as he does, he stirs
us and causes us to seek after him. And you reach to open the
door of your heart for sweet communion, and he's withdrawn
himself. But he left the sweet-smelling
myrrh of his grace on the handles of the lock. And you go about
seeking him. You come to the house of God.
and God enables me to preach to you. And the watchman, the
watchman, he takes away your veil and shows you the whole
problem is you. You, no excuse, just you, just
you. And you find the Savior comes
to you and you charge the people of God around you, don't disturb
my Savior. Don't disturb this. This is wonderful,
sweet communion. Well, who is he that you so charge
us? He's the fairest among 10,000.
This is our beloved. This is our friend. Then in chapter
seven, the Lord alone is exalted when he restores his wondering
ones from their falls. Verse 10, I, my beloved, His
desire is toward me. Come, my beloved, let us go forth
into the field. Let us lodge in the villages.
Let us get up early to the vineyards. Let us see if the vine flourish,
whether the tender grape appear and the pomegranates bud forth. There will I give thee my loves. I hear a conversation going on. The risen Lord is down at Galilee,
and Peter has been gone fishing. And the other disciples are on
the bank, and Peter's down there. He's not fit to be in their company. He's down there by himself. And
the Lord Jesus came to him like he said he would. He said, Simon,
I want to talk to you. Lovest thou me more than these? Lord, you know I love you. Simon,
I want you to listen to me now. Do you love me more than these?
Lord, you know I love you. Simon, do you really love me? And Peter was pricked in his
heart. That's what the Lord was getting after. He said, Lord, you know all things.
You know that I love thee. And here the Lord gathers him
into his garden and Peter gives him again his love. Look at chapter
eight. The Lord alone is exalted in
the day when he assures us of his love for us. Set me as a
seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm, for love is strong
as death, jealousy cruel as the grave. The coals thereof are
coals of fire, which hath the most vehement flame. Many waters
cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man
would give all the substance of his house for love, it altogether
be despised. And when the Lord comes in time
of trial, trouble, difficulty, and steps into our little storm-tossed
boat and says, it is I, be not afraid. He alone is exalted. Oh, thank you, Lord Jesus. for
the sweet day by day experiences of your grace by which you make
yourself alone to be exalted in our hearts. What a blessed, blessed, blessed
reviving of grace. You don't need to turn there,
but I've had the 23rd Psalm on my mind Ever since I found out
yesterday that my friend, brother Norman Wheeler has gone to glory. In that day, when the Lord's
pleased to gather our feet into our beds and to gather our souls
to heaven, the Lord alone shall be exalted. I, uh, I recognize
we have no way of knowing. what transpires in the minds
and hearts of many women who are born of God and taught of
God just before they leave this world. But somehow, somehow,
somehow I got an idea. There are things that take place
then that make all the fearful apprehension
of death and all the experience of it, no matter how painful
the experience may be, fade into insignificance. Yea, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. And then, when we get to glory,
we'll bow with God's saints around the throne and say worthy. Worthy
is the lamb that was slain. He alone is to be exalted forever
and ever. Amen.