Well, I want you to turn back
with me this week to Psalm 27. Psalm 27. We were thinking last week about
discerning the Lord's body in connection with the communion
service, and I referred to Psalm 27 and the first verse, the Lord
is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? As
being an example, and the Psalms are replete with such examples,
of a believer discerning the Lord's body, knowing what it
is to be saved on the basis of what Christ has done, confident
in salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. And knowing something,
obviously the depth of experience varies from individual to individual,
and there are times of intense sensing of these things, and
other times of less intense sensing, but knowing something of what
it is to be just with God because of what Christ has done, not
because of what I have done. And to be moved in your experience. This is it. It isn't something
just academic. You know, I can be interested
in the life of Henry VIII, but he doesn't move me, doesn't stir
my emotions, doesn't make me live differently, and he only
lived however many years ago it is, I won't attempt to do
a little calculation, 1500 and something. He doesn't move me,
but the gospel of grace does. The gospel of Christ moves me
in my innermost core, and it's applying the confidence of salvation
to all of life's situations and challenges. This is what we were
reading about in Romans chapter eight in the first verse. There's
no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Life's challenges
and experiences, but we're driven and motivated by the Spirit of
God, and not by the things of the flesh and the world all around
us. A believer is a changed person,
totally. New creation, all things made
new, a renewed outlook, Think, those of you that believe today,
think how you used to think and think how you now think as a
result of being a believer. A renewed outlook. You've got
higher motives. It's not sounding superior because
in truth the child of God is meek and lowly of heart like
his master and knows what we are in and of ourselves but nevertheless
what that old hymn says is true. Now on a higher plane I dwell.
When you dwell in these things, you're smelling the scents of
glory, of heaven, higher motives, mindset on things above where
Christ is. There used to be an expression
that so-and-so is so heavenly-minded that he's of no earthly use.
That's not what it is at all. That's not what it is at all,
no, not in the least. Being conscious of heavenly things,
conscious that this life is fleeting, that we're just on a journey,
this is just a pilgrimage, we're just passing through. You know
when you're travelling, if you're travelling far away, it's nice
to travel and see different things, but it's nice to know that there's
somewhere called home that you come back to, and for the believer,
this world is not my home, I'm just a passing through, again
that old song says heaven is the home of the believer that's
where your desires are that's where your affection is you have
changed likes and dislikes look at this piece by our brother
henry in on the back of the bulletin i'll just read it out to you
while you follow it he says This is what I've been talking about.
This is the changed desires and affections of a believer. Love
not the world, nor the things that are in the world. The believer
loves relatives and friends in the world. He loves and pities
all people of the world. He loves the blessings of fellowship
and the good things that God gives us and enables us to enjoy
in the world. But he does not love the world.
nor the things of the world above his love for God and Christ. He doesn't take satisfaction
nor contentment in them, nor make idols of them, nor prefer
them to heavenly and spiritual things. His citizenship and interests
are in the kingdom of God. His true family is the family
of God, and he knows that the fashion of this world passes
away. He prefers nothing and no one
in this world to Christ. If a man's affections and interests
are set upon the world, the things of the world, and the companionship
of worldly people, it is clearly evident that he does not have
the love of God in him. No man can serve two masters. That's very true. That's absolutely
spot on. No, a believer is a changed person
with new desires, and In verse 4 of this psalm, Psalm 27, we
have the believer's desire laid clearly before us. One thing
have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold
the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple This one
thing that he desires above all else, one thing have I desired,
meaning this is the overriding thing. One thing desired above
all else is in fact three things, to dwell in the Lord's house
all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to
inquire in his temple. And that's what I want to look
at, these three things with you this morning. to dwell in the
Lord's house. What is it to dwell in the Lord's
house? The Lord's house is where the
felt presence of God is. It's where sinners commune with
God who is holy. Sinners. Worthy of condemnation. Sinners commune with God who
is holy. Where sinners are bidden to come
and not be destroyed. Where the vulnerable feel safe. in the house of the Lord, to
dwell. This is what I desire, to dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life. Hear these words, Psalm 84 verses
1 to 3, how amiable are thy tabernacles. That's a good place, the house
of the Lord, the tabernacles of God. How amiable are thy tabernacles,
O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth
for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth
out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow, such a weak
little bird. You'll see some of them flitting
on and off the bird feeders outside. the sparrow such a little tiny
weak bird the sparrow hath found an house and the swallow a nest
for herself where she may lay her young you know you know that's
the most vulnerable of conditions bringing young into the world
where she may lay her young and where is it that she may find
that safety that comfort even thine altars in the tabernacle
of God the altar was the place of bloodshed, and of sacrifice,
and of fire, and of burning. But yet there, there, in amongst
all of that that looks so violent, there was the place of safety.
Even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God, to
desire to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my
life. It's where God speaks grace and justice. It's where He justifies
and saves his people whilst he himself remains totally just. He is a just God and a saviour,
as Isaiah 45 tells us, and as Romans 4 tells us, no, Romans
3, sorry, that he might be just and the justifier of those who
are in the Lord Jesus Christ. This house of the Lord is the
church. It's the company of his people.
It's the company of the redeemed, the purchased ones. It's the
elect of God. It's the newborn people, those
who are born of the Spirit of God, anew. It's those who desire
to do His will, though in this flesh, O wretched man that I
am, I desire to do that which is right, but I constantly don't.
and the things I don't want to do constantly I find I'm doing.
I have this wretched struggle with the flesh, serving the law
of the Spirit of God with my mind, but the law of sin in the
flesh. But I desire to do His will.
I hate sin. I don't stay in a settled, happy
state in it. I hope for heaven. I'm adopted
into His family. This is the house of the living
God. This is the Lord's house where
I want to dwell. Psalm 68 and verse 6, God sets
the solitary in families, in his house, in his church. The disciples asked Jesus in
Matthew chapter 19, we've given up all of these things, what
are we going to have? And Jesus said to them, everyone
that has forsaken houses or brethren or sisters or father or mother
or wife or children or lands for my name's sake, given up
everything in this world, shall receive an hundredfold. A hundredfold. In this life he's talking about.
Do you know, I never had a brother in the flesh. I've got a sister,
but I never had a brother. Do you know, I've got brothers
all over the world now. All over the world. They're my
brethren. They're my friends and brethren
dwell. That's what that hymn says. How pleased and blessed
was I to hear the people cry, come let us seek our God today.
For there my friends and kindred dwell, shall receive a hundredfold
in this life, and shall inherit eternal life. Here in this life,
and then in eternity, outside of time. This is the house of
the Lord, it's the church of the living God. That's what I
will seek after, says the psalmist. Let's pray for it, that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that
it be I know as individuals we have different desires, we have
different things that switch us on and switch us off, but
we have one thing in common, if truly we're the children of
God, we believe the gospel of Christ. We have the same master,
we have the same brother, the same friend, the same God, the
same gospel truth. That's the basis of fellowship,
nothing else. So many churches, they're knit
together by nothing other than social activity. There might
as well be a club in the world where people are knit together
in social activity. What distinguishes the house
of the Lord is the fellowship of the gospel of grace. And it's
the gospel of grace. It's bowing before the sovereignty
of the God of grace. blessing and praising the God
of sovereignty and grace, who has shown us, been pleased to
reveal that gospel to us. You know, people say, isn't church
boring? Oh, I've got to go to church,
it's a boring thing. No, it depends on your desires.
Matthew 6 and verse 21, Jesus says, where your heart is, there
will your treasure be also. Where is your heart this morning?
Is it on material, on earthly things, or is it on the things
of eternity, on the things of grace, on the things of the Spirit
of God? Because I tell you, I tell you,
all of those things that God gives us freely to enjoy in this
world, the wine to gladden the heart, the oil to make the face
shine, all of those things in this world are so much enriched
by a true knowledge of the living God. Really, it's not the one
or the other, it's the enrichment of the one by the other. Where
your heart is, there will your treasure be also. People try all of the things
of the world, You know, they put them all in the place of
dwelling in the Lord's house. It's as Jeremiah said, Jeremiah
chapter three, his indictment against his people was that they
had forsaken him, the fountain of living waters. He is the fountain
of living. He's the source of life. He's
the fountain of living waters. And what have people in their
stupid, ignorant flesh put in the place of that? They tried
all of these broken systems of the world. you know, tanks that
hold water, or so it would appear to be, to entice, to entertain,
to amuse, all of those things, they try, they try to do all
of those things, and they fail completely. I tried the broken
systems, Lord, says that old hymn, but ah, their waters failed,
and even as I stooped to drink, they mocked me as I wailed. But
no, in contrast, Psalm 84 and verse 10, A day in thy courts
is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
Scripture says this of the church, of the house of the Lord. God
is in the midst of her. When we gather together, you
know, two or three, that well-quoted text, two or three gathered together
in my name, in the name of Christ. There he is in the midst. God
is in the midst of her, his church. He will be their God. They will
be his people. I used to work around the minister's
offices in Whitehall for a period in the 1990s. and I occasionally used to come
across people from the Cabinet Office in Downing Street and
I'm not talking about any particular Prime Minister I've really struggled
to talk about it in this way about the current Prime Minister
but I'm not going to make a political point at this stage but the people
I used to come across used to really love working in the Cabinet
Office they used to love the buzz of it. Why? Because the
Prime Minister was there They'd be bumping into the Prime Minister
all the time in the corridors. They'd be coming across the Prime
Minister. They used to love the buzz of being there. Well, it's
a simple little illustration, but the people of God love the
house of the living God, because this is where God meets with
his people. This is where we bump in, if you'll excuse the
expression, to the Spirit of God walking the corridors of
his house. Why should we ever desire to
forsake it? There are those, you know, as Hebrews 10.25 says,
as the manner of some is, they forsake the assembling of themselves
together. So that's number one of this
one thing. That I may dwell in the house
of the Lord all the days of my life. And when I'm there, I will
behold the beauty of the Lord. To behold the beauty of the Lord. to behold the beauty of the Lord.
Dwelling in the house of the Lord, the church, we behold the
beauty of the Lord, not with the physical eye, but with the
eye of faith. And the Spirit shows, the Spirit
of God shows to the eye of faith the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And the Spirit
shows us that in the face of Jesus Christ He is made unto
us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. What do I need to be right with
God? What do I need in order to be just with God? I need righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption. And where do I find it? In the
Lord Jesus Christ. I behold the beauty of the Lord,
because to me that is beautiful. That is beautiful to behold.
In the gospel of his grace I see things that the angels, the perfect
angels, desire to look into. For they don't experience this
firsthand, for they haven't fallen. But we who are fallen sinners,
redeemed by grace, and seeing those things in the Lord Jesus
Christ, we behold the beauty of the Lord. And where do we
behold it? In the Lord's house, beholding
the beauty of the Lord, in the gospel of his grace. Seeing things
that the angels, 1 Peter 1, verse 12, the angels desire to look
into them. You can imagine, can't you? You
can conjure up a picture. of these angelic perfect beings,
fascinated, intrigued, from what their knowledge of the true God
is so much higher than ours. And yet, they look into this,
that sinners are redeemed by the Son of God. And to those
who are redeemed, of course, He is precious. Contrast that
with religious folks, who we've got all around us in religion.
Religious folks, idolaters. What do they do to behold the
beauty of the Lord? They make unto themselves graven
images to represent the beauty of the Lord. And invariably,
they fail. They build their ornate cathedrals,
wonderful buildings, wonderful, magnificent pieces of architecture
and the ingenuity of man. And they make them incredibly
ornate. And they have their priesthood that they still today adorn with
the sort of robes that are described in the Old Testament of the Aaronic
priesthood. Embroidered, rich, elaborate,
magnificent. putting the priests on a different
plane to ordinary people as they float around in their great long
flowing robes and their headgear and all of these things. They
make these graven images unto themselves to try and beautify
the house of the Lord as they see it. They have statues and
icons and crosses and all of these other things. They have
altars and places where you can't go, and holier places than others,
and they have rites and ceremonies, and elaborate choral music. I
love choral music, but this is all done for the purpose of trying
to beautify the house of the living God, as they say. But
it's all physical. It's all superficial. It's all
utterly idolatry, distracting from the truth. The beauty of
the Lord is seen with the eye of faith in the Gospel of Grace.
And the beauty of the Lord is the delightfulness of the Lord. The Lord, we read in Scripture,
delights in his people. But what do they see when they
see his delightfulness? When Moses in Exodus 33 was receiving
the law, communing with God, he asked that he might see the
Lord's glory. Show me your glory and that will
suffice me. And what did God do? God said,
stand here in the cleft of the rock. You can't see my face,
but stand here and I will cause my glory to pass before you.
And what was his glory? I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious and I will have compassion on whom I will have
compassion. It was his electing sovereign
particular redemption grace that is the ultimate glory and beauty
of the Lord and that is what he revealed to Moses. In his
names he's revealed to us as glorious as we saw last week. Jehovah Jireh, the provider,
the shepherd, the righteousness, Tzidkenu, the banner, Nisai,
the promised presence, Shammah, the Saviour, Jehovah Jesus, the
Saviour of his people. He's glorious. He's beautiful
in all of these things. This is to behold the beauty
of the Lord. When Isaiah in Isaiah 6 went
into the temple, he saw the Lord high and lifted up in the Lord's
house, in that temple which symbolised the house of the Lord. And he
saw him in his holiness, in his power, in his grace, in purging
sin. You know, it was a terrifying
and yet glorious sight. And one of the angels came and
took a coal from off the altar and purged his lips, purging
his sin. And then John tells us, John
chapter 12 and verse 41, quoting some of the things that Isaiah
said in Isaiah 6. He says, these things Isaiah
said when he saw Christ's glory and spoke of him. What did he
see? The majestic, gracious glory
of Christ. And also, because the words are
clearly there in Isaiah 6, the sovereign grace of God. He saw
those things. This is what it is. In the house
of the Lord, to behold the beauty of the Lord with the eye of faith
in the house of the Lord. And then thirdly, to inquire
in his temple, to inquire in his temple. One thing I've desired
of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty
of the Lord and to inquire in his temple, to inquire there. Do you recall the account of
Psalm 73? In Psalm 73, the psalmist confesses
that he was envious of those who were not believers. He said
basically he'd been trying to be a disciple of God, to follow
God, to obey God's commands and laws. He'd been trying to do
all of those things, and he'd had such a tough time of it in
life, and things hadn't gone the way he'd hoped they would
go, and he'd suffered poverty and all sorts of other afflictions,
and he looked at those that had lived as if they couldn't care
less about the things of God, and they'd prospered, and they'd
had a good time, and they'd had no difficulties, and everything
had seemed easy, and all of life had fallen out so easy for them,
And he said his feet had almost slipped. He'd almost given up
on being a believer. He'd almost walked out on the
faith of God, because he'd become envious at the wicked, is how
he says. And this was eating him up. And
he was going to say something, and then he stopped. And he said,
if I say thus, I will offend against the children of God,
against the family of God. I'll cause offense to them. This
is showing that he's a true believer, isn't it? He can't say that. Sin wells up, but he stopped. He cannot do that because he'll
offend against the children of God. And then he goes into the
temple, into the sanctuary. And there, when he goes into
the temple, then he says, then knew I their end, the end of
those who neglect God, who ignore God. Then knew I their end. He
went and inquired in the temple. and things became clear to him.
He'd been in a state of confusion, but he went and inquired in the
temple, and things became clear. He knew the end of them. He knew
the end of those outside of Christ, compared with those who are in
Christ. He knew what a vast difference
it was, what a colossal difference it was. And how was it such?
The temple was full of the symbols of the gospel. That's what the
temple was. It was full of the symbols of
God's graciousness to sinners, of his holiness, of his justice. It was full of pictures of redemption. It was full of pictures of substitution
in the sacrifices and in the blood atonement for sin, the
day of atonement. the high priest, all of these
things were pictures of the gospel of grace in Christ. They were
implicit there, but in the New Testament church they're explicit
in the preaching of the gospel. That's what it is. They're explicit
in the New Testament church, in the house of God as we are
in it today, in the preaching of the gospel of his grace. If
you read the epistle to the Hebrews chapter 9, read it again for
yourself because there Paul goes through all of the symbols of
the temple. And he says, look, it was like
this. They had the showbread, they had the altars, they had
all of these things. And then he goes on to say, towards
the end of that passage, he says, but Christ, compared with those
things that were in the temple of old, but Christ, being come
an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not a temple made with hands, that is to say,
not of this building, one that's in the heavens. neither by the
blood of goats and calves, animal sacrifices, but by his own blood
he entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and
of goats and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean,
sanctifyeth to the purifying of the flesh, How much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself
without spot to God, how shall that not much more purge your
conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Is that
not echoing what we were looking at in Romans chapter eight earlier? There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. Inquiring in his temple, Living
in the house of the Lord is being in the church. Beholding the
beauty of the Lord is seeing with the eye of faith the things
that the Spirit of God reveals to the eye of faith. And inquiring
in his temple is listening to the gospel preached. It's listening
to Christ-centered preaching. That's the thing. That's why
it's so important. That's why we put these things
on the internet, for those who are on their own and isolated
from such Christian fellowship, from such church fellowship,
can have as close as you can get to it, in their own homes,
isolated from other people. This is inquiring in his temple,
listening to gospel preaching, Christ-centered gospel preaching.
It's here in the church where he's given gifts to men. Those
that say, I don't need to go to church, when there's a church
that they could go to where the truth is preached, are missing
out. God has given gifts to his church. Ephesians 4, verses 11
to 13, he's given apostles and pastors and teachers and evangelists. He's given these ministry gifts
to his church, that we should not be children tossed to and
fro by every wind of doctrine, but here in the church by the
gifts he's given, that we might inquire in his temple. This is
what I desire, to be in God's house, to behold his beauty,
to inquire in his temple as I hear his word preached. This is the
true worship of the true and living God. Not in these physical,
external symbols that invariably fail to demonstrate anything
of the beauty of the Lord. They totally fail in it. In this
is the beauty and glory of the Lord most evidently, clearly,
eminently seen in the gospel of his grace, in the gospel of
his sovereign grace, in the gospel of salvation accomplished. Not
salvation offered, salvation accomplished. That's where it
is. And it's one thing to be desired. One thing to be desired,
that will I seek after. That will I pray for, he says. This is what we should pray for.
Pray for the church of God. that those who are yet to be
called into it will be called in, that the full number of the
elect will be made up, that the beauty of the Lord will be beheld
by those who are sinners in the flesh, yet by the Spirit of God,
that we'll be able to behold the beauty of the Lord, and that
he'll raise up preachers of the gospel. Pray for preachers of
the gospel, for it's by the foolishness of preaching, it pleased God,
to save those who believe. This is why our gathering together
is so vital to our spiritual life, and for the wider internet
congregation that we have. The Lord's house that he desires
to live in, the Lord's house is not a building made with hands.
It's a good job, isn't it, this morning, because the building
that we use, the temporary building, all of a sudden, without any
notice, is not available to us, and so we have to meet somewhere
else. Yet this is still the church gathered. This is still the church. Oh, there's no altars here. There's
no stained glass windows or icons or statues or priests in flowing
robes. But I don't know about you, but
if you're truly in Christ, do you not feel that you're in the
house of the living God? Do you not feel, when you see
with the eye of faith in the scriptures, the beauty of the
Lord in the gospel of his grace? Is it not good to come here and
to inquire in his temple as the gospel is preached? This is what
it is, not a building made with hands. The beauty is not sensed
in pictures, in icons, in human priestly robes. It's the church
of Christ. It's the grace of God in Christ.
is the proclamation of the gospel of Christ in the preached word.
One thing have I desired that will I seek after, says David. Is that your experience or that
it would be?