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welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God for our call to worship you can turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 19 Revelation chapter 19 i'll read verses 11 to 16 now I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he who sat on him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he judges and makes war his eyes were like a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns he had a name written that no one knew except himself he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the Word of God and the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean followed him on white horses now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should strike the nation's and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron he himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God and he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written king of kings and Lord of lords amen well please take your hymn book and turn to number 267 267 will use a familiar tune when you find that you can stand and we'll sing together [Music] amen well let us pray our Father in heaven we thank you for the privilege to gather in your house on your day to call upon the father through the son in the power of the Holy Spirit and we pray that God would be glorified in the midst of the assembly we pray that as we sing and as we pray and as we look to Holy Scripture and as we participate in the sacrament that you would be enthroned upon the praises of your people here that you would be exalted and glorified and magnified and worshipped and that father you would be pleased to Reyn the heavens and come down and be found here among this people we ask Lord God that you would humble us under your mighty hand that you would promote in us that reverence and that fear and that trembling mingled with great joy and celebration to be found in the presence of the Great King and God in heaven we just pray that in all things we would bring glory to your great name as the Lord Jesus taught us to pray that first petition hallowed be thy name we ask Lord God that we would esteem you that we would praise you that we would honor you not only as we gather in your house on the Sabbath but each and every day father help us to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ help us to pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight and help us in Word and thought and deed to to truly honor you our great God we ask now that you would forgive us for our sins and our transgressions we look at Scripture we see that you are indeed the Holy One of Israel that you inhabit eternity that you are from everlasting to everlasting that you are a great and a glorious God and that your eye is too pure to approve of any evil and then we see our own waywardness and our own prone miss to wander that prone is to leave the God that we love so we confess that transgression of your law now we confess that lack of conformity unto it asking for cleansing in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ rejoicing that you have said that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness and our God in heaven may we confess with that Apostles Creed and with many places in Scripture that I believe in the forgiveness of sins we ask our Father for those who've come here tonight that are still dead in their trespasses and sins that today would be the day of salvation that you would do that which is impossible with men open hearts and cause conviction of sin to take root in arts and cause Sooners to see that Christ is altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand that blessed is all those who trust in him and may it be the case that tonight heaven would rejoice over sinners who repent we ask our Father that you would bless this local assembly and help us God to glorify you as the people of God in this community we pray that you had caused us to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace cause us to love one another cause us to give preference to one another and in all things to bring glory to you in this in this local church we pray for other churches here in our city we thank you for those that are preaching the truth and we pray that you would prosper and bless them we pray that they would know the nearness of God as their good and we pray father that the churches collectively in this city would be a means for good in terms of the the great needs that are in this city God we look around the streets and we see so many destitute so many depraved so many that stand in need of redemptive grace so god bless the preaching of your word in this community and do great and glorious things for your name's sake we also pray for the persecuted church for those who suffer for you Lord God we pray that you would look with favor upon them that you would grant them grace to persevere to know the nearness of the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of affliction that one who said in this world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer I've overcome the world may this greatly encourage the people of God under oppressive government regimes under religious persecution those who even now are in prison and those who perhaps even now are waiting for the death sentence God how we ask that you would come to their aid and to their to their rescue that you would bless and strengthen each one and our Father we pray for the missionary enterprise we thank you that the Word of God is going forth and we see that the animosity of men against the people of God is directly connected to the to the prevailing power of that word of God as we see in the book of Acts when that word is multiplied and when it grows mightily we see great opposition coming from religious heretics and from the the the civil magistrate that is in opposition to Christ so we pray that that would continue to happen that Jesus Christ would have dominion from sea to sea and that more and more people every tribe and tongue and people in Asia would hear the truth of Jesus Christ and many would come out of darkness into marvelous light and God we pray that she would be gracious and merciful to us now help us as we worship to do so in spirit and in truth and to that end we pray for the ministry in the aid and the presence of your Holy Spirit among us and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well please turn with me again in your hymnbooks to number 345 three four five will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] amen we can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 110 for our meditation this evening Psalm 110 I mentioned this morning how this sort of dovetails with the passage that we looked at this morning and with the reality that today is the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted Church just to highlight and focus upon the triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ in Psalm 110 beginning in verse 1 I'll read a psalm of David the Lord said to my lord sit at my right hand till they make your enemies your footstool the Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion rule in the midst of your enemies your people shall be volunteers in the day of your power in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning you have the dew of your youth the Lord has sworn and will not relent you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek the Lord is at your right hand he shall execute kings in the day of his wrath he shall judge among the nations he shall fill the places with dead bodies he shall execute the heads of many countries he shall drink of the brook by the wayside therefore he shall lift up the head amen well let us pray our Father we thank you for this your word and we pray now that you would guide our thoughts by the presence of the Holy Spirit we pray again that you would forgive us of our sin and anything that would darken our understanding and cause us to reflect upon the glory of Christ as he so clearly revealed in this Psalm how we thank you for this one who is both King and priest as well as prophet how we thank you for the shortness of his triumph the reality that the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea and our God in heaven we give you praise and glory that even now Jesus Christ has universal dominion absolute sovereignty he said that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given unto him and in this the church greatly rejoices in this we find great comfort and stability and even now Lord God again encourage our hearts collectively as we reflect upon the blessed Savior of sinners and we ask this in his most glorious name man well there are some who think that this psalm is about david noticed the superscription it says a psalm of david it was certainly composed by david but it's about David's greater son it's about the Lord Jesus Christ Matthew 22 41 to 46 Acts chapter 2 34 make this abundantly clear in the language of J Alexander he says the repeated explicit and emphatic application of this Psalm in the New Testament to Jesus Christ is so far from being arbitrary or at variance with the obvious import of the psalm itself that any other application is ridiculous in other words it is specifically and absolutely attributable to our Lord Jesus Christ Michael Riedel Nick explains that the theme of the psalm is that the Lord has granted Universal Dominion to the Messianic priest-king and that is precisely what we find in these seven brief verses so we saw last Sunday morning or Christ said I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it he promises both the triumph of the church and the continual opposition against the church and then this morning we saw how at the very beginning of Acts chapter 12 the passage starts off with the death of James and the imprisonment of Peter Peter is ultimately released Herod is ultimately struck dead and the Word of God triumphs it is increasing it is multiplying it is it is growing and in its efficacy or in its effect rather among people in the then-known world so tonight I want to reflect on the glory of Christ the triumph of Christ under three considerations first the Messiah as divine King in verses 1 to 3 secondly the Messiah as a merciful priest in verse 4 and then finally the Messiah as triumphant Conqueror in verses 5 to 7 now notice the enthronement this is in fact an enthronement psalm and it is consistent with what we see in Psalm 2 Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 go together again Alexander says this is the counterpart of the second Psalm completing the prophetic picture of the conquering Messiah now Paul in Hebrews makes this connection as well in Hebrews chapter five verses five and six he appeals to Psalm 2 and he appeals to Psalm 110 in fact much of Hebrews is exposition of Psalm 110 you've probably heard me say it many many times that Psalm 110 one is the most quoted or most alluded to Old Testament passage in the New Testament it says simply the Lord Yahweh said to my lord Adonai or Jesus sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool and the fact that this was most oft quoted or alluded to in the early church ought to tell us something they were under oppression they suffered affliction they knew tribulation they knew the hostility of unbelieving Israel and they knew the hostility of the Roman state they knew what it was to see martyrdom they knew what it was to see imprisonment they knew what it was to see the the dispossession of their goods they knew what that suffering was and yet they never shrunk back from declaring the Lord said to my lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool this is something the church today must recapture the church today more often than not assumes this defensive position this sort of feeble and weak position I'm not speaking about triumphalism on the part of the church I'm not suggesting that we are to be arrogant but rather we are to be confident in the rulership of our Lord Jesus Christ so we have two persons here the Lord Yahweh said to my lord the Hebrew is Adonai we know that this is a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ these are two of the three persons of the Trinity and probably behind the scenes is what's called the covenant of redemption that intra Trinitarian pre temporal agreement between the persons of the Trinity to save God's people from their sins so Yahweh says to Ed and I sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool the right hand of Yahweh is a position of authority and Dominion in the heavenly throne room now in terms of when this was enacted as I said the covenant of redemption but historically comes to pass at the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ you can turn to the book of Acts in Acts chapter 2 Acts chapter 2 shows us or indicates for us when the fulfillment of this takes place in history though it was already in the the plan the mind the purpose of God we see the historical fulfillment in acts 2 with reference to the Ascension Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost concerning the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ highlights the humanity of Jesus in verse 22 he highlights the the death of Jesus in verse 23 the resurrection of Jesus in verses 24 to 32 and then the exaltation of Jesus and notice in verse 33 he says therefore being exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the father the promise of the Holy Spirit he poured out this which you now see in here for David did not ascend into the heavens but he says himself the Lord said to my lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ so the historical fulfillment of this pre temporal intro Trinitarian covenant between the persons of the Godhead takes place at the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ going back to the psalm when he says the Lord said to my lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool now this footstool is an allusion to the custom of conquerors treading upon the necks of the conquered and Joshua 1024 is a wonderful display or description of that it says and they drew near and put their feet on their necks now in the context it was the defeat of the amorite kings and this is the way they manifested their victory over these amirite kings and this is precisely the imagery that is used here it is picked up in the New Testament by the Apostle Paul go to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 1st Corinthians chapter 15 just to see this imagery applied on a cosmic scale with reference to all things under Christ in presentation ultimately are delivered up to the Father first Corinthians 15 beginning in verse 20 but now Christ has risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep for since by man came death by man also came the resurrection of the dead for as in Adam all die even so in Christ all shall be made alive but each one in his own order Christ the firstfruits afterward those who are Christ's at his coming then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power for he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet the last enemy that will be destroyed his death for he has put all things under his feet but when he says all things are put under him it is evident that he who put all things under him is accepted now when all things are made subject to him then the son himself will also be subject to him who put all things under him that God may be all in all so the idea is is the conquering triumphant King the one enthroned at the right hand of Yahweh will most assuredly gain victory will most assuredly see the travail of his soul and be satisfied back to the psalm we see the Messiah as divine King and then the psalmist tells us in verses 2 & 3 something of the nature of his rule first over his enemies and then over his friends notice in verse 2 it says the Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion rule in the midst of your enemies again Psalm 2 6 tells us Yahweh sets his King on his holy hill of Zion and from thence here from that place he he wields this rod of iron and he dashes into pieces the nations that that rebel against him Ralph Davis on Psalm 2 basically explains it this way the appointed king in verse 7 with worldwide sway and verse 8 to be established an overwhelming force verse 9 that is the decree that is controlling history now all of this I would suggest is very encouraging to us because at times we don't always see it as evidently as it is in black and white on the pages of Holy Scripture in other words Christ presently is stationed at the right hand of the Father Christ presently is lowering his foot upon all of his enemies and yet abortion continues euthanasia continues all this Shoji stuff continues and it might cause the people of God some perplexity at times because Christ is king and yet all of these miserable things obtained on the face of the earth well brethren what does Paul tell us with reference to our walk we walk by faith and not by sight one of the encouraging things I hope that has been understood in our studies in the book of Genesis is that when God makes promises he doesn't always answer the next day he doesn't always deliver by the end of duty on that particular day there are long periods of time where the people of God walk expectantly and confidently and hopefully without yet having received the blessings that he has promised we need as the Church of Jesus Christ to see the reality to see what the text of Scripture specifies and to understand that Yahweh said to Jesus sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool now not only does he rule over his enemies but he rules over his people notice in verse 3 your people shall be volunteers in the day of your power in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning you have the dew of your youth now the second or the latter clause is difficult there's a couple of options I don't want to go into that right now I simply want to focus on the former clause notice in verse 3 your people shall be volunteers in the day of your power I think the reality behind this I think it's a great illustration of what we call effectual or irresistible grace the reality that God makes his people willing in the day of his power we are dead in our trespasses and sins we are bound by Satan we are in a an abysmal situation and condition but God speaking that effectual word unto us is able to awaken us and to make us willing in the day of his power to respond favorably to that call to believe on him to repent from our sins but likely within this particular context the idea is simply this the willingness of the king's people to come to him and to battle for him now it's probably here that I should remind us when I say battle I remind us that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal the Lord God doesn't say take up arms and march against Ottawa and bring down this civil society he never calls us to strap on a c4 vest and tell centres we'll see him on the other side he does not call us to engage in that particular manner but he does call us to serve alongside of Christ using prayer using preaching being faithful being salt being light and being willing to submit happily to the master as he engages in this triumph and in this conquest there's a parallel passage or at least a thematic parallel in the book of Judges in Deborah song in judges chapter 5 she speaks concerning the willingness of God's people and in judges 5:2 it says when leaders lead in Israel when the people willingly offer themselves blessed the Lord you see that's the reality behind it we have a great leader we have the Lord Jesus price the reality is is that we don't always willingly serve Him we don't always jump into the fray we don't always engage alongside of the Savior with reference to the particular battles that he is waging brethren at least by prayer or certainly by prayer and by other means we need to enter into the Blessed position of serving alongside of our master serving alongside of our leader and doing the things that he calls us to your people shall be volunteers in the day of your power this concept or this idea where people grumble or they moan or they whine or they they sort of sniffle or complain when God calls them to something is think contrary to Holy Scripture when we sign up with the master we sign up with the master imagine if you will some young man today signing up for military service and he gets posted at a particular place and his commanding officer gives him an order and he says but I don't want to do that and he sniffles and he whines and he cries and he complains do you think the commanding officer is going to say well that's okay junior you go ahead and just lay in your cot and we will all fall down around you and serve you now that's absolutely positively not what happens and you know a lot of people come to the Savior and then the sage replaces demands on them in terms of discipleship is wait a minute I didn't sign up for this you most certainly did you absolutely positively did I remember being in the military if one whined about where they were going to be posted the response was always the same the needs of the airforce dictate it doesn't matter what you want it doesn't matter what you desire it doesn't matter if you want to go to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii we need you in tule Greenland that's the reality behind it and yet when it comes to the Christian Church we all want to sort a barter bargain or or tell Jesus what it is we're gonna and not going to do now it could be an act of service it could be something as simple as showing up a church or Bible study it could be something as simple as reading Scripture on a on a given day or or praying these are not things by which we earn our way to heaven this is the natural outflow of those who have been conquered by Sovereign Grace and yet today it's almost like works/righteousness and legalism for you ever to tell people to do something that they're supposed to do wait a minute if they're supposed to do it then perhaps they need some gentle gentle reminders and some chiding along the way but the God the Lord Jesus Christ his people shall be volunteers in the day of his power that's the Messiah is divine king verses one two three but then notice secondly the Messiah is merciful priest doesn't it beautiful our blessed Savior both priest and king and we know profit as well but this Psalm highlights those two offices of the three as mediator Christ fulfills those roles before God and with reference to men he is the prophet the priest and the King the prophet remember comes on behalf of God to speak to the people the the priest goes from the people to God to speak for them to intercede for them and to present sacrifice on their behalf and of course a king rules and reigns and and watches over and defends his people so the psalmist here is highlighting these twin aspects of Christ's mediatorial role he is both King and priest and with reference to priests notice how he occupies this position verse 4 says Yahweh has sworn and will not relent you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek Christ became a priest by virtue of the oath of God Almighty this is drawn out in great detail in the book of Hebrews specifically in Hebrews chapter 7 remember that Jesus was not a Levite he did not come from the tribe of Levi he came from the tribe of Judah and that caused some people to wonder well how in the world could he be high priest how could he be a priest if he wasn't Levitical well the Apostle in the book of Hebrews connects the priestly office of Jesus to this man called Melchizedek now kiss attack was as well both king of Salem and a priest he's the one that Abraham met after battle in Genesis chapter 14 and so this is the link that is provided in Scripture to validate highlight confirm or affirm the priestly office of Jesus so in Hebrews 7:20 and 21 we read and in as much as he was not made priest without an oath for they have become priests without an oath but he with an oath by him who said so we have this oath the Levitical priests did not occupy the office by oath they occupied the office by birth they were born Levites they were born in that particular tribe and therefore they were guaranteed succession in this particular sphere or capacity not so with our christ and just to take a step back for a moment and focus upon this verse in the context of redemptive history now the temple was standing at the time that david pendous the temple was engaged or there was the engagement of sacrifice in the temple at this particular time there was a priesthood there was a high priest there was all of the things associated with Old Covenant worship happening at this particular juncture and yet David by the power and in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit prophesies of a time coming when there will be another priest orchestrating a sacrifice governing over the people of God so Israel was always taught not only the kingly office of the Messiah but as well the priestly office of Messiah this was no new thing when we get to the new testament but as I said the book of Hebrews shows us specifically how Jesus answers to what David pens in Psalm 110 by the power of the Holy Spirit so it says the Lord has sworn and will not relent he will not repent he will not change his mind and to this we can ascribe or or attribute the the blessed perfection of divine immutability and divine impassibility god doesn't relent he doesn't change his mind it doesn't say for a time Jesus will serve but then I will remove him from that particular office no Yahweh has sworn and will not relent John Gill says what follows was said and this oath was made in the council of peace when Christ was called to this office and he accepted of it and of this the Lord never repented as he never does any of his acts of grace it's a beautiful thing this is why in Hebrews chapter 7 and in Romans chapter 8 we learned that Jesus always lives to make intercession for us he's not going anywhere as long as there is a need for his priestly mediation we will have it as the people of God he intercedes for us and he is an advocate with the father for John to my little children I write these things to you so that you may not sin but if anyone does sin we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous now in terms of the office of priests notice what it says the Lord is sworn and will not relent you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek verse hebrews chapter 6 and 7 specifically speak concerning Melchizedek and the reference to the order of Melchizedek his prime are primarily seen in the combination of the two offices remember that in the Old Testament the kings of Judah and Israel they were not priests the couple of times that Kings tried to engage in priestly service was not received well or favorably but Christ as Messiah is unique in this particular capacity he functions both asking and as priests and again certainly as a prophet to his people the Prophet Zechariah refers to the Lord Jesus in Zechariah six 12 and 13 and there he links him too with the branch that appears often in the prophets notice what the Prophet Zechariah says behold the man whose name is the branch from his place he shall branch out and he shall build the temple of the Lord yes he shall build the temple of the Lord he shall bear the glory and shall sit and rule on his throne so he shall be a priest on his throne and the counsel of peace shall be between them both so that we have a priest on the throne we have a king that's a priest and a priest that's a gain we have everything that is necessary in terms of power and Dominion and glory and everything that is necessary in terms of mercy and compassion and kindness turn to Hebrews 4 where there is some practical sort of implication drawn out concerning this reality that Christ is this for his people Hebrews chapter 4th the very end specifically at verse 14 seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us hold fast our confession for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses but was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need you see what his argument is because he is this merciful omnipotent one therefore we come to the throne of grace to fetch out help in our time of need it's a beautiful statement concerning the power of Christ and the availability of Christ and the compassion of Christ to give us what we stand in need of aw pain says it this way he is a priest with royal authority and a king with priestly tenderness I think that's beautiful he is a priest with royal authority and a king with priestly tenderness and then dropped down a little bit to chapter 5 verse 5 so also Christ did not glorify himself to become a priest but it was he who said to him you are my son today I have begotten you as he also says in another place you are priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek who in the days of his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supplications with vehement cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death and was heard because of his godly fear though he was a son yet he learned obedience by the things which he suffered and having been perfected he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him is that a beautiful thing it's eternal salvation the concept of the idea that somebody could be saved and then lost flies contrary to what the scripture says the salvation wrought by Christ applied to his people by the spirit received by faith is an eternal salvation to all who obey Him called by God as high priest according to the order of Melchizedek of whom we have much to say and hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing but back to Psalm 110 we see the Messiah is divine King in verses 1 to 3 the Messiah as a priest in verse four and then finally the Messiah is triumphant conqueror in verses 5 to 7 as I mentioned this morning some of this language I think shocks the people of God in the 21st century we sometimes wonder kick can we say that can we sing this and we pray like this these are things that that seems so contrary and seem so foreign I mean even that appeal to Joshua 10 where where Joshua and the captains of the armies of Israel are putting their heads on the necks of those amirite kings that that just almost seems so so antiquated and so barbaric and so so bloodthirsty well brethren as we come to Psalm 110 verses 5 to 7 that same imagery is employed notice in verse 5 the Lord is at your right hand he shall execute kings in the day of his wrath he shall judge among the nations he shall fill the places with dead bodies he shall execute the heads of many countries he shall drink of the brook by the wayside therefore he shall lift up the head I'm gonna qualify this one more time because this is the kind of stuff that ends up on the internet and somebody says that cult leader was rousing his people to go out and blow people up I am NOT doing that ok I am NOT suggesting that our service to Christ means to utilize carnal weapons I am NOT suggesting that we all need to be you know look up on the internet on how to build bombs so we can advance the kingdom of God I am NOT saying that unequivocally our service to Christ we utilize the spiritual weaponry that he has provided to us we utilize those resources gifted to us by the divine son we are not to take unto ourselves arms to advance the kingdom of God Almighty now when he however operates in a way that is like he does with Herod Agrippa the first that we saw this morning in in Acts chapter 12 that's his prerogative that is his right he is the sovereign he is the universal Lord he has absolute and comprehensive authority and for anybody to say well that doesn't seem right or that doesn't seem fair who are we oh man to question God who are we to ever call into question the rule in the reign of the righteous Lord Jesus Christ exercises Dominion and primarily through those spiritual means but once in a while a Herod Agrippa the first rises up in opposition to Christ and Christ lowers his foot on him in a public spectacle showing him and showing his futility for all the scene so the Messiah shall shatter in pieces Kings in the day of his wrath literally breaks Kings in pieces the Messiah shall judge among the nation's the Messiah shall fill the places with dead bodies the Messiah shall shatter in pieces the heads of many countries now in terms of the violent imagery if this is shocking to you or you find some discomfort singing some of the songs we haven't even sang Psalm 94 yet one day we're gonna sing Psalm 94 and I guarantee you some of you are gonna go are we okay to do this is this legit every Psalm in the Psalter is ours to sing they are the prayers of Jesus Christ certainly Christians ought to be able to join in along with our Savior as he prays the songs of Zion so brethren this is legit this is authorized we see this in the New Testament we see songs that are of an imprecatory nature quoted by apostles and by our Lord Jesus Christ himself but as I said this morning it is common and not altogether incorrect to highlight the spiritual nature of such language as well to highlight that his triumph comes through the preaching of the gospel but we need to remember the Roman Empire is no more we need to remember that Herod Agrippa the first lost it in a most powerful way or demonstration of Jesus Jesus power I want to quote two persons that refer to how we have domesticated or attempted to domesticate God one is Dorothy Sayers she was an English crime writer and a poet in 1893 to 1957 she says we have very efficiently paired the claws of the Lion of Judah certified meek and mild and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale kirats and pious old ladies she ain't wrong again I'm not suggesting that we are to go out with bandoleros and guns blazing but brethren we need to trust in this Christ not the Christ that is preached in many places the effeminate Christ the Christ that stands outside the door of your heart and knocks brethren if we understand what scripture says concerning the effectual call Jesus doesn't stand at the door of your heart and not Jesus takes a battering ram and blasts in and saves you by his grace and for his glory that statement in the book of Revelation I stand at the door and knock is not individual salvation it is corporate in nature it is to the Church in Laodicea if you're gonna continue to be lukewarm if you're gonna continue in this particular pattern I will have no truck with you I will spew you out of my mouth but I scanned at the door and not if any within the context of the church want to renew that fellowship Christ is there for us that that tax has been yanked out of context and then been made to be a personal invitation text and then yield that that terrible picture you know last week I mentioned pictures of Jesus reflect the theology of those who make the pictures perhaps you've seen it if you have get it out of your head because it's so bad but Jesus this effeminate looking ancient near-eastern man is knocking on a door and of course there's no handle there's no doorknob on his side that is Armenian ISM altogether highlighted the door handle is on your side it's up to you to let Jesus in it's you up to you to open the door it's up to you to invite him into your heart doesn't that go along with our mini and pray che you need to accept Jesus into your heart the glory of the gospel isn't that you or I ever accept Jesus into our heart it's that God in Christ is reconciling the world to himself it's that we are accepted in the beloved that's the emphasis in Scripture the other quote is Ralph Davis in his commentary on Joshua he says the popular image of Jesus is that he is not only kind and tender but also soft and prissy as though Jesus comes to us reeking of hand cream such a Jesus can hardly steal the soul that is daily assaulted by the enemy we need to learn the Catechism of Psalm 24 question who is the king of glory answer Yahweh strong and mighty Yahweh mighty in battle we must catch the vision of the faithful and truth sitting on the white horse the one who judges and makes war and righteousness no mild God or soft Jesus can give his people hope it is only as we know the warrior of Israel who fights for us and sometimes without us that we have hope of triumphing in the muck of life perhaps we have this conception of Jesus as soft as prissy as reeking of an grain as one who is utterly dependent upon the creature to open up for him because we've neglected the songs because we've neglected the old testament because we've neglected a large swath of revelation about who our Christ is brethren there is no excuse for that conception of Jesus in pulpits today or in the minds of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ he must reign in the language of the Apostle Paul in 1st Corinthians chapter 15 until all of his enemies are made his footstool that is biblical reality and as Dale Ralph Davis says this is what steals the soul it is this that helps us to triumph in the muck of life and I would suggest that when we see some of this military martial language this violent imagery we ought to think genesis 3:15 genesis 3:15 is the first promise of the gospel where the father says i will put enmity between you and the and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel how many enemies of Yahweh in the Old Testament suffer lethal head blows there are plenty of that it is to amplify to further along to comment on that promise in Genesis 3:15 the Psalter is filled with allusions to genesis 3:15 we oftentimes and I hope we do as we read the New Testament we highlight where Old Testament texts are quoted that's a good endeavor in fact most of our Bibles I would probably imagine every English Bible that is that is put together nowadays offsets Old Testament quotes in the New Testament but do you realize that within the context of the Old Testament itself there's a lot of intertextuality there's a lot of connection among the prophets there's a lot of reference back to the law of Moses there's a lot of building on previous revelation and adding to it amplifying it furthering it fleshing it out well this is one of those areas it is commentary on the reality that the soul crushing us seed crushing the skull crushing seat of the woman is going to have triumph over his enemies and then that last bit verse 7 I think responds or rather reflects on the the refreshment of the king it really does show us the military or the martial imagery involved verse 5 the Lord is at your right hand he shall execute Kings in the day of his wrath he shall judge among the nation's he shall fill the places with dead bodies he shall execute the heads of many countries this takes effort doesn't it this takes eggs the the exertion of energy so verse 7 he shall drink of the brook by the wayside therefore he shall lift up the head remember when Samson dispatches those one thousand Philistines by using the jawbone of an ass what does Samson then need he needs water and he needs it desperately now of course Jesus is the second person of the Trinity so this is an obvious allusion to or reference to Christ according to his humanity but it's the reality that in battle in conquering in this sort of mixing it up with the enemies there is this necessity that he shall drink of the brook by the wayside and then it says therefore he shall lift up the head the lifting up the head there is the sign of the Conqueror the heads of many countries have been shattered to pieces the head of Christ is lifted up after he has the refreshing water having dispatched his enemies the way that Samson does when he deals with those thousand Philistines well thus the psalm let us make a couple of observations and then we'll close in the first place as we saw this morning the reality facing the church the same thing is told us here the Lord said to my lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool that doesn't immediately vanquish all of the enemies there's battle to be engaged yet there's warfare to be conducted that's what verses 5 to 7 indicate and the same is true with reference to us Calvin says at the same time with reference to the to the reality of the triumph of the church Calvin says at the same time he intimates that the kingdom of Christ would never enjoy tranquility until he had conquered his numerous and formidable enemies so that is the reality facing us secondly the encouragement for the church and basically I want to quote Spurgeon and Matthew Henry Spurgeon says with reference to this Psalm while we see our Lord and representative sitting in quiet expectancy we too may sit in the attitude of peaceful assurance and with confidence await the grand outcome of all events psalm 110:1 ought to provide for us security and stability and enable us to be composed we ought never to lose it we ought never to freak out we ought never to abandon the faith Christ is at the right hand of the Father where he must reign till all of his enemies are made his footstool Spurgeon again said all nations shall feel his power and either yield to it joyfully or be crushed before it he goes on to say the monarch of the greatest nation shall not be able to escape the sword of the Lord nor shall that dread spiritual Prince who rules over the children of disobedience be able to escape without a deadly wound he says Pope and priests must fall with Mohammed and other deceivers who are now heads of the people Jesus must reign and they must perish again this might be a bit awkward for some of us in the 21st century Church because we don't sing the Psalms like we should we don't read the songs like we should we don't pray the Psalms like we should but men like Spurgeon men like matthew henry men like John Calvin had the stuff of the Psalter in their hearts in their minds in their souls Matthew Henry says Christ's sitting at the right hand of God speaks as much terror to his enemies as happiness to his people that is a beautiful statement brethren and one that we ought to heartily amen a third observation is the total subjugation of Christ's enemies he must reign till all of his enemies are made his footstool turn to the book of Revelation for a moment we're gonna bring this to a close and but look at the book of Revelation there are three places where something is highlighted that I think we need to be reminded of Revelation chapter 21 John describes the new heaven and the new earth the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband after having explained the beauty the glory the majesty of this New Jerusalem in verse 8 it says but the Cowardly unbelieving abominable murderers sexually immoral sorcerers idolaters and all Liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is the second death they are excluded from the New Jerusalem now cowards there doesn't mean you're afraid of snakes or spiders or bears perhaps you should be afraid of snakes or spiders or bears especially a bear that's running after you and there's a snake waiting for you that would be a very scary thing coward in this context means those who do not overcome each of the book each of the letters written in the the seven churches of Asia Minor in chapters 2 and 3 and on that note he who overcomes he who overcomes he who overcomes so cowardly here means those who defect those who make a confession or a profession and then they fall away those who are apostate but the point is is that the wicked are excluded from the New Jerusalem and then notice in chapter 21 at verse 27 but there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles or causes an abomination or a lie but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life and then 20 to 15 20 to 15 but outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters and whoever loves and practices a lie now go way back to the book of Joshua all the way back to Joshua chapter 21 I'm gonna draw out a principle concerning the total subjection or subjugation of Christ's enemies Joshua chapter 21 verses 43 to 45 is the outline of the book if you want to know what the book of Joshua is about understand Joshua 21:43 245 verse 43 encompasses or summarizes chapters 13 to 21 verse 44 summarizes chapters 1 to 2 on 1 to 12 and then verse 45 encompasses the whole book but in verse 44 notice what it says the Lord gave them rest all around according to all that he had sworn to their fathers and not a man of all their enemies stood against them the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand now here's the point with reference to the total subjugate subjugation of price enemies it isn't complete until they're all gone in other words the New Jerusalem is blessed because all wickedness is external all wickedness is capped out the highest and blessed the most blessed beatitude for the people of god is to be in that place where in righteousness dwells to be in the presence of Jesus Christ the one who has subjugated all of his enemies for the glory of his father and for the good of his people and so when we look at a psalm 110 for instance and it talks about the glory in the triumph of the Messiah in terms of conquest that ought not to make us go well that seems odd that's language that's a bit offensive that's language that might land us in jail today it ought to steal the soul against the enemies are it within the context of the enemies of Christ brethren we ultimately when is the testimony of Psalm 110 and I hope that this is an encouragement and I hope that this will indeed bless and strengthen us so that we'll walk in confident faith hope and expectation not because we're good but because the Lord said to my lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool well let us pray our Father we thank you for your word and we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ and for his position of sovereignty and power and universal dominion at the right hand of God Almighty and how we praise you that he must reign till all of his enemies are made his footstool and how we praise you that one day and that New Jerusalem all things that offend the law of God the holiness of God that the people of God will be will be excluded from that place Lord encourage us and help us as we as we walk in the muck of life even now help us to walk by faith and not by sight help us to trust in these promises and help us to be well versed in the Psalter and help us to be well versed and in biblical religion so that we may indeed serve you in a manner that is consistent with what is revealed in the scripture and we ask these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen we can turn to Matthew chapter 26 as we move to the supper Matthew chapter 26 we'll read that section concerning the giving of the supper just a couple of reminders in terms of the Lord's Supper it is an ordinance given by Christ to the church the Lord Jesus has Dominical authority that means he is the one that gives such things to the church he gave us baptism as an initiatory right and then he gives us the supper as a sustaining right is something that he gives to weary pilgrims on the way to encourage to strengthen and to help us along as well the ordinance of the Supper is for believers who are kneeling with their sin according to God's Word it's not for perfect believers because there's no such thing but when we survey the passage in 1st Corinthians 11 it's not for those who are at odds with God or who who are at odds with men now if we have sinned against God we can certainly ask God to forgive us we can certainly fetch mercy and and the blood of Jesus by faith appropriate that and obviously participate in the Supper but if we are regarding iniquity in our hearts we're not willing to relinquish it then we're not supposed to take in that unworthy manner excuse me as well the elements of the Supper are not changed it is not transubstantiation that we practice it is a time where these things are set apart for sacred use but they remain bread and wine they do not undergo any change it is not actually the case that it's the body and the blood of Jesus when he says this is my body this is my blood he means this represents he doesn't mean this is actually that's a big difference that separates Protestantism from Roman Catholicism and we are not papist we do not believe that these these elements are transubstantiated and that what we are engaged in is an actual sacrifice of atonement in fact I want to refresh our minds with reference to our confession of faith explaining for us the significance of the supper for the people of God says the supper of the Lord Jesus was instituted by him the same night where any was betrayed to be observed in his churches unto the end of the world for the perpetual remembrance and showing forth the sacrifice of himself in his death confirmation of the faith of believers and all the benefits there of their spiritual nourishment and growth in him their further engagement in and to all duties which they owed to him and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him and with each other so it's Memorial to be sure but it's more than a memorial it is a means of grace and God in this confirms and strengthens and aids the faith of weary pilgrims so if we are struggling with sin it is not the case that we should abstain from that this is a means to help us in our struggle against sin if you are struggling with sin that's a good sign pagans don't struggle with sin reprobates don't struggle with sin it is the case that these things are given to help us along the way and to nourish us and to refresh us and to stabilize us so that we may indeed persevere and then obviously with reference to the supper in His Christ we're remembering it is Christ that is to be the focus it is Christ that we are to be consumed with in this ordinance well I'm going to ask the brothers to come and pass out the bread and while they do that we'll sing a hymn you can remain seated will sing number 276 don't take the bread until we read the section and we pray together but number 276 [Music] Oh in matthew 26:26 we read and as they were eating Jesus took bread blessed and broke it and gave it to the disciples and said take eat this is my body well let us pray Our Blessed God and Holy Father we thank you for the raining and the ruling and the conquering Messiah at your right hand thank you that he is king that he is prophet and that he is a priest and that he is not divine and omnipotent compassion for his people that he always lives to make intercession for us that he is there as an advocate for us God in this we greatly rejoice and we reflect now upon his broken body on behalf of sinners on that day to save us from our sin and we pray in his most blessed name amen we'll take together well you can turn to number 340 remember that the juice is in the outer ring if you're inclined to take the juice it's in the outer ring so number 340 again remain seated as we sing [Music] verse 27 then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink from it all of you for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins but I say to you I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's Kingdom and when they had sung a hymn they went out to the Mount of Olives Amen well let us pray blessed God and father thank you for the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ we know about those outside the church would think it odd that we would thank you for the blood of Jesus but we know it is through that shedding of blood that we have remission of sins how we give praise to you for cleansing for purification how we give praise to you for that forgiveness that we so desperately stand in need of and God how we thank you for that that death of the Savior on behalf of sinners God we know it didn't remain there we know that he he came out of the tomb on that third day raised from the dead and ascended on high and that one will indeed conquer all of his enemies will be made as footstool and we give you praise for that and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen we'll take together well you can turn in your handbook to number 130 psalm 130 a as in alpha will stand and sing together [Music] now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you complete and every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory for ever and ever amen God made these things be realized in our lives and in our hearts may you watch over us and govern us in this coming week may you help us to glorify you through obedience help us to trust in you to walk in faith or walk by faith and not by sight to realize the Blessed truth of Psalm 110 the blessed truth of Matthew 16 the blessed truth of Acts 1224 the reality that your word is going forth that Christ will see the travail of his soul and be satisfied go with us now we pray in Jesus Holy Name Amen well please be seated for a brief time of meditation you