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good evening everyone just a reminder about the church work day Saturday the 13th 8:30 a.m. will see everyone there just joking if you can't come that's fine but if you can come Church work day Saturday the 13th 8:30 a.m. or sometime after 8:30 a.m. and before 12:30 p.m. let's turn in our Bibles in as we begin worship that if you can turn with me to Revelation the book of Revelation chapter 19 revelation 19 we'll begin reading in verse 11 revelation 19 beginning in verse 11 this is the word of God 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 a name on his robe and on his thigh excuse me and he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written king of kings and Lord of lords amen let's stand and sing our first hymn if you turn with me in your Trinity hymnal that's the larger book in front of you will stand and sing 127 you [Music] [Applause] [Music] please be seated let us pray Heavenly Father we rejoice we can gather now a second time on this year Lord's Day for the worship of Father Son and Holy Spirit and we do pray once again that you would bless our time together that we would most certainly worship you in spirit and in truth and for that we do ask for that measure of the Holy Spirit given to us that our souls might arise to a proper posture and worship and Lord God that you might be the recipient of all honor and praise from the lips and from the hearts of your gathered saints here this evening we thank you again that we have this opportunity and we do pray that you cause us to rejoice in the blessing that it is to gather as the saints of Christ in this place for worship and in a special way for the observance of the Lord's Supper we just thank you for these blessings and we pray that we would always count them as as high joists and high honors and we do pray Lord that you would help us again to reflect with great joy upon the gospel of our savior the Lord Jesus Christ we do thank you that he came into this world sinners to save we thank you for His perfect work in the stead of all who believed culminating in that cross death and resurrection on the third day and we just rejoice in the victory of the Lamb of God the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ and we once again thank you for that current session and following his resurrection he ascended to your right hand where he does ever live to intercede for the Saints and where he does rule and reign subduing the hearts of his elect and and reigning over his enemies and our enemies and we do praise You Lord God for the glory of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ and we do just pray once again that he would be exalted upon our praises and that we would give him all honor and praise we do pray that you would be with those unable to join us and those who are unwell that you would strengthen your saints at each and every one of our dear Saints at free grace who suffer affliction and those as well whom we love and our families are those outside of the church but those who are near and dear to to each and every one of we do pray Lord God that you'd strengthen them that you would help them those who are struggling with disease with illness and all of those things of the physical man we do just pray Lord God that you had richly bless and for those out out there suffering and struggling with these things who are outside of Christ those who are dear to our hearts we pray that you would cause them by their afflictions and by the word of your truth and by the spirit to come forth from darkness to the light that is in Christ Jesus alone we do pray that you would richly save those who are outside of Christ you'd bring them to a knowledge of the Savior that they would bend a knee to our Blessed Christ we do pray Lord again for those around the world who do suffer persecution for the cause of the gospel that you would watch over them that you would protect our brothers and sisters in Christ in these situations of of persecution we pray that you would calm their hearts that you would lift them up in the inner man that caused them in the face of tyranny and opposition and violence and all of those things to lay hold of the hope of their calling and to lay hold of the blessing that is in Christ Jesus alone we do pray again that you would deal with those who persecute them that you would put down those who would continue in persecution and who will not bend a knee to the king of kings and Lord of lords to do take them out of the way but we even pray Lord God that you would save many who are presently opposed to you as the Apostle Paul so many years ago prior to his conversion persecuted the Church of God beyond measure we pray for that same glory in resurrecting grace and making dead sinners alive by Sovereign Grace that you would do a mighty act upon those who are presently your enemies that they would be your friends that they would be brought forth from darkness to light in Christ and that they would rejoice in the gospel of saving grace we do pray Lord that you would be with us in worship we thank you once again that we have this opportunity we pray for pastor Butler as he proclaims your word once again as as it was the case this morning that you would strengthen him in pulpit and give him that Grace and strength that he needs to preach well the things of your revelation we do pray for those of us in the pews all believers gathered here tonight would be strengthened by worship would be strengthened in faith by the taking of the Lord's Supper we pray Lord God that you would by your spirit strengthen us in our walk in faith that our hearts would be fed that our souls would be fed by having gathered here tonight in worship and we once again pray for Amazing Grace that you would save this evening Lord God those who entered in these doors outside of Christ that you would save them by spirit and word that they would leave this place singing the praises of Christ we do ask Lord God that all that we do tonight would be done unto the praise of your most high name and unto reflecting with great joy upon the victories of our Savior the Lord Jesus and we pray in his name amen let's stand and sing that our final him before the preaching and that's going to be 690 if you'll turn with me and stand we're going to sing 690 [Music] Oh [Music] Oh [Music] you Oh [Music] you [Music] hmm well please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 45 excuse me Psalm 45 Psalm 45 is a fitting place for us to inform our thoughts concerning our Lord Jesus Christ he is indeed the subject the topic the focus and the scope of this particular Psalm so I'll begin reading in verse 1 to the chief musician set to the lilies a contemplation of the sons of korah a song of love my heart is overflowing with a good theme I recite my composition concerning the king my tongue is the pan of a ready writer you are fairer than the sons of men grace is poured upon your lips therefore God has blessed you forever gird your sword upon your thigh o mighty one with your glory in your majesty and in your majesty ride prosperously because of truth humility and righteousness and your right hand shall teach you awesome things your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies the people's fall under you your throne O God is for ever and ever a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom you loved righteousness and hated nests and therefore God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions all your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces by which they have made you glad King's Daughters are among your honorable women at your right hand stands the Queen in gold from Oh fear listen o daughter consider and incline your ear forget your own people also and your father's house so the King will greatly desire your beauty because he is your Lord worship him and the daughter of Tyre will come with the gift the rich among the people will seek your favour the royal daughter is all glorious within the palace her clothing is woven with gold she shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors the Virgin's her companions who follow her shall be brought to you with gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought they shall enter the king's palace instead of your father shall be your sons whom you shall make princes and all the earth I will make your name to be remembered in all generations therefore the people shall praise you for ever and ever amen will let us pray father we thank you for the written word we thank you that it testifies concerning the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ certainly he is the subject of darling of this particular song and as we enter into the supper tonight we pray that you'd fill our hearts with good thoughts and may we imitate the the psalmist here may may our our hearts bubble over with praise to the one who is altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand we pray that you would forgive us now for all of our sins and our transgressions against a holy God we thank you that if we confess and forsake those sins you are merciful and just to forgive us and so we plead the merit and the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ we pray that you would wash us in that found that is open for sin and uncleanness she would wash these things away cause us now to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ cause us as we eat the bread and drink the cup to proclaim the Lord's death until he comes and our Father to this end we pray for the ministry of the holy spirit we would pray that you would send him forth that we would know his presence and his power in our midst tonight she would comfort and encourage your people and god save those who are outside of christ do this for your glory and for your honor and for your praise and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well as I was excuse-me working through this particular Psalm it occurred to me that in my lifetime there have been several royal weddings and typically they televise those royal weddings and persons are sort of glued to the TV watching those particular things well in some sense that has some pedigree this is the celebration of a royal wedding it's the the king the Lord Jesus Christ the Messiah and his bride the church it is very similar in terms of composition and focus with reference to the book of Song of Solomon in fact J Alexander says the allegorical idea of this Psalm is carried out in the Song of Solomon certainly at least temporarily the the marriage of Solomon no doubt to Pharaoh's daughter is in view but it's obvious by the wording it's obvious by the language that David is looking far beyond his son Solomon in other words he is ascribing this to the Messiah because it is the Messiah who is described in verse 6 your throne O God is for ever and ever there is no way that could be written concerning Solomon it's certainly a song concerning our Lord Jesus Christ so it's a royal wedding song it's a song calling the people of God to rejoice in the mercy of God in the marriage of the Messiah to the church and I want to look at four things tonight first the intention of the psalmist in verse 1 secondly the description of the king in verses 2 to 9 thirdly the instruction to the bride in verses 10 to 15 and then finally the declaration concerning the king in verses 16 to 17 but notice in verse 1 the psalmist says my heart is overflowing with a good theme in other words he takes pen to paper now because of the focus of his meditation this is the way we ought to respond when we consider our Lord Jesus Christ perhaps we're not poets perhaps we don't write new music we can't write lyrics but we can certainly praise the God of heaven and earth as the Lord Jesus Christ comes to mind may we be like the psalmist my heart is overflowing with a good thing this could also be translated my heart boils or bubbles up and it denotes the language of the heart full and ready for utterance this ought to be the people of God in the house of God when we come to the supper of God it's a good occasion for us to have our hearts overflowing with a good thing notice the subject of his composition he says in verse 1 I recite my composition can earning the king my tongue is the pen of a ready writer so that bubbling up or that boiling over in the heart finds expression or vent through his tongue and in this case with reference to the psalmist he writes it down he pens it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as Spurgeon comments concerning the reference to the king he says some here see Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter only they are short-sighted others see both Solomon and Christ they are cross-eyed well focused spiritual eyes see here Jesus only so David perhaps again on the occasion of his son's wedding uses the opportunity to speak of his greater son's wedding even the Messiah and his marriage to his bride even the church now note secondly the description of the king it's typical or difficult at times in Psalms to sort of break it down in an orderly structured manner so we're just kind of going to kind of glom it all together under two heads first the glory of the king and then secondly the person of the king but notice with reference to the glory of the king in verse two he says you are fairer than the sons of man the word here is actually doubled and this is why it's translated you are fairer literally it's beautiful beautiful as one famous lexicon says you are the fairest thou art more beautiful than literally you are fairer fairer or you are beautiful beautiful and again Spurgeon makes this observation Jesus is so emphatically lovely that words must be doubled have you found that experience in your own worship of the Living God Jesus is so emphatically lovely that words must be doubled this is why we often say hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah because Jesus is so emphatically lovely words must be doubled he goes on to say strained exhausted before he can be described among the children of men many have through grace been lovely in character yet they have each had a flaw but in Jesus we behold every feature of a perfect character in harmonious proportion this is what the psalmist indicates you are fairer than the sons of men grace is poured upon your lips and there's one particular instance where this is evidenced in the life and Ministry of our Lord you can look at Luke chapter 4 the idea of grace being poured upon the lips of our beloved Savior in Luke chapter 4 very specifically beginning in verse 22 well picking up at verse 21 Jesus in a synagogue he reads the the prophet Isaiah chapter 61 and verses 18 and 19 verse 20 he closes the book he gives it back to the attendant he sits down all in the synagogue were fixed upon him and in verse 21 he began to say to them today the scripture is fulfilled in your hearing let that sink in Jesus Christ picks up the scroll he picks up the prophet Isaiah he reads 61 1 and 2 and then he says today this has been fulfilled in your hearing and he means it's been fulfilled in your hearing by his presence by his his appearance here at this particular place says in verse 22 so all bore witness to him and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth and they said is this not Joseph's son so as the psalmist rehearses the glory of the king he says you are fairer than the sons of man Grace is poured upon your lips therefore God has blessed you forever this beloved one this darling of heaven this chief among the sons of man is the recipient of God's grace notice secondly in terms of the glory of the king his commitment to truth and righteousness verse 3 gird your sword upon your thigh o mighty one with your glory and your majesty and in your majesty ride prosperously because of truth humility and righteousness the picture is of a warrior the picture is of a warrior prepared for battle and this warrior goes into battle not with carnal weapons but with truth humility and prosperity he indeed a rather righteousness and as a result he rides prosperously the weapons of his warfare are not carnal but they're mighty for the pulling down of strongholds as pastor Porter read from revelation 19 verses 11 to 16 what's the armament that Christ has it is the sword that proceeds from the mouth it is the word of the Living God and the same thing is evidenced in his testimony before Pilate you can look at John chapter 19 just taking some New Testament passages to sort of shine the light and to see how these do relate to the Messiah to the Lord Christ notice in John I'm sorry John 18 Jesus before Pilate beginning in verse 33 Pilate says are you the King of the Jews jesus answered him are you speaking for yourself about this or did others tell you this concerning me Pilate answered am i a Jew your own nation and the chief priests have delivered you to me what have you done jesus answered my kingdom is not of this world if my kingdom were of this world My servants should fire or would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews but now my kingdom is not from here Pilate therefore said to him are you a king that jesus answered you say rightly that I am you say rightly that I am a king for this cause I was born and for this cause I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth everyone who is of the truth hears my word Christ the sword of Christ proceeds from the mouth of Christ and his commitment to truth and righteousness is celebrated here by the psalmist and everywhere celebrated by Christ in his earthly ministry just by way of a real practical observation if Christ so values and so prizes and so esteems truth what we what we as the church to do with become very commonplace in our modern society but I realize it's not just modern it goes back in the history of the church where persons sort of grasp the truth with a limp-wristed Ness there's this sort of well you know it's not that important we shouldn't divide over such things we now there's a whole host of things that we really shouldn't divide over I mean we happen to use blue colored hymn books if somebody down the road uses red ones we you know don't square off against them and you know pronounce the anatomist of God upon that but brethren when it comes to those things most surely believed among us we need to hold them firmly for the truth is what constitutes the church it's what we're about you see the Sunday worship of the Living God is just that it's the worship of the Living God and Christ calls us to worship the Living God in spirit and in truth what binds us together here is the truth of the gospel there's a lot of social institutions out there there's you know there's a Lions Club in town there's I don't know if there's a moose or an elk but those are certainly sort of social places that they have in the states I don't know if I've seen moose or elk here in Chilliwack but I know there's a Lions Club those are social interaction centers and you can certainly go and have that discourse and intercourse and I mean in a in a non-sexual way with other persons that's not the first and primary thing that binds us together it's the truth how does Paul describe the church in first Timothy chapter 3 it's the pillar in the ground not of entertainment not of social interaction not of coffee sessions but it's the pillar in the ground of the truth if Christ esteems the truth and even describes himself as truth says that is it is essential to his very nature I am the way the truth and the life the Church of Jesus Christ must be marked by the truth and if the the psalmist celebrates that in the Savior then the church ought to as well it ought to imbibe and hold on to that truth very very tenaciously so he is committed to truth and righteousness the psalmist goes in describing the glory of the king to highlight his triumph over his enemies verse four and in your majesty ride prosperously because of truth humility and righteousness and your right hand shall teach you awesome things your arrows are sharp in the heart of the Kings enemies the people's fall under you what is that indicative of he not only goes to battle but he wins the battle he not only engages the enemy but he defeats the enemy your arrows are sharp in the heart of the Kings enemies the people's fall under you to bless it and a glorious description of our king our Messiah our Christ waging warfare and engaging in victory it's the same sort of concept that was read in revelation 19 verses 11 to 16 ralph davis comments he says we must catch the vision of the faithful and true sitting on the white horse this is a comment on revelation 19 the one who judges and makes war in 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 in other words as believers we need to see Christ as victorious I've said several times in our studies on Wednesday night or Saturday morning or whatever the book of Revelation comes up it's a woeful thing to consider the way that the book of Revelation is viewed in the modern church the book that's scary it's a book that looms in a in a mysterious sort of way you ever consider what revelation is about it's about Revelation revelation means to reveal how's that for some lexical analysis it is the revelation of Jesus Christ and you know what is primary in terms of the focus and the book of Revelation is not on the Beast it's not on the Antichrist it's on the Christ and his crown his victory his glory his majesty yes beasts rise up there's a beast from the sea and a beast from the land the what happens to that they are judged by the war in Christ what happens to the false prophet what happens to the Babylon what happens to all contenders with reference to Christ they are subdued under his feet that's what the book of Revelation is about it is a long a long treatment of what the psalmist says right here and in your majesty right prosperously because of truth humility and righteousness your arrows are sharp in the heart of the Kings enemies the people's fall under you and then notice the anointing of God the Father upon him in 7b you loved righteousness and hated nasarah God your God has anointed you John Gill explains who though he is called God and is truly so yet was not anointed as such but as man and mediator to the office of prophet priest and gang and not with material oil but with the Holy Ghost his gifts and graces and then in verses 8 & 9 it describes the Kings attire his essence is his fragrance and then his entourage Kings daughters are among your honorable women at your right hand stands the Queen and gold from OFIR so you see there's this description of the King in it and it focuses upon his glory but as well notice his person and this is verses 6 and 17 verses 6 and 7 it highlights the divine nature of the Messiah the divine nature of the king told you before that of that radio program dr. Gregg Bahnson and a Jewish rabbi and a Roman Catholic priests were interviewed by Dennis Prager and a question came up concerning the the Hebrew Bible the Old Testament Scriptures did it testify that the Messiah would be divine of course the Jewish rabbi said absolutely not there's no way that that Jews had an expectation for a divine Messiah and dr. Banton said well it most certainly did now you may not appreciate that particular doctrine you may reject that doctrine on theological grounds but on literary grounds you cannot deny that the text of Scripture asserts that Messiah would in fact be divine well Psalm 45 6 highlights this the divine nature of our Lord Jesus notice in verse 6 your throne O God is for ever and ever turn to the book of Hebrews to see its application to our Lord Jesus Christ the deity of Christ the divinity of Christ Christ according to the form of God is here asserted by the psalmist in Psalm 45 6 noticed in notice in Hebrews chapter 1 beginning in verse 5 this is showing the exaltation of Christ over the Angels verse 5 says for to which of the Angels did he ever say you are my son today I have begotten you and again I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son but then he again brings the firstborn into the world he says let all I'm sorry brings the firstborn into the world he says let all the angels of God worship it now all of these texts are Old Testament acts and they all ascribe deity to the Messiah so as Bahnson said on a literary or from a literary point of view he can't deny the scriptures say this theologically you may have an ax to grind against the reality that the Messiah would be divine but in terms of what is written you cannot deny it so verse 7 and of the Angels he says who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire but to the son he says your throne O God is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom you have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness therefore God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions now there are evasive tactics employed to try and get out of the clear meaning of the tax you'll hear it from Jehovah's Witnesses you'll hear it from perhaps Jews who deny the deity of the Messiah but if you want further information in terms of the grammar and the exposition and the explanation I cannot suggest anything better than John Gill as he deals with the detractors as he deals with the shift in the grammar and saying it really doesn't mean what it says here because if we move John Gill says no it's translated accordingly what the psalmist is doing is he's telling us that in verse two this one who is fairer than the sons of man is very god of very God true God from True God light from light begotten not made one in being with the father this is the Christ who will indeed appear on the scene to save his people from their sins this is prophesied previously to his arrival CH Spurgeon makes this comment concerning the deity of the king he says the psalmist cannot restrain his adoration his enlightened I seasoned the Royal husband of the church God God to be adored God reigning God reigning everlasting blessed sight blind are the eyes that can't cannot see God in Christ Jesus beautiful isn't it your throne Oh God notice the etern eternity or eternality of his kingdom your throne is forever and ever notice the equity involved in the reign of his kingdom verse six a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom our Lord Jesus Christ is very God our Lord Jesus Christ is true God from True God but notice he goes on to describe or highlight the reality that Christ is also a man verse 7 you loved righteousness and hated nough snowed the language in verse 7 therefore God your God has anointed you the psalmist does not believe in two gods the psalmist is a strict monotheists the psalmist is a trinitarian the psalmist understands something of the glory of God Most High so this one who comes in the fullness of the time sent forth by God born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law is very God in very man and noticed specifically therefore God your God has anointed you one commentator says it will take the new task and ultimately to explain what's going on in terms of father and son again I don't believe that we can I don't believe we could construct the same sort of Nicene doctrine of the Trinity with only the Old Testament but these things are present in the Old Testament remember Warfield sort of a of an analogy with reference to the Trinity in the Old Testament he says it's like a dimly lit chamber all the furniture is in the chamber and when you turn on the lights it's not that something new is there what was always there is there it's now been illumined further by the flipping on of the light the same sort of thing all of the equipment or all of the furniture all of the doctrine is there Father Son and spirit are present in the Old Testament it's that New Testament that sort of flips on the light and gives us that that hermeneutic or that ability of those tools to say oh that's what's happening there oh that's what's going on there you cannot deny that the psalmist here ascribes divinity to the Messiah and he ascribes humanity to the Messiah and in the language of our confession of faith it tells us that two whole perfect and distinct natures were inseparable joined together in one person without conversion composition or confusion which person is very God and very man yet one Christ the only mediator between God and man so you see with reference to this royal wedding the description of the king is given him and his glory him and his person now there might be some of you that like to watch those royal wedding things I'm sure that they have it live streamed you can sit in the Internet and to me nothing I'd rather watch paint dry than see a royal wedding it's just not something I want to do but but in this royal wedding it's something to gaze upon it's something to marvel at it's something to worship as a result of this key there in his glory this king set before us and his majesty and his excellence this King who is both God and man who came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation this blessed one is set forth in his glory notice though with reference to the bride instruction to the in verses 10 to 15 again we'll move somewhat quickly through this section but there are some things we need to highlight note the need for repentance the need for repentance on the part of the bride in other words here's your king here's your bridegroom here's your husband here's the glorious one here is the excellent one when you walk down that altar to take his hand you must forsake you must leave you must depart listen o daughter verse 10 consider and incline your ear forget your own people also and your father's house the bride is instructed to forget her people and her own father's house perhaps the background is Genesis 2:24 the whole idea of leaving and cleaving you don't leave with your mom and dad when you cleave if you leave your mom and dad and then you cleave I've done a lot of weddings in this church and I have yet to see a bride or a bridegroom walk up the altar and their parents take if I saw that I'd say ok brethren you need to go sit out because what's happening here is something other than that there's a leave and cleave principle the father walks the wife or the father walks the bride down but he gives her away sometimes very happily he gives her away they leave and cleave principle this is what's in view the glory of the bridegroom has been described now the bride is told listen o daughter consider and incline your ear forget your own people also and your father's house you don't come to this bridegroom with your sin you don't come to this bridegroom with your idols you don't come to this bridegroom with prior commitments you don't come to this bridegroom with your boyfriend moti R says the heaping up of 4 verbs of command places enormous emphasis on the bride's need to put the past behind and find her all in all in a new relationship John Gill says Christ is to be preferred before natural relations converted persons are not to have fellowship with carnal man though ever so nearly related former superstitions whether Jewish or heathenish are to be buried and forgetfulness sinful self and righteous self are to be denied for Christ's sake and the world and all things in it are to be treated with neglect and contempt by such who cleave to him this is the admonition this is the instruction this is the command for the church it goes out to meet her bridegroom you cannot take bail with you you cannot take Astra with you you cannot take these commitments to your idols you're to turn from the useless idols to the true and living God you to put those things to Rash you to put those things to death this is a fitting admonition on the eve of the supper or on just prior to coming to the ordinance brethren it's not for profane and ungodly men it is for those who are walking and faithfulness before God not sinless Ness not perfection because then we could never take but have we and can we say we have forgotten our own people also we have forgotten our father's house liken it to Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter she wasn't to bring in all of her previous allegiances to Israel to merit to the marriage - to Israel's King she was not to bring in all these other items of worship when she was a citizen of the Commonwealth of Israel she was to forsake that she was to forget that she was to turn her back on that and the same is true for the bride today so worldliness that sticks to us there is a an ungodly association that we hold - I'm not one of these you know people that say you know you can't have friends that aren't believers you can but it's for the purpose of witness and testifying and being faithful and kind and gracious and demonstrating the love of God we're not supposed to be changed by them we are not to be succumbed or succumbed to the temptations and tendencies of this world and of this age we are to be a people that have listened to the admonition that have considered that have inclined our ear that have forgotten our own people and are father's house if Christ means anything he means everything and we need to give him the allegiance that is fitting and do to one who is described in this song he is fairer than the sons of men why wouldn't we want to abandon everything else to be with him notice the necessity of worshiping the king verse 11 the king will greatly desire your beauty because he is your Lord worship him again this isn't Solomonic David's not suggesting that Pharaoh's daughter bow her knee to Solomon and confess him Lourdes and Savior this is a psalm of Christ it says the king the Lord Jesus will greatly desire your beauty the church a beauty that he has beautified you with it's not a natural beauty we didn't you know gussy ourselves up and make ourselves ready but rather it is a beauty conveyed or conferred by him to us but as a result he is your Lord worship him the reference to the daughter of Tyre coming with a gift the rich among the people seeking your favor probably means Gentile inclusion among the people of God and then notice it describes the bride in verses 13 to 50 she has glory verse 13 the royal daughter is all glorious within her palace that's the church were glorious not intrinsically not inherently but reflectively because God has saved us because Christ is in us the hope of glory we radiate the very being of Christ again not in some weird mystical strange dock way but the idea being is that when we worship God in spirit and truth when we are faithful to this book when we seek to employ this book in our daily life we reflect the glory of the God who saved us then Jesus say this let your light so shine before men that they see your good works and give glory to who give glory to God not you oh you're great you're wonderful no we are simply a means by which the glory of God is reflected her glory is indicated in 13 a notice her garments are and gated in 13b and 14 get in that royal wedding oh and look at what the bride is wearing and look at how beautiful the jewelry and look you know it just goes on and on and on it seems like well here specifically notice that is highlighted her clothing is woven with gold she shall be brought to the king in robes of many colors the Virgin's her companions who follow her shall be brought to you in a blessed reality he clothes us with his own righteousness according to Philippians 3 he clothes us with his own righteousness according to Zechariah chapter 3 he clothes us with his own righteousness according to second Corinthians 5:21 he clothes us and fits us for communion in his presence and that brings us to verse 15 with gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought they shall enter the king's palace this is the apex this is the pinnacle this is the climax the bride now enters in to the palace of the king the bride is now having communion with the king the bride is now in union with the key where they will live happily ever after it is a most blessed and wondrous movement the Lord Christ most high bids them to come the Lord Christ most high tells them to forsake family friends and everything that allured them in the past he clothed them with his righteousness he reflects his glory through them they enter into the palace of the king and there they sup with him there they feast with him there they delight with him and note the attendant blessings they do it with gladness and rejoicing brethren how many times do we enter into the house of God absent of gladness and rejoicing where's the spirit of David in Psalm 122 I was glad when they said unto me let us go to the house of the Lord I understand we come into this place burden sorrowful oftentimes beaten down by the weak that we've had we fight the flesh we fight the world we fight the devil we come into this place and sometimes we're staggering sometimes we're limping sometimes we can just barely fall in here but once we're in here we're in union with our King we're in communion with one another let us and get engage in a in a gladness and a rejoicing with gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought they shall enter the king's palace there is that blessed sort of a anticipation we're going to be with the king certainly when they are with the king the one who is fairer than the sons of men fairer fairer beautiful beautiful more than all all of the sons of men certainly gladness and rejoicing ought to be appropriate let me encourage you as we sing as we pray as we hear the word of God read and preached this isn't the drudgery of the Christian life this isn't suffering for Jesus this is the cream this is the joy this is the time we are to express Thanksgiving and happiness and delight when you go back out in the world that's what you'll have the absence of gladness and rejoicing just kidding you should still have gladness and rejoicing because you're always in union with the king you see the king and a bride come together and what is it for the bride no it's not that I've often thought those parents kids will learn from us about church attendance kids will see and mirror how we are so if when they're five you're one of the sorts of parents as oh we got to go to church oh I wish we'd rather go anywhere else don't be surprised if when you they're 15 they're doing the same thing think about this you may not have a heart filled with gladness and rejoicing I'm not suggesting that you fake it I'm suggesting that you reflect on passages like these that you take up David's psalm of praise David's literally according to the scripture superscription a song of love brethren this is the God whom we serve this is the God we come to meet this is the Christ of our salvation there in his or a and the bride is pictured here as one who responds in repentance and obviously faith one who holds fast to this king and one who has gladness and rejoicing in his presence notice finally how the psalm ends the declaration concerning the king this is not instructions or still targeting the bride of the bride but rather goes back to the bridegroom in verse 16 instead of your father's shall be your sons whom you shall make princes and all the earth I think it simply means something like this there is going to be a great posterity you are going to have a multiplicity of sons you are going to have a great number of descendants and therefore they will indeed be princes in all the earth John Gill explains it this way this isn't just you know I didn't know how to explain it he just does it a whole lot better this is an address not to the church the Queen the king's daughter this is an address not to the church the Queen the king's daughter spoken to and out of in the preceding verses but to the king Messiah himself instead of your father shall be your son's whom you shall make Prince's in all the earth who was of the Jewish fathers according to the flesh Romans nine four and though he was rejected by that people yet he had children not only the apostles who were sometimes so-called whom he said on twelve Thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel in a doctrinal way and sent an alt into all the world to preach his gospel and which being attended with his mighty power made them triumphant conquerors everywhere but also a numerous progeny among the Gentiles all the elect of God are his children and he stands in the revelation of the everlasting father to him they be a to them they being given unto him as such in other words it looks forward to new covenant era where the gospel goes forth and a great multitude are converted by the power of the gospel under the hand of the Spirit for the glory of the Messiah and then the psalmist sort of comes full circle starts off with his intention in verse one my heart is overflowing with a good theme I recite my composition concerning the gang my tongue is the pen of a ready writer he signs off in verse 17 this way I will make your name to be remembered in all generations therefore the people shall praise you forever and ever this is the psalmist conclusion a fitting end to his description of the Messiah to his instructions concerning the bride and to his statement concerning the glorious impact that the gospel of this Messiah will indeed make well in conclusion we see in this Psalm the glory of the king himself in his person what we call the hypostatic union the two natures one person to bless a doctrine a blessed truth the blessed reality our Lord Jesus Christ who in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God took the form of a bond servant this blessed Christ is God and man we see his perfections displayed in this particular saw his might his glory His Majesty is righteousness and even his gladness and joy we see the blessedness of the Lord Jesus Christ in terms of his works he wages war against sin and all unrighteousness he wages war against the world the flesh and the devil he wages war against his enemies and guess what he wins and we can praise God that he won the war against us those of us who will take the bread and drink the cup he has subdued us under his feet he has subdued us by Sovereign Grace we are not here tonight celebrating the person in the work of the Lord Jesus we are not here tonight eating this bread and drinking this cup because we're good guys and girls we are here because that word that proceeds from the mouth of Christ slayed us outright showed us our sin showed us our wickedness showed us our depravity and that word showed us the balm of Gilead it directed us to the one who is altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand that one who is fairer than the sons of men we have been conquered by Sovereign Grace so as we eat this bread and drink this cup we do so in the name of our blessed Savior our anchora our Messiah in terms of the blessedness of the bride it is Grace wherein she is able to forget her own people and her father's house it is Grace that taught her heart to fear it is the beauty or the beauty given to her by the king is through the redemptive work of the king his life his death his resurrection the privilege that the bride has of worshiping the king do you realize verse eleven beed describes the aim for which we were created because he is your Lord worship Him your kids ever say why should I go to church because you were made to because that's why God fashioned you in His image your job your purpose the reason you take breath in your lungs is to worship God this is what Adam and Eve were supposed to do certainly they reject God they rebel against God they resist God they plunge their posterity into sin Christ comes as the last Adam and he rescues us by his life is death in his resurrection and when he saves us guess what we're supposed to do we're supposed to worship this is the best thing this ought to be the high point of the week we don't tack on Sunday we don't tack on church attendance this isn't the appendix to a week this is the apex this is the glory this is the best of the seven days I've heard before someone say I wish we had six Sabbath's and only one day of work and I don't think it was because that guy was lazy it's because he wanted to worship God brethren that is the way the heartbeat of the Christian ought to be as well we have the gracious provision of wedding garments remember that poor fool in Matthew chapter 22 the King finds him out and he's without the wedding garment and he speechless so he's cast out into the outer darkness we however have been clothed we have been fit we have been prepared we have been washed we've been cleaned we've been purified we have the righteousness of Christ placed upon us we have the father telling the servants to take that garment and lay it on the back of my son this son was lost but is now found this son who was dead but is now alive clean the pig smell off of him and put these beautiful garments upon him put a ring on his finger let's kill the fatted calf and let us celebrate we have the privilege of communion with the king this is what we do tonight this is what we are about this is what makes us tick this is what makes us function told you before people call what is your church offer you know do you have this program do you have that program we worship God man that's what we do we try to just come and worship God because that's what we see our calling to be to worship God to praise Him the breach is true to hopefully see the holy spirit make more worshipers by the power of the gospel this is our desire this is our intent this is our hope and then as well the attendant gladness and rejoicing as a result of that communion there's a tax specifically in fact let's turn there 1st Thessalonians 5 then I'm sure some of us gloomy gusses need to be reminded of from from time to time 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 have you ever wondered what is the will of God for my life have you I hope so it's a good thing to wonder I just don't think we like the Bible's answer when we ask what is the will of God for my life it typically means something like which university should I go to which woman should I marry which man should I marry which cornflakes should I eat that's how we approach the what is the will of God from my life 1st Thessalonians 2 or unsafe 1st Thessalonians 4 gives us something of the will of God look at verse 3 for this is the will of God your sanctification that you should abstain from sexual immorality God may not tell you whisper in your ear I want you to go to that University I want you to eat that breakfast cereal but this much is sure he wants you to maintain sexual purity that's the will of God for you but notice as well in first Thessalonians 5 rejoice always pray without ceasing in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you so what's the will of God for you tonight well duh Sloane Ian's is packed with it maintain sexual purity and as well rejoice always as I said there's some of us who are gloomy gusses we're down we're melancholy we're sorrowful I don't know what it is about us but we just have that sort of a bent in our disposition these are passages we should meditate on Psalm 45 is a passage we should contemplate the gladness and the rejoice and that goes along with communion with Christ ought to be something we pursue we don't not just to settle it well you know I'm just that sort of a guy I'm always a frowny frowny sort of pert no rejoice always pray without ceasing and everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you you're supposed to be happy when you're having communion with Jesus you're supposed to be rejoicing when you're singing praises to Jesus you're supposed to be glad hearted when you are intimate with the Savior that's the will of God for you well brethren let us take seriously the psalmist's intention let us indeed muse upon the loveliness of the Savior and specifically as we eat this bread and drink this cup we can apply verse 17 very particularly I will make your name to be remembered in all generations through this bread through this cup we do so in remembrance of Christ Jesus will let us pray our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for this song of love composed to celebrate the Savior and his marriage to the bride how we thank you that he is altogether lovely the one that is chief among ten thousand that one described in the Song of Solomon that is most excellent and most glorious that one here described as fairer than the sons of men that one set forth in the pages of the New Testament that is indeed a mighty warrior who battles via the truth and who beats his enemies through his own life and his death in his resurrection and our Father I pray that we would focus upon this one tonight in a special way in terms of his broken body in his shed blood caused us to do this for your glory cause this to confirm our faith and to nourish us spiritually caused us to grow in the Grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and may this all be attended by gladness and rejoicing and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord amen you and turn in your Bibles first to first Corinthians chapter 10 and then we'll look at 1st Corinthians 11 briefly as we observe the Lord's Supper the 1st Corinthians 10 and verse 14 if you're here this morning you heard pastor Butler speak with respect to the Lord's Supper that there are vertical and horizontal aspects and Paul treats both of those things first in 1st Corinthians 10 and then in 1st Corinthians 11 in 1st Corinthians 10 we have something of the vertical blessing that we have as Christians in the Lord's Supper we pick up reading in verse 14 of 1st Corinthians 10 therefore my beloved flee from idolatry I speak as two wise men judge for yourselves what I say the cup of blessing which we bless is it not the communion of the blood of Christ the bread which we break is it not the communion of the body of Christ for we though many are one bread and one body for we all partake of that one bread observe Israel after the flesh are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar what am I saying then that an idol is anything or what is offered to idols as anything rather that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons you cannot partake of the lord's table and of the table of demons or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy are we stronger than he just very briefly Paul is giving instructions to Christians to flee from idolatry in the context to flee from participation in pagan meals where the meats where the meal is sacrificed to idols and where in then there is fellowship with demons and the the he points to the Lord's Supper as that blessing of blessings which should put away any notion of participating in pagan meals why would you seek to have fellowship with communion with demons when in the Lord's Supper we have fellowship with communion with the risen and exalted Christ by virtue of his dispensation of the Holy Spirit strength strengthening us by faith when we partake of the bread and when we partake of the wine it's a it's a wonderful argument why have fellowship with demons when you can have fellowship with the exalted Christ at the participation in the participation of the Lord's Supper and then in 1st Corinthians 11 we have that vertical reality in verse 17 we have Paul dealing with conduct at the Lord's Supper why are you turning the Lord's Supper into something which is not a gathering for the better but a gathering for the worse by virtue of your maltreatment of the saints of Christ verse 17 now in giving these instructions I do not praise you since you come together not for the better but for the worse for first of all when you come together as a church I hear that there are divisions among you and in part I believe it for there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you therefore when you come together in one place it is not to eat the Lord's Supper for an eating each one takes his own supper ahead of others and one is hungry and another is drunk what do you not have houses to eat and drink in or do you despise the Church of God and shame those who have nothing what shall I say to you shall I praise you in this I do not praise you then skipping the part that will read while we observe the elements the bread and the wine notice in verse 27 therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord but let a man examine himself and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself not discerning the Lord's body for this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep for if we would judge ourselves we would not be judged but when we are judged we are chastened by the Lord that we may not be condemned with the world therefore my brethren when you come together to eat wait for one another but if anyone is hungry let him eat at home lest you come to get therefore judgment and the rest I will set in order when I come hopefully you see the importance of the Lord's Supper in just these these short passages that we read the vertical and the horizontal aspects of the Lord's Supper what are we doing when we observe the Lord's Supper with respect to ourselves and the observance of it we are not sacrificing we're not making any sacrifice for the quick or excuse me for the quick and the dead but rather we are observing that once for all sacrifice we're engaging in an act of remembrance by our exercise not sacrificing afresh the Lord of glory which is abject blasphemy but we are observing and we are remembering that once for all sacrifice that Christ wrought upon Calvary's cross that's why we say this bread and this wine are not changed into the actual body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ such a notion is contrary to common sense and reason as our confession says repugnant to common sense and reason and to the Scriptures and it's the cause of manifold blasphemies and yeah gross idolatries but rather we have the bread and we have the wine as unchanged elements which represent the body of Christ broken for us and the blood of Christ shed for us but let us not minimize the connection that the bread and the wine have to the very things that they signify just as surely as the bread is present to our bodies and nourishes us physically so too is spiritually the benefits and the redemptive perfections wrought by Christ present to our souls by virtue of the ministering spirit so - with the wine just as sure as it is physically present to us as we ingest it so - the benefits the merits of the shed blood of Christ present to our souls by that same ministering spirit that's why our confession can say that we can with propriety call the bread the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ because there is such an intimate in close connection that these things have to the things they signify that is the body and blood of Christ so as we partake let us count the high honor that it is to do so so we take the bread and as we take the wine we mark the the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ died upon Calvary's cross so as to secure our salvation and we are strengthened in our faith by the risen Christ by the virtue of his dispensation of the Spirit attending unto our souls now when we partake remember that it is only Christians that are to partake as pastor Butler mentioned only believers are to take the bread and to take the wine so if you are an unbeliever here tonight you are not to partake as well it is for Christians who have examined themselves and are not living in unrepentant sin if you're hiding sin if you're as pastor Butler mentioned this morning covering sin by your own deceit and by your own season of not seeking the the favor and the the pleasure of God in repenting of your transgression then you are not to take but once again remember what we have in our Savior we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the perfectly just one and he forgives us he cleanses us from all iniquity so if you are hiding sin repent flee to the Savior as a believer seek after the forgiveness that is most surely in God through our Christ and by virtue of his shed blood represented by the wine and so take and so drink well let us out just one other thing before the brothers come out to pass the bread and the wine when we do get to the wine a reminder that the juice is in the outer ring if I could ask them the brothers to come forward and pass out the bread as they do so you can remain seated and turn in your bibles excuse me turn in your hem books to 7:04 will remain seated and sing 7:04 [Music] Oh [Music] and [Music] you [Music] you [Music] we read in first Corinthians 11 verse 23 Paul rehearsing the institution of the Lord's Supper by our Lord Jesus Christ where I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me amen let us pray god we thank you now for the fact that we can partake of this bread we rejoice in the truth that it points us to the the truth that it symbolizes we thank you for the broken body of our Lord Jesus Christ upon Calvary's cross we know that he did take breach upon breach in his body we thank you that that is because of or that is reflecting the fact that he bore in his own body our sins upon the tree and that we having died to sin might live for righteousness we thank you for that blessed truth as we heard this morning of sacrificial substitutionary atonement that our Lord Jesus Christ upon Calvary's cross died so as to secure the salvation of a multitude that no man can number we thank you that in your appointed and accepted time you called us forth from darkness to light that we might rejoice in the benefits of Christ Jesus the Lord the perfection of His redemptive benefits and we thank you now for this bread that we partake of and for what it represents and we pray that we would sing the praises of our Christ we pray in his name amen let's take together turn in your Bibles as the brothers come out to pass out the wine juice in the outer ring just a reminder you can remain seated and turn in your hem books to 188 that's 188 [Music] you [Music] [Music] in verse 25 of first Corinthians 11 we read in the same manner he also took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood this do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death till he comes let us pray Heavenly Father we rejoice now that we can take of this wine we thank you for what it represents the shed blood of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ we know as the Bible sets forth that without the shedding of blood there is no remission we have in the shed blood of our Savior that which is powerful for the forgiveness of sins and we thank you for his sacrifice upon Calvary's cross wherein he did shed his blood for guilty sinners and we thank you that by that blood we are cleansed by that blood we are sanctified we thank you that in that blood we have the forgiveness of sins and we pray now as we partake that we would reflect with great joy upon that blessed truth and we pray in Christ's precious name Amen let's take together sing our final hymn the him will be 339 in your Trinity hymnals to a familiar tune that's 339 [Music] Oh [Music] you Oh 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 in every good work to do his will working in you what is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen heavenly father go with us now we rejoice again this year Lord's Day Sabbath we thank you for the Lord's Supper we do pray that you would help us by your grace and for your glory to go into this week rejoicing in our Savior rejoicing and free and sovereign grace rejoicing in the gospel we pray that you would help us as well and out in the midst of a perverse generation that we would be able to by your grace hold forth your word of truth help us Lord God to conduct ourselves and in front of watchful eyes in a manner worthy of the gospel of grace that by your word and spirit many would come to a knowledge of Jesus Christ our Savior and it's in his name that we pray amen you