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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e good morning everyone welcome back to free rce Baptist Church and a special warm welcome to the visitors there amongst us this morning we have a few announcements before we begin worship our evening service will be at 5:00 p.m. as usual and Pastor cam Porter will be speaking again this evening there will be no Wednesday night bible study this week falls on uh New Year's Day it's January 1st so there'll be no Wednesday night bible study will commence the week following uh next week we're having a baptismal service in the morning for Silas and Janelle Neils and Shan kect are all being baptized next Sunday so we rejoice in that blessed opportunity to witness what God is doing in their lives and the life of our church and also good news Sean and Emily are expecting another baby so congratulations we're going to turn to Psalm 24 for our call to worship this morning Psalm 24 a Psalm of David the Earth is the Lord's and all its fullness the world and those who dwell there in in for he has founded it upon the Seas and established it upon the waters who may Ascend into the hill of the Lord or who may stand in his holy place he who has Clean Hands and a pure heart who has not lifted up his soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully he shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the god of his salvation this is Jacob the generation of those who seek Him who who seek your face sa La lift up your heads oh you Gates and be lifted up you Everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is this king of glory the lord strong and mighty the Lord Mighty in battle lift up your heads oh you Gates lift up you Everlasting doors and the king of glory shall come in who is this king of glory the lord of hosts he is the king of glory s amen for our first Psalm we're going to sing Psalm uh 104a as an alpha from our Suter Himel Psalm 104a and we're singing stanzas 8- 11 please stand with me as we sing 104a 8- 11 are your wers Earth is of all your Crees with life and M fire ising the sail sh all your creatures to you waiting for the Ming when you your creatures from your open you are your face their TR I bless to go down you your spirit you them and re the ground the glory of the Lord Our God may the Lord re in all his mighty work and glorious he his Earth to sh in he all the mountains TR smoke and of fire I will praise the Lord my God with all my life and all my voice myit him for I the let all s beol let wi be no more bless the Lord my soul praise him my soul and praise the Lord please be seated as we turn to the Lord in prayer our gracious and loving Heavenly Father we come you before you this morning our hearts filled with Thanksgiving and we want to be a people that are marked by Thanksgiving and gratefulness we look back over the past week and we see your mercies that have been showered upon us we we see your blessings that you have sustained us you have provided for us you have given us good friends good Fellowship a good church and you've brought us back together this morning as a people to worship you together and we thank you for this opportunity of course corporate worship we thank you that we have this place and we have the freedom to meet and to worship Our God as we see fit and we're not dictated from outside how we must worship or where we must worship or when we thank you oh God that you in your mercy and your kindness have brought us together and assembled us this morning we know that it is by Your Divine Providence that we are here each and every soul within the walls of this building and we pray that you would do your good work in our hearts As we sing as we pray and as the word is preached we pray that that word would take effect and take root would call Sinners into to repentance and to New Life In Christ and would restore and encourage and chastise your Saints each as each one has need Lord we thank you for the good that you are doing in our church we thank you for each and every family thank you for the good news that Sean and Emily are expecting another baby Lord I pray for each baby in the womb right now and each young nursing child each family in this congregation that you would bless them cause them to have much wisdom in the rearing of their children as they seek to bring them up the instruction and admonition of the Lord we pray oh God that the work of your Holy Spirit the work of the word of God would endure here for many generations to come and Lord we pray that our children would grow up in the fear of the Lord and would come to know their savior as you have brought us into that glorious light thank you for other churches in this city of chilak this morning that have met or are meeting we pray for each Church where the word of God is going to be preached this morning we pray that that word would also be attended in those congregations by the spirit of God working in the hearts of those people thank you that you have a great many people in this city and all across this country and all around the world because Christ has not ceased to build his church and the Gates of Hell continue to fall before for her Lord we thank you for our sister churches in the in our association we pray that you would bless the congregation there in sui this morning bless our Brethren up in Armstrong bless the work of the Lord out there in dren and for the other churches that we associate with closely do that good work in the churches in here in BC in Alberta Saskatchewan we pray oh God that you would cause us to have good Fellowship one with another as time goes on on and we pray that we would be an encouragement to each other in the faith and Lord help us to also be an encouragement to those that we are in communion with around the world in uh Kenya in the Honduras Lord we pray that you would bless the congregations there continue to send forth the gospel in those Nations and many others Lord we pray again for Peter and the workers and the orphans that they are dealing with there in Myanmar be merciful to them and Lord prot protect them and give them much grace and much wisdom Lord we also pray for our nation as you have commanded us to pray for those who are in Authority for kings and for all who rule over us we pray oh God that you would have mercy upon our nation of Canada that you would raise up Godly God-fearing rulers in this nation and Lord we pray that you would restrain wickedness and above all we pray that as the gospel is preached a great many would hear and would would believe and be converted because we know this is the only hope for permanent change in our nation we thank you once again for this opportunity to be together as your people and we pray that your spirit would continue with us as we worship please Lord convict us of sin cleanse us even now in the blood of Christ that our worship might be pleasing in your sight we ask these things in Jesus name amen amen we're going to stand again to sing hymn number 223 from our himels 223 thee we adore Eternal Lord glor the Lord we praise our name i s to my good through all the world to worship the through all the world to worship me to all angel all holy holy holy king for God H Mercy for God sing glorious and R etal to our prise Eternal L to my praise to to me by we worship and theore for forever may be seated please turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chap 12 for our morning scripture reading in the New Testament Mark 12 we're going to read the center section of this chapter beginning where we left off last week so from verse 12 we will read through to the end of verse 34 Mark 12 verse 12 and they sought to lay hands on him but feared the multitude for they knew he had spoken the parable against them so they left him and went away then they sent to him some of the pH es and the herodians to catch him in his words when they had come they said to him teacher we know that you are true and care about no one for you do not regard the person of men but teach the way of God in truth is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not shall we pay or shall we not pay but he knowing their hypocrisy said to them why do you test me bring me a Daenerys that I may see it so they brought it and he said to them them whose image and inscription is this they said to him Caesars and Jesus answered and said to them render to Caesar the things that are Caesars and to God the things that are gods and they marveled at him then some Sadducees who say there is no Resurrection came to him and they asked him saying teacher Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies and leaves his wife behind and leaves no children his brother should take up his take his wife and raise up Offspring for his brother now there were seven brothers the first took a wife and dying he left no Offspring and the second took her and he died nor did he leave any Offspring and the third likewise so the seven had her and left no Offspring last of all the woman died also therefore in the resurrection when they rise whose wife will she be for all seven had her as wife Jesus answered and said to them are you not there mistaken because you do not know the scriptures nor the power of God for when they rise from the dead they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels in heaven but concerning the dead that they rise have you not read in the book of Moses in the burning bush passage how God spoke to him saying I am the god of Abraham the god of Isaac and the god of Jacob he is not the god of the dead but the god of the living you are therefore greatly mist Aken then one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together perceiving that he had answered them well asked him which is the first commandment of all Jesus answered him the first of all the Commandments is here o Israel the Lord Our God the Lord is one and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind and with all your strength this is the first commandment and the second like it is this you shall love your neighbor as yourself there is no greater command there is no commandment greater than these so the scrib said to him well said teacher you have spoken the truth for there is one God and there is no other but he and to love him with all the heart with all the understanding with all the soul and with all the strength and to love one's neighbor as oneself is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely he said to him you are not far from the kingdom of God but after that no one dared question him so in this short passage we've just read There are three different groups of people that come to Jesus each posing a question the first made up of a group of men from the Pharisees the conservative religious theologians and leaders of the day and the herodians uh a political activist group that probably didn't have much in common except the wolf despised Jesus they came to him to ask him a question and to trip him up the Sadducees the liberal theologians of the day came as well again trying to do better than the Pharisees because the Pharisees didn't manage to trip Jesus so they tried and then the last one was a single man a scribe who came and asked a question the first two groups addressed Jesus with when they started with uh a hypocritical uh address of respect the Pharisees said to him teacher we know that you are true and care about no one for you do not regard the person of men but teach the way of God in truth they did not believe that for one minute because they beli that Jesus was uh not teaching the the word of God but that he was an impostor likewise the Sadducees they address him as teacher or Rabbi um a term of respect but they were went on from there to try and trip him up as far as the Scribe we don't know exactly what his motivation or attitude was he also addresses Jesus as teacher uh term of respect there's no indication that he was trying to catch Jesus off guard we don't know uh he asked Jesus a very pertinent question which is the first commandment of all and Jesus answered he didn't take one of the Ten Commandments and single that out instead he quot to Deuteronomy 64 and 5 with the here o Israel the Lord our God is one and he goes on to quote the rest of it but he says that immediately after that he says and this this is the first command and the second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself so he gives actually two Commandments in order in proper order first love God second love your neighbor and in doing so he wrapped up all Ten Commandments because the first table of the law are our responsibilities to Yahweh to God the second table of the law is our responsibilities to our fellow man when we look around at the society around us we tend to think in terms of the second table of the law we tend to think when we see we live in a w Wicked and perverse generation we tend to think yeah there's a lot of thievery going on there's a lot of adultery going on there's a lot of people that uh are lying and there's a lot of people that covet and so forth and so on even our own sins we tend to actually make them bigger the second table of the law than the first table of the law but there is an order of importance here our first duty is love toward God proper love toward God from that will Spring obedience to the second table of the law which is our love toward our fellow men and he answered this scribe in such a way that the law of God is meant to do this it puts everyone on the hook because we're all Breakers of God's law now at the very end Jesus says you are not far from the kingdom of God that is an interesting response after this this man basically repeated what Jesus had said about loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself interesting that you were not far from the kingdom of God you know that Saul of Tarsus was not far from the kingdom of God when he was on the road to Damascus set on persecuting the church on delivering people up he was not far from the kingdom of God he had the entire background that he needed he had the law the prophets the the the writings of the Old Testament everything that he needed but he did not have as Pastor Butler's noted numerous times lately he did not have that essential key which was Jesus Jesus the Messiah about whom all the law and Prophets point forward to likewise this scribe was not very far from the kingdom of God we don't know what became of him we don't even know his name we know nothing about this scribe he could have been one of those first 3,000 that were saved on the day of Pentecost could have been maybe he was never saved we don't know he's not far from the kingdom of God I fear that there are going to people be people in hell that were not far from the kingdom of God being not far from the kingdom of God doesn't mean you've almost made it and you're almost there if you try a little harder you'll be in that's not what it means because none of us can try hard enough to be in it means you you're still lacking that key ingredient you there's still something you haven't put together you haven't gone one step further and the one step further in this case is to say yes this is the greatest commandment and I'm a law breaker because I do not love the Lord my God with all my heart soul and strength and there's nothing I can do to fix that except cry out for Mercy come to God and ask for his grace well I trust we will meet that scribe I hope will meet that scribe in heaven one day but for everyone that's sitting here this morning you're not far from the kingdom of God either trust in Christ and believe him for his Mercy that he offers let's pray gracious Father in Heaven thank you for your word thank you for this record of the dealings of Christ with his opponents and even with this scribe thank you that he answered so wisely because Christ is indeed wisdom itself thank you that in the gospel he brings us to himself cleanses us of our sins not only the sins towards our fellow men but even those much greater sins the the sin of ignoring the one who created us the sin of turning our back upon him who made us Lord be gracious to us give us that desire to love the Lord Our God with all our heart mind soul and strength we're not born with that desire we pray that you'd put it in us and we look forward to that day when that will be our only desire Lord on this side of Glory we still tend to serve oursel we want to serve Christ and the the lamb upon the throne with all of our heart soul and strength we pray you do this in our heart in Jesus name amen please turn with me again in your Suter himn note to Psalm 110a for our final hymn this morning 1110a as in Alpha stand together with me as As we sing to [Music] my to our your in your from z h with Mighty your against your you display your power your people to you as on a r in Hol will you has SW and will not change his mind you are a for the right and there will ever stay on his will his na he will the the mighty Jesus from all the Earth will sh androide the his will s and by will his head on [Music] well you can turn in your Bibles to that particular Psalm Psalm 110 God willing we'll resume our studies in the Gospel of John finishing the upper room discourse in two weeks as Mark said we have a baptism next week so this morning I thought it would be an encouraging word for us to look at Psalm 110 as we enter into a new year if you are familiar with Psalm 10 that's good we just sang it of course we sing it a lot in our church and it is at least verse one is one of the most alluded to or quoted verses in all of the New Testament so you're probably very familiar with the first verse we'll look at that but then the remainder of the verses as well so I'll read Psalm 110 beginning in verse one and may God the Lord give us this mindset as we enter into a new year A Psalm of David the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your foot stol 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 due of your youth the Lord has sworn and will not relent you are a priest forever according to the order of melkisedek the Lord is at your right 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 in heaven we thank you for the Lord's day we thank you for the privilege to gather in the house of God with your people we pray that you would be enthroned upon our Praises that you would be glorified as we gather together that we would come to the father through the Son and the spirit that you would be all in all in this place do forgive us now for all of our sins we pray for the the power and the presence of the holy spirit to guide us and to lead us into truth and we know the spirit's Ministry according to our lord Jesus in John 16 is to glorify Jesus so we pray that the spirit who gave us Psalm 110 would Shine the Light upon the subject of Psalm 110 and we ask this in Christ's holy name amen well as we come to this particular Psalm you'll notice the superscription a Psalm of David now some have suggested that the psalm itself is about David and that is unfortunately not correct the prophecy contained in Psalm 110 is much bigger than any regular or ordinary kingship it applies to the Lord Jesus Christ had our brother Mark continued to read in the gospel of Mark in chap 12 a parallel is in Matthew CH 21 the next section of Jesus confrontation with the religious leaders is a question posed by Jesus so up to that point you see the Sadducees you see the Pharisees you see the Scribe they all confront Jesus with these particular questions and then Jesus hits them with this question he says who son is the Christ and of course they say the son of David So then Jesus says well why in the spirit does David call him Lord and of course he's speaking about Psalm 110 and so what we have in Psalm 110 is a wonderful presentation by way of a prophetic statement concerning the Lord Jesus Christ in his kingly and Priestly office Martin Luther made the observation he said this beautiful Psalm is the very core and quintessence of the whole scripture no other psalm prophesies as abundantly and completely about Christ it portrays the Lord and his entire Kingdom and is full of comfort for Christians for he is a lovable comforting King and priest for those poor miserable suffering and plagued Christians on Earth I think he's absolutely spoton and I by the way am not making a prophetic announcement for 2025 that all of us will be poor miserable suffering and plagued but if things go the way things are going we ought to expect a degree of Oppression and persecution and the sorts of things that our brothers and sisters have faced throughout the entirety of their time on Earth well I want to look first at the enthronement of Christ in verses 1 to3 secondly the priesthood of Christ in verse 4 and then finally the Triumph of Christ in verses 5-7 note first his enthronement we have a declaration in verse one the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your foot stol now I think there's a strong connection between Psalm 110 and Psalm 2 I preached on Psalm 2 within the last several months and we saw there that the man of Psalm 1 is the king of Psalm to he is the Lord Jesus Christ Christopher Ash who by the way I'm going to quote again if you want to spend some money well there's a four volume commentary by Christopher Ash on the Psalms and the first chap uh first volume he highlights or he argues as to why the Psalms are all about Jesus I know it's typical for us to find ourselves in the Psalms and I'm not suggesting we can't learn lessons or there's implications or applications the Salters about Jesus when we sing the Psalms we're singing of our Lord Jesus Christ Christ anyways Christopher ash good book he makes these uh this observation with reference to links with Psalm 2 it includes the titles Lord and Lord the verb to sit hostility to God and His Christ Rod scepter is used Zion verbs for breaking or shattering God's anger God's judgment and then the Nations all things that you see there in Psalm 2 so if I mention Psalm 2 along the way you'll understand why but as note the language in verse one specifically the Lord said to my Lord if you're using the new King James version or other English translations you probably have capital L capital O capital r capital D in the first instance of Lord and then in the second instance you have capital L and then lowercase o r d it's the way the English translations mark off the sacred name of Yahweh when it's all capitalized it's referring to Yahweh so what you have here is that Yahweh said to my Lord adoni now the Apostle Peter when he's preaching on the day of Pentecost uses Lord Twice But Here specifically in the Hebrew you've got Yahweh said to my Adonai so there are distinct persons involved in this particular situation and I would suggest the distinct persons involved in this situation it's God the father and God the son and we see that God the son is the one of whom the Psalm is spoken and it's God the son who wages Wars and uh gets victory over his enemies I think what we see in the text is what we've seen in John's gospel we call it the hypostatic union the union of two Natures in the one person of our Lord Jesus Christ again Ash says by inspiration of the Holy Spirit David prophesies about a person of infinite greatness who will be his descendant according to his Humanity but is Lord in virtue of his divinity so when the scribes and the Pharisees answer the question in Matthew's gospel who son is he and they say David's they're not altogether wrong but they're wrong in understanding the nature of the second person of the Trinity who assumes our Humanity who takes on our Humanity the word became flesh and dwelt Among Us Ash continues this greater David will be both King and praised Conquering the world with and for his people that's the mindset that I think is helpful as we approach a new year there is difficulty in this present evil age there is hardship there is woe there is suffering how do we make it through that is it by virtue of how good we are at persevering in the midst of it or is it by virtue of the fact that Christ is enthroned at the right hand of God most high where he must Reign till all of his enemies are made his foot stol I would suggest it's the latter keep your mind focused upon the Lord Of Glory and upon the emphasis in a Psalm like this to get you through the difficulties in this present evil age we will see when we finish up the upper room discourse in two weeks time God willing this is how Jesus ends the discourse these things I have spoken to you that you may have peace and then he says in this world you will have tribul ation but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world it's going to encourage that with that understanding of his Reign and Rule from the right hand of the father of which he had already spoken to them in John 16 that he will return again or go again to his father notice after this declaration the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your foot stol he then underscores or applies it ref uh or rather I want to apply it uh specifically so it says sit at my right hand this idea or this meaning is Authority and Dominion in the Heavenly Throne it is Authority and dominion and I think a specific reference is to the Ascension of Christ and to the current session of Christ we know the Ascension of Christ in Acts 2: 33-36 we looked at that a couple of weeks ago last time we had a baptism what does Peter say concerning the Lord Jesus that God has highly exalted him he invokes this particular Psalm Psalm 1101 and then he tells us clearly David himself did not Ascend David is writing about David's greater son and David's Lord he's writing about Jesus Christ the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ was to the right hand of the authority and power of God Almighty not as the second person of the Trinity but as the second person of the Trinity who assumed our Humanity as the mediator as the prophet as the priest as the king as the one in whom all blessings flow it is in that position of authority that Christ has ascended and then as well the current session so what is Christ doing now as he sits at the right hand of the father on high turn to First Corinthians chapter 15 1 Corinthians chapter 15 specifically at verses 20 to 28 this is commentary or sort of exposition or amplification of what we find here in Psalm 1101 notice in 1 Corinthians chap 15 at verse 20 we' got the Ascension acts 233 to 36 and and and various other passages in the New Testament as well as various other passages in the Old Testament Daniel 713 and 14 is an Ascension text concerning our Lord Jesus Christ but here we have what's called called the current session if we ask the question what's Jesus doing right now we know he ever lives to make intercession for us we know he's an advocate with the father we know that he is that to us personally individually corporately as the church what is Jesus doing at the right hand in terms of a comprehensive approach to the entirety of the cosmos notice in 15:20 but now Christ has risen from the dead and has become the first fruits 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 first fruits afterward those who are Christ said is coming then comes the end it's one of the reasons I'm not a premillennialist if you are I don't mean to offend you don't cancel me don't get triggered but note the connection Christ at his coming then comes the end Christ comes then comes the end you don't insert a thous year period into this particular passage to serve your eschatology that's another sermon then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father when or even after he puts an end to all Rule and all authority and power for he must Reign till he has put all all enemies under his feet The Last Enemy will be destroyed or that will be destroyed is 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 a 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 and all so it refers to the Ascension of our Lord Jesus and the current Sasha the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your foot stol and now he highlights or underscores the the the glory of this note that language you see it in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 till I make your enemy your foot stol sometimes the believer thinks that Jesus is going to lose sometimes the believer thinks that everything is going to go badly always now Brethren that's not the same as saying there's going to be bad things until the Lord Jesus Christ returns I agree with that but to think that we always and all only ever lose is not biblical look at the language till I make your enemies your foot stol bill says this is an illusion to the custom of conquerors treading upon the necks of the conquered if you don't like martial imagery and Military language Psalm 110 is probably not for you notice in Joshua 10:24 and they drew near and put their feet on their necks that was the execution of the Amorite Kings First Kings 5:3 you know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord is God because of the wars which were fought against him on every side until the Lord put his foes Under The Souls of his Fe feet Psalm 47:3 he will subdue the peoples under us and the Nations under our feet it is Rich beautiful biblical language concerning the Blessed Triumph of this King priest enthroned at the right hand of Yahweh that steals the soul of the believer that helps the people of God to overcome that helps the people of God to persevere and be steadfast it doesn't alleviate the difficulties or the struggles or the hardships or the trials but it steadies one in the midst of those things such that they can go forward in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit he then gets Concrete in terms of the application of this government notice the government over his enemies in verse two and the government over his church in verse three the child born the son given according to Isaiah 96 will have the government upon his shoulders and the psalmist is doing the same thing here the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your foot stol well that's how that's how is that going to affect the enemies verse two how is that going to affect his his church his friends his people well that's verse three note with reference to the enemies verse two the Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion rule in the midst of your enemies Psalm 2 same sort of thing that one that Son of God is appointed upon the Holy Hill of Zion and there specifically he breaks Rebels with a rod of iron and dashes the Nations to Pieces Davis mentions on Psalm 2 the appointed King verse 7 with Worldwide sway verse 8 to be established an overwhelming Force verse 9 he says that is the decree that is controlling history brethren that's good news it's not Trudeau that's controlling history it's not American politics that's controlling history it's the Lord Christ enthroned at the right hand of the father that is controlling history doesn't absolve us from the historical issues or problems but it steadies Us in the midst of it when the grind is upon us this is a good perspective for a coming year so in the enemies or with reference to the enemies rule in the midst of them but then note with reference to his church in verse three 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 due of your youth that latter half is a little bit difficult so look at the first half first it is the battle Readiness of the people of God it is the battle Readiness of the people of God I know that we usually use this verse as a verse on the effectual call all he will make them willing in the day of his power that is a Biblical truth to be sure but I think what's in view here is the battle Readiness of the people of God to go along with the Master and Commander in his mighty exploits in history in other words it speaks concerning the people of God who have a confidence in the king priest that's at the right hand of the father and willingly engage in the battle battles that are ahead they don't run and hide I mean sometimes they might they come out of hiding and they stop running and they turn back into the fight they do what Christ calls them to do in this world and what do Christ call us to do in this world I think Paul summarizes it well in Philippians chapter 2 we're to shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation holding forth the word of Truth we're supposed to proclaim the Excellency of him who called us out of Darkness into Marvelous Light we have the Blessed privilege to gather for Lord's Day worship to meet with our blessed God we see in the Book of Revelation that Jesus walks in the midst of the lampstands now Brethren I'm not suggesting he doesn't come to you in your private quiet time that he doesn't come to you in your family worship but Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the Dwelling Places of Jacob there is something special about the corporate Body of Christ people gathered together wherein he then walks in the midst of them that is our privilege and our blessing say well how does that affect culture well first and foremost it obeys God which is absolutely positively the right response secondarily the best way we can be countercultural is to just be people of the book will look odd we look weird we look bizarre but that's okay people that can't tell you what a woman is really don't matter in terms of their assessment concerning your conduct on a Sunday brethren we are ready to fight the Lord's battles I'm not advocating physical violence as church I'm not telling you to take your guns out and go shoot you know whoever as church I am simply suggesting that we fight the battles of our lore there's a parallel in the song of Deborah in Judges chapter 5 When leaders lead in Israel when the people willingly offer themselves bless the Lord that's the idea here but then that last clause or that last part of the verse and the beauties of Holiness from the womb of the morning you have the due of your youth one take is that this refers to the multitude of Christ's people Calvin represents this David extols the Divine favor displayed an Inc increasing the number of Christ's people and hence in consequence of their extraordinary increase he compares the youth or race which would be born to him as uh to the Dee not a bad interpretation other words by virtue of the fact that the king priest is enthroned on the right hand of the father and that the king priest in the upper room has said I will not leave you orphans I will send another comforter even the spirit of Truth we have this confidence that there's going to be addition to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ that should be affirmed and confirmed when you get to the Book of Revelation and we have assembled Before the Throne a great multitude that no man can number it shouldn't be surprising based on the promise to Abraham that in his seed all the nations of the Earth would be blessed look up Abraham can you count the Stars nope well your descendants are going to outnumber them look at the sand in the seashore Abraham can you count that no well your descendants are going to be more more numerous than the sand on the seashore Brethren there ought to be an expectation in our hearts that the Christ at the right hand of the father for whom from whom the Holy Spirit proceeds along with the father is going to bless the proclamation of his truth why would we pray Holy Spirit bless your word if we didn't believe it why would we pray Holy Spirit take your word make it effectual to Sinners such that they by Grace come out of Darkness into Marvelous Light if we didn't believe it perhaps we need to be more familiar Amar with the promises of the Salter that terminate on our Lord Jesus Christ and the blessings that flow to his church and it might give us that battle ready mindset now there's another interpretation that I quite like based on the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament some early interpreters saw it this way the text goes this way with thee is Dominion in the day of thy power in the splendors of thy Saints I have begotten thee from the womb before the morning of course there an early interpreter saw it as the Eternal generation of the son the son is the son not by virtue of creation or by virtue of adoption but by Nature he is eternally begotten by the father God from God light from light true God from true God begotten not made being of one substance with the father through whom all things were made again I quite like that i' at least like to think that the modern Church would know that that's an option for interpretation when it comes to Psalm 110 but let's move on to the priesthood notice the priesthood of Christ in verse 4 again a passage that you should be very familiar with there's a tell in the text if Psalm 1101 is a surprise to you and Psalm 1104 is a surprise to you your homework assignment for this week is to read the book of Hebrews okay just just just read the book of Hebrews and then you go oh that that's that's where it comes from note that statement Hebrews 5 to9 basically is an exposition of Psalm 1104 and the entirety of the book is not strictly speaking I'm speaking a bit generally expositional of Psalm 1101 but specifically we see Psalm uh Hebrews 6 and 7 deal with the priesthood of melkisedek notice in verse 4 the Lord has sworn and will not relent you are a priest forever according to the order of melchisedec there is an oath involved Hebrews 720 and 21 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 to him the decree given by God this swearing by God underscores the certainty of it this is not haphazard it's not lucky that Jesus came and happened to fulfill all these things that that was spoken of somebody generally and and he foots fits the bill no council of or the Covenant of redemption father gives to the son a multitude of miserable Sinners to to live for to die for and to be raised again for the son willingly takes that to himself and in the fullness of the time God sends forth his son born of a woman born under the law to do what to redeem those under under the law not to just start a new religion or set forth a new view of ethics but to redeem to actually save his people from their sins and what is vital to that saving his people from their sins is priesthood and sacrifice the old Covenant teaches us that how does sinful guilty dirty Israel enter into the Tabernacle and then Temple is it because they promis to do better next week is it because they you know had a few things wrong but the Lord is judging on a curve so come on in now I quite like the way Michael Morales says it they were taught that access to the holy God was through a BL bloody knife and a smoking alar The Book of Leviticus resolves the tension that is introduced in the book of Exodus Exodus ends with the Tabernacle constructed Exodus ends with God's glory coming down upon the Tabernacle Exodus ends with Moses himself not being able to enter into the Tabernacle why because he needed to be cleansed he needed to be holy he needed to be purged he needed to be washed that's what Leviticus chapters 1 to9 answer here's the sacrifice here's the priesthood at the end of chapter 9 they engage in it properly and the fire of God comes down and and consumes consumes the sacrifice and they Rejoice with joy and of course in chapter 10 they have to botch it up and then the fire comes down again but it destroys naab and Abu but there must be priesthood there must be mediatorship there must be reconciliation between two parties that are at odds with one another and that's the emphasis in the book of Hebrews so we see the Lord has sworn and will not relent you are a priest forever according to the order of meis look back to Psalm 89 for just a moment I think Psalm 89 is basically the Covenant Psalm and it rehearses the davidic Covenant 2 Samuel chter 7 so in Psalm 89 2 Samuel 7 is sort of in the backdrop there's a promise of this one who will come to save his people from their sins and notice What God Says in Psalm 89:3 if his sons forsake my law and do not walk in my judgments if they break my stat and do not keep my Commandments talking about the devic line of Kings just like 2 Samuel 7 does but in the davidic line of Kings there is this one who is particularly a Son of God there is this one who the rest of the Bible will refer to as the son of David and David's Lord notice in verse 32 then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes nevertheless my loving kindness I will not utterly take from him nor will uh allow my faithfulness to fail my Covenant I will not break nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips once I have sworn by my Holiness I will not lie to David his seed shall endure forever and his throne is the son before me it shall be established forever like the moon even like the faithful witness in the sky God swore he will not relent which as Believers this is great reminder is it it the fact is is that the priest ordained for us men and for our Salvation again wasn't ha Hazard wasn't a plan B but was always the purpose and plan of our Thrice holy and absolutely Sovereign God but as well for an unbeliever you got to understand if God is this invested in the saving of Sinners and you're a sinner to be saved you can certainly come to this Lord Jesus Christ in fact he says as much in John's gospel he says all that the father gives me will come to me there's that acknowledgement of divine sovereignty it's not halfhazard it's not lucky it's not rabbit's foot theology but all that the father gives me will come to me and he makes this blessed statement the one who comes I will certainly not cast out this is the best thing you can hear if you're still an unbeliever as you enter into a new year but I don't want you to go home and say well maybe in February of 2025 I'll come to the Lord Jesus Christ no Paul says today is the day of salvation today is the day to internalize these things today is the day to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and and you shall be saved God has sworn God will not relent he says you are a priest forever according to the order of melchisedec the New Testament application as I said is Ely Hebrews 6 and 7 surrounding context as well but what's the Old Testament reference it's Genesis 14 remember me melkisedek that that king of Salem that Priestly King comes out to meet Abram this is that order and consider that David is King over Israel at this particular time that he writes there is a functioning Tabernacle there is a functioning priesthood but David himself by the spirit knows that that's not permanent that's not forever it's typological it points forward it prefigures it it highlights New Covenant reality V the adoni that is going to be stationed at the right hand of of Yahweh after having successfully completed the task given to him such that He Reigns and rules and has dominion over all peoples the reality is is that the Old Testament was point forward to the Lord Jesus Christ to go backward in Redemptive history and rebuild the Temple to rebuild a tabernacle when the substance has come I use this illustration with our church if you're a visitor here you'll you might appreciate it if you're not you're going to go this one again I'm sorry after 27 years the repertoire does start to shrivel a bit you're just stuck with me there's certain illustrations from Envy has to do with fishing but but this one in terms of Old Testament typology and New Covenant reality you know perhaps you're a grandparent you're at your children's house and you're around the grandchildren and you're there looking at the grandchildren and you're enjoying the grandchildren you're seeing them breathe you're seeing them move and run and I mean breathing is pretty pretty easy the the the the best and brightest of them can even do that and then your your son and your daughter comes and says well look at this picture on on of of of Junior why would I want to look at the picture I got Junior right here I I want the picture for when I don't have Junior right here this backward mobility in some eschatological schemes to go back to Temple to go back to priesthood to go back to to animal atonement we've got Christ we've got substance we've got all that all those things pointed forward too the altogether lovely and chief among 10,000 has come we've seen his life his death his resurrection we know his Ascension in this current session we know the benefits through his blood why would I go back to a temple why would I go back and I'm talking about old Covenant Temple New Covenant Temple is the people of God the living stones that are the body of Christ Brethren David writing by inspiration of the Holy Spirit understood that what he was living in was not the finality of Redemptive privilege he's speaking of the Lord to come he's speaking of this order of of melkisedek and there's a parallel in in in Zechariah the prophet chapter 6: 12- 13 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 Council of peace shall be between them both the Old Testament portrayed the Messiah as Prophet priest and King the Old Testament portrayed Messiah as the Divine son who took on our Humanity for the Jews today to say well you know the Bible doesn't promise that this the Messiah would be divine what do you do with Psalm 1101 well you do what they did in Matthew's gospel after Jesus teases out the question question and after Jesus applies it and Jesus asks well well how then does he call him Lord they couldn't answer him of course they couldn't answer him they rejected him and despised him and hated and loathed him so of course they're not going to confess him as the Divine son of David that's just not going to happen see the Old Testament prophesied I mean look at the the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6 a son given a child born and we call him Mighty God as Owen says there's no way you can comport with that without the hypostatic union without the two Natures in the one person that the child born is mighty God is explained in John 1 in the beginning was the word the word was with God and the Word was God in John 1:14 the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth see what we have in the Old Testament are many several an abundance of pictures and prefigurement and types and shadows pointing forward to the substance of our Lord Jesus such that in John 1:29 when the Baptist says Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world this isn't a surprise to people they understood what Lambs in the old Covenant signified they underst OD the reality of sacrifice and priesthood you understood you just couldn't wander into the presence of a holy God in sin you had to have atonement so there was an expectation created in the Old Testament for a prophet priest and King that would come from the Lord his Humanity would be attached to David we see it expressed through Mary but his divinity would be from Everlasting from of old he is ET eternally begotten by the father of course the implication of this priesthood for believers encouragement he always lives to make intercession for us and he is our Advocate with the father brethen that would be a good thing too read Hebrews this week just kiding back to Psalm 110 1 and4 but get first John 2 and 1 and two in your heads my little children I write these things so you may not sin we only ever hear that don't we man I'm terrible I'm miserable all I ever do is sin yeah you are terrible with me you are miserable with me and all you ever do is sin with me not me particularly all of us however I make it known that that's all of our reality why do we stop there my little children I write these things so that you may not sin well probably because there's a legal spirit among many preachers that hammer you with that go be better do more morality isn't the gospel the gospel is the gospel but if anyone does sin John goes on WE John two John two we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous that's a good part of the passage to remember it ought not to promote sin Romans 6 speaks against that what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that Grace May abound may it never be you died you were buried you've been raised again with Christ Brethren John is not advocating for a licentious life but John is realistic concerning the Christian Life there's remaining corruption Romans 7 is in the Bible Galatians 5:17 is in the Bible Peter's in the Bible David's in the Bible the best heroes the champions of Israel had their sins so was different for them than us we got to be perfect yeah but she'll never be but the perfect one came and lived and died and was raised again such that whoever believes on him will receive receive forgiveness and a righteousness that avails with God that's gospel not saying there isn't morality that flows out of a a conquered sinner the the ethical imperatives of the New Testament assume that the ethical imperatives of the New Testament are more law we need the gospel always we need that Psalm 133 and4 mindset if you Lord should Mark iniquities oh Lord who could stand and he's right isn't he if thou Lord sh Mark iniquities oh Lord who could stand anyone here think they could Escape that indictment don't raise your hand please yeah I think so but he goes on there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared relief the levitical sacrifice and priesthood to leave the tension of Exodus 40 God's dwelling here but we can't go in how do we go in through a bloody knife and a smoking altar that's how you go in through our Lord Jesus Christ that is never designed to promote sin but brethren we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous it is glorious news let's finish the Triumph of Christ in verses 5 to 7 speaks of the execution of judgment in verses 5 and six and then the refreshment of the king in verse 7 note this position of universal government or power or sovereignty or authority 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 a lot of he shells there with reference to his victory and with reference to his Triumph again Brethren I confess at times it's hard to see this at at times in the history of man it's hard to remember the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your foot stol I often have wondered if that's why we see that text so often in the New Testament if not directly quoted at least alluded to what was going on in the Roman Empire in the first Century oh it was beautiful paradise on Earth only heterosexuality no confusion of gender no any kind of abortion and they just esteemed everybody no it was a mess we we visited the city of Ephesus when we went to Turkey and not far from where the library is and not far from where the school of tyrannus was remember the school of tyrannus according to Acts 19 Paul rented it for 2 years so that he could preach and teach all who were in Asia Minor it's just amazing to stand there and see that knowing that Paul had been there and then there's a street where everybody walked down sure Paul did too I I got to think he didn't fly or hover he had to actually walk there's a house of prostitution on that pathway our tour guide said hey look this is the first known advertisement it was carved into the concrete or they use better stuff than concrete cuz those roads are impeccable man wood Bin's got Cliff siiz holes in it but those Romans roads are still functional you can drive tanks on that anyways this advertisement was for the house of prostitution Paul wasn't wafting around a paradise on Earth the people of God suffered in the first century the people of God suffered at the hands of unbelieving Israel they suffered at the hands of the Godless Roman State these are the beasts of Revelation by the way in Revelation 13 the beast from the sea is the Gentile Nation we've got the beast from the land which is unbelieving Israel they suffered they they went to prison they they got martyred yet what did they always keep before that the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your foot stol Brethren Jesus is ruling Jesus is reigning and the language applied to him by David under inspiration of the spirit probably makes 21st century Christians a little squeamish we're not supposed to talk like that well I take great comfort that the king of Israel with the spirit's in Inspiration talk like that 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 that violent imagery is not Consolidated or or or rather confined to Psalm 110 listen to Davis Davis is a pastor preacher that I quite like several commentaries and this is a commentary on Joshua so different context but I think it fits this context he says the popular image of Jesus is that he is not only kind and tender but also soft and pressy I think he's right as though Jesus to us raking of hand cream such a Jesus can hardly steal dudes right now are going I use hand cream maybe that ought to be a resolution for 2025 K just kidding just kidding not getting into the Bro Wars that we see all over social media that's all weird such a Jesus can hardly steal the soul that is daily assaulted by the enemy we need to learn the catechism of Psalm 24 a brother read that at the outset of worship question who is the king of Glory answer Yahweh strong and mighty Yahweh Mighty in battle Psalm 248 we must catch the vision of the faithful and true sitting on the white Throne the one who judges and makes war in righteousness Revelation 1911 to16 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 amen brother you're right on Dorothy sers was an English novelist and poet she made this observation we have very efficiently paired the claws of the Lion of Judah certified him Meek and mild and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and Pious old ladies we're not supposed to do that he's not tame but he is good and he wages and makes makes war on his enemies that last bit he shall drink of the brook by the wayside therefore he shall lift up the head I suspect this indicates that the battle is over and then the king refreshes himself that lifting up the head is countered by his crushing the heads of his enemies I think behind all this is Genesis 3:15 and that grand first pro Pho gospel promise that the seed of the woman is going to crush the serpent David is giving us that in a snapshot David is highlighting that by way of office he is both King and priest rest of scripture tells us he's a prophet as well and he is the son of David according to his Humanity the Son of God according to his divinity well Brethren this passage does promise persecution for the people of God that Christ needs to make war and w war against his enemies means that there are still enemies you get the same bit in Matthew's gospel when Jesus says I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not Prevail against it the gates of Hades are going to try they're not going to go willingly to submit to the Lord Of Glory there's going to be that tension there's going to be that oppress if you doubt that come to a prayer meeting sometime on a Sunday morning at 9:30 and take a tour with us around the world specifically via voice of the martyrs and hear what's happening our brother whim has a contact or we our church has a contact with a fellow in Bangladesh and he's working on a on a translation of the second London Confession of Faith which is very encouraging and this week in an weekly update or check whim finds out from this brother his name is rubel that oh there was a local village where 17 out of 19 houses were burned down while the inhabitants were at church worship Services see now if we come back to that yeah yeah we got to we got to rebuild we got to get Timber we got to get money we got to get resources we got to get you know good contractors I call my sonin-law my house is on fire has been burned down but beyond all that the Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your foot stol or Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 he must reain till all of his enemies are made his foot stol what if you've lost people to death we all have it's it's hurtful it's painful what's The Last Enemy vanquished by our Sovereign Lord according to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 death itself there is going to be persecution and hardship for the people of God I would suggest this Psalm holds out encouragement for Christ's people listen to Spurgeon his commentary on the Psalms is also very good to have yet all nations shall feel his power and either yield to it joyfully or be crushed before it 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 Pope and priest Must Fall with Muhammad and other deceivers who are now heads of the people Jesus must Reign and they must perish that's what David's saying or Matthew Henry Christ's sitting at the right hand of God speaks as much Terror to his enemies as happiness to his people the enthronement of the king priest and all that is said concerning the king priest speaks as much threat and Dread and scary stuff to the enemies of Christ as it speaks peace to his church Amen brother that will preach Jesus preached it in this world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer I've overcome the world may God bless us as we enter into another year may we indeed shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation may we utilize the Blessed privileges that we have to gather together for worship for prayer for for all kinds of encouragement such that we can glorify our blessed Lord in this present evil age and may indeed God bless you if you are unconverted an unbeliever the only response to this sermon and every sermon is to look unto the Lord Jesus Christ in faith stop trying to do it on your own stop Trying to minimize say well I'm not that bad what I do I do because I've got it you know it's just a little defect of nature it ain't a defect of nature it's the sinfulness of nature nature defects are if you're born without a digit defects are if you're bald kidding defects are those things that are built in see God Made made man upright but they sought out many devices and in Adam all die we all have this sinful bent and sinful nature but the glory of the Gospel is that God has sent his son who took on our Humanity to live to die and to be raised again so that everybody with that sin can look to him in faith and be forgiven it really is great your sins are forgiven you there's no better phrase in the history of the world than that pronounced by God himself your sins are forgiven you and not only does Jesus give us that forgiveness of sins but it's almost as if he's saying look you also need to be cleaned up so that you can stand in my father's presence so I'm going to give you my righteousness as well I'm going to cleanse you with my blood I'm going to clothe you with my righteousness I'm going to fit you for entrance into that blessed place people call Heaven here and now there's some hardship here and now there's some oppression here and now there's some persecution and trial and difficulty but be of good cheer I've overcome the world there's every reason for every inner here young or old to come to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith well let us pray Our Father in Heaven thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ we thank you for all that he accomplished to redeem those under the law and we praise you that you've made us blessed participants in this wonderful Covenant of Grace we pray for the proclamation of your truth throughout the Earth we pray for the spirit's uh application of it to needy Sinners and make you cause the Saints of Christ to grow in Grace and in the knowledge of their beloved Lord we ask this in Jesus name amen well you can stand with me and we'll close our service by singing a hym of doxology and praise to God 568 568 we'll stand as we sing together all blessings PR All Creatures here PR him the heaven PR Father Son and Holy h oh Israel hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is Mercy and with him is abundant Redemption and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities amen well please be seated for a brief time of meditation e e e