SPEAKER_01: Psalms 24.
SPEAKER_01: A Psalm of David.
SPEAKER_01: The earth is the Lord's, in the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.
SPEAKER_01: For he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers.
SPEAKER_01: Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in his holy place?
SPEAKER_01: He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false, and does not swear deceitfully.
SPEAKER_01: He will receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
SPEAKER_01: Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
SPEAKER_01: Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
SPEAKER_01: Who is this King of Globe?
SPEAKER_01: The Lord, strong and mighty.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord, mighty in battle.
SPEAKER_01: Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
SPEAKER_01: Who is this King of Glory?
SPEAKER_01: The Lord of hosts.
SPEAKER_02: And you had him cry out to you and praise you, Lord, and just uh want to know you more, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: And we we want to take those words today as Brother Michael takes those to us, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Use him, your Lord, help him to be out of the way and help these words, Lord, penetrate our hearts and our minds, Lord, and and and prompt us into movement as you uh had them do for David, have them do for us, Lord, and for many other generations before and to come, Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Just thank you for this time.
SPEAKER_02: Bless us indeed, Lord, and um thank you for this all in your Son Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: And church may be seated.
SPEAKER_00: For those of you who may not know me, my name's uh Michael Gerardo.
SPEAKER_00: I had the great privilege of serving as one of the pastors here in this morning, have the opportunity to preach God's word uh yet again.
SPEAKER_00: As we read just a moment ago, we're gonna be in Psalm 24.
SPEAKER_00: So if you have a Bible, I want to invite you to begin to turn there with me.
SPEAKER_00: And as you do, I I want to begin by reading a quote from pastor and author Jonathan Landry Cruz.
SPEAKER_00: It's taken from his book, What Happens When We Worship?
SPEAKER_00: And he begins his book with the following statement.
SPEAKER_00: You'll see this quote on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Worship is a supernatural event.
SPEAKER_00: Take a moment and consider that statement.
SPEAKER_00: Worship, he says, he's talking about corporate worship.
SPEAKER_00: What we're doing here this morning, worship is a supernatural event.
SPEAKER_00: He asks, have you ever considered that?
SPEAKER_00: It's an obvious statement, really.
SPEAKER_00: An event in which we interact with a supernatural being must, by definition, be supernatural.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, if God is a supernatural being and we believe that in corporate worship we meet with this God, then our worship gathering, by definition, must be a supernatural event.
SPEAKER_00: If this is true, he then asks, then why is it that we so often approach worship with a sense of boredom instead of astonishment?
SPEAKER_00: With yawns instead of awe?
SPEAKER_00: Now consider just for a brief moment your posture this morning as you engage in corporate worship.
SPEAKER_00: Are you bored out of your mind?
SPEAKER_00: Are you astonished that you get to meet with the living God?
SPEAKER_00: Do you find yourself yawning as we engage with the different elements of worship, or do you stand in awe of the fact that we get to meet with the God described here in Psalm 24?
SPEAKER_00: How are you approaching corporate worship today?
SPEAKER_00: Cruz continues and he says, astounding and spectacular are perhaps not the first adjectives most people would use to describe the average church going experience.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, many people would charge worship with being dull, dry, and tedious.
SPEAKER_00: And even if some of us haven't said it out loud, most of us have thought it at one point.
SPEAKER_00: And then he says this worship is never dull, but we are.
SPEAKER_00: Worship is never dull, but we are.
SPEAKER_00: Church going is monotonous and mundane only because our eyes are blinded to the supernatural wonder that is taking place all around us.
SPEAKER_00: Now, the the purpose of Landry's book and what he goes on to explain is the fact that in God's divine wisdom, he has designed this supernatural event to unfold through ordinary means.
SPEAKER_00: Things like reading the word, praying the word, singing the word, preaching the word, seeing the word through the ordinances, much like we're doing this very morning.
SPEAKER_00: But listen, while it may seem ordinary, nevertheless, a supernatural event is taking place every time we gather as a church to worship this supernatural being.
SPEAKER_00: Church, I wonder how might our approach, our perspective, and even our engagement in corporate worship change if we truly believe that to be true.
SPEAKER_00: That here, now, in this very moment, as we sit in this very room, the living God is present with us in a special way.
SPEAKER_00: The all-knowing, ever-present, all-powerful, all-sufficient God of the universe is present here and now.
SPEAKER_00: What we often treat as dull, dry, and tedious would become what it truly is: astounding and spectacular.
SPEAKER_00: The people of God, in the presence of God, being shaped and formed by the word of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what Psalm 24 helps us to do.
SPEAKER_00: It reorients our vision by reminding us that worship is ultimately about the presence of God among his people.
SPEAKER_00: See, although the subscript of Psalm 24, as we read just a moment ago, only identifies its author as King David, most scholars believe it was likely written to celebrate the entrance of the Ark into Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: You can read the historical context of this in 2 Samuel chapter 6 as well as 1 Chronicles 15 and 16.
SPEAKER_00: But here's just a brief overview of the context.
SPEAKER_00: David has just been established the king over Israel, and one of his first acts of leadership is to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Now remember, the ark was the place where God's presence was uniquely manifested in the tabernacle, dwelling within the most holy place.
SPEAKER_00: And so King David is bringing the ark to Jerusalem, and to mark the occasion, he writes Psalm 24.
SPEAKER_00: A Psalm declaring that when the Ark entered the city, the very presence of God was in the midst of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, Psalm 24 confronts us with this staggering reality.
SPEAKER_00: When God's people gather, they gather before the keen of glory.
SPEAKER_00: But see, as Christians, we read all of Scripture on the other side of the cross, which means that we have to read, we have to interpret, and we have to apply Psalm 24 in light of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: So essentially, I want us to ask and answer two questions from this text this morning.
SPEAKER_00: You'll see these questions on the string.
SPEAKER_00: First, as we read Psalm 24, we're asking, who is this king of glory in our midst?
SPEAKER_00: Who is this God whose presence we encounter in corporate worship?
SPEAKER_00: And then secondly, how does the gospel enable sinful people like us to experience his presence?
SPEAKER_00: How does the gospel enable us to encounter this king of glory?
SPEAKER_00: And with that being said, let's jump into our text and let's answer these questions together.
SPEAKER_00: The first marker, if you will, that identifies this king of glory in Psalm 24 is the fact that he is the creator king who rules and reigns over all.
SPEAKER_00: He is the creator king.
SPEAKER_00: We find this identity marker in the first two verses of the Psalm.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 1 begins The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: He begins with this emphatic statement everything and everyone belongs to God.
SPEAKER_00: There's not a single atom or molecule that is not the ownership of God Almighty.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, verse two tells us.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse two.
SPEAKER_00: He says, for, right?
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, here's the reason for the statement in verse one, for he, God, has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, everything and everyone belongs to God because everything and everyone was created by God, right?
SPEAKER_00: All of creation is stamped with this message made by God.
SPEAKER_00: This is the very first thing revealed about God in the scriptures, right?
SPEAKER_00: The fact that He's a creator King, Genesis 1.
SPEAKER_00: In the beginning, God what?
SPEAKER_00: Created the heavens and the earth.
SPEAKER_00: And this simple phrase found at the very beginning of the Bible, the first words of the Bible, becomes the primary identified used all throughout the Old Testament to tell us who this God is.
SPEAKER_00: When we ask the question, who is the God of the Bible?
SPEAKER_00: What distinguishes him from the other so-called gods?
SPEAKER_00: The biblical answer in the Old Testament is he is the maker of heaven and earth.
SPEAKER_00: See, the pagan religions of the ancient Near East, they worshiped so-called gods who had control over certain facets of creation.
SPEAKER_00: As a matter of fact, some scholars believe David refers to the seas and the rivers in verse 2 for this very reason.
SPEAKER_00: But unlike these so-called gods, the God of the Bible, Yahweh, he created the seas and the rivers and everything that lives in it.
SPEAKER_00: And because he created all of it, he is king over all of it.
SPEAKER_00: He is the sovereign creator, the one who rules and reigns over not some, but all of creation, which includes you and me.
SPEAKER_00: In Romans 11, the Apostle Paul provides us with a simple framework for understanding God as the creator king.
SPEAKER_00: At the end of his doxology, Paul writes this for from him, from God, and through God and to God are all things.
SPEAKER_00: To him be glory forever.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: In his commentary on Romans, Andrew Naselli says that Paul essentially asks and answers three questions in this doxology that provides a framework for understanding God as creator.
SPEAKER_00: You'll see these on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: First, he asks the question, where?
SPEAKER_00: Where did everything come from?
SPEAKER_00: All that we see around us, from the stars in the sky to the fish in the sea, where did it come from?
SPEAKER_00: And the answer is from him.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, God is the source of all things, the foundation or the spring from which everything else flows from.
SPEAKER_00: It comes from him.
SPEAKER_00: And then he asks a second question: how?
SPEAKER_00: How did everything come to be?
SPEAKER_00: It comes from God, but how did it get here?
SPEAKER_00: And the answer is through him, for he is the means of all things, right?
SPEAKER_00: Not only does it come from him, but he created all that we see and enjoy through the power of his word.
SPEAKER_00: He spoke and it came to be.
SPEAKER_00: It all comes generously from his hand, who fashioned us in his image.
SPEAKER_00: Lastly, then Paul asks, why?
SPEAKER_00: Why was everything created?
SPEAKER_00: What's its ultimate purpose?
SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, it's it's to him.
SPEAKER_00: God is the end of all things.
SPEAKER_00: Everything created is ultimately meant to find their joy, their purpose, their happiness in him, because we were created for him.
SPEAKER_00: The ultimate end of all of creation is to enjoy and savor the presence of God as it was intended to be.
SPEAKER_00: Just like Adam and Eve in Genesis 1 and 2, having unmitigated access to the presence of God in the garden, that's why we were created for God Himself.
SPEAKER_00: And nothing brings God greater glory than his creation enjoying his presence.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the question I want us to consider.
SPEAKER_00: Is that the current relationship between the creator and his creation?
SPEAKER_00: Does the creature relate to God the creator as the king of glory?
SPEAKER_00: And the simple answer is no.
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: Creation no longer enjoys the presence of God because our relationship to the creator has been fundamentally altered by the reality of sin.
SPEAKER_00: Just like Adam and Eve, we have been separated from the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Well, Paul tells us in Romans 1, because we exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and we worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator.
SPEAKER_00: In essence, rather than worshiping God as the creator king, as we see him here in Psalm 24, we have sought to make ourselves creaturely kings.
SPEAKER_00: We have attempted to rob God of the glory that he and he alone is worthy of receiving.
SPEAKER_00: And listen, the broken relationship between the creator and his creation cannot be reconciled by any amount of effort, whether religious or moral in nature.
SPEAKER_00: And this is where the gospel meets Psalm 24.
SPEAKER_00: See, it's not enough that we are created in the image of God.
SPEAKER_00: Because of sin, you and I must be recreated by the Son of God.
SPEAKER_00: We must be born again, made into new creations in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the gospel application I want us to see.
SPEAKER_00: Again, we're we're asking and answering two questions.
SPEAKER_00: Who is this king of glory?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the first thing we see in Psalm 24 is that he's the creator king, but more importantly, we want to ask and answer the question: how does the gospel enable sinners like us to be back in his presence?
SPEAKER_00: Here it is.
SPEAKER_00: Through the gospel, we are made new creations in Christ, reconciling us back to the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's the gospel that recreates us in Jesus and that reconciles us back to the presence of this God that we're meant to worship.
SPEAKER_00: Again, as always, the Apostle Paul summarizes this reality so neatly for us when he writes the following to the Corinthian church.
SPEAKER_00: He says this.
SPEAKER_00: He says, If anyone is in Christ, he is what?
SPEAKER_00: A new creation.
SPEAKER_00: He says, The old has passed away.
SPEAKER_00: Behold, the new has come.
SPEAKER_00: If anyone is in Christ, we don't have time to unpack that statement, but this prepositional phrase in Christ is used by Paul all throughout his letters to identify us Christians.
SPEAKER_00: When we place our faith and trust in the finished work of Christ, we are transferred from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: And in doing so, our entire identity, who we are, is now wrapped up in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: We're united with Jesus in such a way that the only way Paul knows how to describe it is to say that we are in him.
SPEAKER_00: And those who are in him, according to 2 Corinthians, are what?
SPEAKER_00: Made?
SPEAKER_00: New creations.
SPEAKER_00: We're completely born again, recreated.
SPEAKER_00: In the same way that God spoke to the darkness in Genesis 1 and said, Let there be light.
SPEAKER_00: In the same way that God formed Adam from the dust and breathed life into his nostrils in Genesis 2.
SPEAKER_00: He now forms us by the power of his word, the gospel, and he breathes into our lifeless souls, bringing us from death to life.
SPEAKER_00: That's the work of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: The old, dead, rebellious sinner has passed away, and behold, the born again, new creation in Christ has come.
SPEAKER_00: But don't miss the outcome.
SPEAKER_00: This is what I want us to see.
SPEAKER_00: Don't miss the outcome.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 18.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says, All this is from God, this new creation work.
SPEAKER_00: It's from God who through Christ did what?
SPEAKER_00: Say the word with me.
SPEAKER_00: Reconciled, reconciled us to Himself.
SPEAKER_00: That's a relational word.
SPEAKER_00: Ken Sandy, many of you read his book several months ago.
SPEAKER_00: He he defines this word.
SPEAKER_00: It means to replace hostility and separation with peace and friendship.
SPEAKER_00: We who are once the enemies of God now become the friends of God.
SPEAKER_00: We who ran from God are now welcomed back into his presence.
SPEAKER_00: We who were separated from the presence of this God that we're meant to enjoy are restored back into relationship with him.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I want us to see, church.
SPEAKER_00: That changes the way we think about corporate worship.
SPEAKER_00: We don't gather this morning as spiritual orphans, hoping God might tolerate us for an hour.
SPEAKER_00: We don't gather as condemned sinners attempting to earn access into God's presence through our performance.
SPEAKER_00: No, we gather as new creations in Christ, reconciled to God, and therefore welcomed to enjoy the very presence of the one whom we were made to know.
SPEAKER_00: Church, when you sing, you're not merely participating in a religious exercise.
SPEAKER_00: When you pray, you're not speaking into the void.
SPEAKER_00: When you sit under the preaching of God's word as you're doing right now, you're not simply listening to information.
SPEAKER_00: When you come to the Lord's table as we'll do at the end of our gathering, you're not simply eating and drinking in every single one of these elements, as ordinary as they might be, we are encountering the very presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason we can do so is because we have been made new creations.
SPEAKER_00: Because we have been reconciled.
SPEAKER_00: Who is this King of glory in our midst?
SPEAKER_00: According to Psalm 24, he's the creator king who rules and reigns over all.
SPEAKER_00: How does the gospel enable us to enjoy his presence?
SPEAKER_00: He makes dead sinners new creations, reconciling us back to God.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the second thing we see in this text.
SPEAKER_00: Who is this king of glory?
SPEAKER_00: The second thing is he is the holy king who is set apart from all.
SPEAKER_00: The holy king.
SPEAKER_00: The psalm now asks a question.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse three with me.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: And who shall stand in his holy place?
SPEAKER_00: That phrase, the hill of the Lord, is a reference to Mount Zion, the location of the temple in Jerusalem, the very place that was built to resemble the Garden of Eden, the place where Adam and Eve enjoyed the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: Indeed, the hill of the Lord was considered a holy place because it is there that the presence of God was said to dwell in a special way among the people of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: But notice the question.
SPEAKER_00: The question isn't simply meant to identify the location of God's special presence, right?
SPEAKER_00: These aren't GPS coordinates.
SPEAKER_00: The question is meant to do something different.
SPEAKER_00: It's meant to draw a sharp contrast between God and the worshiper.
SPEAKER_00: He asks, who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Who shall stand in his holy place?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: The question is meant to point us to the character of God, to his holiness.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, what makes the location holy is because God's presence is there and God is holy.
SPEAKER_00: So what does this term reveal about God's character?
SPEAKER_00: Well, the root word in Hebrew means to cut or to separate.
SPEAKER_00: So to say that God is holy means He is He's set apart, He is differentiated from everything and everyone else.
SPEAKER_00: In essence, it reveals His otherness.
SPEAKER_00: The fact that nothing or no one can be compared to God.
SPEAKER_00: This one word describes His supremacy, his majesty, His beauty, His glory.
SPEAKER_00: But more particularly, His holiness reveals His absolute.
SPEAKER_00: Absolute moral purity.
SPEAKER_00: The fact that God is without sin, He is but pure light.
SPEAKER_00: There is no shadow of turning with God, not even the slightest hint of darkness.
SPEAKER_00: And because of that reality, listen, because of that sin, and more importantly, sinners cannot exist in the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: At least not without the severe consequences of his holy judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Which brings us back to the question at hand.
SPEAKER_00: Who shall ascend?
SPEAKER_00: Who shall stand?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: The worshiper who desires to ascend God's hill, the worshiper who desires to stand before his holy presence must first carefully examine himself.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because there are certain requirements that must be met to stand before this holy king.
SPEAKER_00: And those requirements are revealed in verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: Look at verse 4.
SPEAKER_00: The psalmist says now, he answers the question he who has clean hands.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: This refers to outward actions, though the way of one's life.
SPEAKER_00: He says, He who has a pure heart.
SPEAKER_00: This refers to inward disposition or the purity of motivation.
SPEAKER_00: Third, he says, he who does not lift up his soul to what is false, right?
SPEAKER_00: Someone who isn't given over to idolatry.
SPEAKER_00: And lastly, he who does not swear deceitfully.
SPEAKER_00: The psalmist mentions the hands, the heart, and the soul.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, all of who we are.
SPEAKER_00: If we could boil down the requirements to one single word, it would be holiness.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, we must be holy in order to stand before the holy king.
SPEAKER_00: I love how Charles Spurgeon responds to these requirements in his commentary on this psalm in a way that only Spurgeon can summarize as he says this.
SPEAKER_00: You'll see this quote on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: He says, It is uphill work for the creature to reach the Creator.
SPEAKER_00: Where is the mighty climber who can scale the towering heights?
SPEAKER_00: Nor is it height alone, it's glory too.
SPEAKER_00: Whose eyes shall see the king and his beauty and dwell in his palace?
SPEAKER_00: In heaven he reigns most gloriously.
SPEAKER_00: Who shall be permitted to enter his royal presence?
SPEAKER_00: Indeed, if none must ascend, but but he that is clean and pure, the question is quickly answered.
SPEAKER_00: None shall, for there is none so.
SPEAKER_00: Dust is our matter, so not clean.
SPEAKER_00: Defiled is our nature, so not pure.
SPEAKER_00: So no ascending so high for any of us.
SPEAKER_00: Who shall stand the hill of the Lord?
SPEAKER_00: Who shall ascend the hill?
SPEAKER_00: Who shall stand in his holy place?
SPEAKER_00: No one, no not one.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because sin has infected every single one of our faculties.
SPEAKER_00: Everything that makes us human, our hearts, our minds, our will, our affections, our actions, all of it has been infected by sin.
SPEAKER_00: This is the doctrine of total depravity.
SPEAKER_00: Again, the question that the psalmist is asking is meant to draw a contrast between God and the worshiper.
SPEAKER_00: He is holy, and we are, to say the least, not.
SPEAKER_00: If he is, as scripture says, holy, holy, holy, then we are sinful, sinful, sinful, and the two are violently opposed to each other.
SPEAKER_00: Sinners cannot stand before the presence of a holy God.
SPEAKER_00: But in Psalm 24, we find the people of God, Israel, sinners, just like you and I, in the presence of the Holy One.
SPEAKER_00: Remember the context.
SPEAKER_00: David is bringing the Ark of the Covenant, the place where His presence was uniquely manifested into Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: The people have gathered to celebrate and worship.
SPEAKER_00: And the question we should be asking, especially in light of knowing that God is holy, how can these sinners stand before his presence?
SPEAKER_00: And the answer, simply put, is sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: Sacrifices.
SPEAKER_00: We read this in 1 Chronicles 16, where this historical event is recorded.
SPEAKER_00: It says, And they, Israel's priests, they brought in the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they did what?
SPEAKER_00: They offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, they offered sacrifices to God.
SPEAKER_00: Stick with me here for just a second.
SPEAKER_00: Don't miss what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: We're reading in between the lines, if you will, of Psalm 24, trying to make sense of how sinners can stand before this holy God.
SPEAKER_00: And we don't have time to get into every specific detail of the sacrificial system.
SPEAKER_00: For that, I point you to the wonderful book of Leviticus.
SPEAKER_00: But in essence, the sinful worshiper would bring his sacrifice near the altar.
SPEAKER_00: He would place his hand on the animal's head while confessing his sin as a way of identifying himself with the sacrifice.
SPEAKER_00: He would then grab the animal, he would cut its throat, and he would spill its blood.
SPEAKER_00: The priest would then come, he'd take the blood and he'd sprinkle it on the altar.
SPEAKER_00: The animal's body was then skinned, cut into pieces, washed, and arranged on the altar where it would finally be consumed by fire and transformed into smoke that would ascend to God's presence.
SPEAKER_00: The institution of sacrifices in the Old Testament wasn't a method designed by man to gain God's favor.
SPEAKER_00: No, it was a system divinely designed and graciously instituted by God to provide a way for sinful men to enter God's presence.
SPEAKER_00: It was a way for sinful men to receive clean hands and a pure heart.
SPEAKER_00: How?
SPEAKER_00: Through the shedding of blood.
SPEAKER_00: And the result is verse 5 of Psalm 24.
SPEAKER_00: What does the psalmist say?
SPEAKER_00: He.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: He who has clean hands and a pure heart, which can ultimately only be received through sacrifice, he will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
SPEAKER_00: Righteousness from God.
SPEAKER_00: And here's why this is so fascinating.
SPEAKER_00: This is the Old Testament equivalent of the New Testament doctrine of justification by faith.
SPEAKER_00: He, the worshiper, will receive or be given righteousness from God, a right standing before God that does not come from the sinner.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, it comes from the Holy King himself.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the gospel application I want us to see in connection to this point.
SPEAKER_00: How does the gospel enable sinners like us to experience God's holy presence?
SPEAKER_00: You'll see this on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: Through the gospel, we are made righteous in Christ, giving us access to the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: Through the gospel, we're made righteous in Jesus, and we're given access to this holy God in his presence.
SPEAKER_00: See, the Old Testament system of sacrifices was ultimately instituted to point us to Jesus, the Lamb of God who would be slaughtered for sinners that we might become the righteousness of God.
SPEAKER_00: The second person of the Trinity, Jesus, God Himself, came into this world to identify with sinners like us.
SPEAKER_00: The Holy Son of God, he who indeed had clean hands and a pure heart, surrendered himself to human flesh so that our sin could be placed upon his head, so that his blood could be shed on our behalf, so that we might be sprinkled with his blood, and in turn we would receive his righteousness.
SPEAKER_00: Go back with me to 2 Corinthians 5.
SPEAKER_00: You'll see this on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: This is what the Apostle Paul declares later in that same passage we read a moment ago about becoming new creations.
SPEAKER_00: He says this, for our sake, he, God, made him, Jesus, to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him, in Jesus, we sinners might become the righteousness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Many scholars refer to this text as a scandalous exchange.
SPEAKER_00: The holy Son of God, the one who truly possessed clean hands and a pure heart, steps in to the place of holy, unholy sinners.
SPEAKER_00: The one who knew no sin is treated as though he were sin itself, so that sinners like us might receive what does not naturally belong to us, the righteousness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Clean hands, a pure heart, a right standing before this holy God.
SPEAKER_00: The very thing that Psalm 20 says, Psalm 24 says, is required to ascend the hill of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But again, here's what I don't want us to miss.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Why would God give us his son?
SPEAKER_00: Why would Christ shed his blood?
SPEAKER_00: Why would he declare sinners righteous?
SPEAKER_00: Listen, church, it's not merely so we could avoid judgment.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God that we won't be judged.
SPEAKER_00: Church, it's not merely so that we could be forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God that we're forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, it's so that we might have access to his holy presence.
SPEAKER_00: This is exactly how the writer of Hebrews applies this truth when he reminds us that all of the Old Testament sacrifices find their fulfillment in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He writes this.
SPEAKER_00: See this on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near.
SPEAKER_00: With a true heart and full assurance of faith, with a heart sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
SPEAKER_00: Because we have confidence in the blood of Christ, he says, Let us draw near.
SPEAKER_00: The same language as Psalm 24.
SPEAKER_00: Ascend, stand, enter, draw near.
SPEAKER_00: Which is exactly what the worshipers do in Psalm 24, verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: Such is the generation of those who what?
SPEAKER_00: Who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob, those who are given clean hands and pure hearts seek the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: Again, church, may we not forget that every time we gather in this room.
SPEAKER_00: We are gathering before a holy God.
SPEAKER_00: So yes, may we come humbly and reverently, but may we also come confidently.
SPEAKER_00: Through Christ, sinners like us who can never climb the hill of the Lord are invited into his holy presence, not trembling in uncertainty, not hoping our good deeds are enough, not pretending like we have clean hands while hiding dirty hearts, but with confidence.
SPEAKER_00: The writer of Hebrews says, with assurance, with hearts sprinkled clean by the blood of Christ, we don't gather this morning, attempting to manufacture holiness through our performance.
SPEAKER_00: We do not have to sing louder, pray harder, or listen better in hopes of earning access to God's presence.
SPEAKER_00: No, through the gospel, access has already been secured.
SPEAKER_00: So what's our response?
SPEAKER_00: We do not stand at a distance from the God who is drawn near to us.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, we come boldly, joyfully, reverently, we come drawing near to the presence of this holy king.
SPEAKER_00: So he's the creator king, he's the holy king.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the last thing we see in this text.
SPEAKER_00: We're asking the question: who is this king of glory in our midst?
SPEAKER_00: He is the warrior king who is victorious over all.
SPEAKER_00: The warrior king.
SPEAKER_00: We now come to the last few verses, verses seven through ten, that record what can only be described as a liturgical movement, this back and forth, this call and response between the psalmist and the congregation that's gathered to worship as the ark is coming into the city.
SPEAKER_00: It begins with the leader in verse seven.
SPEAKER_00: Look back at these verses with me, instructing the gates and the ancient doors of the city to be lifted up.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
SPEAKER_00: The people respond with the question, Who is this King of Glory?
SPEAKER_00: The answer, he's the Lord, he's Yahweh, strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
SPEAKER_00: Look at the exclamation point.
SPEAKER_00: They're yelling this out.
SPEAKER_00: The leader would again repeat the instructions Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of Glory may come in.
SPEAKER_00: Who is this King of Glory?
SPEAKER_00: The congregation asks.
SPEAKER_00: And they respond, The Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.
SPEAKER_00: Now, what's taking place in these verses was also a historical reality.
SPEAKER_00: When a king and his army would return home from battle, they would be met by the citizens of the kingdom who awaited their victorious king with cheers and celebratory praise.
SPEAKER_00: We've all seen movies where something like this takes place, right?
SPEAKER_00: A king majestically rides into his kingdom on a white horse or perhaps a chariot with throngs of people covering the city streets, right?
SPEAKER_00: Think of the movie Gladiator.
SPEAKER_00: This is exactly what's taking place in Psalm 24.
SPEAKER_00: The phrases strong and mighty, mighty in battle.
SPEAKER_00: These are descriptive phrases that portray God as a warrior who fights on behalf of his people.
SPEAKER_00: And this is further exemplified by the title that's given to God.
SPEAKER_00: He's referred to as the Lord of hosts.
SPEAKER_00: This is a title which simply means commander of the heavenly armies.
SPEAKER_00: This title is used over 126 times in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: At times it's just simply translated as the Lord Almighty.
SPEAKER_00: The one who has command over legions of armies that he deploys on behalf of his people to fight for them.
SPEAKER_00: This is who the Lord of hosts is.
SPEAKER_00: And then we read this, you'll see these verses on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: It says, When the servant of the man of God, that's Elisha's servant, rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city.
SPEAKER_00: The army of Syria was outside of their home.
SPEAKER_00: And Elisha's servant sees the army and he cries out, Alas, my master, prophet, what shall we do?
SPEAKER_00: He's rightfully freaking out.
SPEAKER_00: And how does Elisha respond?
SPEAKER_00: He says, Do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: For those who are with us are more than those who are with them.
SPEAKER_00: And you can imagine the servant looking around, going, Bro, what are you talking about?
SPEAKER_00: There's two of us and an army outside.
SPEAKER_00: And verse 17, Elijah just prays.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Oh Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.
SPEAKER_00: And so the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
SPEAKER_00: What is he referring to?
SPEAKER_00: The angel army of the Lord of hosts.
SPEAKER_00: This is who God is, the one who in Psalm 91, as we read earlier this morning, commands his angels concerning Israel to guard them in all of their ways.
SPEAKER_00: And the same God who fought for the people of Israel in the Old Testament is the same God who fights for us today.
SPEAKER_00: The book of Hebrews tells us, I was just reading it this ear earlier this week, that angels are spirits who minister and serve the church.
SPEAKER_00: They exist to serve us.
SPEAKER_00: There is not a single battle in this life that we face alone.
SPEAKER_00: No, the Lord of hosts fights for us even when we're unaware of it.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, church, we don't want to get caught up with angels this morning.
SPEAKER_00: We want to get caught up with God.
SPEAKER_00: The greatest battle that God has victoriously fought on our behalf.
SPEAKER_00: The greatest battle he has fought and decisively won was the battle that kept us separated from his presence.
SPEAKER_00: The battle against sin and death.
SPEAKER_00: Here's the gospel promise I want us to see this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Again, you'll see this on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: We're asking, how does the gospel enable us to experience the presence of this warrior king?
SPEAKER_00: Here it is, through the gospel, sin and death are defeated by Christ, enabling us to welcome the presence of God, just as Israel did in Psalm 24.
SPEAKER_00: Through the gospel, sin and death are defeated.
SPEAKER_00: So we get to welcome this God in our midst.
SPEAKER_00: The greatest enemies that have ever waged war against our souls are sin and death.
SPEAKER_00: Twin tyrants bent on keeping us from God.
SPEAKER_00: We were like prisoners held captive by sin, shackled and bound, being marched directly toward the gallows, hopeless and helpless to do anything to free ourselves until we finally meet our end, death.
SPEAKER_00: Eternal separation from the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the good news.
SPEAKER_00: Not only do we have a savior who took sin on our behalf, who became sin for us, not only do we have a savior who tasted death for us, who was willing to be crushed on our behalf.
SPEAKER_00: No, dying itself would not be enough.
SPEAKER_00: As J.I.
SPEAKER_00: Packer quips, he says, the Jesus of the Gospels can still be your hero, but he cannot be your savior if he did not rise.
SPEAKER_00: Church, Jesus lived, he died, and then he rose again.
SPEAKER_00: He overcame sin and death by overcoming the grave itself.
SPEAKER_00: The resurrection of Jesus Christ is a necessity for the claims of the gospel to be true and effective.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, there is no salvation apart from an empty tomb.
SPEAKER_00: I know we just recently finished the book of 1 Corinthians, but let me remind us of how Paul declares that the claims of the gospel are dependent on this reality.
SPEAKER_00: He writes this in chapter 15.
SPEAKER_00: He says, If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile.
SPEAKER_00: And listen, church, you are still in your sins.
SPEAKER_00: Understand what Paul is saying.
SPEAKER_00: If Jesus simply died but remained in the grave, then sin still wins, death still reigns.
SPEAKER_00: We would still be prisoners, condemned and separated from the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: Our faith would be useless.
SPEAKER_00: But praise God, he says the following in verse 20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
SPEAKER_00: But in fact, three glorious words Christ has been raised from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: The stone was rolled away, the tomb was found empty.
SPEAKER_00: Church, listen, the church, the church is not only evidence that the death of Christ was sufficient to cover our sins.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't merely prove that the battle against sin and death has been fought and won.
SPEAKER_00: Sin has been condemned.
SPEAKER_00: Death has been conquered.
SPEAKER_00: The enemies that kept us exiled from the presence of God, listen, have been decisively defeated by Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The warrior king walked out of the grave victoriously.
SPEAKER_00: Which leads Paul to end the chapter by taunting death itself.
SPEAKER_00: He looks death straight in the face and he mocks it in defiance.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Oh death, where's your victory?
SPEAKER_00: Oh death, where is your sting?
SPEAKER_00: The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
SPEAKER_00: But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Death has been disarmed, its sting has been broken, its victory turned on its head as it lays helplessly on the ground.
SPEAKER_00: Church, listen, not because we fought harder, not because we became stronger, but because the warrior king once and for all trampled on the head of the serpent, as he was promised to do all the way in Genesis 3.
SPEAKER_00: The end result, we can once again welcome the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: The enemies that bar the gates of Eden have been dismantled.
SPEAKER_00: The powers that kept us from ascending the hill of the Lord have been covered.
SPEAKER_00: Conquered, the ancient doors to God's presence have been flung wide open.
SPEAKER_00: Church, listen, this morning the gates have been lifted, and the king of glory is now among us.
SPEAKER_00: And how do we welcome him?
SPEAKER_00: We welcome him as Psalm 24 does with praise.
SPEAKER_00: We worship him.
SPEAKER_00: We fall at his feet with thanksgiving.
SPEAKER_00: We offer him our very lives in response.
SPEAKER_00: As I've been doing all morning, I'll remind you one last time.
SPEAKER_00: Every time we gather as the church, we gather not as fearful captives, wondering who will win the war.
SPEAKER_00: We gather as a redeemed people standing beneath the banner of a victorious king.
SPEAKER_00: We welcome the king of glory among us because our sin has been forgiven, death has been defeated, and the way into God's presence has been forever opened.
SPEAKER_00: So here's my prayer for us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: May corporate worship never become dull, dry, or tedious.
SPEAKER_00: Instead, like Elisha praying for his servant, may the Lord open our eyes to see the greater reality taking place around us.
SPEAKER_00: Not merely the angels that minister among God's people.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord of hosts himself, the warrior king, the holy king, the creator king, present with his gathered church.
SPEAKER_00: And when our eyes are open to that reality, may boredom give way to astonishment.
SPEAKER_00: May yawns give way to awe.
SPEAKER_00: May routine be replaced with reverence.
SPEAKER_00: Because we have begun to see what is truly happening here and now, a supernatural event.
SPEAKER_00: The redeemed people of God welcomed into the presence of God to be shaped and formed by the Word of God.
SPEAKER_00: Who is this King of glory?
SPEAKER_00: He is the Lord of hosts, the King of glory.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for the opportunity to gather before your presence.
SPEAKER_00: What a staggering reality.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that each and every single one of us, as we even prepare to come to the tables in just a moment, may we may we pause for just a moment to breathe that reality in.
SPEAKER_00: You are present.
SPEAKER_00: The one who created the world here, present with us, the one who gave his son for us, to die for us, present here with us.
SPEAKER_00: The one who continues to fight on our behalf here, present with us.
SPEAKER_00: Give us eyes to see, hearts to respond, and then a will to live obediently to all that you ask us, because it's empowered by your Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: We ask and pray all this in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.