Entering in through Christ by faith (Quality: Average)

[0:00] In the name of God, trusting to receive the Holy Ghost, we continue our meditation in the second book of Samuel, chapter the seventh, verse the eighteenth.

[0:19] The second book of Samuel, chapter the seventh, verse the eighteenth. Then went King David in and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God?

[0:44] And what is my house that thou hast brought me hither to? Our spiritual meditation in the divine service this afternoon, related to this sacred incident in the life of King David, when he knew a respite of peace and rest and joy and meditation and contemplation and expectation and communion with his God has exemplified in this very significant word, sat before the Lord.

[1:54] Now, this evening, I shall trust to continue from that point in our spiritual dissertation and to show you an amazing truth, couching beneath in the whole subject matter that is narrated in this chapter.

[2:28] and it may be concisely defined in this manner.

[2:40] David proposed to the Lord that he should build him an house for the Ark of the Cabinet, and the Lord accepted the desire that was in his gracious heart, showing that the Lord had priority over all things in his affections.

[3:20] that his son was to build this house. But the concise way to define it is this.

[3:32] Just as the Lord accepted the spiritual desire and wish of David to build him an house, which was fulfilled in the reign of his son Solomon.

[3:51] When he responded to that, and this is the amazing thing, the Lord promised David that he would build him an house.

[4:06] And that is the remarkable thing in this chapter. Here is David proposing to build God a house.

[4:17] And when the Lord responded, and said that it was well, that it was in his heart, and he received that desire of love and worship, and that he gave him the promise that he would build him a house.

[4:37] Now that's the wonder of this chapter. I do not know whether you have observed it. And let me immediately define before you the very nature of the promise to David that he would build him a house.

[5:02] That promise was the promise of the Messiah, and of his kingdom and peace, his house.

[5:17] There should be no end. So here is the promise of the coming, the advent of the Lord Jesus, and of his house, that David now received the promise of from the Lord.

[5:44] And I want just to put it to our beloved and spiritual friends. Do you hope that you are a part of this spiritual house that the Lord promised David he would build for him?

[6:08] Well, that is a very wonderful definition, really, of the whole spiritual content of this amazing vicissitude and episode and spiritual experience in the life of King David.

[6:37] So you may see in this chapter when the Lord said, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.

[6:56] He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. This then is the promise of Christ and of his kingdom.

[7:16] Well now, without any further introduction, I want to come by the grace of God to the spiritual content of this 18th verse.

[7:35] And you will notice that there are two steps. In fact, there are three steps.

[7:48] First, then went King David in. He went in. And before we come to expound this by the grace of God, God, I put it to our spiritual friends, did you feel that you went in this morning in the prayer meeting?

[8:19] You went in. Because this spells out excess through the mediation of our great high priest to the Holy Father.

[8:36] You went in. Through the rent aisle. Through the intercession, mediation, and advocacy of our great high priest enthroned in glory.

[8:55] So, he went in. And then, he sat before the Lord.

[9:08] And then, he uttered from his soul these notable words, Who am I, O Lord God?

[9:20] What is my house that thou hast brought me hither to? So, firstly, then went King David in.

[9:34] It is obvious that he went into the tabernacle.

[9:46] And he went before the ark of the covenant. He went in. And I want to bring before you as help the amazing character of this.

[10:05] When hisotiab gave away Milton. And he was seated.

[10:17] When you're able to abraíssive you and did everyone else at these days. God becomes cognizant of is the spiritual fact that it is possible under certain circumstances that are obtained from heaven for you to go in, that is, into the inner court and ultimately into the holiest of all. So I want to deliver to you the essential spiritual and divine rudiments of this going in. I mean, after all, if you don't go in, if there's no access, you feel miserable, wretched, and hard, and distressed in your mind. No access, no going in. Well, there are two sides to this. One is the objective side and the other the subjective. The objective side is this. Take, for instance, a poor, guilty, wretched sinner, undone and ruined in himself, who has known what it is to be law-condemned and felt to be lost and ruined and wretched and undone. And then, by the sacred energy and divine power of the Holy Ghost, the precious incarnate Son of God has been revealed to your soul. Now, immediately, you know that there is a way in, that Jesus is the way, and there is a way to God for you and a way into heaven for you through this precious, precious, precious, precious person of our dear Redeemer. I want to spell this out just a little. How is it possible, then, objectively, what is this foundation, doctrine divine? It is this, that the Son of God assumed into indiscible union with his divine divine person, a holy humanity, became our surety, our substitute, so that all that he did was vicarious and substitutionary. Now, how is it possible for us to go in? This is what I want to try to spell out. You can never go in unless, in your behalf, the dear Son of God incarnate as your surety fulfilled the law, restored honor to it, magnified it by his perfect spotless obedience. There would be an impenetrable barrier to you going in if the precious Redeemer had not restored honor to the law that we have violated by his holy, perfect, spotless obedience. So he has magnified the law and made it honorable. Now, the second thing is this.

[14:49] You could never go in unless the Lord had paid your debt. Divine justice would never allow you to go in, but he has paid your debt. It would be impossible for us to go in if our blessed Redeemer had not given his life. He laid it down voluntarily and sacrificially and vicariously for you.

[15:20] For us. He laid it down voluntarily and sacrificially and vicariously for you. Now, if he had never died because you will notice one of the outstanding characteristics of going in, and what is it? Let me underline it. This, that God the Father, a holy, a holy, righteous God, has become propitious to you. That is favorable. Otherwise, you could never go in.

[16:11] If God was not propitious. If God was not propitious, you could never go in. But because of the sacrifice of his dear Son, divine justice has been propitiated so that God is propitious to you. Now then, having given his life voluntarily and sacrificially and vicariously, then he shed his vital sin-atoning blood.

[16:48] Two things are here. All the church's sins were washed away, expiated. And by that one atonement for sin, which has expiated your sin, and by the same precious fountain, the Lord cleanses your soul. Apart from this, you could never go in, you could never go in without blood. No entrance without blood.

[17:28] Now let me go a little further. Christ, having given his life voluntarily, having laid it down sacrificially, shed his vital sin-atoning blood, then he condescended to be buried. You may say, what has this to do with going in, everything. On the third day, he rose again, which declared the virtue and validity and divine efficacy of his priestly work of atonement. Now, if he had never risen, you could never go in. Let me pursue this. After 40 days with his disciples, he led them out as far as to Bethany. And there he lifted up his holy hands and blessed them.

[18:27] While he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And a cloud received him out of their sight. And he entered heaven. Now, look, can you sing this? Jesus, my all, to heaven is God.

[18:46] He whom thy hopes are fixed upon. His track I see. And I'll pursue the narrow way till him I view. There's a why in for me.

[19:01] By his incarnation. By his suffering shortish it. By his obedience unto death. By his precious death and merit.

[19:17] By his Godhead. By his precious blood and passion. By his glorious victory. By his ascension into heaven.

[19:30] By hisójik. By his kalo eigenlijkourseuf. By his holyness. By his royal��志HS. By hislime you see for your salvation it must be objective there must be an object to look to there must be many things that that glorious object of faith has wrought that you look to to go in your look to his precious obedience your look to his precious blood you will look to his ascension into glory you will look to his victory you will look to his incarnation now all this is objective now there's just a little more for me to name to you and what is it how shall you go in when I say go in

[20:56] I mean to elucidate it I mean just this you will go in in prayer here below you'll find sweet access you'll go in in the means of grace in the holy scriptures in the precious ordinance of the ministry you'll go in access is the word you go in you don't stay outside you go in you have his ear open to your cries you have nearness to him you go in and then at last you go in when the lord causes you to yield your breath to him you go in that you've been in before at the throne of grace by faith then you will eternally go in but one other point about this objective part that is where is he now and what sacred offices does the lord sustain

[22:20] I might mention many but I shall confide my observations to these where is he now in heaven in the third heavens in paradise at the right hand of God and what offices does he sustain he sustains still his high priestly office one part of it he has accomplished that of atonement and now he fulfills that part of his priestly office that is founded upon his accomplished work of atonement what is it he is there as our mediator now then you can go in you have a mediator between God and men the man

[23:28] Christ Jesus there in heaven is your mediator you can go in a poor sinner can go in through Christ the mediator isn't it wonderful to get a sense of this in your poor soul that up in heaven is my mediator I can go in I can go to the holy father I'm a sinner but he looks on his son I can go in I have a mediator with the father now still on this objective part also he sustains the office of intercessor he intercedes for me I can go in I have an intercessor intercessor and that intercessor is a demandant he speaks now to the father on the ground of an accomplished work of redemption so that he says

[24:41] I will a demandant I have an intercessor I'm guilty I need an intercessor oh how precious and wonderful it has been to me on numerous occasions when the spirit of God has directed my troubled distressed afflicted guilty soul to my intercessor in heaven and I have felt the sweet assurance that up in heaven that dear friend was interceding for me now there's a way in do you see also he is your advocate if any man said that is of the Lord's people we have an advocate with the father

[25:49] Jesus Christ the righteous so all this is objective there's a way in I might stay here all night on this one word in if you can get in this is the thing and you know what it is to get in because of all this that is objective that is to faith now you notice the skill and I am very very interested in skills you take the man who is born a physician or a surgeon the skill you you take an engineer take anyone with skill you take a mother the skill of a mother with her children skills the man who knows he doesn't think it's not theoretical it's the man who knows he has the skill and it may be the skill by intuition now then it is very wonderful the poor sinner who has the skill of the intuition of the

[27:24] Holy Spirit in his soul the skill to know how to get God's ear you listen to godly men at a prayer meeting and you'll hear something of this skill a poor sinner and presently pleading the peerless name of Jesus his infinite merit his precious rich atoning blood his obedience the skill you know how to get in but this part we have named is objective now the other part is subjective that is everything of the spirit work in you and so what is requisite what are the holy rudiments that are subjective concerning getting in well obviously we should commence with life divine life spiritual but especially do I name this living faith the gift and the operation and the exercise and the activity of holy faith in your soul by the spirit and by that precious faith pleading the name and merits and precious blood and obedience and victory and intercession of our

[29:18] Lord Jesus Christ and you're in you know it in a moment when I mention faith I would mention the associated races faith hope and love you'll never get him without love but blessed be God faith is a root race where there is living faith there will be a tree of love producing precious fruits and so subjectively that is in your soul you have all the essential rudiments of getting in well I have taken quite a while on this matter of in that after all if we are not in we shall be out and it would be a dreadful thing if we came to the last and found we were out but I can tell you this that if you know what it is to get in or come in by faith in the blood of

[30:33] Christ in prayer and in divine worship and in praise and gratitude you will be with him presently forever he will say to you come in thou blessed of the Lord and that's a wonderful thing to know what it is to come in well I developed this a little further then when King David in just a syllable isn't it two words in you go in you've been in today had an audience of the King felt that his ear was open to your cry been in when you come in get in and it is something that flows powerfully effectually and sweetly when you come in you're transported from this poor world you know nothing about the things that are about you and you have sweet fellowship with him now how did this relate to King

[32:00] David he went well if I just briefly refer to the ark of the covenant you will remember some of the characteristics here was a mercy seat a mercy seat did you hear it there's a mercy seat and a mercy seat is for sinners Christ has erected the throne of grace in heaven and this throne of grace is for poor penitent sinners for sons and daughters a mercy seat is for guilty confessing sinners a mercy seat now this lid of the ark this mercy seat and inside the ark the tables of the law and then shadowing the mercy seat the cherubim and then what remember that this ark was the seat of his glorious presence with

[33:18] Israel and from above the mercy seat and between the cherubim what the shekinah glory of the lord now that shekinah glory was not repellent and destructive to these who came in that is by faith this shekinah glory speaks loudly and clearly of the wonderful word in st.

[33:53] john the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth now here this is where he came in and this is where he sat contemplating receiving an effulgence an irradiation if you like of the shekinah glory of the lord from above the mercy seat and between the cherubim and this is where he came in and this is where he sat now can you see the wonder he sat here with mercy divine love majesty truth justice grace shining into his soul no wonder he sat there if you behold his glory in the face of

[34:59] Jesus Christ you will understand the language in the hymnal my willing soul would stay in such a frame as this and sit and sing herself away to everlasting bliss he came in and sat before the shekinah glory of the lord which completely enveloped and irradiated his spirit he was with the lord he was near the lord he was an eternally loved soul and here he sat before the lord contemplating the glories of christ the glories of the infinite being of jehovah of the ever blessed and glorious trinity of the whole plan of salvation of the decree of salvation and of the atonement and the whole economy of god in redeeming his people and the future glory that awaited him and them no wonder he sat before the lord this is the whole secret of it he came in and he sat before the lord now i shall offer just one or two thoughts that may be somewhat congruous with the occasion on this matter of sitting before the lord and what it suggests to our minds well three main things sitting before the lord he was in deep meditation and spiritual contemplation that was ever stretching out further and further into eternity from eternity that is everything of the past and i only use these words for accommodation because eternity is an eternal now but as he sat before the lord he was contemplating all the transactions of eternity before the world was in a state of cosmos when it was yet in chaos before adam was created he was looking back over those boundless ages and then looking through his life and all the amazing vicissitudes and then it was stretching on into eternity and infinity and that is how he sat before the lord and this is how you will be so this word sat before the lord signifies deep meditation and spiritual contemplation it also signifies great praise and adoration of the glorious being of

[38:28] God and all his perfections and his wisdom and goodness especially as flowing out in its streams to him and to his seed but especially looking to the one the precious glorious one whose sacred humanity David was a progenitor of our lord Jesus Christ the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star so you see he was sitting before the lord and this was about one thousand and fifty years before the advent he was looking forward to this wonderful advent he sat before the lord ah can you understand it has it a grip on you and then reaching forward seeing the days of the gospel and the access of the gentiles and forward into eternity when they would all be called to the marriage of them he sat before the lord now what about and then it suggests prayer so if I just name one or two things for instance with our dear brother here set before the lord contemplation thou shalt remember all the way which the lord thy god hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness thou shalt remember why because spiritual facts are remembered nothing else can be remembered because it perishes everything that is of god is remembered because it is eternal contemplating going back as I was thinking during the day our brother would go back into eternity and think of the decrees of

[40:59] Jehovah those decrees that related to his person to his parentage his marriage and to his appointment to the ministry to the anointing of the holy ghost to his family the divine decrees of god which remain unmoved and then the unfolding of the bud the flare opening his providence unfolds the book and makes his counsel shine see contemplate the lord contemplating this my name set down in the fair book of life contemplating this the glories that await me the faithfulness of god to fulfill every promise that he has given me and yourselves know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing hath failed you of all the good things which the lord your god hath promised all are come to pass as it is this day contemplating and then praising adoring singing worshipping the trumpet blow the year of jubilee has come see this is it sitting before the lord crowning him lord of all the adoration of his being of all his work and his goodness sitting before him and then prayer prevalent prayer passing through the mediation of the lord jesus pleading his own promises if the lord has given you a cluster of promises you'll spread them out before the lord and plead them many times in a day when you're sitting before the lord so he sat before the lord and then this word from his lips and he said as it were surrounded with infinity and eternity with the sun of righteousness irradiating him with the assurance of his interest in the lord with a blessed expectation of bliss then he said realizing the majesty and glory of this infinite being who am i oh lord god who am i a poor unworthy worthless sinner sinner in myself who am i ah but there's another side to it who am i the lord appeared of old unto me saying i have loved thee with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have i brought thee who am i this expression is one of extreme sweet gracious humility in the adoration of the being of god and especially in the enjoyment of his love and mercy to feel so unworthy who am i and yet think for a brief moment of the wonders of the privileges and glories that the lord has brought us into for instance he has placed our standing much higher than it was in the pristine innocence of our first parents before the fall they were his creatures he their creator they had immediate communion with him they needed not a mediator in their innocence say but now saved sinners redeemed sinners enjoy this holy relationship with him in the new cabinet he is their father and they his sons and daughters he is their holy bridegroom and they are his bride now think of the glories of that relationship who am i oh lord god and what is my house that thou has brought me hitherto amen the connection is for the beloved pastor of this cause and from we do well to conclude these services today with hymn 730 to diadem 130 all higher the power of jesus name that angels prostrate fall bring forth the royal diadem and crown him lord of all 730鄭 speaking o y townrison and and

[48:51] Thank you.

[49:21] Thank you.

[49:51] Thank you. Thank you.

[50:51] Thank you. Thank you.

[51:51] Thank you. Thank you.

[52:51] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[53:03] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[53:15] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We thank thee for thy divine compassion and mighty love.

[53:33] Now we bless God for this sacred day. We thank thee, O Lord, for the spiritual tone, for the exaltation of the Lord in our souls, and for that gratitude for thy goodness to thy dear servant.

[54:02] We affectionately commend to thee this congregation, praying that thou wilt, through thy sovereign grace, bring us and our children to thine everlasting glory.

[54:20] Amen. Bless us with pardon and peace and divine protection and provision and the performance of thy precious promises.

[54:35] In thy name we ask it. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all.

[54:52] Amen.