[0:00] Well, take your Bibles, if you would, and go with me to Psalm 45. I want to say a big thank you to all of you for all the prayers and the cards and the food and everything you've done for my family.
[0:15] I think it was far worse for Betty and my family to be there wondering if I was going to live or die. I want to say thank you. I want to say thank you to the church staff for all that they did, obviously doing everything.
[0:27] I took a 50-day vacation. It was paid for by the government, but anyway. Day a day, as I listen to my voice, it reminds me of a time I was preaching in Iquitos, Peru, which is the jungle.
[0:45] I was bathing in the Amazon to start the day and usually end the day because it's 100 degrees when it cools off. Sometimes at night it got down really cool, 90, 95, and there's no air conditioning.
[0:59] I preached and taught somewhere around 50 hours. By the end of the week, with no microphone, by the way, over 100 pastors in front of me, by the end of the week, I could hardly talk and they said, boy, you're a machine.
[1:14] I said, I don't know. If we go another day, I'll be out. But my voice is really getting better. Actually, the Lord seems to be doing that as well. So thank you for praying.
[1:26] Psalm 45. We are living in weird days. I am 65 years old. I've never seen anything like it. You can get discouraged and torn up and think what in the world is happening.
[1:42] Social unrest. A disease that shuts down the entire world. Well, the first time Americans haven't been welcomed around the world. That blue passport used to be a pretty strong thing.
[1:53] I could go anywhere I wanted. Now Europe won't let me travel. It's pretty wild. But this is what you need to know. You got a book in front of you. No, no. You got the Word of God in front of you.
[2:05] And here's what God says. Hey, you all want to know what's going to happen in a few years? I'll even explain to you what's going to happen over at least a thousand years. That means it ain't over.
[2:17] God's still in charge. And you can trust Him. The psalm you're about to read, the psalm you're about to read is a marriage song. It might have been written for Hezekiah or for Solomon.
[2:29] No one knows for sure. But it's the wedding of a king. And when they wrote that song, they put things in there that would have been, at best, exaggerations, hyperbole, if they were talking about Solomon.
[2:50] Solomon wasn't a warrior king. This is about a warrior king. Solomon wasn't going to have a throne forever and ever, but they sang it. And often when you talk to kings, you're talking hyperbole.
[3:02] But when we get to the Bible, we find out this is what's called a messianic psalm. You've heard that before. Now, I don't make that decision. When the New Testament quotes a psalm and attributes it to Jesus, then you can know that the Holy Spirit's saying, I told you that was about me.
[3:20] So look with me if you would in Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 8. Now, this is the writer of Hebrews quoting our psalm.
[3:32] But unto thee, the Son, he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.
[3:43] Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
[3:53] So I now know that the Psalm 45 is a messianic psalm. It's talking about Jesus. Now, it wasn't written that way. When the psalmist wrote it, he didn't understand.
[4:06] But I need to remind you that we have Bible writers, about 40 of them. And we have a Bible author, one of them. There's one author.
[4:16] It's the Holy Spirit of God. God. That's why we call it the Word of God. Because even though David may have written it, it was God writing it. Can I get an amen there? See, we have the Word of God in our hands.
[4:29] And as we go through this psalm, you're going to see that. It's going to start off and they're going to brag on the king. Fact is, the psalmist says, my heart is indicting a good matter.
[4:40] He's so full. That word means I'm exploding with emotion as I describe my king. And it's going to be a description of the king that they gave him.
[4:52] But also, it's going to be a description of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The last half will be about the wife. It's going to be about the wife he's going to marry. That's us. The church of Jesus Christ will one day be wed.
[5:05] You know, I'm sure, that Israel is God's wife. That's why he calls her an adulterous nation. She was to be his and only his.
[5:17] And she would go out and flirt with other gods. When you get to the New Testament, he is preparing a bride for him. The church of Jesus Christ. Go with me to Ephesians 5.25.
[5:30] Or just write it down and look it up. Now, you've got to understand, 40 writers, 1,500 years, one author, and it all works together. The Bible is not a Da Vinci code book.
[5:43] But when you study it, you never get it all. I mean, it's so deep. It's the word of God. And we only know in part. But look what Ephesians 5.25 says.
[5:55] Now, you know we're about to talk about marriage. And you're about to think this is about us. But in 5.33, he reminds us, this was never about you. I'm speaking about Christ and the church.
[6:08] 5.25. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Underline, love the church. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.
[6:24] He wants to sanctify and cleanse us by the washing of water by the word. Now, verse 27. That he might present it to himself, a glorious church.
[6:37] Not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. But that it should be holy and without blemish. You need to learn on this. He's going to present to himself a glorious church.
[6:51] He is going to present to himself a glorious church. The church is his body. He's the head of the church. We're in Christ.
[7:02] We're in his body. And he is at work preparing us for a future date when we will be presented to Jesus. Go with me to Revelation chapter 19 and verse 7 if you would.
[7:17] Revelation chapter 19 and verse 7. This is called the marriage of the Lamb. I'm reading these verses so that...
[7:27] How can I say this? You were never supposed to read one book of the Bible. I know some people, they like Psalms. And they read Psalms. And they like John.
[7:38] And they read John. But God never wanted you to read one book of the Bible. He wrote it all. He said he didn't want you adding to it. He didn't want you diminishing it. He wanted you to get in his book.
[7:50] And so a guy reading the book of Psalms, when you're going through your Bible, and you're over here in Psalms, you might not understand it. When you get the New Testament, you start going...
[8:01] I think he must have been... Let me go back. I think he said something back there that had to do with this. Why did he say that back there? Because he wanted you to read it. That's why you read it all.
[8:13] I ought to get an amen right there. That's why you read it from cover to cover. I know Leviticus is hard. But it's actually wonderful. It's hard reading.
[8:24] But good night if it was easy. I mean, I don't even like baby food. I have a hard time with mashed potatoes. I like to chew. I don't like to just slurp it down unless it's a peach milkshake from Chick-fil-A.
[8:37] I can slurp those down. But the rest of it, I like to chew it. And the Word of God is meant to be studied and not just read and flippantly going through it.
[8:49] Look at Revelation 19, 7. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him. Give honor to him. For the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready.
[9:07] The Lamb is about to marry and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen.
[9:20] I'd like to ask you to underline granted if you've got your Bible open. She was granted. She didn't earn. You didn't earn. I'm not going to heaven because of anything I've done.
[9:32] I'm not going to heaven because I've been baptized. I'm not going to heaven because I preach. Actually, I love it so much. That's why I'm here. You're probably thinking you could have waited another couple of weeks, buddy. But I'm like, this is like my best time of the week.
[9:45] He was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. She used to have on filthy rags. And he took her and he washed her and he cleansed her.
[9:57] For the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he said unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. Underline it.
[10:08] Marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not. I am thy fellow servant and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus.
[10:24] And worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True.
[10:36] And in righteousness he does judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire and on his head many crowns. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself.
[10:48] And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. And his name is called the Word of God. And the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God.
[11:01] And the Word was God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses. This is us following him clothed in fine linen white and clean.
[11:11] And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads a winepress of the fiercest and wrath of God.
[11:22] And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So here's what's going to happen. First of all we're not in trouble.
[11:35] The world's in trouble. I'm not saying that. There's a lot of chaos going on. A lot of things that might worry you. But you can rest assured that the God who sent Jesus the first time is going to send him the second time.
[11:47] And you can rest assured that there comes a day when he will rule with a rod of iron. Some of the things we're going to read in Psalm 45 here in just a minute you're not going to like because you're from a sissy generation.
[11:59] And it's a generation that this king he's a warrior king. He has a sword strapped on him. And he's going to come in and he's going to fight.
[12:11] And when he arrives by the way he's going to ride that horse and a big old sword is going to be coming out of his mouth. I think that's the word of God. He's going to come. He's a warrior king. Don't get upset about that. We're in a war.
[12:23] We're in a war with sin and Satan who would damn every person to hell he could. And we're in a battle. But it's not our battle. It's his battle. You're going to see that and enjoy that I hope.
[12:35] So before I start reading the psalm with you and we can work our way through the psalm. Just know this. I don't know when it could be today it could be tomorrow. There are no signs waiting for Jesus to return.
[12:49] We've known that before all this crazy stuff. We knew that when I was a kid. I don't know when he's coming back but he is coming back. And I know this too. The song they sang about him and how good he is in life or death.
[13:06] Well you can mark this down. There is a heaven and there is a hell and God is at work and we want to trust him. So the psalmist writes a song about a king getting married.
[13:17] Go with me to Psalm 45. The first thing is he is praising the king. That's all you can do when you're talking about Jesus by the way. Praise him.
[13:30] The psalmist can hardly control himself in his excitement about his king. It's pretty hard to catch that maybe in English. My heart is indicting a good matter.
[13:47] That word indicting there is like exploding with emotion. My heart is indicting a good matter. I speak of the things which I have made touching the king.
[14:02] And my pen is a ready the pen my tongue is a pen of a ready writer. I've been in the hospital awake semi awake still drugged for seven days or so and a couple of days the day before I got to come home.
[14:17] I was very lost. And the drugs made me extremely emotional. and in the afternoon the kids Lelia my granddaughter came in and she's played a song He is sovereign over you that her and some of the others had sung.
[14:33] Then others came in the room and I thought my heart would explode. That's what's going on here. I told my wife as she left that day that that day had changed my life. The psalmist is looking at the king and he is saying man check out my king.
[14:53] Oh check out my king. I'm going to tell you that as you read it you're going to notice it can't just be Solomon. He is seeing beyond Solomon. He is going to say this king is to be worshipped.
[15:05] You don't worship Solomon. He is saying this king will rule forever and ever. Solomon won't rule forever and ever but Jesus will. And this psalmist I can see him writing the song.
[15:18] I can see the tears running down his cheek. I can see him happy and exploding with emotion as he talks about his king. Verse 45 verse 2 chapter 45 he praises his beauty.
[15:31] Thou art fairer than the children of men. You are better looking than any human being. Now that wasn't Jesus when he came the first time. The first time there was nothing about him that would have excited you.
[15:45] He was a regular guy. That wasn't Jesus on the cross. He was beaten to the point he didn't look like a human. He had lost all of his features. They beat the man God man to death.
[15:59] It's not the Jesus you know. It is the Jesus that will return. And when he comes in the brightness of his glory we're all going to be like oh wow.
[16:12] oh wow. Look at our God. I love this part. Boy I want this to be true of me. Verse 2 grace is poured into thy lips.
[16:24] What a God. Everybody thinks of God as being hard and mean. But when he puts his son out there he says let me just get a 55 gallon drum of grace and pour it into his lips.
[16:37] Sweet. Sweet. Gentle. Come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden. He speaks to you today loving you and welcoming you.
[16:50] Judgment only comes when you continuously rebel against him. Grace is poured into his lips. As a young preacher I was often pretty mean. I was often pretty strict and legalistic.
[17:04] But form 45 too says will Jesus' lips drip grace. sweetness. 45 too therefore God hath blessed thee underline it forever.
[17:20] That's more than that's more than Solomon. He blessed him forever because he's a God of grace.
[17:31] Read the verse. He's beautiful and his lips are covered in grace and God has blessed him forever. forever. Now when he comes back he'll come back with a sword.
[17:45] This world has been rebelling against our God since the very beginning. I don't know if I'll ever get over in the beginning God God created.
[17:57] The world belongs to him. We belong to him. And man has rebelled against him since the very beginning. We don't even understand how sweet and patient he is because by Genesis 6 he's going to destroy millions of people and leave only eight alive because they have become so violently wicked.
[18:17] we know that after the flood after chapter eight and the ark comes down and the awful sacrifice doesn't take them long to build a name for themselves.
[18:29] They don't like God. God has over the centuries shown everybody y'all need me. In the Garden of Eden when it was a perfect environment they failed they needed God.
[18:43] And instead of taking the tree of life they took the tree of knowledge of good and evil followed what the devil said. When they had human government they failed. When they had a perfect law and God making their law humans failed.
[18:54] And now we live in this wonderful period of the church. Grace poured out abundantly and we fail because we always fail. We need Jesus for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
[19:11] 45.3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh O most mighty with thy glory and thy majesty and in thy majesty ride prosperously because truth and meekness and righteousness and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
[19:31] Thy arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies where the people fall under thee. In the book of Revelation he shows up his clothing has been dipped in blood he's got a big old sword he's riding on a white horse and he's leading an army.
[19:51] You know our God hates all this selfishness. Our God hates all this wicked sin. People fighting and being violent with each other.
[20:02] Abortion and murder and rape and God hates all of that. and he will come with a sword and say time to set up a kingdom that will be ruled correctly.
[20:15] And that's what happens next. Verse 6 Thy throne O God is forever and ever. Now you have a hard time saying that's Solomon. Thy throne O God you can say it by Jesus.
[20:31] Amen. He is God. Thy throne O God is forever and ever. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
[20:43] That means Jesus Christ is king ruler God and every knee will bow. The scepter of thy kingdom that's Hebrews remember is a right scepter.
[20:54] You see that? He'll rule right. He'll rule right. There won't be any people fighting and picking on each other and being mean to each other. There won't be any of this garbage that goes on.
[21:07] This will be God loving his people. Jesus loves right and he hates all sin and that pleases God.
[21:18] He hates sin. Jesus doesn't look at you and say well that sin's particularly okay with me I don't mind. Not that good but it's okay. He doesn't do that. He hates sin.
[21:31] He hates my prideful thoughts. He hates my judgmental and critical look. He hates everything about me that doesn't please him. Verse seven thou lovest righteousness.
[21:43] Look at that. Underline it. He loves when you live like him. He loves when we do right. Can I get an amen there?
[21:54] He loves it when he sees you sitting here worshiping him. He loves it when he sees you take a Bible and read it at home. He loves it when he sees you teach your children about him.
[22:05] He loves it when you share your faith. He loves it when you honor your wife. He loves it when you honor your husband. He loves it when you do what he taught. He doesn't like it. He loves it.
[22:16] You ought to say amen right there. God looks down and sees some godly mother in this room working her fingers to the bone to provide for her kids coming home and get on her knees by the little knees of her child and God said I love that.
[22:30] He loves it. I got goosebumps. He loves it. And then he hates wickedness. Wow. He hates wickedness.
[22:44] Therefore God thy God has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Jesus is like any of us. He is anointed with the oil of gladness.
[23:02] Look at 48.5 Everything about Jesus is pleasing. Are you ready? Down to the way he smells. I guess funny.
[23:12] I just love that. Since my daughter Joy was a little girl she would always tell her mama I just love it when daddy puts on his after shave and comes down I just love it.
[23:26] When I stopped shaving she said I don't like it because I don't get to smell that in the morning. When I was down a few days ago I had a little problem in my life and I wasn't putting on thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces whereby they made thee glad.
[23:52] King's daughters are among the honorable women but on the right hand to stand the queen and the gold of Ophir. So Jesus is praiseworthy and we ought to see him and know him and magnify him.
[24:07] We ought to sit down on occasion and just think about him and who he is. Then we are introduced to the king's bride. Look at chapter 45 verse 10.
[24:19] Hearken O daughter and consider and incline thine ear. Pay attention. I'm going to talk to you daughter. This is prophetic. He's talking about what he's going to do. But I want you to notice what he says in 45 10.
[24:32] I don't know if you'll like this verse. Some of you that are a little on the rebellious and liberal side might want to mark this verse out of your Bible. You'll be wrong but look what it says forget your people and your father's house.
[24:49] You know when a girl gets married at least in American culture she changes her last name most of the time. She walks away from her family and forms a new family.
[25:04] I didn't like that when my daughter I loved it when my wife did it say amen. Jeff loved it when Tyler took his daughter and named her Ellis. But look at this.
[25:16] Don't you remember the world? Don't you remember where I brought you from? Don't you remember your sin? Don't you remember your past life? You forget all that. You turned your back on the world and you turned toward Jesus.
[25:30] Amen. Forget your own people. Can I just say this? I'm closer to you than I am to some family members. I got one that says clearly I'm an atheist.
[25:44] I can't be very close to him. He doesn't love my Jesus. He doesn't love what I think is important. I can be far closer to you. I got family members that extended family but they do things that they don't love Jesus.
[25:58] I got to forget them. I'm looking to Jesus. Looking to Jesus. I love this. Psalm 45 11.
[26:10] The king desires the beauty of his bride. So the king greatly desired thy beauty. Standing next to my son Chris on the day he got married and his wife now for like 25 years when she came in the back door he almost fainted and me and the best man put her hand behind him he was just so taken with her beauty she's pretty good looking girl but not near as good looking as her mother-in-law but pretty good looking the king looks at you and desires your beauty the king looks at you and says this is my trophy look what I did you know he went down to the muddy pit of sin and he pulled you out and he cleaned you up and he formed you and he made you beautiful and when you're standing there he goes I like that that's grace that's God loving us 45 11 he is thy Lord now in my Bible it's a capital L I could be
[27:11] Betty's little L Lord but not a capital L we're talking about Jesus here that bride to look at him and say he's my king he's my Lord he's my God and I'm to worship him I am to worship him I'm going to skip down to verse 13 how do you think she got to be glorious within I want you to answer that in your heart I know me can I just be honest with you I'm kind of despicable arrogant and proud and selfish judgmental and critical but he made us glorious we are new creatures thank God that's what I was the king's daughter verse 13 is all glorious within glory to God underline that he looks at you and says all
[28:11] I see is wow glorious she shall be brought unto the king in the raiment of needle work if you recall in the book of revelation that's the righteousness of the saints go with me if you would to chapter 45 verse 17 I guess when I see this a marriage of I believe Jesus and the church I really believe that's probably what this chapter is about I can't help but know this number one he's in charge the world's not over we'll get through this the virus will eventually go away or be defeated or whatever oh there'll be another one don't worry you live in a sinful world this world God didn't bring us on us we rebelled against God a long time ago you're in the hands of the devil he's the prince of the power of the air but this verse right here just jumps off the page you know it would if you read it verse 17
[29:15] I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations therefore shall the people praise thee forever and ever conversations changed the pronouns here are masculine it's not the church that's going to get bragged on it's Jesus he's going to get bragged on Jesus is going to get bragged on God wants the name of Jesus to be remembered praise him people should praise him forever and ever that's not an earthly king that's our king remember what was said earlier in Psalm 45 2 you are beautiful thou art fairer grace is poured in thy lips God has blessed thee forever look at Psalm 45 6 thy throne oh God is forever look at 45 11 the king desired beauty he is thy lord worship thou him now we stand here in a church and we ought to worship
[30:28] Jesus I think we do I think you do I think you love him I think you wouldn't be here if you didn't love him you wouldn't come today I think you wouldn't tune in and watch today I think you love him by the way things do seem to be getting a little more normal the Methodist campground was full of people today cars everywhere that's a good sign the Methodists are worshiping today then I drove down the road a little bit further and the Long Street Baptist church was full it looked like a hundred people out in the parking lot I was like thank you lord maybe we're turning a corner but God will make his name to be remembered can I remind you how he makes it remembered he turns to us and says go into all the world preach the gospel to every creature I was reading this morning back to reading praise the lord I was reading this morning history of missions this one missionary I don't remember his name he went to a country and saw one guy get saved got the bible translated and left a failure and the writer said
[31:43] I wonder if he could see from heaven today that man standing and preaching and people all over that country getting saved he didn't fail because God doesn't fail but what are we doing to get the gospel of the world I thank you for being faithful in your giving I really do I thank you for being faithful to watch or to be here I thank you for how you've been loving each other but the biggest thing we got is this let's praise him forever and ever he's the reason we're here he's the reason you opened your bible he's the reason you brought your tithes and offerings and faith promise he's the reason it's all about him and that's all we're doing father I love you I thank you for the chance to talk to your people I pray your blessings on every heart I pray your name would be glorified and magnified and I will thank you whatever you had bowed and every eye closed just a minute you may be here and you've never been saved you're not sure you'd go to heaven if you died our God loves you he wants you to be saved he wants you to know the forgiveness of sin would you today turn from your sin forget your people and trust
[32:58] Jesus would you turn to Jesus believe Jesus walk with him be saved if you'd like help I can line somebody up to talk to you I'll have somebody take the Bible and show you would there be anybody here to say I'm not sure I'm saved I'm not sure I go to heaven would you hold your hand up and let me pray for you would there be anybody know Jesus you must know Jesus Father in heaven I give you praise and honor and glory I thank you for the chance to serve you oh God work and I'll give you praise in Jesus name amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen amen