WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.679 We pray that all of scripture is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible word. 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:08.199 It's God's powerful word for you, his people. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:11.080 And it pierces where no man can touch. 00:00:11.880 --> 00:00:16.339 We pray that as we hear God's word, that it will serve his purpose in our lives. 00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:17.820 Psalm 22. 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:24.240 To the chief musician set to the deer of the dawn, a Psalm of David. 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:29.160 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:00:29.160 --> 00:00:34.320 Why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my groaning? 00:00:34.899 --> 00:00:38.420 Oh, my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not hear. 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:42.420 And in the season of night, I am not silent. 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:47.719 But you are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel. 00:00:48.179 --> 00:00:49.600 Our fathers trusted in you. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:51.620 They trusted and you delivered them. 00:00:52.179 --> 00:00:53.840 They cried to you and were delivered. 00:00:54.340 --> 00:00:56.519 They trusted in you and were not ashamed. 00:00:56.520 --> 00:01:04.859 But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. 00:01:05.520 --> 00:01:07.960 All those who see me ridicule me. 00:01:08.960 --> 00:01:10.520 They shoot out the lip. 00:01:10.960 --> 00:01:13.960 They shake the head, saying, he trusted in the Lord. 00:01:14.320 --> 00:01:15.420 Let him rescue him. 00:01:16.260 --> 00:01:19.219 Let him deliver him, since he delights in him. 00:01:19.219 --> 00:01:23.319 But you are he who took me out of the womb. 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:26.079 You made me trust while on my mother's breasts. 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:28.519 I was cast upon you from birth. 00:01:28.819 --> 00:01:31.780 From my mother's womb, you have been my God. 00:01:32.439 --> 00:01:37.120 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:40.700 Many bulls have surrounded me. 00:01:41.180 --> 00:01:43.939 Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. 00:01:43.939 --> 00:01:49.200 They gape at me with their mouths, like a raging and roaring lion. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:55.560 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. 00:01:56.060 --> 00:01:57.579 My heart is like wax. 00:01:57.700 --> 00:01:59.159 It has melted within me. 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:05.219 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue clings to my jaws. 00:02:05.219 --> 00:02:11.900 You have brought me to the dust of death, for dogs have surrounded me. 00:02:12.259 --> 00:02:15.159 The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. 00:02:15.620 --> 00:02:17.680 They pierced my hands and my feet. 00:02:18.020 --> 00:02:19.919 I can count all my bones. 00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:22.560 They look at me and stare at me. 00:02:23.259 --> 00:02:29.099 They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. 00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:32.819 But you, O Lord, do not be far from me. 00:02:32.819 --> 00:02:35.500 O my strength, hasten to help me. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:40.039 Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. 00:02:40.579 --> 00:02:45.299 Save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen. 00:02:47.319 --> 00:02:49.859 You have answered me. 00:02:50.979 --> 00:02:53.500 I will declare your name to my brethren. 00:02:53.859 --> 00:02:56.079 In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you. 00:02:56.439 --> 00:02:58.159 You who fear the Lord, praise him. 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:02.560 All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him and fear him. 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:09.400 All you offspring of Israel, for he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:12.159 nor has he hidden his face from him. 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:15.759 But when he cried to him, he heard. 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:20.500 My praise shall be of you in the great assembly. 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:24.000 I will pay my vows before those who fear him. 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:26.759 The poor shall eat and be satisfied. 00:03:27.340 --> 00:03:29.879 Those who seek him will praise the Lord. 00:03:30.360 --> 00:03:32.360 Let your heart live forever. 00:03:33.800 --> 00:03:38.180 And all the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord. 00:03:38.460 --> 00:03:42.159 And all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 00:03:42.580 --> 00:03:46.719 For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he rules over the nations. 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:51.300 All the prosperous of the earth shall eat and worship. 00:03:51.300 --> 00:03:55.540 All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him. 00:03:55.939 --> 00:03:58.880 Even he who cannot keep himself alive. 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:02.439 A posterity shall serve him. 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:06.500 It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation. 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:12.280 They will come and declare his righteousness to a people who will be born. 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:14.939 That he has done this. 00:04:15.540 --> 00:04:17.439 The word of the Lord for the people of God. 00:04:17.980 --> 00:04:19.060 Thanks be to God. 00:04:19.259 --> 00:04:20.060 Please be seated. 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:32.740 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:35.399 No word of God shall be void of power. 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:37.199 Let's pray. 00:04:37.199 --> 00:04:37.300 Amen. 00:04:37.300 --> 00:04:49.600 Oh Lord, we ask that by the power of your Holy Spirit through Psalm 22, 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:57.180 Jesus Christ, God the Son in the flesh, that he will be lifted up. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:03.500 Please help me to proclaim Jesus Christ and him crucified to your people. 00:05:03.500 --> 00:05:05.000 Amen. 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:05.060 Amen. 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:16.759 Well, through our Friday night Bible study and discussion, Sinclair Ferguson's The Whole Christ, 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:20.439 I've been meditating a lot on this. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:29.599 How my, maybe our motives for calling ourselves Christians are going to worship God on Sunday mornings. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:32.840 Our motives may not always be pure. 00:05:33.420 --> 00:05:35.520 We can so easily trick ourselves. 00:05:36.620 --> 00:05:40.960 Even if we wouldn't say it out loud, there's a part of us still holding on to this. 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:44.420 That if I do, I might feel better. 00:05:44.820 --> 00:05:47.480 If I do, I might get peace. 00:05:47.900 --> 00:05:51.620 If I do, I might experience more joy or more hope. 00:05:51.620 --> 00:05:58.140 If I do, God might forgive that sin. 00:05:58.139 --> 00:06:03.659 If I do, then at least I'll know that I did something. 00:06:06.060 --> 00:06:13.959 I'm so convicted and convinced, as Ferguson put it, that the gospel is not what we experience. 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:17.620 That's the effect or the benefit of the gospel. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:23.879 The gospel is Jesus Christ, his person and his work. 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:29.719 We too easily chase the benefits rather than the benefactor. 00:06:30.600 --> 00:06:32.680 The effects rather than the cause. 00:06:33.159 --> 00:06:35.439 The blessings rather than the source. 00:06:36.500 --> 00:06:42.199 Even the reasons or the hope of the Christian faith rather than the object of our faith. 00:06:42.339 --> 00:06:43.819 Jesus Christ himself. 00:06:43.819 --> 00:06:44.819 Jesus Christ. 00:06:44.819 --> 00:06:51.399 So I've been praying that today in a special way because of how special Psalm 22 is, 00:06:51.540 --> 00:06:54.579 that our focus will not be on ourselves. 00:06:54.939 --> 00:06:56.420 Not even on church. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:02.079 On what you or I, definitely not on what the preacher will do. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:04.079 But on Jesus Christ. 00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:11.579 It's been my prayer leading up to this moment that we would spiritually be gathered around Christ. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:14.300 And gathered around his cross. 00:07:15.079 --> 00:07:18.339 So beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus. 00:07:19.699 --> 00:07:24.439 Please pray for me as I will do my best to show you in Psalm 22. 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:26.540 To two assemblies. 00:07:27.339 --> 00:07:30.500 Two different assemblies around one cross. 00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:34.639 Two assemblies around one cross. 00:07:36.939 --> 00:07:39.779 On the book table there are some sermon notes. 00:07:39.980 --> 00:07:43.159 I'm really just going to work through this psalm in order. 00:07:44.159 --> 00:07:53.800 One of the other handouts is a two-sided sheet that shows all of Psalm 22 being referenced and fulfilled in the New Testament. 00:07:54.439 --> 00:08:01.180 If you would like to study this more, talk more with me about that, I welcome that. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:09.600 Some have tried to imagine a fulfillment of Psalm 22 in David's life, because he is the psalmist, as a first-level context. 00:08:10.339 --> 00:08:19.360 But I have come to the same conclusion as many others, including James Montgomery Boyce, who said that it simply does not exist. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:28.060 There is no way that David or any king of Israel experienced what's described in Psalm 22. 00:08:30.960 --> 00:08:35.460 Crucifixion was not invented until 500 years after David's life. 00:08:35.560 --> 00:08:36.879 And when you look at verse 16. 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:39.539 It says, 00:08:39.539 --> 00:08:47.480 This psalm can only be read looking forward. 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:59.319 God gave to David, as his prophet, this revelation of what God would accomplish through the Messiah, the promised anointed king. 00:08:59.320 --> 00:09:05.640 So what we have in Psalm 22 is the suffering and the prayers of this Messiah. 00:09:07.640 --> 00:09:10.260 A commentator named Christopher Ashe wrote, 00:09:10.780 --> 00:09:18.100 Anyone who accepts the authority of the New Testament must read Psalm 22 as fulfilled in Christ. 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:29.120 Now, if you were here last week or you're looking at the Bible in front of you there, you notice that Psalm 21 was a psalm of victory. 00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:36.340 So how do we go from victory in Psalm 21 to such intense suffering in Psalm 22? 00:09:38.920 --> 00:09:45.300 The best answer is that the victory is before the Messiah all along. 00:09:45.299 --> 00:09:47.019 It's guaranteed. It's guaranteed. It's secured. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:58.979 But Psalm 22 is needed for us, his people, who will receive the benefits of his victory to show us how costly was this salvation of God's people. 00:09:59.899 --> 00:10:04.479 It shows us how much the Holy God hates sin. 00:10:05.479 --> 00:10:12.339 And how wondrous is God's abundant grace in Jesus Christ to save sinners like you and me. 00:10:12.340 --> 00:10:15.320 Charles Spurgeon wrote, 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:22.519 If there's any passage before which we ought to take off our shoes like Moses, it's Psalm 22. 00:10:23.780 --> 00:10:27.280 For we here stand on holy ground. 00:10:29.340 --> 00:10:38.220 Psalm 22 gives us the most clear, intense, graphic account of Christ's crucifixion in all of the Bible. 00:10:38.220 --> 00:10:50.040 Now, would you look at Psalm 22 and scan your eyes over verses 1 all the way through verse 21. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:55.120 This is the first part, the first section of Psalm 22. 00:10:56.220 --> 00:10:58.639 It's about two thirds of the whole passage. 00:10:58.639 --> 00:11:06.960 And these verses from 1 to 21, they show us three sections that contain two parts each. 00:11:07.659 --> 00:11:14.980 In these verses, we have a lament first, followed by a response to that lament. 00:11:14.980 --> 00:11:26.180 The lament is this person, this coming Messiah, crying out and exclaiming what he is suffering. 00:11:27.220 --> 00:11:34.120 But that in each case, the Holy Spirit strengthens him and gives him an expression of faith in the midst of that pain. 00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:42.879 We're getting this through the poetic and the idioms of David set in his time period. 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:47.700 What the Holy Spirit caused him to see and to write down by faith. 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:51.220 And it describes what the Messiah will undergo. 00:11:51.220 --> 00:12:00.200 So I want to walk us through these, the three expressions of lament, these assaults that the Messiah suffers, 00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:05.340 as well as the expressions of faith that he uses to respond to each of these. 00:12:06.379 --> 00:12:13.759 Someone called this like a throbbing alteration back and forth from one to the other throughout these 21 verses. 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:18.460 Here's the first assault, starting at verse 1. 00:12:18.460 --> 00:12:23.080 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:31.240 The Messiah crying out, God, why have you forsaken me? 00:12:31.920 --> 00:12:33.460 These are terrifying words. 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:36.519 He says, my God, my God. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:39.740 He repeats it twice in verse 1, then again in verse 2. 00:12:40.139 --> 00:12:41.800 Oh my God, I cry. 00:12:42.900 --> 00:12:44.940 And then scan your eyes down to verse 10. 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:48.460 It says, from my mother's wounds you have been my God. 00:12:48.800 --> 00:12:51.060 He's emphasizing my God. 00:12:52.400 --> 00:13:01.100 It's a way of using poetic language to underline, to make bold, to draw a sense of urgency to what he's going through. 00:13:02.260 --> 00:13:03.880 To say, my God. 00:13:04.180 --> 00:13:05.420 This is personal. 00:13:06.160 --> 00:13:08.220 And it's a covenantal appeal. 00:13:08.220 --> 00:13:14.120 The Messiah is evoking God's promise. 00:13:14.300 --> 00:13:16.560 God had said in Exodus 6, 7. 00:13:17.080 --> 00:13:20.700 You shall be my people and I shall be your God. 00:13:21.420 --> 00:13:22.960 That's covenantal language. 00:13:24.060 --> 00:13:27.700 But he says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:13:27.700 --> 00:13:31.600 That's another deliberate covenantal term. 00:13:32.060 --> 00:13:33.520 Deuteronomy 31, 6. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:40.100 God says again to his people, I will never leave you nor forsake you. 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.940 He's quoting God's own words back to God. 00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:54.080 To forsake means to desert someone, to abandon them, to depart or to withdraw from them. 00:13:54.920 --> 00:13:57.540 To forsake means to break covenant. 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:04.800 He asks in verse 1, why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my groanings? 00:14:05.160 --> 00:14:09.240 Oh my God, I cry in the daytime to you, but you do not hear. 00:14:09.540 --> 00:14:12.920 And in the night season, I am not silent. 00:14:12.919 --> 00:14:19.759 This word for crying, the way he's using it, it means a scream of agony. 00:14:20.959 --> 00:14:27.559 And he talks about a season of darkness followed by a season of light crying throughout that time. 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:36.139 Of course, with the light of the New Testament and the work of Jesus being accomplished, we see our Lord Jesus. 00:14:38.139 --> 00:14:42.360 And it's the noon hour, the brightest moment of the day, the brightness. 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:46.639 Of the sun shining and then the darkness covers the earth. 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:49.099 And he's crying out to God. 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:54.519 Psalm 22 is clearly on the mind of our Lord. 00:14:54.519 --> 00:15:08.340 While this first assault is the most intense of the three, God is accused of forsaking his covenant to his Messiah and to his people. 00:15:10.139 --> 00:15:11.980 And we have to wrestle with this. 00:15:11.980 --> 00:15:18.000 Our Lord Jesus Christ, one person, the God man. 00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:23.860 One person with two natures, divine and human. 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:26.519 Truly divine, truly human. 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:32.519 And as our Lord hung on the cross, his human nature. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:36.819 Not receiving any help from his own divine nature. 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:42.159 Nor from God, the eternal God, creator of all. 00:15:44.079 --> 00:15:50.980 Suffering in the place of sinful men and women and boys and girls who he's redeeming. 00:15:50.980 --> 00:15:55.759 Because we need a mediator who is truly God and truly man. 00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:58.920 No other mediator would do for you and me. 00:16:00.300 --> 00:16:04.920 How could a creature pay the eternal creator what the creator is due? 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:06.019 There's no way. 00:16:06.019 --> 00:16:14.699 And yet, how could we have a redeemer that would unite us to himself if we were not made himself a man? 00:16:15.480 --> 00:16:18.259 He needs to be truly divine and truly human. 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:21.279 And according to his human nature, he cries out, 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:23.879 Why have you forsaken me? 00:16:25.600 --> 00:16:28.100 Well, here comes the first answer of the faith. 00:16:28.100 --> 00:16:37.659 He responds to this first hellish accusation that God is a covenant breaker with a counter argument. 00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:40.100 What he says is this. 00:16:40.180 --> 00:16:43.720 He says God is holy and worthy of trust. 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:45.120 Look at verse three. 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:49.720 But you, God, are holy. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:53.779 When you don't know how else to pray, brothers and sisters, 00:16:54.540 --> 00:16:57.580 declare who God is back to him. 00:16:58.360 --> 00:16:59.659 You've done this, haven't you? 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:01.639 We don't know what else to pray. 00:17:02.139 --> 00:17:05.380 We tell God what we know he's revealed of himself. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:09.819 Because God is holy and his ways are other than ours, 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:13.059 his wisdom is higher and his purpose is greater. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:14.620 And we trust this. 00:17:15.099 --> 00:17:16.680 God, you are holy. 00:17:18.500 --> 00:17:19.920 He says in verse three, 00:17:20.019 --> 00:17:25.180 God, you are enthroned in the praises of Israel, your people. 00:17:25.180 --> 00:17:29.000 And why is it that God's people praise God? 00:17:29.900 --> 00:17:32.140 In verse four, he reminds himself, 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:34.240 Our fathers trusted in you. 00:17:34.440 --> 00:17:36.740 They trusted and you delivered him. 00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:38.960 Do you hear the word he's repeating already? 00:17:39.500 --> 00:17:40.460 In verse four, 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:46.720 The grounds for our hope in the present is God's faithfulness in the past. 00:17:47.019 --> 00:17:47.779 Look at verse five. 00:17:47.779 --> 00:17:53.639 They cried out to you and they were delivered because they trusted in you. 00:17:54.500 --> 00:17:55.980 They were not ashamed. 00:17:55.980 --> 00:17:58.720 So he reminds himself, 00:17:59.079 --> 00:18:00.720 You can trust God. 00:18:01.140 --> 00:18:02.000 He is holy. 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:04.920 God does not forsake his covenant 00:18:04.920 --> 00:18:07.480 because he is holy. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:08.599 He is trustworthy. 00:18:08.860 --> 00:18:09.799 That's who he is. 00:18:09.799 --> 00:18:18.399 Well, we will never experience anything in this life close to what our Lord experienced on the cross. 00:18:20.619 --> 00:18:23.019 He did this to fulfill all righteousness, 00:18:23.419 --> 00:18:26.839 to give us a gift that we can receive now from God in the same way. 00:18:27.940 --> 00:18:30.159 There are times when we feel forsaken. 00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:31.700 We feel distant from God. 00:18:32.299 --> 00:18:35.019 We feel like we're crying out and God is silent. 00:18:35.019 --> 00:18:37.359 We need to tell God. 00:18:38.680 --> 00:18:40.299 We need to preach to ourself. 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:44.779 God is holy and put ourself once again in the middle of his people 00:18:44.779 --> 00:18:47.720 because he's enthroned on the praises of his people. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:52.259 We need to remember his past faithfulness. 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:55.420 And he's given this so clearly in his word. 00:18:55.819 --> 00:18:58.680 We study his word to remind us of who he is. 00:18:58.740 --> 00:19:01.500 He is holy and he is trustworthy. 00:19:01.500 --> 00:19:07.259 So especially when we're feeling forsaken or cold or dry, 00:19:07.480 --> 00:19:10.119 we trust our good God. 00:19:11.859 --> 00:19:17.200 Well, next we come to the second assault that the Messiah has prophesied to suffer. 00:19:19.019 --> 00:19:22.480 Notice how beginning in verse six, what he suffers, 00:19:22.619 --> 00:19:28.259 it moves from thoughts about God afflicting him to people afflicting him. 00:19:28.259 --> 00:19:33.460 Some have said this, this is actually God's gracious ministry to the Messiah. 00:19:33.619 --> 00:19:34.079 It's better. 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:39.359 It's better to suffer people treating me badly than to feel like God has forsaken me. 00:19:39.879 --> 00:19:40.819 Look at verse six. 00:19:40.900 --> 00:19:47.039 He says, I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and despised by the people. 00:19:47.779 --> 00:19:49.799 All those who see me ridicule me. 00:19:50.319 --> 00:19:52.879 They shoot out the lip. 00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:57.900 That's a way of saying they show contempt at me with their mouths. 00:19:58.520 --> 00:19:59.980 They shake the head. 00:20:01.880 --> 00:20:02.960 What they say. 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:05.820 Notice how in verse eight, what they say it targets. 00:20:06.840 --> 00:20:10.060 What God most recently ministered to him. 00:20:11.500 --> 00:20:15.080 Remember, the first response of faith was to trust God. 00:20:15.300 --> 00:20:18.280 And now in verse eight, they were making fun of that. 00:20:18.360 --> 00:20:20.200 Look, he trusted in the Lord. 00:20:20.200 --> 00:20:21.920 Let God rescue him. 00:20:22.380 --> 00:20:24.700 Let God deliver him since he delights in God. 00:20:25.840 --> 00:20:27.740 And now comes the second answer of faith. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:34.819 I too have learned that I can trust in God, not only by remembering God's faithfulness to others in the past. 00:20:35.100 --> 00:20:36.140 But look at verse nine. 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:39.840 God, you are the one who took me out of the womb. 00:20:40.259 --> 00:20:43.500 You made me to trust you while on my mother's breasts. 00:20:43.700 --> 00:20:47.559 I was cast upon you from birth and my mother's womb. 00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:50.980 You ever since then, you have been my God. 00:20:51.700 --> 00:20:54.700 He's claiming that covenant belonging to God. 00:20:55.220 --> 00:21:01.399 Once again, I have trusted you because you have always held me and always been my God. 00:21:01.899 --> 00:21:04.740 And he trusts this asking God what he needs. 00:21:04.740 --> 00:21:11.839 In verse 11, be not far from me for trouble is near for there is none to help. 00:21:11.839 --> 00:21:19.019 The Messiah will say what's coming for me is very bad and I'm all alone. 00:21:19.439 --> 00:21:22.939 So, God, be not far away. 00:21:24.259 --> 00:21:26.740 You have always been near me. 00:21:27.339 --> 00:21:30.359 Be near me still in this hour when I need you most. 00:21:30.359 --> 00:21:34.779 Now comes the third assault. 00:21:37.199 --> 00:21:39.619 What's described here is extreme violence. 00:21:40.539 --> 00:21:43.899 So, he describes his torturers as beasts. 00:21:45.019 --> 00:21:46.399 In verse 12, he says, 00:21:46.500 --> 00:21:48.139 Many bulls have surrounded me. 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:51.339 Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. 00:21:51.959 --> 00:21:53.759 They gape at me with their mouths. 00:21:54.259 --> 00:22:00.219 Literally says that they opened their mouths at me like a raging and a roaring lion. 00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:10.619 But notice how even in this lament, his suffering has shifted down from spiritual suffering to more physical suffering. 00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:13.979 In verse 14, I am poured out like water. 00:22:14.699 --> 00:22:16.299 All my bones are out of joint. 00:22:16.899 --> 00:22:18.699 My heart is like wax. 00:22:18.979 --> 00:22:21.000 It has melted within me. 00:22:21.859 --> 00:22:25.659 Verse 15, my strength is dried up like a pot shirt. 00:22:26.539 --> 00:22:29.079 Here's a man dying in his final moments. 00:22:29.079 --> 00:22:31.639 My tongue clings to my jaws. 00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:35.199 You have brought me to the dust of death. 00:22:35.740 --> 00:22:39.339 Verse 16, for dogs have surrounded me. 00:22:40.099 --> 00:22:44.000 The congregation of the wicked has enclosed me. 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:52.180 So, this depiction of his torturers as beasts, he describes them as bulls of Bashan. 00:22:52.880 --> 00:22:56.880 Likely powerful, wealthy Jews. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:22:59.359 And as dogs. 00:23:00.059 --> 00:23:02.420 Dogs is the nickname for Gentiles. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:06.859 Even when Jesus interacted with that woman from the coastlands. 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:10.000 She said, won't the dogs even get a scrap? 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.099 You see, what's before the Messiah is an utter rejection. 00:23:15.180 --> 00:23:18.420 And a mocking by Jews and Gentiles alike. 00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:22.759 The powerful of the whole world against him. 00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:27.400 And his bones and his skin. 00:23:30.819 --> 00:23:33.460 On the cross, our Lord Jesus cried for thirst. 00:23:34.940 --> 00:23:36.440 We read of this in John. 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:43.420 And the apostle says that the reason Jesus did this was to fulfill all scripture. 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:45.900 And John is there watching the Lord. 00:23:45.900 --> 00:23:51.259 This shows us that it was all scripture. 00:23:51.840 --> 00:23:54.080 That was on the mind of Christ. 00:23:56.280 --> 00:23:57.620 Has it been fulfilled? 00:23:58.420 --> 00:24:02.660 Has everything the spirit breathed out must be accomplished? 00:24:02.800 --> 00:24:03.600 Have I done it all? 00:24:05.340 --> 00:24:09.700 We read in verse 16, they pierced my hands and my feet. 00:24:09.700 --> 00:24:14.019 In verse 17, I can count all my bones. 00:24:15.340 --> 00:24:17.180 They look at me and stare. 00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:20.220 They divide my garments among them. 00:24:20.620 --> 00:24:23.080 For my clothing, they cast lots. 00:24:25.059 --> 00:24:25.559 Naked. 00:24:27.340 --> 00:24:27.860 Mocked. 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:30.080 Degraded. 00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:33.140 Less than a man. 00:24:33.140 --> 00:24:38.640 And here comes the third answer of faith. 00:24:38.900 --> 00:24:39.840 In verse 19. 00:24:40.740 --> 00:24:44.720 But you, O Lord, do not be far from me. 00:24:45.040 --> 00:24:47.759 O my strength, hasten to help me. 00:24:48.620 --> 00:24:50.720 Deliver me from the sword. 00:24:51.480 --> 00:24:54.980 My precious life from the power of the dog. 00:24:57.560 --> 00:24:58.580 Verse 21. 00:24:58.579 --> 00:25:04.619 Save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen. 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:10.019 You notice how they're described as fierce. 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:13.119 The horns of the oxen. 00:25:13.740 --> 00:25:15.079 These bulls of Bashan. 00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:18.559 A bunch of dogs coming around to devour him. 00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:23.980 Like lions' mouths full of sharp teeth opened at him. 00:25:24.439 --> 00:25:25.159 They're fierce. 00:25:25.160 --> 00:25:29.960 But his description of himself is as one who is very frail. 00:25:32.200 --> 00:25:36.560 It's like they've trapped him and he's too weak to escape. 00:25:37.519 --> 00:25:42.279 And so he prays, God, in this moment, be near me. 00:25:43.560 --> 00:25:45.519 Ultimately, deliver me. 00:25:47.720 --> 00:25:50.220 Those who crucified Christ were powerful. 00:25:51.380 --> 00:25:52.759 They were violent. 00:25:53.500 --> 00:25:55.000 They were ferocious. 00:25:56.160 --> 00:25:59.220 Did you catch how he describes himself? 00:26:00.820 --> 00:26:01.940 Look at verse 6. 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:06.140 I am a worm. 00:26:06.140 --> 00:26:13.720 It was so beautiful to me to learn this. 00:26:14.100 --> 00:26:20.380 How the Hebrew word for worm in verse 6, throughout all of the Bible and the Old Testament, 00:26:21.340 --> 00:26:26.300 it's translated as crimson or scarlet 35 times. 00:26:27.060 --> 00:26:27.800 The same word. 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:30.420 Or it's translated as worm eight times. 00:26:31.140 --> 00:26:32.360 It's the exact same word. 00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:38.719 The reason for this is because this word is the name of a specific species of worm. 00:26:38.720 --> 00:26:43.620 The body of this worm was used for scarlet dye in the ancient world. 00:26:43.620 --> 00:26:50.160 And that's why many times when the Torah uses the same word for scarlet that is dyed red, 00:26:50.279 --> 00:26:53.920 it's the same word for the worm from which they got that dye. 00:26:53.920 --> 00:27:03.600 In the instructions for building the tabernacle, for example, they were told to use blue, purple, and you could say worm, which would be scarlet worm. 00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:05.599 That's the color of the dye. 00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:11.319 One commentator from a while back named Henry Morris wrote, 00:27:11.319 --> 00:27:16.119 When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, 00:27:16.579 --> 00:27:24.939 she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. 00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:33.799 The eggs deposited beneath her body were thus protected until the lava were hatched and able to enter their own life cycle. 00:27:33.799 --> 00:27:43.500 And as the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood from the dead bodies of such female scarlet worms. 00:27:43.720 --> 00:27:47.259 The commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted. 00:27:48.399 --> 00:28:03.220 Then he observes what a picture this gives of Christ dying on the tree, shedding his precious scarlet blood that he might bring many sons to glory. 00:28:03.799 --> 00:28:09.680 Jesus Christ died for us that we might live through him. 00:28:11.019 --> 00:28:18.079 Psalm 22 6 describes a worm and gives this to us as a picture of Christ. 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:20.419 That's the end of Morris's quote. 00:28:20.420 --> 00:28:27.340 So to the extent that Psalm 22 was on the mind of our Lord Jesus. 00:28:28.620 --> 00:28:31.300 As he was purchasing his people for himself. 00:28:34.100 --> 00:28:38.240 We can only imagine him answering his own question. 00:28:39.019 --> 00:28:42.480 What must I do for my people to live? 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:46.400 I must become a worm and die. 00:28:47.940 --> 00:28:49.599 And this is what I will do. 00:28:50.559 --> 00:28:51.960 I'll become a worm. 00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:55.940 I am a worm and I will give up my life. 00:28:56.940 --> 00:29:03.220 I'll stain this cross red so my people can live. 00:29:03.220 --> 00:29:07.000 Fulfilling Isaiah 1 verse 18. 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:14.319 Where the Lord says, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. 00:29:15.100 --> 00:29:17.059 Your sins are worm. 00:29:17.680 --> 00:29:19.799 So my son will be a worm. 00:29:20.500 --> 00:29:22.460 So that you can be washed clean. 00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:24.079 Praise the Lord. 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:33.819 Well now in Psalm 22 verse 21, the last part of that verse, there's a sudden and striking shift. 00:29:35.139 --> 00:29:37.740 He says, you have answered me. 00:29:38.939 --> 00:29:43.179 The key changes from a heavy minor to a soaring major. 00:29:43.180 --> 00:29:54.620 The Messiah is moved emphatically from the depths of suffering to assurance of vindication with worldwide consequences. 00:29:54.940 --> 00:29:56.840 That's what happens in the rest of the Psalm. 00:29:57.640 --> 00:29:58.200 Verse 22. 00:29:58.779 --> 00:30:01.480 I will declare your name to my brethren. 00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:03.960 In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you. 00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:07.840 Hebrews 2.12 quotes that verse as spoken by Christ. 00:30:08.420 --> 00:30:11.420 He says, I will declare your name to my brethren. 00:30:11.420 --> 00:30:16.940 And the whole assembly, the whole congregation will declare God's praise. 00:30:18.259 --> 00:30:21.920 We need to understand now who is part of this assembly. 00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:25.560 Who does Jesus Christ call his brethren? 00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:30.640 In verse 23, he says, for you who fear the Lord, praise him. 00:30:31.100 --> 00:30:36.560 All you descendants, literally all you seed of Jacob, glorify him and fear him. 00:30:36.800 --> 00:30:39.019 All you offspring of Israel. 00:30:39.019 --> 00:30:44.740 This tells us that Jesus Christ died to save many Jews. 00:30:44.740 --> 00:30:52.180 The principle of this passage and all the New Testament is this from Romans 1.16. 00:30:52.579 --> 00:30:58.140 The gospel must first be offered and proclaimed to the Jew, then to the Gentiles. 00:30:58.539 --> 00:31:02.500 And God will raise Jesus Christ after his death. 00:31:02.940 --> 00:31:04.120 He will hear his prayer. 00:31:04.119 --> 00:31:09.639 And these Jews, these bulls of Bashan, these Israelites will behold him. 00:31:10.079 --> 00:31:11.139 And many will believe. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:14.979 And they will be raised up as missionaries from Judea. 00:31:15.559 --> 00:31:17.399 Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria. 00:31:17.859 --> 00:31:21.139 Unifying all of God's people of the old covenant promise. 00:31:21.419 --> 00:31:23.000 And then to the ends of the earth. 00:31:23.259 --> 00:31:26.159 Until the islands and the coastlands hear the gospel. 00:31:26.959 --> 00:31:30.039 The gospel is for the Jew first and then for the Gentiles. 00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:32.440 For all people of all nations. 00:31:32.559 --> 00:31:33.960 Because that's where it goes next. 00:31:34.579 --> 00:31:35.500 Look at verse 24. 00:31:36.059 --> 00:31:40.119 He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. 00:31:40.440 --> 00:31:43.460 See, God the Father saw the work of his Son. 00:31:43.940 --> 00:31:45.019 He saw his suffering. 00:31:45.740 --> 00:31:47.759 The servant who accomplished his mission. 00:31:50.779 --> 00:31:52.440 Remember in verse 1. 00:31:52.440 --> 00:31:56.920 Jesus Christ, according to his human nature, was crying out, 00:31:57.019 --> 00:31:58.340 Why have you forsaken me? 00:31:59.900 --> 00:32:03.059 And now we see in verse 24. 00:32:04.940 --> 00:32:06.720 God never forsook him. 00:32:07.480 --> 00:32:09.240 He has not despised him. 00:32:10.320 --> 00:32:11.039 Would you look then? 00:32:11.100 --> 00:32:15.400 It says, God, he did not hide his face from him. 00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:17.039 But when he cried, he heard him. 00:32:17.080 --> 00:32:17.700 Verse 24. 00:32:18.120 --> 00:32:19.140 Now verse 25. 00:32:19.140 --> 00:32:23.380 My praise shall be of you in the great assembly. 00:32:23.759 --> 00:32:28.040 I will pay my vows before those who fear God. 00:32:29.340 --> 00:32:30.520 Verse 25. 00:32:30.620 --> 00:32:31.259 This assembly. 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:34.380 It's the same word used back in verse 22. 00:32:35.680 --> 00:32:39.100 In verse 22, we have these dogs, these beasts, 00:32:39.259 --> 00:32:41.980 these open mouths with sharp fangs coming at him, 00:32:42.040 --> 00:32:47.360 described as a congregation or an assembly around the cross to devour Jesus. 00:32:47.359 --> 00:32:51.919 But now Jesus says, God saw my suffering on the cross, 00:32:51.919 --> 00:32:55.419 and I will gather an assembly of those who fear God, 00:32:55.559 --> 00:32:59.519 and I will declare God's righteousness to them. 00:33:02.099 --> 00:33:03.199 Verse 26. 00:33:03.319 --> 00:33:05.439 He says, the poor shall eat and be satisfied. 00:33:05.919 --> 00:33:07.599 Those who seek him will praise the Lord, 00:33:07.879 --> 00:33:10.459 for your heart will live forever. 00:33:11.179 --> 00:33:11.919 Verse 27. 00:33:12.039 --> 00:33:15.159 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, 00:33:15.160 --> 00:33:19.100 and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 00:33:20.259 --> 00:33:21.840 There's the great escalation. 00:33:22.080 --> 00:33:24.700 It begins with Jesus Christ, the Messiah, 00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:28.600 declaring the name of God, revealing who God is. 00:33:29.460 --> 00:33:32.019 And then it ends with all nations, 00:33:32.740 --> 00:33:34.940 all families, and even those who are to come, 00:33:35.400 --> 00:33:39.380 gathering as his great assembly to praise this name of God, 00:33:39.560 --> 00:33:41.160 whom Jesus Christ has revealed. 00:33:41.160 --> 00:33:46.480 You see this assembly gathered. 00:33:48.800 --> 00:33:50.180 You might ask the question, 00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:52.240 why does everyone, 00:33:53.340 --> 00:33:55.540 why does, was everyone from around the world, 00:33:55.600 --> 00:33:56.720 even those who hated him, 00:33:56.880 --> 00:33:57.960 who despised him, 00:33:58.540 --> 00:34:01.160 those poor sinners who deserve nothing, 00:34:01.240 --> 00:34:03.820 why do they get to be in God's holy presence? 00:34:04.540 --> 00:34:06.400 And he answers this with verse 28. 00:34:06.400 --> 00:34:08.559 For the kingdom is the Lord's. 00:34:08.840 --> 00:34:11.400 And he rules over the nations. 00:34:12.760 --> 00:34:15.420 Why does God save all types of people? 00:34:16.260 --> 00:34:17.380 Because he's the king. 00:34:17.940 --> 00:34:19.160 The kingdom is the Lord's. 00:34:20.220 --> 00:34:22.360 And that's what we see in verse 29. 00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:24.360 It's from one extreme to the other. 00:34:24.860 --> 00:34:25.720 All the prosperous, 00:34:26.680 --> 00:34:29.059 literally the fat or thriving of the earth, 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:30.059 shall eat and worship. 00:34:30.500 --> 00:34:32.280 And all those who go down to the dust, 00:34:32.599 --> 00:34:33.860 or dust of the death, 00:34:33.860 --> 00:34:35.559 they shall bow before him. 00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:37.980 Even the skinny, 00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:39.860 those who are about to disintegrate, 00:34:40.620 --> 00:34:41.340 who have nothing, 00:34:41.820 --> 00:34:42.860 from the two extremes, 00:34:43.059 --> 00:34:44.480 all types of people, 00:34:44.539 --> 00:34:46.460 who can't even keep themselves alive, 00:34:46.559 --> 00:34:47.440 they are welcome too. 00:34:48.200 --> 00:34:51.340 Jesus Christ is offered to all classes of people. 00:34:52.220 --> 00:34:54.240 And there will be some from all nations, 00:34:54.400 --> 00:34:55.039 all types, 00:34:55.460 --> 00:34:56.579 around his throne. 00:34:57.660 --> 00:35:00.599 Jesus Christ won't stop being offered 00:35:00.599 --> 00:35:03.539 to those who will meet him at his cross. 00:35:03.860 --> 00:35:04.660 While he will, 00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:06.880 he will be offered to every generation 00:35:06.880 --> 00:35:07.920 who will believe in him. 00:35:08.320 --> 00:35:08.700 Verse 30, 00:35:08.820 --> 00:35:10.440 a posterity shall serve him. 00:35:11.160 --> 00:35:12.579 They will recount of the Lord 00:35:12.579 --> 00:35:13.840 to the next generation. 00:35:14.860 --> 00:35:16.640 Even as he reigns from heaven, 00:35:16.840 --> 00:35:19.180 his name and his work will be proclaimed 00:35:19.180 --> 00:35:22.500 until every last soul 00:35:22.500 --> 00:35:24.300 he purchased for himself 00:35:24.300 --> 00:35:25.660 comes to faith. 00:35:25.659 --> 00:35:30.759 I told you I wanted to show you 00:35:30.759 --> 00:35:32.299 two different assemblies. 00:35:33.819 --> 00:35:36.299 The first assembly in Psalm 22 00:35:36.299 --> 00:35:37.940 was violent. 00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:39.960 These were the raging beasts 00:35:39.960 --> 00:35:41.179 who hate and mock 00:35:41.179 --> 00:35:43.799 and torture the body of the Messiah. 00:35:45.139 --> 00:35:46.799 Notice in verse 16, 00:35:47.000 --> 00:35:48.420 he describes that assembly 00:35:48.420 --> 00:35:50.799 as ones who are surrounding him. 00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:53.360 It's the congregation of the wicked 00:35:53.360 --> 00:35:54.820 enclosing him. 00:35:55.500 --> 00:35:58.019 They're the ones who pierce his hands 00:35:58.019 --> 00:35:59.220 and his feet. 00:36:00.220 --> 00:36:01.960 The second assembly, 00:36:02.840 --> 00:36:04.320 in verse 22, 00:36:04.460 --> 00:36:05.480 he calls his family. 00:36:07.080 --> 00:36:08.500 In verse 31, 00:36:09.539 --> 00:36:11.340 they come together to declare 00:36:11.340 --> 00:36:12.780 his righteousness. 00:36:12.780 --> 00:36:13.780 Literally, 00:36:17.060 --> 00:36:18.620 verse 31 says, 00:36:19.519 --> 00:36:20.440 they shall come, 00:36:21.040 --> 00:36:22.000 they shall tell 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:24.540 to people being born 00:36:24.540 --> 00:36:27.380 of the righteousness of God. 00:36:28.900 --> 00:36:30.040 I've thought about this, 00:36:30.100 --> 00:36:32.060 how around the cross, 00:36:32.620 --> 00:36:33.740 in history, 00:36:34.360 --> 00:36:36.180 the work of Jesus Christ 00:36:36.180 --> 00:36:38.800 being literally physically 00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:40.300 pierced to the cross, 00:36:40.300 --> 00:36:43.220 there were some mocking him. 00:36:45.200 --> 00:36:47.039 And even in mocking him 00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:48.680 and seeing him die 00:36:48.680 --> 00:36:49.960 this torturous death, 00:36:50.720 --> 00:36:52.539 he was accomplishing 00:36:52.539 --> 00:36:53.539 their salvation. 00:36:54.539 --> 00:36:55.500 They would believe. 00:36:56.220 --> 00:36:57.120 They would trust 00:36:57.120 --> 00:36:58.120 in Jesus Christ. 00:37:05.800 --> 00:37:07.039 Now for us, 00:37:07.140 --> 00:37:07.940 who are part of this 00:37:07.940 --> 00:37:08.860 second assembly, 00:37:08.860 --> 00:37:13.380 who he calls his family. 00:37:15.519 --> 00:37:16.900 We too pierced him 00:37:16.900 --> 00:37:17.980 and killed him. 00:37:20.400 --> 00:37:21.519 But this assembly 00:37:21.519 --> 00:37:22.539 is unmixed. 00:37:23.900 --> 00:37:24.840 It's the assembly 00:37:24.840 --> 00:37:25.620 of the church, 00:37:25.820 --> 00:37:26.900 the gathered congregation. 00:37:28.800 --> 00:37:29.680 It's the ones 00:37:29.680 --> 00:37:30.380 who declare, 00:37:30.700 --> 00:37:31.559 in verse 31, 00:37:32.140 --> 00:37:34.440 he has done this. 00:37:35.420 --> 00:37:35.940 Literally, 00:37:37.099 --> 00:37:38.460 simply says, 00:37:38.460 --> 00:37:39.820 what he did. 00:37:41.019 --> 00:37:42.220 Jesus interpreted 00:37:42.220 --> 00:37:43.380 this last phrase 00:37:43.380 --> 00:37:44.400 of Psalm 22 00:37:44.400 --> 00:37:45.740 from the cross 00:37:45.740 --> 00:37:46.539 when he cried out 00:37:46.539 --> 00:37:47.420 in John 19, 00:37:47.539 --> 00:37:47.860 30. 00:37:48.860 --> 00:37:50.900 It is finished. 00:37:52.019 --> 00:37:53.079 It's fulfilled. 00:37:53.460 --> 00:37:54.500 It's accomplished. 00:37:55.760 --> 00:37:56.980 The work is done. 00:37:58.280 --> 00:37:59.559 It's the same word, 00:37:59.820 --> 00:38:00.179 finished, 00:38:00.500 --> 00:38:01.500 that Paul uses 00:38:01.500 --> 00:38:03.240 in 2 Timothy 4, 7. 00:38:03.559 --> 00:38:04.559 I have finished 00:38:04.559 --> 00:38:05.519 my course. 00:38:05.519 --> 00:38:07.340 This was Jesus 00:38:07.340 --> 00:38:08.679 crossing the finish line 00:38:08.679 --> 00:38:09.519 for his mission 00:38:09.519 --> 00:38:11.199 to redeem 00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:12.039 a people 00:38:12.039 --> 00:38:13.239 for himself. 00:38:14.119 --> 00:38:14.739 John's account 00:38:14.739 --> 00:38:15.019 says, 00:38:15.259 --> 00:38:15.639 after Jesus 00:38:15.639 --> 00:38:16.500 cried that out, 00:38:16.880 --> 00:38:17.480 he bowed 00:38:17.480 --> 00:38:18.380 his head. 00:38:19.880 --> 00:38:20.920 So this second 00:38:20.920 --> 00:38:21.380 assembly 00:38:21.380 --> 00:38:22.719 that gathers 00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:23.639 around the cross 00:38:23.639 --> 00:38:24.159 also, 00:38:25.039 --> 00:38:25.800 we are the ones 00:38:25.800 --> 00:38:26.440 who accept 00:38:26.440 --> 00:38:27.559 the work 00:38:27.559 --> 00:38:28.559 in saving me 00:38:28.559 --> 00:38:29.480 is finished. 00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:33.239 A.W. 00:38:33.340 --> 00:38:33.679 Tulzer 00:38:33.679 --> 00:38:34.659 told this story 00:38:34.659 --> 00:38:35.400 about a farmer 00:38:35.400 --> 00:38:36.420 and a carpenter. 00:38:37.059 --> 00:38:38.380 Both were simple men. 00:38:38.699 --> 00:38:39.159 The farmer 00:38:39.159 --> 00:38:40.639 was a believer 00:38:40.639 --> 00:38:41.659 and the carpenter 00:38:41.659 --> 00:38:42.199 was not. 00:38:42.460 --> 00:38:42.920 And the farmer 00:38:42.920 --> 00:38:43.739 was telling him 00:38:43.739 --> 00:38:45.320 about how Jesus Christ 00:38:45.320 --> 00:38:46.500 had finished his work 00:38:46.500 --> 00:38:48.139 and the carpenter 00:38:48.139 --> 00:38:48.759 came from 00:38:48.759 --> 00:38:50.320 a fleshly church 00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:50.779 background 00:38:50.779 --> 00:38:51.219 that thought 00:38:51.219 --> 00:38:52.079 he had to do 00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:52.739 more. 00:38:52.739 --> 00:38:54.879 So the farmer 00:38:54.879 --> 00:38:55.979 ordered a gate 00:38:55.979 --> 00:38:56.419 be built 00:38:56.419 --> 00:38:57.119 for his farm 00:38:57.119 --> 00:38:57.799 and the carpenter 00:38:57.799 --> 00:38:59.000 built this wonderful gate, 00:38:59.139 --> 00:39:00.219 came and installed it, 00:39:00.819 --> 00:39:01.359 tested it, 00:39:01.479 --> 00:39:02.039 showed it to him 00:39:02.039 --> 00:39:02.879 and it was all perfect. 00:39:03.579 --> 00:39:04.039 The farmer 00:39:04.039 --> 00:39:04.799 took an axe 00:39:04.799 --> 00:39:05.799 and started to whack 00:39:05.799 --> 00:39:07.239 and destroy this gate 00:39:07.239 --> 00:39:08.139 that he had just put up. 00:39:09.139 --> 00:39:10.079 So the carpenter 00:39:10.079 --> 00:39:10.479 asked him, 00:39:10.539 --> 00:39:11.179 what are you doing? 00:39:12.379 --> 00:39:13.000 And then 00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:14.099 he made the connection. 00:39:14.739 --> 00:39:15.259 The carpenter 00:39:15.259 --> 00:39:15.899 said the work 00:39:15.899 --> 00:39:16.519 was finished, 00:39:16.639 --> 00:39:17.619 don't add to it. 00:39:18.019 --> 00:39:19.179 By adding to my work 00:39:19.179 --> 00:39:20.079 you're destroying it. 00:39:20.079 --> 00:39:21.659 And the farmer 00:39:21.659 --> 00:39:22.119 was willing 00:39:22.119 --> 00:39:22.960 to pay that price 00:39:22.960 --> 00:39:23.480 of a gate 00:39:23.480 --> 00:39:24.480 to help his friend 00:39:24.480 --> 00:39:25.819 see the work 00:39:25.819 --> 00:39:26.559 of Christ 00:39:26.559 --> 00:39:27.519 is finished 00:39:27.519 --> 00:39:28.420 for you. 00:39:29.679 --> 00:39:31.079 That's the second assembly. 00:39:33.679 --> 00:39:34.840 Do we believe 00:39:34.840 --> 00:39:35.739 Jesus' word 00:39:35.739 --> 00:39:36.360 or not? 00:39:36.900 --> 00:39:37.659 He says 00:39:37.659 --> 00:39:39.420 finished. 00:39:41.960 --> 00:39:42.980 We sing 00:39:42.980 --> 00:39:44.119 his dying breath 00:39:44.119 --> 00:39:45.460 has brought me 00:39:45.460 --> 00:39:46.279 life. 00:39:47.059 --> 00:39:47.819 I know, 00:39:48.699 --> 00:39:49.319 you know 00:39:49.319 --> 00:39:49.900 personally 00:39:49.900 --> 00:39:50.860 for me. 00:39:51.440 --> 00:39:52.260 I know 00:39:52.260 --> 00:39:53.039 that it 00:39:53.039 --> 00:39:53.599 is 00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:54.420 finished. 00:39:55.300 --> 00:39:56.119 Jesus Christ 00:39:56.119 --> 00:39:57.599 finished his work 00:39:57.599 --> 00:39:58.539 to make sure 00:39:58.539 --> 00:39:59.139 that there was 00:39:59.139 --> 00:40:00.440 nothing keeping 00:40:00.440 --> 00:40:01.820 sinners like you 00:40:01.820 --> 00:40:02.760 and like me 00:40:02.760 --> 00:40:03.340 from him. 00:40:04.940 --> 00:40:05.880 There's nothing. 00:40:06.000 --> 00:40:07.059 There's no experience, 00:40:07.200 --> 00:40:07.800 no feeling, 00:40:08.220 --> 00:40:09.019 no proving 00:40:09.019 --> 00:40:10.079 that you have 00:40:10.079 --> 00:40:11.340 repented enough 00:40:11.340 --> 00:40:12.980 or done enough 00:40:12.980 --> 00:40:14.800 or to go 00:40:14.800 --> 00:40:15.579 to Jesus. 00:40:16.680 --> 00:40:17.639 Don't expect 00:40:17.639 --> 00:40:18.400 any of those 00:40:18.400 --> 00:40:19.059 effects 00:40:19.059 --> 00:40:20.340 until you are 00:40:20.340 --> 00:40:21.179 first united 00:40:21.179 --> 00:40:21.880 to Christ. 00:40:22.420 --> 00:40:23.099 Only union 00:40:23.099 --> 00:40:23.659 to Christ 00:40:23.659 --> 00:40:24.420 can cause you 00:40:24.420 --> 00:40:25.299 to repent. 00:40:25.739 --> 00:40:26.279 Only union 00:40:26.279 --> 00:40:26.820 to Christ 00:40:26.820 --> 00:40:27.519 can cause you 00:40:27.519 --> 00:40:27.880 and me 00:40:27.880 --> 00:40:28.539 to want 00:40:28.539 --> 00:40:28.980 to know 00:40:28.980 --> 00:40:29.659 God more. 00:40:30.340 --> 00:40:31.440 Only union 00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:32.139 to Christ. 00:40:34.139 --> 00:40:34.719 There were 00:40:34.719 --> 00:40:35.500 two assemblies 00:40:35.500 --> 00:40:36.699 around the one 00:40:36.699 --> 00:40:38.079 cross of Jesus. 00:40:38.579 --> 00:40:39.199 The first 00:40:39.199 --> 00:40:40.199 gathered by sight 00:40:40.199 --> 00:40:40.579 only 00:40:40.579 --> 00:40:41.639 and the second 00:40:41.639 --> 00:40:42.719 gathers by faith. 00:40:42.719 --> 00:40:43.719 God more 00:40:43.719 --> 00:40:44.039 and the second 00:40:44.039 --> 00:40:44.719 of Christ. 00:40:44.719 --> 00:40:45.379 It's that one 00:40:45.379 --> 00:40:46.259 cross that brings 00:40:46.259 --> 00:40:47.399 heaven to earth. 00:40:48.519 --> 00:40:49.159 And this is where 00:40:49.159 --> 00:40:50.579 Christ is lifted up 00:40:50.579 --> 00:40:51.739 and he's offered 00:40:51.739 --> 00:40:53.000 to you 00:40:53.000 --> 00:40:53.919 and to me. 00:40:55.719 --> 00:40:56.939 Don't mock him 00:40:56.939 --> 00:40:57.779 any longer. 00:40:58.779 --> 00:41:00.259 Don't despise him 00:41:00.259 --> 00:41:00.899 anymore. 00:41:02.259 --> 00:41:03.379 Leave that assembly. 00:41:04.539 --> 00:41:05.579 Come to the assembly 00:41:05.579 --> 00:41:06.679 of faith 00:41:06.679 --> 00:41:07.459 in Christ. 00:41:07.899 --> 00:41:08.480 Go to him. 00:41:09.360 --> 00:41:10.400 Let him hold you 00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:11.780 and trust 00:41:11.780 --> 00:41:12.940 that Jesus Christ 00:41:12.940 --> 00:41:14.400 did all 00:41:14.400 --> 00:41:15.480 for me. 00:41:16.260 --> 00:41:16.820 He did all 00:41:16.820 --> 00:41:17.280 for you 00:41:17.280 --> 00:41:18.480 who trust in him. 00:41:19.139 --> 00:41:19.880 Let's thank him 00:41:19.880 --> 00:41:20.900 for our great salvation. 00:41:23.780 --> 00:41:24.679 Oh Lord 00:41:24.679 --> 00:41:26.619 we confess 00:41:26.619 --> 00:41:27.199 that it was 00:41:27.199 --> 00:41:27.960 my sin 00:41:27.960 --> 00:41:29.119 that held you 00:41:29.119 --> 00:41:29.500 there 00:41:29.500 --> 00:41:30.800 until it was 00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:31.480 accomplished. 00:41:33.079 --> 00:41:34.000 It held you 00:41:34.000 --> 00:41:34.599 there because 00:41:34.599 --> 00:41:34.980 you 00:41:34.980 --> 00:41:37.119 would have 00:41:37.119 --> 00:41:38.440 all the reward 00:41:38.440 --> 00:41:39.159 of your suffering. 00:41:41.740 --> 00:41:42.420 You would 00:41:42.420 --> 00:41:43.840 bring a people 00:41:43.840 --> 00:41:44.579 to yourself 00:41:44.579 --> 00:41:45.780 and you would 00:41:45.780 --> 00:41:46.380 leave nothing 00:41:46.380 --> 00:41:47.360 between your people 00:41:47.360 --> 00:41:48.579 and yourself. 00:41:49.179 --> 00:41:49.559 Thank you 00:41:49.559 --> 00:41:50.440 that we can know 00:41:50.440 --> 00:41:51.639 God our creator 00:41:51.639 --> 00:41:53.099 through the one 00:41:53.099 --> 00:41:53.599 mediator 00:41:53.599 --> 00:41:54.519 Jesus Christ 00:41:54.519 --> 00:41:55.720 his person 00:41:55.720 --> 00:41:56.900 and his work. 00:41:57.740 --> 00:41:58.039 Our Lord 00:41:58.039 --> 00:41:58.840 Jesus Christ 00:41:58.840 --> 00:41:59.900 clothed 00:41:59.900 --> 00:42:00.820 in his glorious 00:42:00.820 --> 00:42:01.920 gospel for us. 00:42:02.740 --> 00:42:03.619 We praise you. 00:42:04.500 --> 00:42:04.860 Amen.