there. So with these intimations then we'll begin our worship today and we're singing firstly
Psalm 145, Psalm 145, the second version of the psalm that's on page 444 and verses 1 to 7.
O Lord, thou art my God and King, thee will I magnify and praise. I will thee bless and gladly
sing unto thy holy name always. Each day I rise I will thee bless and praise thy name time without
end. Much to be praised and great God is, his greatness none can comprehend. How wonderful
it is to be reminded in this opening psalm of God's worthiness to be praised, of his greatness
and of his might and all other aspects of his being that make him worthy of our praise. So
with the worthiness of God in our minds, let's stand to sing these verses. O Lord, thou art
my God and King. O Lord, thou art my God and King, thee will I magnify and praise. I will thee bless and gladly sing.
O Lord, thou art my God and world and never say can I?
And great God is, His greatness done and of the end.
Great child, my word, great child to raise the mighty hand so done by Thee.
Thy mercy, God, and glorious grace, and honor all Thy majesty.
Thy wondrous works, I will impart, Thy end and my joy be extrobed.
O God, Thy grateful acts, O Lord, and Thy, Thy greatness will unfold.
They utter shall upon the tree the memory of Thy goodness quake.
And chants in praises cheerfully, I may Thy righteousness prevail.
Let's now call upon the Lord in prayer. Let's unite our minds in prayer.
Amen.
Almighty and gracious God, we give thanks for these great attributes that we have been singing of,
of Your greatness that comprise the beauty and the perfection of Your being.
We thank You, Lord, today that You have reminded us of Your worthiness to be praised,
that You alone are worthy of worship.
And so we gather together, Lord, today to worship You.
Help us to do so, Lord, with our hearts truly set upon the glorifying of Your name.
Help us to come before You with a true spirit of worship in our minds and hearts,
with our mind focused on those things that You have revealed in Your Word.
With our hearts, Lord, as we seek the blessing of Your Holy Spirit upon us,
our hearts quickened, our hearts revived,
and our hearts brought into tune with Your truth.
We thank You today, O Lord, that we have this opportunity,
this great privilege once again of being together to worship You as our God.
And we pray as we do so, Lord, that You would guide us into Your truth.
We thank You for the way in which we have Your own truth set out for us in written form,
and for the way that You have brought it to us in our generation,
with all its authority and relevance for our age,
as has been the case down through the years in the history of the world.
We thank You today, Lord, as we look back upon all that You have accomplished,
that You entered into this world in such a way as to provide for us an access to Yourself,
an access which we now use in the name of Jesus,
who is Himself the way, the truth, and the life.
We thank You today, Lord, that He took our human nature to Himself,
that You did so in such a way as would combine in His person the wonder of God and man combined,
and yet combined in such a way to retain the distinctness of the godhood and also of the manhood.
We thank You today, Lord, for the wonder of Your person,
for the beauty that pertains to You.
We pray today as we worship You that we would once again catch a glimpse of Your beauty,
for Your beauty makes us, Lord, stand in awe at Your majesty and Your perfection and Your truth.
And we come, Lord, today, and our hearts are needy that we should once again meet with You.
We pray, Lord, each of us here that You would bless us from Your Word,
that You would give to us, O Lord, as we struggle with many issues in life.
Help us, we pray, to realize Your perfection as the God and King of Your people.
We pray today, O Lord, that You would, as we seek the guidance of Your Spirit into Your Word,
we pray that You would help us, too, to retain it and to apply it in our lives in such a way, Lord,
as would reflect the beauty of Christ in us.
We ask today that Your blessing will be with all Your people wherever they gather.
We recognize, Lord, even as we are reminded in our bulletin sheet today of places in the world where people are persecuted
and even put to death for their faith, for their adherence to the Lord Jesus Christ,
and for the way in which they are determined not to be deflected from following Him,
from honoring Him, from speaking of Him.
Lord, we pray today that Your blessing will be with all agencies that seek to uphold these persecuted Christians,
whether it be through the Barnabas Fund or through Steadfast Global.
We pray for all their efforts, O Lord, and we pray for all Your people in the world today
when we are able to rejoice in the freedom that we have,
the many ways in which we can gather without fear as we do here today.
Lord, we pray for these places in the world where Your people don't have these liberties
and yet where they remain faithful to You.
We ask, Lord, for them that though we don't know them or don't know,
we confess we don't know even the majority of them or their circumstances,
yet we know that they are known to You and we know that Your interest is in them
and Your concern, Lord, is to be their guide and be their stay,
be their defense and be their shield.
Lord, we thank You today for the way in which Your Word brings us in the Psalms,
so many of our human experiences that we can bring before You in praise and also in prayer.
Lord, we thank You that You have gone before us so as to give us such a manual of praise
and so as to give to us the experiences of Your people and of Your church down through the years
that are expressed through the singing of Your praise.
And we thank You today that whatever depths we may have in the challenges of life
to contend with and against, that we find them in these words of the psalmist,
as we do also the heights of rejoicing and of joy that belongs to Your people also.
Oh, Lord, today we pray that as we come once again to celebrate the coming of Christ into the world
and His achievements in His life and death and resurrection from the dead,
Lord, we pray help us to do so, confident that He now lives forevermore,
that You are alive for the benefit of Your people,
that You minister to them through Your Spirit from Your throne on high.
Remember us, Lord, today as a congregation.
Remember us in all the variety of our need as we present this before You.
We pray, Lord, that You bless each and every home represented here
and those that belong to us not able to be here today.
We pray Your blessing for us, Lord, as we come towards the end of this year in our lives.
We, Lord, reflect upon the many challenges that You have provided for us
in Your providence throughout this year.
But we thank You, Lord, for the provision of Your sustaining grace,
for the many promises that go before us in Your Word
as we come to face these issues of life.
And so we remember today, O Lord, those who come towards the end of this year
with heavy hearts, with hearts that reflect upon the passing of loved ones
who have gone from the scene of time during this year.
Remember them, O Lord, and ask that You would draw near to them.
We pray that You would comfort them, that You would give them the strength that they require
as they reflect upon those that have now gone from their midst.
Lord, we give thanks for many precious memories that You enable us to hold.
We pray that You would grant Your blessing to uplift us
when the gloom settles in upon our lives
and when we know, O Lord, and realize that things are other than we would have chosen
or wanted to be.
Yet, Lord, we pray that You would turn us at all times to Your wisdom
and to the way in which You have ordered and patterned our lives
according to Your knowledge and according to Your wisdom
and according to the rule of Your will.
We pray, too, for those who have lost loved ones in times gone by.
Lord, we know that this time of year is a poignant time for those who reflect upon times of bereavement
and sorrow and loss and for whom these things, Lord, are an ongoing challenge
and an ongoing reality in their lives.
Continue, Lord, to bless us, we pray, with Your truth
and continue to provide for us as we come towards the turn of another year.
We ask, too, that You'd bless those who are ill at this time of our number,
those who are receiving treatment, who are recovering from surgical procedures.
And, Lord, we ask that You'd bless them and bless their families
and bless those who mourn even in these present days.
We commit them to You also and ask that You'd bless them.
Remember our children and our young people.
Grant to them, O Lord, as they hear of the gospel and of the message of Christ
having come into this world as a saviour.
O Lord, we pray that You would sanctify their young lives.
Give them as they hear of the truth of the gospel,
that they may come more and more and day by day
to be dedicated and committed to You
and to Your ways and to walk in Your paths.
We pray for them today.
We pray for all their families and ask that You'd bless them.
We pray that You'd continue to remember us, Lord, as a people
during this time of ongoing pandemic.
Lord, we pray that You would lift this from us.
We pray that You would grant us again to be restored to times
when greater freedom will be ours in terms of being able to engage
in activities that we have not had for many years.
We ask, Lord, that You would bless to us these past two years of difficulty,
of trial and of affliction and of sorrow and loss.
We pray that You would grant, Lord, to go before us
as a new year approaches.
May it be one that is filled with the light of Your countenance,
filled with Your blessing,
filled, O Lord, with those things that would further enrich our lives.
We pray that You would enable us, Lord,
to have once again a communion, the Lord's Supper,
dispensed and partaken of in our midst as a congregation.
Lord, we ask that You would, in Your providence,
enable us to be and enable us to come once again to rejoice
in the provision that You have made
in the remembrance of the Lord's death until He come.
Hear us, Lord, we pray now,
and pardon our many sins
as we confess our sins before You.
We ask it all in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Okay, now, children,
I know there's some watching online as well,
but it's good to see children back in the service today
during your time of holiday from Sunday school.
I hope you all had many presents to open.
I know that you probably received things that you'd asked for
for your Christmas.
Maybe you received some things that you didn't ask for as well
and were very different, perhaps,
to those things that you asked for.
But it's a great thing to receive and to exchange gifts,
which we do particularly at this time of year,
at Christmastime.
And if you think about your gifts,
I'm sure that none of you left your gifts unwrapped.
I don't suppose that any of you who received gifts
just said,
well, I'm not going to really bother opening that.
I'll just leave it
and see what happens in the turn of the year.
Every time we get a gift,
especially Christmas gifts,
we're eager to tear the wrapping off
and have a look and see what's inside and enjoy it.
That, of course, is true with the gift of Jesus to us as well.
We don't want to leave Jesus unaccepted.
We don't want to leave him as if he's just an ordinary gift.
He is God's great gift,
the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ.
Now, I wonder if God spares us to see the next Christmas,
if the gifts that you received this Christmastime
will still be as precious to you
or as much used by you
as they have been in the last few days.
I doubt if any of you left your gifts unused
as well as unopened.
But I wonder how much your interest in these gifts
will continue through this coming year.
If you're like me, I'm very excited,
usually opening a gift,
but in the passing of time,
that interest or that enjoyment tends to decrease.
It tends to wane.
It tends to not be as intense as it is
when you first open the present.
And of course, whatever presents they are,
the contents will inevitably grow old
or you may become tired of them
or you might outgrow them.
Maybe they're no longer relevant as you grow up.
And even if you get the most wonderful
or expensive electronic gifts, for example,
some of you might have received some of those
if you're older,
but even that tends to be outdated after a while.
Mobile phones, whatever else you have,
and electronic gadgets,
they're always replaced by newer versions, aren't they?
So you tend to actually have the older versions.
Maybe it goes on for a while,
but then after a while,
you're tempted to exchange them
and people often exchange them as time goes on.
Well, with the gift of Jesus,
that's never the case.
He never becomes out of date.
He never needs to be replaced by a better model
because you can't get one that's better than Jesus.
And he never grows irrelevant or old
or unsuitable for what you need
at any time in your life.
So when you unwrap God's great present
of eternal life in Jesus Christ,
when you receive Jesus as your Savior,
when you trust in him,
when you believe in him,
he's there not just for life in this world,
he's there forever.
He never needs to be replaced
and you never want to replace him.
You never want to be without him.
That's the great difference
between the gift that God gives us in Jesus
and every other gift,
however expensive,
however much we enjoy it,
the gift of Jesus is special.
Special because there's no one like him.
And today in the sermon,
I'd like you to listen to the sermon as well.
I'll try and make it as easy to follow for you
as well as for the older ones.
And we're looking at the beauty of Jesus,
how beautiful he is and why he's beautiful.
And not only why he's beautiful,
but why he continues to be beautiful
because he never loses his beauty as our Savior.
And so I hope you had a really good,
happy Christmas.
And I hope that whatever you got
for your Christmas gifts
will continue to be special to you.
But do remember the special gift,
the gift of Jesus as our Savior,
that God in his love has provided for us.
And whatever age we're of today,
Jesus is the gift we need,
the gift we must never leave unopened.
So we're going to say the Lord's Prayer together.
Let's pray the Lord's Prayer once again.
Amen.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
Let's now read God's Word.
And we're going to read today
from the Psalms,
from Psalm 45.
Psalm number 45
in the book of Psalms.
We're going to read down through the Psalm.
It's not very long.
Psalm 45.
My heart overflows with a pleasing theme.
I address my verses to the King.
My tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.
You are the most handsome of the sons of men.
Grace is poured upon your lips.
Therefore God has blessed you forever.
Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
in your splendor and majesty.
In your majesty ride out victoriously,
for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness.
Let your right hand teach you awesome deeds.
Your arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king's enemies.
The peoples fall under you.
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom
is a scepter of uprightness.
You have loved righteousness
and hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God,
has anointed you with the oil of gladness
beyond your companions.
Your robes are all fragrant
with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces,
stringed instruments make you glad.
Daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor.
At your right hand stands the queen
in gold of Ophir.
Hear, O daughter, and consider
and incline your ear.
Forget your people and your father's house,
and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your Lord, bow to him.
The people of Tyre will seek with favor your gifts.
Your favor with gifts.
The richest of the people.
All glorious is the princess in her chamber,
with robes interwoven with gold.
In many colored robes she is led to the king,
with her virgin companions following behind her.
With joy and gladness they are led along
as they enter the palace of the king.
In place of your fathers shall be your sons.
You will make them princes in all the earth.
I will cause your name to be remembered
in all generations.
Therefore nations will praise you
forever and ever.
Amen.
May God bless to us.
Again, a reading of his word.
We're going to praise him once again.
We're singing Psalm 47 this time.
Psalm number 47.
This is in Sing Psalms.
You'll find that on page 62 of your psalm books.
And we'll sing the whole of this version of the psalm.
All nations, clap your hands and shout.
Let joyful cries to God ring out.
How awesome is the Lord most high.
Great king who rules the earth throughout.
He has subdued beneath our feet
the nations who had been our foes.
In blessing Jacob, whom he loved,
a heritage for us he chose.
Psalm 47.
These verses on page 62.
All nations, clap your hands and shout.
Amen.
All nations, clap your hands and shout.
Let joyful cries to God ring out.
How awesome is the Lord most high.
Great king who rules the earth throughout.
He has subdued beneath our feet.
The nations who have been our foes.
prod stuff.
The people of themern you have to beное so thats simple.
God has been chosen.
God has gone up with chance of joy.
The Lord have made the trumpet sound.
Sing fresh, sing fresh to God's most high.
To all our kings and priests abide.
For God is king of all the earth.
Sing songs of Christ to him alone.
God rules the nations from all night.
He sits upon his holy throne.
The leaders of the nations come.
To yield themselves to Hebrews God.
To him beyond the shields of earth.
Exalted great is the Lord.
Amen.
Well, let's turn together now to Psalm 45 in the book of Psalms.
Psalm number 45.
I'm going to look today at the first five verses of the Psalm especially.
But focusing really on some of the detail there in regard to the two attributes of Jesus, of Christ as our king.
Firstly, his beauty and then his might.
Psalm 45, as you can see from the title there, is a love song.
But it's not an ordinary love song.
It's actually a wedding song.
It's a song of the relationship between a king and a commoner who's going to become his wife.
And that, of course, has tremendous spiritual significance.
The psalmist actually very liked the Song of Solomon in many of its expressions.
And as you find it quoted in the New Testament, it becomes obvious then especially that this really is a prophecy of the relationship between Jesus and his people.
That he is the one who is referred to here prophetically in anticipation as the warrior king who is altogether beautiful.
He has so many beautiful attributes that this song really describes them in such a way as would pour out.
As it says in the very beginning of the psalm, my heart overflows with a pleasing thing.
My address, my verses to the king.
It's not just that the verses are about the king.
They're addressed to the king as he is in his beauty set out before the psalmist.
And so that's the subject, this king that turns out to be King Jesus.
And there's a wonderful emphasis in itself that you find things written in the Old Testament scriptures like this psalm that came to be fulfilled many, many hundreds of years afterwards.
And not just fulfilled, but fulfilled in specific detail.
A specific detail in such a way that would really just confirm our conviction that this word, this Bible, this word is the word of God.
Inspired by the spirit of God as he moved different authors to write the various parts of it down through the years.
How could you possibly find such exact correspondence between some of the passages in the Old Testament like Isaiah 53 and here in Psalm 45 that came to be so specially and minutely fulfilled in the person and the work of Jesus Christ without knowing that God,
without realizing really that God, or coming to the conclusion that God is really the author of all this from beginning to end.
Well, here is this wonderful wedding song, this marriage song, and this excited eagerness on the part of the psalmist to actually set forth these details.
And when we think of a king marrying a commoner, not just a commoner in the sense of the aristocracy or maybe not royalty,
this girl that he's marrying, this woman is obviously, as it comes to be seen through the psalm, is just an ordinary common person.
She doesn't have any superior status, doesn't have any royalty, she doesn't have even aristocracy about it.
She is like the woman in the Song of Solomon.
She's just an ordinary down-to-earth person.
And when you think about Jesus coming to be spiritually married to his people, to his church,
to those that he saves and brings into this marriage relationship with himself spiritually,
a wonderful thing happens in that union between them.
Because all the debts that we have as sinners, all the debts that we have and what we owe to God,
that we cannot ourselves pay, Jesus takes these.
Jesus pays for these.
All the things that God requires of us, but that we cannot pay, that we cannot do.
The debt in which we placed ourselves by a rebellion against him as human beings,
that's what Jesus has taken.
The king has taken the debt to himself.
And he's happy to pay for it.
That's the meaning of Christmas.
The Son of God coming into the world.
Remember how Paul describes it in his second letter to the Corinthians.
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Though he was rich and is rich, he's rich with the riches that is his as God.
Yet for our sakes he became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich.
It doesn't mean he lost the riches that belonged to God, but it means he placed himself in the situation that led to his death on the cross.
And through that work, through that completion, through that accomplishment, we are made rich as we come to be united to him.
And so, it's not just that our debts are passed to him and he pays the price of these debts by his death.
His riches are also passed to us.
This ordinary commoner married to this king can say after the marriage is accomplished,
after the marriage has actually been gone through, all the riches of the king become hers.
They're all passed over to her.
And isn't that one of the most amazing things, one of the most wonderful things to celebrate,
not only at this time of year, but all times.
All the riches that belong to Jesus Christ as the Savior of his people are passed to us as we come to accept him as our Redeemer.
So, let's look at the beauty of Jesus described in these words and also the might of Jesus, the strength of Jesus,
the Jesus who accomplished such great things for his people.
First of all, this beauty, you can see here in verse 2,
You are the most handsome of the sons of men.
Grace is poured upon your lips.
Therefore, God has blessed you forever.
You're not just handsome, but the psalmist is saying,
You are the most handsome of the sons of men.
There is nobody else that has that level of beauty,
that level of spiritual handsomeness that belongs to Jesus.
He is beautiful, first of all, in his person,
because we're talking here about the Son of God.
We're talking about the beauty that belongs to the divine,
the beauty that belongs to God,
the beauty and perfection of God himself as it is in Jesus Christ,
the Son of God.
That's something that did not actually cease to be the case,
the truth about him.
Remember Psalm 27,
where the psalmist is there speaking of the beauty of God as well.
In verse 4,
One thing I have asked of the Lord,
and that will I seek after,
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.
When you think about the beauty of God,
the beauty that's in Jesus as the Son of God,
the divine beauty that is his,
we're talking here of the beauty,
we're thinking here of the beauty of his love,
the beauty of God's love,
the beauty of love that does not love
just in order to get something back in return,
but loves because he is love,
because he loves to love.
The beauty of goodness,
the beauty of perfect wisdom,
the beauty of truth that never becomes other than truth,
constant, eternal truth,
the beauty of Jesus in his person,
in terms of the beauty of God.
There's so much you could amplify in these points,
so much you could elaborate,
because the Bible is full of this beauty of God
and the different ways in which God has made his beauty known to us.
All the attributes that God has are attributes that manifest,
that show out his beauty.
But then remember,
Jesus is human as well,
perfectly human,
completely human.
He took our human nature to himself.
The Son of God joined humanity to his deity
so as to complete in himself
one perfect person,
two natures in one person.
The mystery of Christ as our Savior,
God and man together.
And it's the beauty of a perfect humanity,
a perfect human being.
What is that like?
Well, it's like Jesus,
because that's who he is,
and that's what he is like.
And every time you read about him in the Scriptures,
in terms even of his humanity,
you always stop to admire that humanity.
You just imagine what it must have been like,
even to the extent that we can,
and we can't go into it too far,
but the beauty of a perfect man and a perfect life.
You think of him being brought up as a child,
and then as a little boy,
and then as a young man,
and there's never any flaw in him.
He has the beauty of perfect behavior,
perfect speech.
He has the beauty of that which is perfect
in its humanity,
in every aspect of it.
You can just think as far as you can of his parents.
I wonder how many times they stopped his parents.
That is, his mother Mary,
and his legal father Joseph,
because of course his father is ultimately God,
the Father.
But think about him being brought up by them.
Think about how they never saw anything in them
that was sinful,
that was contrary to what God required.
every single thing he did,
every single word he said,
every aspect of his behavior,
while he learned because he was human,
and while his learning as a human developed,
and all of that is true of him,
just as it is of any human,
yet it is perfect.
He is the perfect human being,
the beauty of perfect humanity,
that which did not exist ever since Adam fell,
ever since we became flawed human beings,
sinful human beings.
But Jesus is the perfect human,
the beauty of a perfect,
perfect humanity,
and the beauty of the perfection of God.
He's perfect.
He's beautiful in his person.
You are the most handsome of the sons of men.
But he's also beautiful.
Secondly, in his speech,
mentioned that a minute ago in terms of his humanity,
but is specified here,
grace is poured upon your lips,
or into your lips.
In other words,
he is endowed with the most perfect speech.
And if you look at the Gospels,
and read the Gospels,
you'll soon be aware of how people were marveling,
and just wondering over the words that came from his lips.
For example, in the Gospel of Luke,
chapter 4,
you remember that great occasion
where Jesus in the synagogue took the book of Elijah,
the scroll of Elijah was given to him.
He unrolled it and found the place where it was written,
the Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor,
to speak out good news,
to preach good news to the poor,
the words of his lips.
And so on he went to proclaim
the year of the Lord's favor,
and he rolled up the scroll,
and gave it back to the attendant,
and sat down,
and the eyes of all in the synagogue
were fixed on him.
And he began to say to them,
And today the Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,
and all spoke well of him,
and marveled.
And then listen to the words of Luke.
Marveled at the gracious words
that were coming from his mouth.
Marveled at the words of grace
that were coming from his mouth.
And they said,
Is not this Joseph's son?
And so on.
But these words especially
fit in with Psalm 45,
don't they?
It's almost as if Luke
at the time was just thinking
of reading Psalm 45.
Grace is poured
into or upon your lips.
You are endowed
with the most amazing speech.
You are endowed
with the most amazing ability
to speak words of grace.
Grace has been poured
into your lips.
And you know,
when you come,
as those of you who know Jesus
as your Savior
know very well,
when he spoke to you
through his word,
when he spoke to you,
when the Spirit of God
took the words of Scripture
and impressed your heart
and mind with them,
as you heard the voice of Jesus say,
Come to me and rest.
You know that these words
were words filled with grace.
Words that were not
of an ordinary type of speech.
They were words
of the Son of God.
Words of the Savior.
Words by which he awoke you
to your sense of need.
Words by which he introduced himself
to you.
As the perfect Savior.
Words that you still remember
and still hear
and still long to hear
is the words of grace.
Words of favor.
Words of blessing.
God endowed him
so that his ministry
would be
a ministry of grace,
a ministry of favor
to lost sinners.
There is a beauty
in all his words.
And of course,
we know that because
he is the Son of God,
because he himself
is behind
the inspiration,
the setting out
of Scripture
as we have it,
Old Testament
as well as New Testament.
It wasn't just
at the beginning
of Matthew's Gospel
or in those times
of the incarnation,
of the coming of Jesus
into the world,
the birth of Jesus.
That's not when Jesus
began to live.
That's not the beginning
of his life.
He didn't have
the beginning of life
ultimately because
he is God.
He has eternal
life as God.
And you see the beauty
in his words,
the beauty
in his promises,
beauty even
in his commands,
beauty in his counsel,
beauty in his comfort,
beauty in his correction
because he is always
about setting us
on the right path,
keeping us
on the right path.
Beauty of words
of peace
that he speaks
into your heart.
How beautiful
are the words
of Jesus
when your heart
needs peace,
when your heart
needs to rest,
when you're faced
with the challenges
of this life,
with the many
different aspects
of affliction
and of grief
and of sorrow
and of change
that you find
in your experience
from day to day,
from year to year.
As you come towards
the end of another year
in which you've seen
changes,
especially if you've
lost loved ones,
if your health
has been an issue,
if your mental health
has been an issue,
if all of these
things and others
you could add to them
have been issues
and challenges for you.
How wonderfully
beautiful are the
words of Jesus
because he addresses
you in these
circumstances
with his perfect
knowledge,
with his concern
to bring his
promises to bear
upon your circumstances,
to impress upon you
and to give you
an even deeper
conviction
that his word
is always true,
his word
is always reliable,
his words
are always beautiful.
the beauty
of Jesus,
beauty in his
person,
beauty in his
speech,
in whatever he
says,
whether it's even
at times to
bring us up
short and
show us how
far short we're
coming of
the standard he
expects and
requires of us.
maybe it's even
today a time of
correction for me
or for you
to set us back
on the right
path,
to refocus our
mind upon
the things that
are of eternal
importance.
Well, that's
beauty as well,
isn't it?
The beauty
of Christ's
words.
But secondly,
along with the
beauty of Jesus,
these words in the
psalm speak of the
might of Jesus.
Jesus,
he's talking here
in verse 3,
gird your sword
on your thigh
and then let
your arrows
that are sharp
pierce the hearts
of the king's
enemies in verse
5.
So the might of
Jesus, you can
see him described
here as a
warrior king,
somebody who is
constantly equipped
for battle.
And of course,
when the Bible
speaks about battle
in this way,
it's not talking
about fighting
literally.
A lot of
people make
that mistake
that we as
Christians really
just set out
the Bible as
containing all
these terms of
violence, that
the Bible is
responsible for
much of the
violence in the
world, for the
conflict between
different views
that human beings
have.
Well, of course,
Christ in his
might and in
these terms that
are used here,
they're used
especially in a
spiritual meaning.
And it's been
the case, I
know very well,
and you know
very well that
down through
history, at
certain times
Christians have
taken up the
sword as if we
present the
gospel accompanied
by violent
means in order to
persuade people to
accept it.
That's not what
Christianity is
about.
That's a
distortion of
Christianity.
That's a
distortion of the
values of Christ.
Because when Christ
goes out to
conquer, he
goes out to
attack our
hearts and our
minds by ways
of his truth.
He brings us,
as it says there,
into subjection to
himself.
In verse 5,
your arrows are
sharp in the
hearts of the
king's enemies,
the people fall
in subjection
under you.
The subjection
that is talking
here of Jesus
is the subjection
of your heart
and your mind
to him, to be
ruled by him, to
be ruled gladly
and willingly by
him.
It's not a
forced subjection,
it's not something
that's done
violently.
That's why we
value our
freedom of
religion, among
many other
freedoms like
freedom of
speech, freedom
of thought, freedom
of religion.
We don't force
people into
acceptance of
Christianity or
of Christ.
We seek to
persuade them.
We seek to
persuade them by
the beauty of
Christ, by
emphasizing the
beauty of
Christ, by
emphasizing his
beauty in his
person and in
his words and in
everything else to
do with him so
that they be
persuaded to
lay down that
rebellion against
him, the
spiritual rebellion
that is ours by
nature and come
and yield to his
authority.
And that's our
basis of
confidence in the
gospel, isn't
it?
That this
gospel, this
good news of
life, of
eternal life in
Jesus Christ,
that is not
dependent ultimately
on our ability,
whatever ability
we have or
don't have to
speak or to
preach or to
witness or to
testify for him,
the success of
the gospel does
not rest with
that.
It rests with
the power, the
might of Jesus
himself.
It's in the very
nature of the
word of Christ
that he uses in
order to persuade
us to come to
be in subjection to
him, to accept
his truth, to
accept him as
our Lord, accept
him as our
Savior, accept
him as the King
and Lord of all
the earth.
It's interesting,
isn't it, that
Psalm 45
follows on from
Psalm 44.
I know you're
saying, well,
that's logical,
45 follows 44
in terms of
numerical sequence,
but what I mean
is in terms of
the content of
Psalm 45, it's
deliberately placed
beside Psalm 44
because Psalm 44
is by and large
a psalm of
defeat, a psalm
of lament, a
psalm of seeking
to have God
refocus them and
re-guide them and
bring them back to
know himself.
And there's his
appeal there in
verse 23, Psalm
44, awake, why
are you sleeping,
O Lord?
Arouse yourself, do
not reject us
forever.
Why do you hide
your face?
Why do you forget
our affliction and
oppression?
Our soul is bowed
down to the dust,
our belly clings to
the ground.
Rise up, come to
our help, redeem
us for the sake of
your steadfast love.
What is the next
portion of the
Psalms?
My heart overflows
with a pleasing
thing.
I address my
verses to the
king, and then he
describes his
beauty.
You see, the
beauty of Jesus
and the might of
Jesus is really
the answer to our
human problem.
It's the answer
to, and I'm using
the term problem
in the singular
because the human
problem includes all
our problems.
All our concerns
and all our wants.
But God's answer
to that is in the
beauty and in the
might of Jesus,
in his suitability
and in his
sufficiency to
actually deal with
our problems, and
to deal especially
with the problem of
our sin, which is
the root of all
other problems.
Our sin, our
rebellion, our
broken relationship
with God, and
into that comes
Jesus Christ, the
beauty and the
might that is
his.
And the might of
Jesus, you see, the
might of Jesus has
seen that he never
loses in his
campaign for the
truth.
Christ has never
lost a battle.
The church has
lost many battles,
but in the overall
scheme of things,
the Lord has never
lost a battle.
You find it
described in the
Gospels, especially
as the battle
between good and
evil, the battle
between Jesus, the
head of his people,
and the likes of
Satan, who is at the
head of this great
campaign against
Jesus and against
his truth and
against the light.
And every time you
find Jesus confronted
by the devil, whether
it's in the
wilderness, in
Matthew chapter 4,
or Luke's description
of it, or Mark's,
you'll always find that
the ultimate victory
is with Jesus.
He never loses a
battle, nor will he
ever.
And you know, that's
some of the most
comforting thoughts
that you can have.
Some of the most
comforting truth that
comes from the
Bible to you and to
me today is that in
all your battles, in
all your struggles, in
all the things that
you experience in this
life, where you know
failure, where I know
failure, when your
trust is in Jesus,
ultimately, in the
final analysis, you're
never on the side of
failure.
You're always on the
side of victory,
because this is your
king.
This is who your
king is.
One who never loses
in his great campaign
that he heads.
You know, even
coming to the
description in the
Gospels of his
death on the cross,
and all that led up
to his trial,
which was a sham,
really, of a trial,
and then his being led
out to be crucified,
and his death that
actually took place on
the cross.
Looking at it
outwardly, and
probably the devil was
of this opinion.
Looks like defeat,
doesn't it?
And you find these
disconsolate disciples
who had been as
disciples during these
years with him, and
here they are, and
they're disconsolate.
They haven't understood,
of course, at that
stage, the meaning of
the cross, and
especially before the
resurrection took place,
you'll find, as in
Luke 24, these
disconsolate, downcast
disciples walking
together and reflecting
on what's happened.
We thought this was
he who would redeem
Israel, and where is
he?
He's in the grave.
But then someone
came and joined
their company.
Someone no less
than Jesus himself.
And as he revealed
to them who he was,
that he was indeed
Christ, risen from
the dead, as they
then reflected on him
as he eventually
disappeared from sight,
and went out of
their company.
Did not our heart
burn within us
while he explained
to us the
scriptures?
He opened the
scriptures.
He opened their
minds to understand
the scriptures, the
beauty of his speech,
the beauty of his
words, the beauty of
his person, and they
realized this is who
he is.
He's risen from the
dead.
He's not lost the
battle.
He's actually the
victor.
He's conquered
death.
He's beaten sin.
He's overcome all
of that.
And so we overcome
with him.
And by him and by
being joined with
him, we come
indeed to share in
that victory that is
his.
See the way in which
he appeals here,
verse 3,
gird your sword on
your thigh, almighty
one in your splendor
and majesty.
And then think about
the difference between
a sword used in an
actual battle
situation and the
sword that you find
in a ceremonial
situation.
Well, the sword that
Jesus uses,
spiritually of course,
again, is not a
ceremonial sword.
It's one by which
he conquers and goes
out and brings
people into subjection
to himself.
The sword of his
truth, the sword of
the Spirit, the Word
of God.
And his cause is the
most worthy of all.
I'll finish with this.
You know that in
actual battle
situations, it's
almost always the
case that each
regiment has their
own colors, the
ensign or the flag,
you might call it.
It's a standard.
It's an ensign.
It's called the
regimental colors.
You'll find these
used on different
parades, even formal
parades.
But in an actual
battle situation,
almost always the
colors, the ensign,
goes before the
troops into battle.
They take their
inspiration from the
colors of the
regiment.
And they follow
whoever is carrying
the regimental colors
into battle.
They follow on from
that.
They take their
inspiration from that.
That's what gives
them, in a sense,
the courage to follow
it into battle, to
engage on behalf of
the cause that
they're fighting
for.
Well, the regimental
colors of Jesus are
inscribed with three
great words.
This is the regimental
motto, if you like.
You'll find it in the
psalm, in verse 4,
and your majesty, ride
out victoriously.
And here are the
battle colors.
Here is the ensign.
Here's the standard.
Here's the regimental
colors for meekness, for
the cause of truth and
meekness and
righteousness.
These are the great
words inscribed,
embroidered, if you
like, heavily onto this
standard, the ensign of
Jesus.
And as you see Jesus
going before His people,
so this ensign gives you
the encouragement and
the confidence to follow
Him and the inspiration
to follow Him, because
that's really a description
ultimately of Himself,
truth and meekness and
righteousness.
How do we face the
assault made upon the
cause of Christ by
falseness, by lies, by
false teaching, by
distortions of the
gospel?
How do we counteract the
pride, the brashness, the
arrogance of human
antagonism to God and to
His gospel?
How do you react to the
sin, the immorality that
is in your own heart and
also in the world, as you
see the word living without
God?
You follow the
ensign.
You take your inspiration
from Jesus Himself, this
wonderful, beautiful, mighty
King.
And for the sake of meekness
holiness and truth and
righteousness, you follow
the colors.
You engage with all the
disanimity with Christ on
His behalf and as His
people.
And that's what the
psalm sets out for us.
The beauty of Jesus and the
might of Jesus, His cause is
the most worthy of all.
And His cause is a cause that
we take up when we follow
Him.
And just as He heads up His
people for the cause of
truth and meekness and
righteousness, so that's
what we take to ourselves.
And for truth and meekness
and righteousness, these
great spiritual qualities and
moral qualities, we follow
Him.
And we follow Him into
engagement and battle with
everything that is at enmity
with Himself.
and with His people.
But let me finish with a
question.
Who is your King?
Whose colors are you
following?
What's inscribed on the
ensign of your life?
Is Jesus today your great
King?
Is His cause the most worthy
and important cause for you
to follow?
Have you truly entered into
the regiment of Christ, the
regiment of the saved, who
has our allegiance today?
Christmas time.
God's name.
The word became flesh and
dwelt among us.
We beheld His glory, glory as
of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and
truth.
That's our King.
He's our King.
And we are to live as His
people.
May God bless these thoughts on
His word to us.
We're going to conclude our
service just now singing in
Psalm 24.
Psalm 24 in the Scottish
Psalter version on page 230.
singing verses 7 to 10.
Ye gates lift up your heads
on high.
Ye doors that last for
a be lifted up.
That so the King of glory
enter me.
But who of glory is the
King?
The mighty Lord is this.
Even that same Lord that
great in might and strong
in battle is.
And as we read and sing
these verses, let's think
of them as the doors of
our heart being opened up.
The gates of our heart to
receive and to admit.
Once again the King as we
follow Him.
So these verses, ye gates
lift up your heads on high.
Ye gates lift up your heads
on high.
In yours and us all
name.
Ye gates lift up that
saw the King of glory
enter me.
But who of glory is the
King?
The mighty Lord is this.
He gates lift up your head,
in the Lord that great in might
and strong in battle is.
In the Lord that great in might
and strong in battle is.
He lifted up your heads, ye doors,
Lord, start to last for aid.
He lifted up your head, ye doors, and
he lifted up your head, ye doors, and
the King of glory enter me.
of glory
enter me.
But
who is he
that is
the king,
the king of
glory who
is this?
The Lord
of hosts
and round the
king, the king
of glory
is.
The Lord
of hosts and
round the
king, the king
of glory
is.
Alleluia!
Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you now and evermore.
Amen.