Special

And if you would, like to turn in your bibles to Psalm 24, and Nathan is gonna come up and read and preach to us.

Yes. Good evening. Do, do you turn Psalm 24? And, just as you're turning there, I don't know if you've ever used the Zoopla app, you know, Zoopla, like, rightmove when you're buying a house, Now if you have, you're probably a sane person, and you only use it when you are looking for a house, right, or if you're looking to rent something. But I discovered recently that there's this whole group of people that apparently think that Zoopla is an entertainment app.

Right? This is, you know, forget scrolling through TikTok. This is like scrolling through Kensington on Zoopla. Like, people enjoy this apparently. I I do not understand this.

My wife is 1 of those people, and often, she comes to me, love her, but she come to me, like, look at this wonderful townhouse in Kensington. Isn't it lovely? Or look at this Surrey mansion? Isn't it wonderful? And I'm like, why do you do this?

What, why do you want to look at things you know you will never have? But apparently, it's still possible to find a problem with a 4500000.0 house, you know, for the kitchen is slightly out of proportion or something, but it's kind of sadistic, isn't it? Just looking at things you know you will never have. Don't understand it at all. What's the point?

I think that some people think that that's kind of what looking the bible is like. That the Christian faith offers to us a reality that is wonderful, but we can never really have it. And therefore, to spend time looking at and thinking about the Bible is kinda sadistic, because you're just gonna disappoint yourself at the end anyway. That, as Karl Marx famously said, that Christianity is the opium of the masses, and I suppose the question as we read Psalm 24, I'd love you to have in your mind is this. Is that what's going on here?

Is Psalm 24 holding out a reality to us that is wonderful, but that we can never really have? Is the reality that Psalm 24 is describing something that's possible for people like you and I to experience. That's the question I want you to have in your mind as we read. So I'm 24. Also, just to say, I'm reading from the ESV.

Now I know you use the NIV here, but actually, this is 1 of I know I'm sorry. This is 1 of those instances where is gonna be helpful as we go through that you've got a different version from me and we'll we'll pick up some of those things. But do read through, as I say, I'm reading from the ESV, and take a look whether things are are similar or different. But Psalm 24 beginning verse 1, asam of David. The earth is the lord's, and the fulness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.

For he has founded it upon the seas and a established it upon the rivers, who shall ascend the hill of the lord, and who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the lord and righteousness from the god of his salvation, such is the generation of those who seek him who seek the face of the god of Jacob. Sailor. Lift up your heads, o gates, and be lifted up our ancient doors that the king of glory may come in.

Who is this king of glory? The lord, strong and mighty. The lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, oh, gates, and lift them up. Oh, ancient doors that the king of glory may come in.

Who is this king of glory? The lord of hosts. He is the king of glory. Sailor. Should we pray as we come to god's word, father?

As we come to your word now, we do pray that you would quiet our hearts, that you would prepare us by your spirit, and that you'd speak to us through your word. Would you show us Christ we pray in Jesus' name? Oh, men. Oh, men. So, Psalm 24, I think the kind of basically the big idea is that he's calling us to look up and see a reality that goes beyond what we naturally see.

We're gonna look at 3 things in the Psalm directly and then a question. 3 things and then a question. The first 1 of those, if you're making notes, is this. The Psalm is calls us to appreciate god's rain. Appreciate god's reign.

Now I don't know if you, saw the Paris Olympic opening ceremony back in the summer. And if you did, you'll remember it was a particularly French ceremony. It was a whole bunch of strange stuff in it wasn't the early would be because it's French. Right? And 1 particularly bit part French part of the ceremony was when they put up an image of their queen, Marie Antoinette, but obviously in particularly French fashion She was depicted as beheaded holding her head in her hands.

It was a truly French opening ceremony, if you know French history, you'll know that the comrades of the New France, they had a revolution and overthrew their monarchy where they beheaded their king, Louis, and then eventually also beheaded his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette. And that image, the decapitated queen, far from the French apologizing for it, they held it up front and center in a in a celebration of French history and culture because for them, so publicly and forcefully having overthrown their monarchy, far from something they wanna sweep under the carpet. It's something that they're proud of. Now, of course, you know, I'm sure is the sensible good royalist you are. You're perplexed by such vulgarity and that you recoil at such an image and the depth of your bones, but I think that That picture shows a reality that even in England, we we can understand, isn't it?

The reality that we do not like dictators dictators who without the consent of or care for the people rule over them for their own benefit, rather than serve the people's good, despots who have unlimited, unchecked power, who live in extravagant wealth and pleasure, while their people can't even put food on the table. Even in Western monarchies with the advent of Doroxie, we have decided that 1 individual human being should not have complete unchecked power. Why? Well, because as Lord Acton famously said, at power corrupts, an absolute power corrupts. Absolutely.

That's how we feel. We we don't want 1 person in charge. We don't want 1 person with complete power and authority. Thank you very much. We'll take a look down at Psalm 24 verse 1.

The earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof. The claim of the Christian faith, and the big opener of the Psalm this evening is this. That everything and everyone belongs to god above, that everything and everyone belongs to god above. Look at verse 1. The earth is the lord's, and the fullness thereof.

The earth is the lord's statement of fact. No qualifications. It is his, says it's Thomas. It belongs to him, and not just a tiny bit of it, Right? Not just 1 country, not a tiny part, but the fullness thereof.

As far as the eye can see, everything that is charted on the maps, anything that you can put on a globe. And I think the whole universe, by extension, all of it, the Psalmists saying belongs to him. My, my wife, Emily and I have just recently purchased our first house, and it's quite exciting, isn't it? The idea of owning something? Now I know I've I've lived in London for the last 7 years.

I know, like, try being a 20 something in Southwest London and get in a house. I mean, you can barely get a vegetable plot. Right? It's impossible. But we we do, don't we, in our culture, aspire to ownership, whether it's a a house or a car or clothes, or whatever it is.

We we don't just like the idea of being loaned things. We want to own something because ownership gives us a sense of security. It gives us a a sense of stability and control, but the claim of Psalm 24 verse 1 is this that everything in the world. The fullness thereof, the world belongs to god. That means that your continent belongs to god.

It means that your country belongs to god. It means that your city belongs to god. It means that your borough belongs to god. It means that your house belongs to god. Your street, your house, your stuff, your wardrobe, your furniture, your socks, your toothbrush, the the world, and everything in it, including everything that you own, belongs to god and god above and him alone, Psalm 24 verse 1.

And it doesn't stop there because get this. If if that isn't enough, it goes further because the Tsarmist says not only does all your stuff belong to god, that you do as well. Look again, Psalm 24 verse 1. The earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof of the world and those who dwell therein. The claim of Psalm 24 verse 1 is not just that everything in the world belongs to god, but that you do as well.

That means, if we're honest, forget being in control of our lives. Forget I'm my own man. I'm an independent woman. No. So I'm 24 without any apology says that you and your life belong totally to god above everything and everyone.

Now most of us hear that, and we think, Do you feel that? Like, there's there's something in human nature that hears a claim like that. We just say, no, actually. I'd rather that wasn't the case. And that feeling according to the Bible goes right to the heart of the human condition.

If you survey the biblical world view from Genesis through to Revelation. Perhaps the most fundamental way that humanity is depicted is that we are rebels. We are rebels that there is a god who rightfully rules over our lives, and yet we reject that rule naturally and put ourselves as reigning over our lives instead. There is a god He owns everything, and he owns us, and we don't particularly like that at times. Imagine I came to you tomorrow morning.

Right? You're getting ready to go to work or to uni whatever you do on a Monday. Imagine I turn up and I just say to you, hey, by the way, you're mine. You're like, aren't you that random who preach the church last night? Like, sorry.

Who are you? And I'm like, no. No. No. You belong to me.

Your stuff, your world, everything that you own, your children, they they all belong to me. You'd be like, So who are you and who's making who's who's a right to make a claim like that? Perhaps, as you hear, some, 24 verse 1, perhaps you're asking the question. Sorry. Who is this?

Who is this that can make a claim like this? Well, look at verse 2. Here's the justification. He owns the world and those who do other in 4, he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. This isn't some randomer swanning in and making some unjustified claim of ownership.

Right? This isn't some tyrant claiming rights that he doesn't have. No. Verse 2, this is the creator of the universe. This is the creation.

We are the creatures. He is the creator. This Thomas is saying that he owns everyone and everything because he made everyone and everything. Everything in this world was made by him. He created the universe.

He sustains the universe, and therefore it completely belongs to him. He he has a total rightful claim to ownership over everyone and everything. In a sense, there's no case to be examined here, really. On straight up, Samus makes no apology about that. He's simply saying, appreciate, look up, everyone, look up, and appreciate god.

He reigns. Okay. God is king. God reigns, but what does that really mean? Does that just confront us?

It is that a truth that just confronts us? And it does, doesn't it? It does it does confront us? In our arrogance at times, but is there good news for us in this? Remember I said at the start?

I think the Samus is calling us to look up. He's drawing our attention to a reality that goes beyond what we naturally see. And in a world where so many feel like they don't belong. In a world where 89 percent of young British people say that their life has no meaning or purpose at all. In a world that is as chaotic as the 1 in which we live to look up and appreciate the reign of god is not just to say that I'm ruled, but it's also to say that I belong.

To look up and appreciate god's reign is to say that I am held through all of the chaos. You see, for the Christian, this is a great comfort, the world. Is in his hands, and therefore so am I? This is a wonderful truth. Is this reign of god?

Good news? I suppose that depends who we're talking about, doesn't it? We had, jubilees, in recent decades, you know, celebrating the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and they were kind of joyous national occasions, right? Because everyone loved the Queen, you know, Liz's absolute legend and all that. What is the reign of god like?

Is this a reign that we should have a national celebration about? Or that depends on what he's like. And the good news is he hasn't left us in the dark about this. Did you notice he gave us god's name? Look again at verse 1, the earth is the lord's capital r d, yahweh in the Hebrew, the personal name for the god of the Bible.

So The Psalmist isn't here claiming that some generic unknowable deity reigns. He's not saying some philosophical principle reigns, but in particular, he's saying the god of the Bible Israel's god, he reigns. Okay. What's he like? And at this point, the Psalmist, hopefully, zooms in from more generally appreciating his reign.

And secondly, he says, ascend god's hill, ascend his hill, look at verse 3. Who shall ascend the hill of the lord? And who shall stand in his holy place. Now perhaps you've heard the story of, Michael Fagan on the nineteenth ninth of July 19 82, around 7 AM, Michael Fagan decided to scale the walls of Buckingham Palace, perhaps you've seen this if you've watched the crown. He scaled the walls and got past a relatively elaborate set of security, obviously not elaborate enough, and he got into the wall into the halls of the pallets.

And he kind of, you know, just enjoyed the, you know, Buckingham Palace life for a while. And eventually, he found the royal chambers, and he went through the royal chambers and went eventually into the queen's bedroom. And he sat down next to her bed. And the queen alarmed, woke up and was like, oh my goodness. There is some strange man in my room, and she called her protection, and he was escorted off-site.

Now, obviously, when he has found out, this guy is escorted off-site, because you don't just swan in to Buckingham Palace. Right? You'd you don't just decide to turn up and go, I'm off to see Liz and swan into Buckingham Palace. I mean, this guy's absolutely crazy. And the Psalmist here in verse 3, he's talking about the hill or the mountain of the lord.

And almost certainly, at this point, he's referring to Mount Zion, the hill where god is, right, the place where the temple would 1 day be. And throughout the old testament, you'll remember the hill is the place where god dwelt, as opposed to the earth, more generally, the hill or the mountain. This is this is up close and personal with the god who owns everyone and everything. And if you know anything about that hill in the Old Testament, you'll know that it's not a place that you kind of go for a casual hike. Like, the people who swarmed up and ascended the hill of the lord generally died because this was the most holy place in the world.

This was the place where god was Moses, if you remember, he warned the people guys, don't go up this hill because if you go up, you might see god and die. And when they went on eventually to build the temple on this hill, they had to build around god's presence in the holy, holy, holy of holies, this elaborate set of, various layers. And to get through each layer, you had to do elaborate ritual cleansings. And the very central layer, the Holy of Holy, only the priests were allowing them. And even then only 1 priest, and even then on only 1 day of the year.

And when that 1 priest on that 1 day of the year went into the Holy of Holy, they tied a rope around him in case he died so that they could pull him out afterwards. This lord that the Thomas is speaking about is a holy god. He is totally pure. Totally set apart from anything and anyone else in this world, but we we are not that. We are spiritually impure.

Our rebellion against this reign means that we can't just come into his presence. We're cut off. That's why the Psalmists asked. First 3, who shall ascend the hill of the lord? Well, not everyone.

In fact, there are conditions. Look at verse 4. Who shall it send the hill of the lord and who shall stand in his holy place? Well, he who has clean hands and a pure heart who does not lift up his soul toward his faults and does not swear deceitfully. To come into god's presence, you have to meet a set of qualifications, according to this song.

Now, clean hands here is, is is used generally in the bible, not actually to be talking about clean as in through ritual, but this is describing someone who is genuinely clean. Like, just describing someone who under the Old Testament law would have been considered in the covenant a law keeper. This is someone whose actions are all upright so that he can be said to have clean hands. That's what it's talking about here. And then this isn't just someone who outwardly keeps the commands, but this is someone who inwardly keeps them as well.

Look, clean hands, and a pure heart. This is describing someone whose thoughts and intentions are upright as well. So kind of summarizing all of that, I think the first condition is basically right living. To to come close to this god, you need to have right living, but he goes on the end of verse 4. This is and you'll probably see a bit of difference between what I'm saying and and what you're reading, which is fine.

It says, he who has clean hands with your heart and who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. Now, the NIV kind of does some of the interpretive work here for you, that trust in an idol is literally lifting up 1 soul. And it's used at the beginning of Psalm 25, if you look over. David says to you, oh lord, I lift up my soul, but you'll have it. I I trust.

And so the interpreters think, right? He's talking about trusting in god and worshiping god. And that second bit where I've got swear deceitfully, you've got trusting and idle. That's that's the interpretation. Right?

He's he's talking about someone who doesn't not only do they live rightly, but they worship truly. They they don't worship the false and pretend gods of the day. They worship the true and living god, the lord of Psalm 24. So we've got 2 conditions to come into his presence, right living, and true worship. And so this lord who rules the world, who owns everyone, and everything, to come near, you have to live rightly and worship truly.

We're gonna come back to these qualifications and who meets them later. Spoilers, it's no 1, none of us, but we'll, we'll come back to that later. Okay. So once you approach this god, you're in, what is he like? That's the important thing here, isn't it?

Because if this is the god who rules over your life and rules over the universe, we want to see what it's like to belong to him. Is that good news? Now have you ever been, and I I know many of you have here, on a youth camp, or have you generally been camping or on a Christian conference for some type kind? And I'm not talking here about, you know, like a kind of posh anglican conference where everything's nice. Right?

I'm thinking, like, real Christian conference where everything is just a bit grimy, you know, like proper Christian conference. And maybe you're camping, and they kind of have showers, but everything's a little bit grim. And you get to the end of the week. You've just had enough stuff to eat all week. And you might have showered, but you're like, I'm not clean.

You just you wanna go home. You all you want to do is go home and you go home and you get home and you're like, I need vegetables and a shower. And then you you you have a shower and you clean yourself inside and out, and you just get this wonderful serene feeling, and you're like, I'm home. And you jump what it is like to come close to this kind of the Bible. Just forgive me.

Right? This Psalm says that coming into the presence of god is like coming home and feeling like a new person. Look at verse 5. The person who ascends the hill, he will receive blessing from the lord and righteousness from the god of his salvation, 2 benefits, blessing, righteousness, to be close to your maker, to this god is to be blessed, close to the god of the Bible, to when humanity rightly comes to him. The Bible says we find what we're made for.

Who made us in love and who desires to be with us. And in being with him, we find what we're truly made for. We are blessed that things began to go wrong for humanity when we left this place of blessing. To be close to your maker is to be blessed. His presence is home for the human being.

Coming under the rule and reign of this god is not like submitting to an abusive tyrant. This is this is coming home to a father. Blessing. But they're also described as someone who is righteous or as you have it vindication. This is someone who is kind of somehow no longer the sinful human being that you are today.

It it's like you, but with all of your sin taken away, you you're somehow given a righteousness by this god of Salvation of vacation. And it's as if you are all that you were meant to be without all of your sin. It's as if you were all that you could be is what he's describing here. You're you're trusting to Forgiveness and transformation. That is the invitation of the Bible.

That is the reality that it holds out to you to come home and be clean and be transformed. Appreciate god's reign, ascend god's hill, and finally acknowledge his glory. That's what he wants us to do. Now this is a, picture of the grounds of Buckingham Palace, And look, I know, like, 90 percent of my illustrations tonight are royal. Do forgive me.

This is kind of a royal sum. I'm a bit of a fan, so you will roll with it, but do forgive me. So this is a picture of Buckingham Palace, on the day of the coronation in the garden. And you may remember that, this was after the king had been crowned, right? And he was given the sword of the set the state, and he was given the scepter, and he'd been anointed by our good friend, mister Wellby.

I've seen the poster of him upstairs. And now by this point, right, by this point when he has come back to buck after Buckingham Palace, he's gone through the anointing. By this point, he is truly king. Right? And so the Grenadier guards were there and others waiting ready to welcome their king he came back.

And it was an awesome thing to watch, but I wasn't there, but it was an awesome thing to watch. I'm telling, because it was like dead silent. Absolutely dead silent. And there they were ready and waiting for him to come. And when he came out, a raid in his regalia and in his glory, if you like.

There was this 1 man with, like, the biggest voice in the country who shouted. 3 cheers for his matches. Stay the king. And this whole group just went hip hip, Hooray, and they did it 3 times. And it was this awesome experience of the soldiers of the king looking up and shouting at the top of their voice, welcoming the king returning in his glory.

That's the kind of thing that's going on in this last section of the song, and I want us to feel that. So we're gonna read this last section together. Everything in bold, I want us to say together, and everything not in bold, I'll say. I did double negative there. I'll say everything in not bold.

You say it in bold. Yep. We're gonna read this together. Okay. So lift up your head, so gates, and be lifted up o h and doors that the king of glory may come in.

Who is this king of glory? The lord, strong and mighty. The lord, mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, oh, gates, and lift them up of ancient doors that the king of glory may come in. Who is this king of glory?

The lord of hosts. He is the king of glory. Great. Look down at verse 7. Lift up your heads or gates and be lifted up o ancient doors so that the king of glory may come in.

Do you see what's do you feel what's going on in this section? The Psalmists has called us to look up and appreciate god's reign. He zoomed in and said to send god's hill, and now I think he wants us to feel the weight and the splendor. And the glory of this king. This is the refrain of the Psalm, if you like.

This is the chorus. The Psalmists are saying, lift up your heads, o gates, and be lifted up o ancient doors. It's like he's speaking to the gates of the temple. And the doorposts of the temple saying, guys, look up, look lively. Wake up.

Why? Because the king is coming. He is coming in his glory, and so you need to get ready. This is gonna be awesome. This is a celebration.

Get ready to welcome your king. And this isn't just any ordinary human king. This is the king of glory. And not just any human king of glory. Look what it says.

Who is this king of glory? The lord himself. The god who the Psalmister said owns everyone and everything is turning up, so look lively. That's what he say. And did you notice how this king is described?

He's not just glorious because he looks it. He is glorious because he has shown it as well. Look at verse 8. Who is this king of glory, the lord, strong and mighty, the lord, mighty in battle? This is a king who has shown his glory by defeating his enemies, mighty in battle.

And then again, verse 10, who is this king of glory? You've got it the lord almighty. Literally, the lord of hosts, I. E. Hosts of heavenly armies.

He is the king of glory. Think ancient times where kings and their armies would return from battle to be welcomed by their city. What what we're seeing here is not a constitutional formality. This is a victory parade. That's what we're seeing here.

The Psalmist is calling us to look lively because we are about to see this god and experience his glory. The god of the Bible is not an idea to be wrestled with. He is a king to be beheld. To seize glory and bow before him in a world that constantly tells us to pursue our own glory. And to make petty thrones for ourselves.

The Psalmists are saying, guys, there is a higher throne. There is a greater reality and it's awesome and it's far more awesome than the petty glory of this world. David seems to think so. Do you remember this is not just a solace. This is a Psalm of David, a king who himself was crowned.

He's like laying down his crown and saying, this is what I'm excited for. This is the reign that I'm living for. This is what I am waiting for when the king of the universe shows up in his glory. It will be awesome. Appreciate god's reign.

Ascend God's Hill and acknowledge his glory. Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? 3 things directly in the Psalm and finally, a question back to the beginning. Now this is pretty wonderful, isn't it? I mean, the invitation of the Christian faith is to see and be part of a reality, a relationship with god that is glorious.

But Remember my initial question, is this what it describes here? This wonderful reality, is this something that is open to us here this evening? Cause you might be thinking, well, mate, it's all very well and good saying acknowledge god's glory, but I don't know about you. I haven't seen this. I haven't seen the unbridled glory of god.

And what's more is how could even if that was possible, how could you or I hear this evening, even possibly get close enough to see? Because whilst it sounds beautiful to be in the presence of this god, blessing and righteousness, if what the Psalmists said back in verse 4 is true, How could any of us possibly come close enough? Isn't this mountain, frankly too steep to climb? Who of us here this evening could possibly say that we have clean hands and a pure heart. Who of us here this evening has perfectly lived up to the law of god?

Who of us here can possibly say that we have lived rightly and worship truly? The sad reality of the human condition is that the blessings of his presence, they're out of reach. And the greatness of his glory, it it's out of sight. We are destined surely I'll say this evening to remain rebels in our hearts, enemies who, the coming glory of god, won't be part of the victory parade. Surely, we're destined to be vanquished enemies.

Well, in Revelation chapter 5, the the picture here, I think, is played out in reality. And I think it's what this Psalm is foreshadowing, but it brings up the same sad state of affairs. So do do turn to Revelation chapter 5 If you don't know the Bible, Revelation's right at the end. Read easy to find. Last book in the Bible.

Revelation chapter 5. And I think actually, I'll probably go to the NIV for this. Is there a there's a spare NIV there on the table? I'll grab it if that's alright. Thanks.

Revelation chapter 5 right at the end of the end of the Bible. As you're turning, in Revelation, there's there's this picture in chapter 5 of the scroll. Now don't worry too much about it, but the basic idea is that if this scroll were only to be opened, the consummation of all things, and the kingdom of god would finally be ushered in. It would all finally come to pass. That's the That's the general idea.

But Revelation chapter 5, beginning of verse 1, then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with 7 seals, and I saw a mighty angel proclaiming an allow voice Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll? But here's the problem, but no 1 in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. The sad situation of humanity before a Holy god. No 1 is worthy. Our situation is dire.

The glory of Psalm 24 is not open to us. Surely, we ought to weep. And yet, chapter doesn't end there. And here is the gospel in 3 words. Verse 5, then 1 of the elders said to me, do not weep.

C. The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll. And its 7 seals. Though no 1 in humanity in the history of the world was deemed worthy.

Here is 1 who is deemed worthy verse 6, then I saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain standing at the center of the throne. In encircled by 4 living creatures and elders, the lamb had 7 horns and 7 eyes, which are the 7 spirits of god, sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. This is 1 who ascends god's hill like it is his birthright. Verse 11, and when he had taken it, the 4 living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb.

Each 1 had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of god's people, and they sang a new song. This is no longer a song of despair for humanity. This is a new song of hope. And they sang a new song saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain. And with your blood, you purchased for god persons, from every tribe and language and people and nation, you have made them people who were once rebels.

You have made them to be a kingdom and priest to serve our god, and they will reign on the earth. Let's keep reading. Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands and 10000 times 10000. This is the chorus. They encircled the throne.

And the living creatures and the elders in a loud voice they were saying worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. Than I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them saying to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb be praise and honor and glory and power. Forever and ever, the 4 living creatures said amen and the elders fell down and worship. Oh, isn't it wonderful? The central claim of the Christian faith is this that though none were worthy in the pages of history.

There was 1 person who truly can be called worthy. The lord Jesus Christ. The 1 person in human history of whom it can truly be said that he had clean hands and a pure heart. The 1 who for no single second of his life lifted up his soul toward his false, 1 who meets all of the jot and tittle, every jot and tittle of the law, 1 who meets all the qualifications of entering god's presence, a real historical man, Jesus Christ, who by his death opens the way to god for any sinful being, sinful human being who would but trust in him. This is the king of glory.

The 1 who ascends god's hill in our place and ahead of us and opens the way freely for sinful people like you and me to come to god. If you are here this evening and you recognize that you are not clean friends, the way to ascend God's hill and enter his presence is to come by the 1 who can make you clean. To come by the 1 who through his death has opened the way for sinners. If you want to behold the glory of god, but recognize that you are blind, look to Jesus. Look to Jesus who himself was the radiance of the glory of god and the exact imprint of his nature.

This this 1 who was the word who was with god in the beginning and who was god and who put on flesh and came and dwelt among us that we might behold his glory. This is the 1 who opens blind eyes to the glory of God. If you are here this evening and you have a rebel heart, you say, you know what? I don't appreciate god's reign. Come to Jesus.

The 1 who came to reass establish the kingdom and the reign of god in the hearts of rebels like you and me. Jesus Christ is this king of glory. That is the gospel. The man who is himself human and the lord, he can transform the rebel heart. He can cleanse the sinful soul.

He can bring us close to god and show us his glory. The glorious reality of god is open to you here this evening. Because of Jesus Christ. I think that's what Psalm 24 is foreshadowing. Friends, as we as we finish, we are when we are living through the brokenness of this life, David wants us to look up and see a reality that goes beyond what we normally see to look up and see a higher throne.

I think sometimes we kind of rob god and we rob Jesus of his glory, and we kind of make him out to be primarily about making our lives vaguely easier. You know, this is how I fight my battles, and I get I get where that's coming from, but we sometimes make Jesus out to basically be a self help coach. And as we do that, we not only rob him of his glory. But we rob ourselves of the resources that we need to keep going through this life. The central thing that Jesus has done is open the way to god.

That is his victory. That is the reality that's in store for the Christian. It's glorious. The Psalmit says, weary Christian as you are wittery through this life. Look up.

Look up and see a higher throne than all this world has known. Remember that 1 day we will stand there faultless in his sight in new bodies, and we will hear this glorious chorus. Weary Christian, look up. Appreciate his reign, ascend his hill and acknowledge his glory through Jesus. Let's pray.

Father in heaven, we praise you because you are glorious. We praise you that you have made us to be with you and that in being with you, we find what we are made for. And we praise you all the more that through your son, you have opened the glorious reality of Psalm 20 fall to us freely. We acknowledge here this evening that Jesus Christ, he is the king of glory, that he is lord, who opens up the way to you, father. We praise you for that.

We ask that we would remember that that is the central thing that he has done. And that as we go through this life, whatever struggles, it will place before us. We ask that you would help us to keep looking up to see your higher throne and to long for that day when in resurrected bodies, we will join in that thunderous chorus. Help us to keep looking to that day. Come lord Jesus.

Oh, men. Oh, men.