As we turn our attention now to the preaching of God's Word, I'd ask you to turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 23. The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 23. This morning, we'll be looking at the closing verses of this chapter, verses 37-39. If you're using your Pew Bible, you should be able to find this on page 1053. We hear now the Word of God. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it, how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. And you would not. See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, You will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." May the Lord bless the reading and now the preaching of His Word. Earlier this week as I was coming down to the church to work in the morning, I had said said my goodbyes to Alicia and the children. And Silas is at an age where he's much more mobile. And so he follows me to the door. And it was a nice day this week. And he had the big, wide wooden door open. And I said goodbyes through our screen door, storm door. And so he's standing there. But as soon as I walk out of sight, I hear him wailing and crying. And as I continue to walk around, I still hear him crying. And as I'm walking down the sidewalk from the manse down here to the church, I look. up against the glass door and wanting me to come back. And it's something that is both, it's a bittersweet thing as parents to see that. I mean, you don't want your child in pain and suffering and hurting and being sad, but at the same time, it's a real boost to your heart in that, okay, this kid loves me and doesn't want me to leave, even for a few hours in the day. Ezra and Noree also did the same thing, and I'm sure we can all have similar accounts of our children acting in those ways. Here we have before us this morning a section of Scripture where the Creator of heaven and earth, God Most High, the incarnate Jesus Christ, is lamenting over His people not wanting Him not desiring him. In the illustration, it would have been as if Silas could speak, he would have said, well, good riddance, see ya. And we see the pain, and we hear the pain in the voice of Christ as he laments and he cries out for his people. And this is immediately following those woes that we looked at a couple of weeks ago. Whereas I said there Jesus kind of took the gloves off and he he faces the religious leaders of the day And he points out their error And we could see as we read those what those woes the the passion of Jesus Christ not a suffering But his the emotion that he has as he is addressing his leaders and there is a in essence a certain anger there and hostility, but we also see a motivating factor in in those woes is a love that he has for his people. As it culminates in this text before us this morning, a lament, a crying out for his people. So what can we learn from these verses this morning? Well, the theme that I want us to look at, brothers and sisters, is for us to run to the God who desires to have us near. to learn from this text for us not to stand at a distance from our God, but to run to Him, to His embrace, as He desires to have us near to Him. We'll be looking at this text in four points this morning. First of all, in verse 37, the love of God spurned. Secondly, in verse 38, rejecting God's love leads to destruction. and 39, however, we are not without hope. And lastly, looking at all the verses together, since we are so loved, let us seek him. So the first point, the love of God spurned. Now, as Jesus begins, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, it hearkens to mind and brings to our memory of when David in 2 Samuel chapter 18, verse 33, learns of the death of his son Absalom. Now a quick review, Absalom had rebelled against his father, had raised up a coup against his God-appointed authority, and kicked his father and supporters out of Jerusalem, out of Israel. But in the end, God brought judgment upon Absalom, and he lost his life, and his coup was brought to an end. And when David, although his son was seeking to end his life, when he hears of the death of his son, he cries out, my son, my son, Absalom, my son. We see there, although David and Absalom's hostility and vengeance towards him, the care and love he had for his wayward son. And these verses before us this morning, although Jesus was on his way to the cross, and His people had rejected Him, we see His love for them and desire for them. And when Jesus says, O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem, He's not specifically mentioning and just means that city, so that those that lived up to the north were perfectly fine, and those to the south were okay. It was just that city of Jerusalem. No, it's a figure of speech where He's calling out, this is the capital city, this is the prominent city, and so it's the whole nation. All of His people are encompassed in this word, Jerusalem. The feeling, for us to get a sense of the emotion that Jesus is feeling right here. I'm sure we have all experienced in some way, shape, or form unrequited love. When we have love for someone and it is not returned, it is painful. It hurts. And that is the pain and the source of the emotion here in Jesus. We read about throughout the pages of the Old Testament the love and the care that God has poured out upon his people. But time after time that love was spurned and rejected in one shape or form or another. Jesus gives the imagery here. I would have, how often would I have, or how often I wanted to gather you or gather your children, meaning all the people, not just their children, but all of them together under his wings as a hen would gather her chicks under her wings. An example of this is given to us in the book of Ruth, chapter 2, where Boaz praises Ruth for how she found refuge under the Lord's mighty wings. It's a beautiful image of a mother bird just spreading her wings out over her chicks and protecting them, keeping them safe, and providing for them and caring for them. This is the imagery that Jesus uses as the imagery of what God desired to do with his people throughout redemptive history, but it was again and again spurned. It was rejected. Now as I say that, We need to be careful that we don't sit back, you know, in our day and age, and as we look through the pages of Genesis to Malachi, and we judge the people of God. We must not do that. We cannot do that. Because God has one people. And so if we look back on those pages and think, well, I wouldn't have acted that way. I mean, how blind could they be? How could they forget so easily? I think, dear brothers and sisters, we would have acted the exact same way. We would have done the exact same things. And I want to put forth today that we, in fact, do the exact same things. Every day. Every time we sin in thought, word, and deed is a spurning, is a rejection of the love of God. It is saying, I don't want your love, God. I want to do what I want to do. I want to be God and ruler of my own life. I'm not going to do what you would have me do. Jesus alludes to this when he says, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. We are called to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. And that's just not, it's not only a feeling that we have. It is also very visible and seen in our lives, in obedience given to God. Not to earn His love, not to earn His approval, but out of love for what He has done to us. And the redemption that we have in Christ, we are called to obedience. So let us keep that in mind when we're tempted, when we're faced with an opportunity to break what God has told us to do or not do. Let us instead say, no, I love you, Lord. Help me to obey. For God clearly says that no temptation has overcome us, but is common to man. And God is faithful and he always provides a way out. So let us be sure, brothers and sisters, not to spurn the love of God, but to humbly submit to him in obedience. Our second point, rejecting God's love leads to destruction. Jesus, in verse 38, says, See, your house is left to you desolate. First of all, the house that he is speaking to is the temple. It's where they are. It is the house that he is referring to here. It's been, first of all, in the tabernacle, and then as it was put in the form of the temple, a brick and mortar building, The tabernacle and temple are the physical symbols of the very presence of God among His people. God dwelling amongst His people. But Jesus says, your house is left to you desolate. And notice that. He says, your house. He doesn't say, I am leaving my house to you desolate. No. He says to him, your house is left to you desolate. the rejection of God had already taken place. And this was not the house of God among His people. This had become the establishment of where the people set up their own form of worship. It was their house. Their desires were fulfilled there. And Jesus says to them, Behold, your house is left to you desolate. Now, as we consider what it means to be left desolate, In the next chapter, chapter 24 begins, Jesus left the temple and was going away. And then when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. That first phrase, Jesus left the temple and was going away. It's a subtle phrase with great importance. Jesus is the almighty creator of heaven and earth. He is God with us. He is God incarnate. And He is in what should have been His house, teaching the people. He says, your house is left to you desolate, and then the next action He takes, He leaves. He is gone. The symbolism there is striking. It is God with us, leaving the temple. What should have been His house, It's showing for all to see and who would see and understand that God is leaving this house desolate. It no longer has his presence. It is no longer his house. God is leaving the temple. Now, what can we learn from this as Jesus is speaking to the Jerusalem and the nation of Israel? It's the simple truth that sin leads to destruction. Sin leads to destruction. It leads to our destruction apart from Christ, but it can also lead to our destruction even as we are Christians. My mom gave this illustration of Christians who might, as we might go through times where we might stray and turn away from the Lord, We believe wholeheartedly that a person's salvation is determined by God. And if they are His child, they might stray for a moment, but He will, in His timing, bring them back. And in this way, it's like my mother used to describe it as, you know, as we're walking hand in hand with a small child, and maybe they don't want to hold on to our hand, but we're crossing a road, and it's a dangerous situation. And so the child may pull and try to get away, but we have a firm grasp on their hand. There's a certain distance that the child will pull away, but a parent, a loving parent will hold fast and not let their child run out into a dangerous, busy street. In the same way, God's children may from time to time stray. But we can be confident that the Lord's loving grasp is never off of them, or never off of their hands. But even as those moments where God might allow us to stray and to go away from Him a little bit, there may be consequences to sinful action that is taken. Maybe if a law is broken, you might have to serve jail time. The Lord might bring you back through that difficulty, but it doesn't mean you get out of jail free. There may be certain diseases for certain ways of life. There might be destructive habits of addiction that are developed that you have to fight with for the rest of your life. Sin, even as Christians, leads to destruction. And we can't lose sight of that fact. Even as we are children of God, having confessed our sins to Him and by His grace through faith, come to rest upon Him and submit to Him. We battle sin every day. It is a hard-fought battle. And we must keep in mind the dangers of sin. This is what God says to Cain. After his sacrifice is rejected and before he succumbs to the temptation of killing his brother Abel, God warns him. He speaks directly to Cain. He says, sin is crouching out at the door. Beware. It desires to master you, but you must master it. That's the same thing God says to us, brothers and sisters. This verse is a call to understand, to keep in mind the destructive power of sin in our lives. the thirdly, however, we are not without hope. We see this in verse 39. Jesus has just declared, See, your house has left you desolate, for I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Now, as we consider this verse, we need to keep in mind that this this dialogue began way back in Chapter 21, verse 23. Actually, before that, verse 21, verse 9. And in verse 23, we have the, of chapter 21, we have the beginning of, or the parable of the tenants, where a landowner rents out his land to tenants, and they keep killing his servants. And so the landowner says, well, I'll send my son. And the tenants say, oh, this is the son, this is the heir, let's kill him, and the land will be ours. Well, all of that is kind of the background of what's leading up to this point. And so Jesus there was clearly saying, no, he is the son that is sent. And the those who had been given charge over the the vineyard in that parable were the Pharisees and the scribes. And they would kill the son. And so that like you will not see me again. It's pointing out again, the fact that he is headed to the cross. or he'll die and be crucified for the sins of his people. But then he says, until. Until you say, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Now in Matthew 21 verse 9, this is where Jesus is, you know, the triumphal entry coming in and the people are crying out, Hosanna to the son of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Now, we have no doubt that there were genuine believers in that crowd. Some of them maybe had no idea what they were saying, and they may not have fully understood exactly what they were saying. Yet we have no doubt there were believers in that crowd. Because we need to keep in mind that the saints of the Old Testament are saved just as we are. We're saved by the grace of God through faith in the Messiah that has come and accomplished His work. The saints of the Old Testament were saved by the grace of God through faith in the Messiah that was to come. So those who truly proclaim, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. They are expressing their faith in that this Jesus Christ is that Messiah that we have been hoping for, that we've been longing for. And so when Jesus says, you will not see me again until you say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. He is saying, unless you have faith in me, and faith in who I am, faith in what I've done, you will never see me. You will not see me in my glory, you will not spend eternity with me, you will not be a part of my kingdom, you will not be my child. We see him only by God's grace through faith. And that is the hope that Jesus leaves his people with. After these woes and this lamentation, he ends in the beautiful note of the gospel, in saying, there is hope for you. Believe in me, by the grace of God, and you will see me. Brothers and sisters, we have not been saved through works of the law. No one is saved through works of the law. We have been saved by God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. By his grace proclaiming blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And the promise is that we will be with him forever when he comes in his glory. And if you have not bowed your knee to Christ, and that hope is, or that promise is not is not for you at this time, but you still have the hope and the calling to bow your knees to Christ and submit so that you would see. This brings us brothers and sisters as we are saved through the grace of God by faith in Christ. This brings us to our fourth and final point as we we bring everything together. Since we are so loved, let us in turn seek Him. Jesus' woe and His lamentation is centered around the fact that His people would not come to Him and be comforted by Him. They would not submit to Him and be protected by Him. They would not receive His love that He was lavishing out upon them, but kept spurning it. How do we keep from doing this? How do we, instead of spurning His love, seek Him, coming under His wings, resting in His love? Well, we are saved through the grace of God, and God is sovereign. He is also a God of means. He uses means to accomplish His sovereign will. and how He molds us and shapes us into Christ, how He protects us and He builds us up in Him, is through what we call the means of grace. The ways in which He uses, well the Westminster Shorter Catechism defines means of grace this way, it's the communication of the benefits of redemption. Meaning it's these means of grace are the ways in which God molds us and shapes us into Christ. He builds up our faith and He strengthens us. And He delivers us from the sins that ensnare us and entangle us. And what are these means of grace? Well, first, it's the Word of God is the first one. It's the Word of God. This book, From Genesis to Revelation, is a means of grace, both the preaching of the word as we're taking a part in here and now, but also the reading of the word. That's why our personal devotions are so important to us in our life as Christians. We must not neglect the preaching of the word and coming here and listening to God's word expounded. As I'm preaching to you and myself week to week, But we also must not neglect our own reading of the Word and meditating upon it. Because through its pages, the Holy Spirit who inspired and moved the men of old to write these words, His work now is to take this finished work that He composed and then apply it to our lives, molding and shaping us through it. And so neglecting the Word, whether it's in the worship service, in the preaching of the Word, or neglecting it in our own private devotions, is in fact a detriment to our own souls. It's a cause for a lack of growth and reliance upon our Heavenly Father. Another means of grace that God has given us are the sacraments. Sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. We're in baptism. Whenever we see a baptism done, we're, we're reminded of our own baptism in Christ. And in the seal of that covenant of being part of the covenant community of God, and all the promises that that means of being a part of his people are impressed upon us and we're reminded of when we partake of the Lord's Supper, we're, we're reminded of that great sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and of our union with him. These things build us up in the faith as we recall the promises God has made and His fulfillment of them. The third means of grace is prayer. Prayer. There is each relationship, as I've said before, each successful and healthy relationship has to have communication both ways. Now God speaks to us through His Word, and so when we hear the word preached or we read it, God is in fact speaking to us. That is His Word, His voice. Well, prayer is the other side of the conversation. It's us speaking to God. And as we pray to God, we're furthering that relationship and reliance upon Him that we're saying each time we pray that we believe that You are Sovereign, Lord, and we are relying upon You in humility. In these three ways, in word, sacrament, and prayer, the Lord has promised to build us up, to mold us into His image, and to strengthen us for our daily battles against temptation that we all face day in and day out. By taking part in these means of grace and making use of them, this is how we run to the shelter of God's wings. This is how we rest upon and we trust in Him. Let us make running to God a priority in our lives, and coming and attending the worship and taking part in this means of grace, but also privately in our own closets, as Jesus said, reading His Word and praying to Him. And so, brothers and sisters, as Jesus here laments over His people not coming to Him, let us not follow that pattern. Let us instead run to our God, who so desires to have us near and rest under His outspread mighty wings. Amen. Our gracious and almighty Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you for the love that you have towards us. As we can hear the pain in our Savior's voice as he laments over his people rejecting him and spurning him, we pray, Lord, that we too would be pricked in our own hearts with the understanding and knowledge that each time we sin, we, in a sense, are spurning your love toward us and setting up ourselves as God and deciding what we would do. instead of humbly relying upon you. And Lord, may we actively run to you, seeking shelter under your wings through the means of grace that you have given to us and in the preaching and the reading of your word and in the sacraments that you have provided and in the prayer that you have called us to pray that you would forgive us for neglecting these things. We're not making them a priority. And may you, Father, by your grace, strengthen us and enable us to hold fast to you and to run to you, seeking shelter under your outspread wings. It is in the name of Jesus Christ that we do pray. Amen.