All right, in our Bible, Psalm 42 through 46 is our section of the Psalms. We're gonna be looking primarily at Psalm 45. This was originally scheduled to be Brother Steve Kittle's lesson. He is home from Jewish hospital, came home Friday night, but he's not yet able to get out. So for that reason, Brother Greg Peek's going to bring a Bible lesson Wednesday night. I don't want to, I didn't want Steve to feel like he needed to hurry back if he's not yet released to travel. And so, Brother Greg will be here to bring the Bible lesson. Brother Ed, will you be here Wednesday night? We can read the prayer list, Lord willing. So that part will go on Wednesday night. But pray for Steve. The surgery, he had two surgeries. They went well. And he is home recovering now. So I spoke to him a couple times yesterday. The bulletin, Kim and I filled in and did the bulletin these last couple of weeks. I didn't want it to look really great. Because, well, then you'd say, well, what do we need Steve for? Well, we need Steve for a lot of reasons. But we got all the information there, I think. So somebody said, why is it so large? I said, so I could read it. Whenever I have actual control over the size of the font, it gets bigger and bigger. So that's how that happened. But anyway, the announcement's in there. You can read those. Psalm 45.6. We're looking at the Psalms of the king, the great king. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. worshiping God alone and serving him as king. Here's the outline, verses one through eight, the king, verses nine through 15, the bride, and our lesson manual does raise some questions about the New Testament idea of the bride, and I may say a few words about that. But also the blessing, verses 16 and 17. King, the bride, the blessing. Psalm 45, verse 1. This is a title song, you can see, to the chief musician upon Shoshanim. We're not sure if Shoshanim is an instrument. It could have been a, an occasion, it could have been a certain meter or tune for the song for the Sons of Korah, may have been a dedication to the Sons of Korah, or there may have been a men's choir. We don't know. Someday we'll be able to have all these questions answered. We may even hear this song sung as it was originally intended, a song of loves. For that reason, it invokes some attention to the song of songs, Solomon's love song that he wrote as part of the poetical books. My heart is indicting a good matter. Margin, my Bible says the word indicting here is, it's not E-I-N-D-I-C-T. That would be what a prosecutor does. when they indict somebody, that's I-N-D-I-C-T. This is, my margin says, boiling or bubbling up. My heart is overflowing, he says. My heart is swelling up about a good thing. He says, I speak of the things which I have made touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore God hath blessed thee forever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O Most Mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty, and in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness. And the right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Terrible here probably to us means wonderful or awesome, not evil or bad, but just breathtaking things. Verse five, thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under thee. Our text, verse six, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is the right scepter. If you have a good study Bible, you may notice that some of these verses have a five-point star. Anybody's Bible have the star symbol by any of these verses? Suze? What kind of Bible you got, Scott? King James. Giant print reference. Word of Jesus in red. That's what I got is a giant print reference. But I have the stars. Remember what the stars represent? They are Messianic verses, verses that the editors Those stars were not in the original text. That's not part of the original song. But editors who print these Bibles and publish these Bibles, they say, well, we really want to make people notice that these verses seem to be talking about the Messiah. We, of course, know who the Messiah is. The Messiah is Jesus Christ. He's the Messiah. So when you read these verses, these Messianic Psalms, sometimes they'll put a star right by the title of the psalm, Psalm 45, and it'll be a Messianic psalm. In my Bible, this one only has an occasional verse two as a star, verse six, verse seven, So I see there, but these are Messianic prophecies. Our verse six, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. Our expectation is that there is a throne of God in heaven. And in the New Testament, after the ascension of Christ, Jesus is portrayed as sharing his father's throne, and Jesus is on the right hand of the father. Now, how that works out in terms of the trinity and the literalness of it, I know Jesus has a physical body, he's God incarnate, but right now he is sharing the throne of the father. The throne that verse 6 is talking about most pre-millennialists, and I'm one of those. Our church's doctrine statement is one of those. We believe that in the future, there will be a 1,000 year reign of Christ on the throne of David in Jerusalem, a literal, 1,000 years a literal throne a literal Constitution of a fulfillment of promises to Israel now not just Israel will be blessed in the Millennium, but all the nations the Bible indicates that there will be Nations in the Millennium who are also blessed and part of that kingdom but There's a sense in which Jesus' throne is eternal in the heavens and then that throne in the millennium will continue on into the eternal state. Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness. Therefore thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces. Brother Jim, that's your song? Out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad. King's daughters were among thy honorable women. Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. Harken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear. Forget also thine own people in thy father's house. So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty, for he is thy lord, and worship thou him. And the daughter of Tyre shall there be with a gift. Even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favor. The king's daughter is all glorious within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework. The virgins, her companions, the followers, shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought, they shall enter into the king's palace. So, part one here, we have the king. Part two, we have the bride. What it looks like it's portraying here is some kind of wedding. some kind of celebration, some kind of ceremony, some kind of gathering for some announcement. And the Bible uses the picture of marriage in the Old Testament as a time or an illustration of God's relationship to Israel. And then in the New Testament, the Bible uses the metaphor or the typology of the bride, the wedding, in a couple of different ways. I'll mention this here. There's a sense in the New Testament There are passages in the New Testament that indicate that every believer, individual believers, are espoused to Christ. That we have a relationship with Christ of which marriage is a picture of that. Now, human marriage and earthly marriage is a little bit confusing to us when we think about eternity. For one thing, earthly marriage, frankly, carries with it the significance of intimacy and sexual relationship that will not be part of heaven. And so it's difficult sometimes for us here on earth to say, to understand the marriage picture and realize That aspect is not part of the internal state. And yet the Bible is not embarrassed to say God's relationship with Israel is a husband to a wife. And Christ's relationship to the saved and to the future glory church is that of a bridegroom and a bride. So we have to be careful that we Don't as Jesus told them that in heaven. We're like the angels in this sense. We're not angels, but in heaven We we will not be married in the earthly sense We will not have husbands and wives Now I know sometimes I With our earthly perspective, we think, well, how could I ever be happy in heaven without my dearest loved one beside me? Now, I have to tell you that some people are saying, phew, not a problem. Now, that I'm just teaching a little bit. Some people are saying, not a problem. But some people are so, they think, well, how can I ever be happy in heaven? Well, you're going to have to trust me on this. And of course, if you don't like heaven, you can get your money back. But in heaven, you're going to understand this. I'm sure we'll understand it better. And we'll think, how will that be? You know, the critics and the scoffers, they wanted to mock and say, what if someone were widowed and there was another bride? What about all these complications? Jesus basically tells them, don't worry about that. That's not going to be a problem in heaven. You're not going to be concerned about that. It's everything's, all the tears are going to be wiped away. There aren't going to be any conflicts. There aren't going to be any controversy. There aren't going to be any problems. So Jesus often rebuked the Pharisees for bringing about, well, in the eternal state, well, what will happen if man's inheritance was, and they come up with all these convoluted IRS-type rules, they think, but how would that ever be? Don't worry about it. But also don't miss the picture that the Bible uses of marriage. Most recently, the most recent wedding I attended was Greg and Charlotte's and the minister there did a wonderful job of not only the vows and all that but preaching the gospel and also explaining how Christ delights in using marriage as a picture of First of all, I said the relationship Christ has with every believer. There's a sense in which every believer is Christ's loved one, his spouse, the concept that bride is used for each and every believer. It's also used in some sense of the church connection to Christ. The most constant reference in the New Testament is about the local visible church. B.H. Carroll believed that there would be an assembly of believers in heaven that Hebrews 12 talks about. He called it the glory church where everybody's assembled there. There does seem to be an indication that Israel, the nation of Israel, and the church will be distinct throughout eternity. Now, don't misunderstand me. Nobody gets saved except through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Old Testament saints were saved by looking forward to the cross. New Testament saints, that's you and I, we're saved by looking backward to the cross. but the church is not found in the Old Testament. Now, some denominations insist that, oh yes, the church is in the Old Testament, and Israel is the church, and it's all one group, and they point to Galatians, and they say, well, in Christ, there's, you know, we're all one in Christ. Well, that's true spiritually, but physically, God delights in corporal things. By that I mean not just spiritual things but physical things. This world that God made is a physical, corporal world. You can touch it, you can feel it, you can Walk on the ground you can look at the trees, and they're real you can touch them and a human existence is rooted in corporal reality Even in the eternal state we will not be disembodied spirits floating around like ghosts As I mentioned last Sunday night about the intermediate state, the idea that, well, what happens to the soul and the spirit at death? Well, I believe they are immediately in the presence of God. Dr. Michael Block believes that the intermediate state in heaven, those souls or spirits have some kind of tabernacle, I mean some kind of tabernacle in which they dwell as temporary, waiting for the resurrection of their body. He bases that on Luke 16 and passages in Revelation about those who are waiting for the resurrection. People in the intermediate state have consciousness. They know who they are. They know where they are. Dr. Locke believes they have an awareness of what's going on in the earth. They do not interact with us. I don't think they literally speak to us. Someone said, do the saints in heaven pray for us? The quick answer is usually no, because we're afraid people will think that you need to ask Uncle Bob to pray for you. Like, Bob's in heaven, ask Uncle Bob to pray for me. I don't think we do that. I don't think we have a mediator other than Jesus Christ. Now, on the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised that the saints in heaven are able to pray because the martyred saints in Revelation waiting for the resurrection pray. Because what is prayer? Talking to God, right? So you don't think the saints in heaven can talk to God? And perhaps, I don't know. Anyway, this idea of the future state will be corporal, it will be physical. Do you know our eternal dwelling, which we often think of as being in heaven, I think our eternal state will be more focused on the new earth. Matter of fact, Revelation says that the new Jerusalem which is what we're usually singing about when we're singing about heaven. We talk about a street of gold and gates and mansions. While back, I showed you some artist's conceptions of what that new Jerusalem will look like, this walled city, this garden in the center of it, a tree of life is there. Actually, Revelation says that that city literally comes out of heaven. I believe it's a literal city. I mean, I believe it's, I don't think it's mystical or, you know, ethereal, I think it's, Whatever those stones the Bible talks about, I believe the street really is gold. You say, what's it made of? It's made of gold. And I think it's a literal city that you can touch and live in and walk the street. And it comes down out of heaven. And it's actually kind of suspended between heaven and earth. But the New Earth will be a place for dwelling. Those who've been saved, those who go into the eternal state and the right relationship with God, we're going to live, I think, primarily on the New Earth. You think, well, I was hoping to just fly around Mars and Jupiter and float through space. I don't know what we'll do, but God has always intended us to rule and reign with him here on this earth. Not in some, you know, place that we can't really have a physical body. And by the way, we're waiting for a resurrection. 1 Thessalonians 4 says, we believe the resurrected body is physical, do we not? Corporal. Jesus told his disciples, he said, touch me. He says, a spirit alone doesn't have bone and flesh. Jesus' resurrected body was a physical body. We believe the resurrection that occurs at the rapture is the resurrection of bodies that are glorified bodies, but bodies nonetheless. Our resurrected bodies in our eternal state is not going to be as unfamiliar to us or as, I hate to say the word weird or strange, because we're going to be in bodies. Jesus' disciples, when they had their unbelief washed away, they talked to Jesus and spoke with Jesus, and Thomas touched the wound and the scars, and it was the same Christ. It was the same Jesus of Nazareth in a physical, literal body. Where I was here is in depicting that eternal state or those future blessings where Christ rules. He often uses this marriage image. Again, in the Old Testament, Israel is described as the wife of Jehovah. Now, we sometimes over-literalize that. And we think, what does that mean? Well, it's a metaphor. It's kind of like when you, I don't think anybody has this problem when you talk about the church being a building of, as Pastor Jeffrey says, the church is not brick and mortar. A church building may be, you know, where they meet, but the church is people. This morning, long about now, they're on Central Time, First Baptist of Dallas is assembling at the Dallas Convention Center. It's the only facility, probably large enough. I'm sure there are some other large church buildings, but they're being used, of course. But First Baptist Dallas is meeting this morning at 11 o'clock Central Time at the Dallas Convention Center. And I'm praying that God will meet with them and encourage them and strengthen them. But First Baptist Church is assembling today. Their new sanctuary, their new building is still standing, but they have to deal with all the smoke, and they have to deal with all of the debris around the site. You can imagine the destruction that occurs when a building that size collapses. But that First Baptist Church in Dallas built a symbol. But yet the Bible talks about the church being built, He calls each one of you a precious stone. Every believer is a precious stone. And when you become a member in a church, the Bible says the Holy Spirit places you in the setting of a church. So when we call you a stone or a brick, we're not calling you a blockhead or something. It's a picture, right? We don't mean you're literally a ruby. You're not literally a diamond. You're a precious stone. That's a picture of what you are. And when Jesus saved you and you were baptized, he built you into, in this case, a local church. And so we don't get confused about the typology or the metaphor of building. We don't want to over... literalize the bride picture either, because I think that confuses us. I think we get more confused about the bride metaphor than we do the building metaphor, or the vine metaphor, or the branch of a tree metaphor Jesus uses. Or another picture he likes to use is like a flock, often a flock of sheep. That's one of the favorite metaphors in the New Testament for a church, because we are His sheep. I'm looking out over the auditorium, and I don't see anybody that looks anything like a sheep. I've seen people look sheepish, but you don't look like a sheep, but you're a sheep. I'm a sheep. I'm also a shepherd. Now, I'm not literally a shepherd. I don't carry a staff and rod, but my ministry is shepherding. But remember that those are pictures or metaphors. We're not literally sheep and shepherd. Don't miss the picture, but don't exaggerate it either and think, Sometimes when you tell children a spiritual truth, you have to be very careful because they can be very literal. I've never experienced this, but one Sunday school teacher said that one of her students seriously wanted to know when he was going to become a she. Not spiritually. Not getting saved was wondering when the transformation was going to occur. And so she said, that's not what's going to happen. You don't grow wool. That's not the kind of sheep you're. Anyway, sometimes children can be very, very literal. So, when we get to the bride picture here, you have all this wedding ceremony emphasis, ceremony emphasis, costume, you know, weddings are all about, not marriages, but weddings are all about pomp and circumstance, especially a formal wedding. I mean, there's, people are dressed up, there are brides in this, Often a white, long, it's a train. When the bride and the groom were walking up on the platform, I was glad to see the Maid of Honor. I always told the Maid of Honor, you got one job. Don't let the bride fall down. That train is going everywhere, and the long dress, and you can easily get tangled up in it, and trip and fall as you're walking over to the unity candle, or walking up steps, or walking down steps. So, and there's, I mean, Greg, Greg P, dressed to the nines, and took pictures so we could prove it. I mean, he was the quintessential groom, all dressed up, and the people on the platform. And the weddings have pomp and circumstance. And there's music, and people bring gifts. People give cards or bring gifts to the bride and groom, and there are remembrances of it, and there are photographs of it, and there are, verse 15 says, with gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought, they shall enter into the king's palace. I think what we're supposed to get, distilling this all down is like, what is this bride picture or metaphor? Number one, that Jesus loves us with sacrificial love. That's his argument in Ephesians 5. Husbands, love your wives sacrificially. Because that's how Jesus loves us, sacrificially. He gave himself on the cross for us. Our relationship is intended to be permanent. Marriage is till death do us part. And so, being given to God, and we are given eternal life, we will never be separated from the love of God. That's the argument of Romans 8. What will separate us from the love of God? He has vowed to us an eternal vow. Here, on this earth, death does separate us. Divorce can separate us, but eternally, if you have eternal life, you'll never be separated from the love of God. You'll never be lost. You'll never fail of everything the groom has promised to you. Verse 17 says I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations therefore shall the people praise thee forever and ever If you've ever watched a royal wedding I think the British royal family comes to mind. I remember when Charles and Diana were wed and I mean the pageantry of it and the pomp and the circumstance of it, it had a real impact on young ladies around the world watching that and dreaming of, oh, that's what I'd like my wedding to be. I'd like to have a dress like that or have that kind of pageantry. Probably have to talk to whoever's paying the bills about that, but it really was impressive. Charles and Diana aside, Charles is now king of England. Diana, of course, was killed tragically. It did not turn out to be a storybook wedding or a happily ever after fairy tale, but the wedding ceremony, still memorable, still impressive. And apparently God delights in that kind of, a joy, that kind of celebration. You know the Old Testament is full of festivals and holy days. We call them holidays. God was big on giving people vacations. and sabbaths, sabbath days, and sabbath months, and sabbath years, and years of jubilee when everything was made new. Debts were canceled, and bondage was ended, and slaves were set free in the year of jubilee every 50 years. God delighted in those things. So it's not surprising that he would use the picture of marriage and the bride, not only of the relationship that Jehovah has with Israel in the Old Testament, but that Christ has with every believer in the New Testament. And yes, Paul says, in a sense, every local church is a spouse to Christ. We have a groom-bride relationship that will never end, that will be forever, a forever love, and free from any of the things that we associate wrongly with earthly marriage or the faults and failures of it. Verse 16, 17 is the blessing. Our author says, instead of thy fathers shall be thy children whom thou makest princes in all the earth. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations. Therefore shall the people praise thee forever and ever. This is a promise about the great king. who fulfills all of his bridegroom promises, all of his bridegroom vows. He will keep them. It's another evidence of our eternal security. This king who loves us, gave himself for us, and secures for us. And we are joint heirs with him, the Bible says. We are translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear son. Let's pause here and prepare for the worship hour. Brother Brian, may you distance yourself. Dear Heavenly Father, it's good to be in your house this morning. We know our Lord really needs you to take control of our blessings. That's the view of the First Baptist Church in Dallas. As they meet today and as they recover from that tragedy, we promise to do exactly what you've come to us to do. I'd also like to thank our parish and the services that follow. th th Well, it's not as a program.