Address—Robert Boulard
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Who have enjoyed over the last?
A little while this little expression in the last verse of this hymn that we sung says of the vast universe of bliss, the center, thou and sun.
Men are looking today for the center of the universe. They're looking to see if they can find something at the center of the creation that God has made. And God has ordained that the center of all of his creation, the center of all of his purposes, are told to us in this book. The center of this creation is Christ himself, and God wants every one of us to know.
Him and to enjoy his presence.
Without fear to be in His holy presence.
And to recognize the glory that is his, recognize the reverence that ought to be on our part as we find ourselves in his presence. It's the same Savior we're going to, in a few minutes, if the Lord carries, remember the Lord Jesus in his death, and we're going to be in his presence. And it's the Lord's desire that we would have a reverence.
And a knowledge of whose person, whose glory we're in.
Well, I just like to look this morning at a few portions of Scripture, make a few comments on the little expression that's used in the Word of God. Little expression is in the midst, and we're going to find that expression in the first page of the Word of God. It says in Genesis chapter one, verse six. And God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament of the waters.
Which were above the firmament and it was so. Well, I don't have much to comment on that verse, perhaps nothing.
But I just want to show that in the Old Testament God used this little expression in the midst, and God divided things according to his view and how he desired to place before his creation the person of his Son. And it says that in chapter 2 of Genesis, and perhaps will comment a little bit on this, it says.
In verse nine, well, let's read verse eight. I'm not going to read all of these portions of Scripture thoroughly because perhaps we're all acquainted with them. But if you jot them down and read them for yourself and meditate upon them, perhaps you'll gain some blessings.
To your own soul this morning.
It says in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 8 the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted.
And became into four heads.
That's as far as we'll read in a past eternity, before there was a world.
There was a God.
The Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, and they desire for the Son to have a bride.
They desired in the eternal counsels that God the Son would be the center of the scene.
In which there would be singing, not only praise, because the angelic beings have the ability to praise and to say, to speak and to magnify, to exalt their Creator, but that there would be a people redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. And in the very presence of their Savior, in the very presence of the center of the universe, there would be those that would be suitable to sing His praise.
To magnify that glorious one and to recognize.
His great grace, His great love, and here we have the first time perhaps.
In the New Testament. In the Old Testament, there's only the Tree of Life is only mentioned twice in scriptures.
Only once, here in Genesis chapter 2, in the very last chapter of the book of the Bible, is mentioned as well, the tree of Life, and here it's in the midst of the garden.
God, you know all, created man and planted a garden, and he with purpose created that place, that it might be a place separated from the beasts of the field. And enjoyed this thought recently. Brother expressed it as we spoke the beast of the field.
Were outside of that place.
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They didn't have communion with their creator inside that fenced off place.
The planted garden inside that place would be those that had the capability to enjoy the fellowship of their Creator, to enjoy the person of the Savior, the Lord Jesus. But you know, God didn't only create man, He's the sustainer of their lives. He's a sustainer of your life and mine. And so the tree of life, I believe, is a little picture of how God desires to sustain our life.
He not only gives us life, but He's made every provision that we might have our lives sustained. Your life needs nourishment. Your soul needs nourishment. Your heart needs to be kept close to that Blessed One. He wants to be the center of the nourishment of your life. He wants to be to have you in His presence.
And to have your attention, as it were, and your desire to seek the nourishment for your eternal life, the nourishment for your soul.
In His presence, not a glorious thought. Oh, He wants you in His presence. He is in the midst of that garden. Well, let's turn to Exodus chapter 4 or chapter 3.
We'll see here another time that this little expression is used.
Exodus chapter 3 and verse one. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mount of God, even Orab.
And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him in the flame of fire out of the midst of the Bush, And he looked, and behold, the Bush burned, with fire in the Bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bushes not burned. And when the Lord saw that, he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the Bush.
And said Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I.
And he said, Draw not nigh, hit her, put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place where on thy standest is holy ground. Moreover, he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters.
For I know their sorrows, and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land unto a good land, and a large unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
While here we have another time that this little expression is used in the midst.
In verse four, the Lord saw that he turned aside, and God called unto him out of the midst of the Bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, hear my.
Moses.
Was going to be called to do a work for the Lord and hear this Bush was burning or there. I shouldn't say the Bush was burning, but there was a fire in the midst and it speaks to us of the holiness of God.
You know, it says in Lamentations. I'm not going to be able to quote it, so let's turn to Lamentations.
Chapter 3. Verse 22.
Well, let's read verse 19, chapter 3 and verse 19, remembering mine affliction and my misery, the Wormwood and the gall. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recalled in my mind. Therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul therefore.
Will I hope in him the Lord is good unto them.
But wait upon him that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
Well, here we have the compassions of the Lord brought forth. And you know the Lord is holy, says three times in Isaiah chapter 6. Holy, holy, holy Lord, God Almighty, He's holy, and yet he could come and desire to come into this scene and to meet Moses on that Mount Mork, Mount Horeb.
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And his desire in his compassions, in his love for his people.
Were to come down himself.
And to pick them up out of the ditch of sin Himself, to rescue them, to become their Redeemer, to redeem them with His own precious blood. But there was going to be a picture of that redemption because of the Lamb. The lamb was going to be slain in Egypt that night of the Passover. God was going to Passover His people because of the blood that was shed.
But here, you know, I want to call to attention, call attention to the fact that.
The Lord in the midst here really is in connection with reverence, our reverence for the Lord.
And Moses was told to take the shoes off of his feet because he was in the presence of a holy God. Oh, the Lord desires that we would have our hearts taken up with him and a sense of the holiness of the person in whose company we find ourselves when we find ourselves in the assembly where He is in midst. And Moses was told because he didn't know, perhaps.
But the ground that he was standing on was holy ground and he could not walk. Why was it his take his shoes off?
It was because he could not walk in the presence of God in the same way that he walked in the desert among those sheep. He needed to walk in a holy way, a holy path. He needed to recognize that he was in the presence of God. Well, it's a wonderful thing, dear young people, every one of us here to recognize when we come into the presence of the Lord Jesus.
On the Lord's Day morning to the Lord's Table.
To remember the Lord Jesus in his death, that we're coming into the presence of the one who is the center of the universe.
The center of God's universe, the center of the affections of God Himself, the Father. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given them all things. Oh, he's the heir of all things, and he came as that blessed One to be the Lamb of God, to shed his precious blood.
Well, I'd like to turn to Luke's gospel in the New Testament. We'll look at a few here. One verse that was mentioned last night.
In Luke's Gospel chapter 2.
We'll read just a part of that event, that account.
In verse 42.
And when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned the child Jesus for the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph his mother knew not of it, but they, supposing Him to have been in the company, went a day's journey, and they sought Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking Him. And it came to pass that after three days they found Him.
In the temple sitting.
In the midst of the doctors both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
Well, you know, the Lord Jesus knows what it was, knows what it is.
For young people, it's particular comfort. He knows what it is to be 12 years old. He knows what it is to be a boy and to live in a world that was in opposition to God, his father. But there was here, as a 12 year old boy, a desire in his heart to be about his father's will, his father's work.
And I just want to point out here in 12 years old, you know, speaks of the age of responsibility and perhaps the 12 years old 12 year olds are up at the in the other in the Sunday school or something. But maybe there are some 12 year olds here. It's remarkable in connection with the Lord Jesus. This is the age of responsibility. As I say, men in the Jewish economy. I believe at 12 years old, a boy was treated like a man.
And the Lord Jesus.
When he was in Jerusalem.
Mary and Joseph found him, it says, after three days in the temple.
Sitting in the midst of the doctors. Now the doctors are not medical doctors here, but those that were doctors of the law. They studied the word of God, they read the word of God, and they were educated men and the Lord Jesus as a boy in perfect humility.
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Sat in the midst. He didn't exalt himself. He didn't say I'm the center of God's thoughts. He didn't reveal himself in that way.
He didn't reveal himself as the Son of God to them at that time, but as a perfect humility and perfect humility, perfect humanity. He sat in their midst and he could carry on a conversation with those doctors, those educated men in connection with the Scriptures, in connection with things of God. And already at 12 years old, he knew the Scriptures.
I want to ask you here, young people, some of you.
Perhaps are not under 12 years old because we those in the Sunday school are going up to the other room. But if you're 12 years old or you're 13 years old, there are older brethren here and I speak.
Her brother Jim Hyland, Doug Buchanan and others here, Eric James, they would love it for you to sit with them and to just discuss some of the portions of Scripture that you have on your heart and enjoy in your soul. And perhaps you have questions about things in life and portions of scripture that are puzzled to you all. They'd love to have you sit with them.
And to enjoy something of the word of God together.
I tell you, I speak from my own heart. I speak for every one of those dear older ones here in this room. They would love it if you sat with them and enjoyed the things of God. And if you're 13 years old and you haven't done it yet, you haven't sat in the presence of your older brethren in a quiet way, in a humble way, not in a forward way.
And you haven't just discussed something of the precious things of God with them and the person Christ. You've missed out and you're going to miss out if you don't do it. Well, it's a wonderful thing for those of us that are older in the path of faith just to sit with the young and to encourage the young to make time for our young people and for our children and to answer quietly and carefully the questions that they have. And so here the Lord Jesus.
In his perfect humility.
Was in midst of those doctors.
I want to read to you how they treated him at the end of his life.
Turn to math Mark's Gospel, Chapter 14.
And verse 65.
Mark's Gospel chapter 14 and verse 65. And some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to buffet him, and to say unto him prophecy.
And the servants, or I believe Mr. Darby's notes, could say doctors of the law. And the doctors of the law did strike him with the palms of their hands.
Dear young people, the Lord Jesus is the one who is the center of all wisdom and all learning in this world, the center of truth, the center of learning in the universe of God, the universe that is created. He is the center of all wisdom, all knowledge, true knowledge. He is the center of it. And you and I need to sit quietly.
In the presence of the Lord at the reading meetings.
And other assembly meetings and meetings like these. To sit quietly and being quiet in our spirit. To sit in His presence and to learn something.
Of that Blessed One, never to be forward, but to sit in humility and to recognize.
That God is God and we are men. And so I just would encourage you in that way. The Lord Jesus was hearing them and asking them questions. Isn't that nice? I just enjoy that in connection with our blessed Savior, the humility of that man, Christ Jesus.
Who brought the world into existence, sat in the presence in the center of those doctors, and at the end of his life his testimony rejected. They rejected the wisdom of God, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. And they spent in his face and with the palms of their hands they struck that blessed man.
They'd rejected what he'd spoken to them. But I say once again, God presents to us the Lord Jesus in the word of God. Is this of all wisdom? And if you want to have wisdom and knowledge, dear young people, the truth of what real wisdom is, what real knowledge is, read the word of God and be sure to go to the assembly meetings. Go to all of the assembly meetings.
They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in breaking of bread and in prayers. There's a tendency in our hearts not to want to just sit quietly in the presence of the Lord, that there's something else that's too important. We have too much to do, and the Lord misses having us in His presence. Is there anything that's too important?
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Than to be in the presence of the Lord.
Make it a habit of your life. Never, never, never to miss an assembly meeting unless you absolutely have to. Unless you're absolutely too sick to go. Go to every assembly meeting and desire to see something of a person of Christ. He is in the midst. He wants to reveal Himself.
You'll forgive a pardon a personal statement.
But sometimes, oftentimes when I read the scriptures.
I pray to the Lord and I tell the Lord, you know Lord Jesus.
I'm so ignorant.
I'm so ignorant please help me. I don't know what I should know. I don't enjoy the things of God that I should enjoy. I'm so ignorant please help me. And then I read the scriptures. Then after I've read something, the portion of scripture.
Then I thank the Lord for whatever I've enjoyed and make it a habit. I make it a habit myself to thank the Lord after I've gone to a Bible conference or gone gone to little meetings like this, to thank the Lord for some of the gems that I've enjoyed of Christ.
Because it was a work of the Spirit of God to reveal Himself and to bring me into some of the knowledge of the truth.
To mighty work. God the Son, the Lord Jesus, is the center of all wisdom and knowledge, and He desires you to know Him. It says He's given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. He wants you to know. He wants you to know Him. He wants you to know that He's compassionate and that He wants you in His presence.
Well, let's read in.
Matthews Gospel.
Chapter 18.
Verse one. This is somewhat connected to the last one in Luke.
Matthew 18 verse one. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them.
And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, and shall is the same as the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven, and whoso shall receive one such little child in My name, receiveth me.
In the midst, a little child, oh, everyone of us has to come as a little child. And there are those that perhaps grow a little bit older and think that they know something and they don't come as a simple, humble, unpretentious.
Dependent child.
Every time you and I come into the presence of God, we need to recognize that He sustains life. He's not only the producer, the giver of that life, but he's the sustainer of that life, and He blesses the humble.
And we need to come into His presence and have our hearts turn to Him. That's what it means to be converted, to have our hearts turn to Him when He's in the midst and will never progress in our souls. None of us will ever make any progress, real progress in our souls if we don't come into the presence of the Lord as those that are humble as a child.
And so the Lord Jesus taught by example in this way, you know, this chapter, chapter 18 has principles of Christianity in a new order of things in Christianity.
But I just wanted to speak of that one. And then we'll read in chapter 18 and verse 18. This is one of the principles here. It says in verse 18, Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth is touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name.
There am I in the midst of them.
Now, this portion of Scripture is not telling us that if two of us get together and we agree that we want to each have a Mercedes-Benz, but and we pray that that's exactly what we want, that the Lord is going to give it to us because we just asked for it.
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No, it says if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. We always, always need to pray according to the will of God, never more so than any assembly.
In the assembly, it's the will of God and the Word of God that governs the assembly. It's the heart of God that governs the assembly. It's the love of the Lord Jesus.
To bring us to be in his presence. And so it says here, where two or three are gathered together.
Are gathered by the Spirit of God. There they are together in fellowship in the name, with the authority of the Lord Jesus. There am I in the midst.
You know, there was an old black brother in the West Indies. I don't remember his name. Maybe Jim Highland knows the story and he'll be able to tell us. Brother Hammer went down to the West Indies. I think he told me 44 times.
Mostly at his own expense.
To minister the truth in that part of the world in the West Indies, said it, one remembrance of the Lord.
He was in awe at the reverence that they had for the presence of the Lord.
And they were in the process of.
The remembrance of the Lord partway through.
A dear old black brother got up.
And he walked over to the front row and he took a chair, and he took that chair and he placed it right beside the table.
That had the bread and the wine on it.
And he went and back. He went back and he sat down.
Only had such a sense of the Lord's presence that the Lord was there, That Lord was in the midst. Someone asked him later. Why did that?
Said here we are all sitting on a chair and we didn't put one out for the Lord.
I had reverence for who was there, who was in the midst.
The center of all of God's thoughts, the One who is the heir of all, the one who went to the cross to bear the judgment for your sins, and is your Redeemer if you know him, the Savior this morning.
He's the center of God's universe.
All of God's thoughts, all of God's purposes are bound up in that blessed man. He's going to inherit heaven and earth. All of it. Every created thing belongs to him, and he's going to receive it very shortly.
But here.
We have this precious privilege of being told by the Lord Jesus Himself that where the Spirit of God would gather us together unto His precious name, no other name, that He would be there.
With us in the midst, he's the center of the assembly.
He's the center.
Of our affections in the assembly, he's the object, the center of object in the assembly.
And his desire is that we would find ourselves consciously in his presence.
You know, sometimes perhaps you've heard me say this, but.
Pardon me for saying it again.
When I was younger, I used to sometimes not be very regular in attendance to the meetings to the local assembly meetings.
I'm sorry for that now Lord missed my presence there. He was in the midst.
And I would sometimes say, well, I'm just too tired to go to meeting today.
Tonight I'm just so tired. I can't go to the prayer meeting tonight. I'm just so tired. I just had a rough day.
But now you know what I say to myself.
Sometimes I feel sick and I say I think I'm a little, just a little too. I'll to go to be in the presence of the Lord this evening.
Well, that changes it tremendously.
And, well, maybe I'm not too sick to be in the presence of the Lord tonight.
I need to go to be in the presence of the Lord. He is in the midst of His people. He wants to have His people in the midst. You know what? I'll just turn back to Exodus chapter 25.
Give a little.
A thought there on one verse.
Exodus chapter 25 and verse 8.
Says And let them make me a sanctuary or a consecrated place, a clean place. Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them, you know, And Mr. Darby's French translation, there wasn't a good French translation when he translated the scriptures into French. So he translated the Scriptures into French 1St, and then he did the English and so on.
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And this is how he translates it in the French. Let them make me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in the midst of them.
Not nice.
The Lord desires to dwell in the midst of His people.
The God of heaven.
The Heir of all things, the Creator of all, desires to dwell in the midst of his people.
And in Luke's Gospel chapter 22, it says, perhaps we'll just turn to it so that I won't misquote it.
It says.
There in verse 11, he shall say unto the good men of the house, the Master, say it under thee, Where is the guest chamber?
Where I shall eat the Passover.
In the French translation it reads this way.
Where is my lodging place?
Were actually Passover with my disciples.
Oh, the Lord is in the midst. He desires to dwell in the midst of His people.
He desires to have your company there. He desires to have you remember him in his death. Remember what it costs you to bring him to pick you up out of the ditch of sin, to make you a son of God, an heir of God. Join heir with Christ. He desires to have your presence at his table and to.
And thankfulness, appreciation, affection for him to have a mouth open and a heart open to pray.
Given what he really wants, the worship of your heart.
Well, let's turn to John's Gospel, chapter 19.
In verse 18.
They crucified him.
And two other with him.
On either side one and Jesus in the midst.
Dear ones, this morning.
The center of the universe, the center of God's purposes.
Men with filthy, wicked, sinful hands took, laid them upon His holy person.
Drove nails into his hands and his feet.
And they're not seeing. God says He was in the midst.
He was the center of their rejection.
He was the center of their ridicule.
He was the center of their rebellion.
And they reviled him. He was the center of their reviling.
Means that they railed on you.
He was the center.
A ridicule on that cross.
But here was the man of all of God's counsels.
The one who's going to rule overall very shortly going to take possession of the Kingdom.
Here was the one who loved you and gave himself for you. And in the midst of that scene on Calvary's Hill was the person of all of God's counsels.
In humility, perfect subjection, perfect obedience to his God desired to bear the judgment for your sins.
For mine. And he was in the midst of that scene, because his desire was to do the will of his father.
What a scene.
To have the center, that one, that blessed center, one in the midst. Let's just turn back to Luke's Gospel chapter 23.
And there we'll read.
In verse 43.
Luke 23 and verse 43 Jesus said unto the hymn, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Paradise means a garden of delight. And it was about the 6th hour, and there was darkness, a darkness over all the earth until the 9th hour the sun was darkened and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.
Oh, here we have the fact that there was a barrier between God and men, the Old Testament.
None of those.
In Old Testament times could enter into the very presence of God without fear. They could not go into the holiest of holies except once every year the high priest went in with the blood.
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Within that bill.
And was with fear that he went in. No peace of heart, no peace of conscience.
And God says that he rent the veil.
In the midst, you know, it says in the other gospels that it was rent from the top to the bottom, but you know, better translation is that.
He rented from above to the bottom.
He ran it from above to the bottom, and God himself.
Tore that veil. I used to think when I was younger that it was the earthquake that rented. Wasn't the earthquake that rent that nail? It was God who rent the veil from above. It says from above to the bottom. You rent it so that you might come into this holy presence and have the liberty as a priest to render to him something.
Of praise and Thanksgiving worship, let's turn to Hebrews chapter 10.
And read a couple of verses there.
Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 20. Well, let's read from verse 19.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest or the Holy of holies, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which he hath consecrated or dedicated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, and having a high priest over the House of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith.
Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering. For He is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another or encouraging one another. And so much the more as you see the day approaching.
While we have a new and living way that's made.
The Lord Jesus desired to have his people in His presence. He desired to have worshippers in his presence, the one who is the center of the universe.
Desired you to come into His presence without fear, and to come with something of a heart filled with Christ.
To overflowing with praise and Thanksgiving and worship in your heart as you came into His presence in the midst.
Into a place that was closer than any child of Israel could ever come.
Any of those earthly people. But he says here.
Four things verse 22 Let us draw near with a true heart.
In full assurance of faith, a true heart. You know the hardest dwelling place of the truth.
But it can also be the dwelling place of evil. We know that, Jeremiah says in chapter 17.
The heart is desperately wicked.
Who can know it? I the Lord know the heart. I try the reigns. Oh, the Lord knows the heart. Your heart and mind are too big for this world to ever fill. And the Lord Jesus wants to fill your heart, and he says let us draw near. God isn't going to mandate that you come near to Him.
But this world, everything in this world, is calculated by Satan himself to keep you at a distance from God.
To keep you from getting close, to keep you satisfied with the filth of this world in some way, if it's not the filth at some distraction that this world might have something, a clean fun, you might say, a clean hobby, whatever it might be. Something to keep you at a distance from the Lord Jesus who wants to be the center of your life.
He wants to be in the midst of your life. He wants you to be in his presence and He wants you to draw near with a true heart. Not with any falsehood in the heart. Not with going on with something in your life privately and then coming on the Lord's Day and trying to set aside that something that you're going on with and then not judging it really and wanting to go back with with it on Monday.
All he wants.
The whole heart wants everything that you've got.
He wants the 1St place, then in all things he might have the preeminence.
Because he's worthy. He gave everything that he might have you in his presence.
And he says, let us draw near. That's the first thing. And then verse 23 says let us hold fast the profession or the confession of our hope without wavering. He wants you to come into his presence with confidence and to hold fast that confidence. And then there's fruit here. Verse 24. Let us consider one another to provoke, to love and to good works. There be evidence of your faith, if you.
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Walk with the Lord and you desire to consider one another in your practical display of love.
For your brethren. And then the fourth thing is, and not forsaking of coming into his presence.
He's made a new and living way that there might not be any hindrance. There's no hindrance on the part of the Lord Jesus. His heart is full of compassion, full of love for His people. He paid the ultimate price to have you in His midst this morning. You couldn't have been there. You couldn't be in the presence of the Lord without fear, except He'd gone to the cross and borne the judgment for your sins in His own body on the tree. You couldn't be there.
But now you're going to be there.
You know the Lord Jesus is your Savior. You want to remember Him in the circumstances of his death. You're going to come into the presence of the holy Savior.
Well, we've run out of time, but let's turn to the last.
Portion Revelation, chapter 22.
In verse one.
He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb in the midst of the street of it. And on either side of the river there was the tree of life, which bare 12 manner fruits, and yielded her fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Well, you know, we could read in Revelation chapter 5 as well and we would find there.
The Lamb in the midst of a glorious sea. Perhaps we should turn to it. Revelation chapter 5, verse 6.
I beheld and Lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Dear ones, the man that was the center of ridicule.
The center of rebellion, the center of reviling in this world is the center of that heavenly scene. He's a center, center of all of the execution of the government of God in a future day. He's the center of that throne. In the midst of the throne and that heavenly host, he's in the midst of the elders. He's going to take possession.
Of the Kingdom, he's going to take possession of the inheritance.
It's his by right because he's the creator and because he's the Redeemer, He's the Lamb of God. He's presented here not only as a lion, because he has the power and the strength to take the the inheritance, the right.
But he's a lamb that humble 1 obedient 1 obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He humbled Himself, became obedient unto the cross, unto death, even the death of the cross.
He's the center of all authority, of all power, of all honor, of all glory, says in verse 12, Revelation 5, verse 12, saying with a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. He's the center of that sea, every note of praise that could possibly be.
Upon your lips and mine, every single possible praise.
A Thanksgiving that could possibly come forth from a redeemed heart will come forth in that day from your heart and mind. It'll be a work of grace. Heaven is going to be filled with those that have Jesus in the midst and love to sing his praise. But in the last book of in the last chapter of Revelation, we see there a little blending of in the millennial.
Scene Heaven and earth rejoicing in the Lord Jesus.
In the midst in that scene, he's going to sustain.
That creation, he's going to sustain all in the state of glory, a state of perfection. He's going to sustain us in that scene eternally. The tree of life is there.
Like to stand and sing #8.
Our.
Easy.
Life.
Speaking great and everything.