Sunday, July 30, 2023 AM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

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If you're able, would you stand at this time for our call to worship? We're continuing on in Psalms chapter 89.

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Today we'll be reading verses 42 to 45. Let's read together.

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You have exalted the right hand of his foes. You have made all his enemies rejoice.

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You have also turned back the edge of his sword, and you have not made him stand in battle.

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You have made his splendor to cease, and cast his throne to the ground.

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You have cut short the days of his youth. You have covered him with shame.

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And our psalm of response is in our Psalms for Worship hymnal, page 89F.

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We sang this last week. We'll sing it again today. We'll sing all four verses. You have raised up his foes' right hand and given them delight.

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His sword's keen edge you have turned back. No longer helped him fight.

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His glory you have made to cease. His throne to earth cast down.

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You have cut short his days of youth. To shame brought his renown.

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The hymn of praise is in our regular hymnals, page 262,

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Holy, Holy, Holy. Holy, holy, holy,

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Lord God almighty. Early in the morning our songs shall rise to thee.

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Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty.

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Our son's blessed trinity.

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Holy, holy, holy, all the saints adore thee.

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Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea.

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Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee.

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Which word and art and evermore shall be.

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Holy, holy, holy, though the darkness hide thee.

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Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see.

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Holy, thou art holy, there is none beside thee.

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Perfect in power, in love and purity.

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Holy, holy, holy,

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Lord God almighty. All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea.

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Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty.

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God in three persons, blessed trinity.

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Glad to be here on a Sunday. Those of you who haven't met me,

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I'm a visitor. Thank you everyone for your cards, well wishes.

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Tomorrow is Amy and mine's 19th. Thank you.

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They had a very, very long weekend and a very late night. Last night they are recovering. But I just wanted to say thank you to our church family for your love for us.

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Book of Isaiah chapter 51. We are in the section, we are learning about the servant called

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Israel. Who succeeds where the nation fails. The servant,

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Israel. The Lord's comfort for Zion.

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Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness. You who seek the

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Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn. To the quarry from which you were dug.

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Look to Abraham, your father. And to Sarah who bore you. For he was but one when

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I called him. That I might bless him and multiply him. For the Lord comforts

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Zion. He comforts all her waste places. And makes her wilderness like Eden.

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Her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her thanksgiving. And the voice of song.

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Give attention to me, my people. Give ear to me, my nation. For a law will go out from me.

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And I will set my justice for a light to the peoples. My righteousness draws near.

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My salvation has gone out. And my arms will judge the peoples. The coastlands hope for me.

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And for my arm they wait. Lift up your eyes to the heavens.

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And look to the earth beneath. And the heavens vanish like smoke. The earth will wear out like a garment.

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And they who dwell in it will die in like manner. But my salvation will be forever.

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And my righteousness will never be dismayed. Listen to me, you who know righteousness.

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The people in whose heart is my law. Fear not the reproach of man. Nor be dismayed at their revilings.

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For the moth will eat them up like a garment. And the worm will eat them like wool.

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But my righteousness will be forever. And my salvation to all generations.

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Let's pray. Lord God in heaven, please bless the reading of your word. Thank you for bestowing on us the light of the

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Holy Spirit to help us understand. That we can read through the lens of Christ.

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Everything that you have done for us, in us, and will do for us in the future.

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Please bless our time together in the holy name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen. You may be seated.

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Our last song before the message this morning is For the Cause. ♪

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For the cause of Christ the

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King. We live our lives on offering. Till all the earth resounds with ceaseless praise to the

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Son. For the cause of Christ we go.

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With joy to reap. With faith to sow. As many see.

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And many put their trust in the Son. Christ we proclaim.

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The name above every name. For all creation, every nation.

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God's salvation through the Son. With the

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King once lifted high. To praise of rage of crucify.

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Endured the cross as every sin was laid on the

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Son. To the King who conquered death.

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To free the poor and the oppressed. For lasting peace.

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For life and liberty in the Son. Christ we proclaim.

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The name above every name. For all creation, every nation.

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God's salvation through the Son. Let it be my life's refrain.

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To live is Christ. To die is gain. Deny myself.

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Take up my cross and follow the Son. Christ we proclaim.

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Let it be my life's refrain. To live is Christ. To die is gain.

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Deny myself. Take up my cross and follow the

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Son. Christ we proclaim.

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The name above every name. For all creation, every nation.

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God's salvation through the Son. Christ we proclaim.

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The name above every name. For all creation, every nation.

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God's salvation through the Son. Let's go to the

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Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you today. And we thank you for the hope that you have given to us in your

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Son, Jesus Christ. A hope that we live in every day. And without fail, you keep all of your promises through your

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Son. And bring these to mind by your Spirit. And draw us close to you.

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That we may know you and love you as our Heavenly Father. You have brought us here today for your purposes.

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For your glory and for our good. And I pray that you would accomplish those as we look at your

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Word. As we submit to your truth. As we commune together here at our

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Lord's table. Lord, we thank you that we have fellowship with you. That we have communion with you through your

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Son and by your Spirit. We pray now that as you give us your Word, that we would amen your truth.

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That as we behold our Savior here, that you would transform us as from glory to glory.

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We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. I invite you to open your

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Bibles to Acts chapter 9. And we'll be reading some from Acts chapter 9 this morning.

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Particularly verses 32 through 35. We're beginning a new section in the book of Acts.

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We've been considering the work that the risen Lord Jesus Christ has been doing through various servants.

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We considered what He did through the apostles. Especially in the opposition they were receiving from the

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Jewish leaders. And the controversies which popped up in the church.

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But then we began to look at the individual lives of Stephen and Philip and Saul of Tarsus.

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And now our attention is being drawn to Peter. Considering what the

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Lord is doing in Peter's life. As his gospel is going forth throughout all the countryside.

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I invite you to stand with me as I read

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Acts chapter 9 beginning in verse 32. This is the Word of the

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Lord. Now it came to pass as Peter went through all parts of the country.

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That he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda. There he found a certain man named

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Aeneas. Who had been bedridden eight years and was paralyzed.

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And Peter said to him, Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you.

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Arise and make your bed. Then he rose immediately. So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the

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Lord. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Acts chapter 10 and the first part of Acts 11.

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Some of my favorite parts of the book of Acts. Near and dear to my heart.

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During crucial moments they were extremely helpful to me.

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And as I was looking forward to getting to chapter 10. I read two little stories here at the end of chapter 9.

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What are those doing there? How odd. A little story about Aeneas.

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A little story about Dorcas known as Tabitha. Before we get to the good stuff.

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Before we get to Peter and his time at Joppa and the vision. And his time with Cornelius.

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And the controversy stirred up in the church in chapter 11. But why in the wisdom of God.

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Why in the wisdom of the Holy Spirit do we have these two little stories. Before we go to Acts chapters 10 and 11.

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As I began to read through again and again. Something kept on popping up in each one of these stories.

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And there's seven stories. Some of them are very related. Some of them not apparently related.

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But as you see there on your handout. There are seven passages. And what ties them all together.

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Is the command is given in each one of these passages. To rise.

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To rise. Oh, the lame man, rise. Oh, the dead woman, rise.

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Oh, Peter, rise. Kill and eat. Each one of these passages is this word.

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The same word that Jesus and Martha discussed. In the wake of the sorrow of the death of Lazarus.

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That Jesus is the resurrection in the life. And that Lazarus would rise at the last day.

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And it's very interesting. As I read through, I noticed several other ties.

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Each one of these passages has seven things that are common to them all.

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There's always some traveling of the saints. Either to the saints or people coming to find Peter. And then

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Peter has to get up and go. And it seems that near the beginning of each passage. Somebody's on the move.

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It's a good reminder that the new covenant temple is a tabernacle. And the gospel of the kingdom is on the move.

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And also the plight of the individual is set before us. What of Aeneas? What of Dorcas? What of Cornelius?

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What of Peter? The plight of the individual before the truth of God.

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The authority of Jesus Christ is on display in each one of these passages. And that makes a lot of sense.

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Because He's at the right hand of the Father. And He's the one in charge of all of this going on here. As He sends forth

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His servants with His word, spreading the good news of His kingdom. The command to rise, of course, is something of the centerpiece to each one of the passages.

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And it is the response to the command. This is not something that is stated and left alone and nobody reacts.

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But there is a response to the command. And we are treated to widening scope of the gospel in each one of the passages.

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Look how far God's mercy goes. Look how wide the good news of the kingdom is spreading.

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And then it's very interesting. Near the end of each passage, there is a concern to where everybody is staying.

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Where is everybody dwelling? And it's almost like we have a New Covenant version of the travels of Israel in the book of Numbers.

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Pack up, move, plant. Pack up, move, plant. Pack up, move, plant. But here they're not wandering about in the wilderness, leaving a trail of dead bodies as the first generation dies off under the judgment of God.

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No. No. Here the gospel travels. And then the gospel takes root.

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And then the gospel travels. And then the gospel takes root. And everywhere the

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New Covenant temple goes, everywhere the New Covenant tabernacle goes, the new creation springs forth.

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There are many other connections between the passages, and you can see some of those there in your handout. But one thing of great interest is that there in the middle passage, the heart of the pattern, we, for the first time in this section, hear of the

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Holy Spirit. And this unleashes a flood of ten references to the

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Holy Spirit, bringing our attention to the necessity of Him for our work.

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This leads me to look at this section and conclude, it is by His Spirit that Christ raises gospel couriers to bring distant sinners home.

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It is by His Spirit that Christ raises gospel couriers to bring distant sinners home.

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And let's begin with just the first story here this morning, and consider what it has to do with our communion together with Christ.

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I look at these seven passages as a mountain range, and I think mountain names are fun.

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Especially, and we're kind of boring here in America. We just have Mount, last name of some admiral somewhere, or some general.

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Mount Scott. Great, we named our biggest mountain in Oklahoma after fuss and feathers,

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Winfield Scott. That's great. That's not overly imaginative.

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But I like mountains that are in their native tongue, and they mean strange things that sound like a story in and of themselves.

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So I've done my best to name these seven mountains. The Rose of Sharon, Gospel Gazelle, Son of Jonah, Holy Summons, Meermin, Gospel Trumpet, and Too Small a

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Thing. Those will be my working titles. We'll see if we end up naming them Mount So -and -So before we're done.

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We begin with the Rose of Sharon there in verses 32 through 35, and the first thing that we see is that Peter is on the move.

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Now, we were just told that the whole church is walking, or being walked in the fear of the

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Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. And so as Peter travels, we understand that he's not walking merely by putting one foot in front of the other, but that as he's proceeding, he's going thinking of his

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Lord first and thinking of his Lord most. That he, like Philip before him, he's being led in the comfort of the

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Holy Spirit. And in fact, traveling some of the same roads that Philip traveled before him.

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Remember that after Philip ministered in Samaria, that he was sent by the

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Lord all the way south to catch an Ethiopian on the way back home, and that after preaching the gospel to this man and baptizing him in the name of Christ, that Philip continued his travels and went to the coast and went north.

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Peter is mimicking some of the very same trail that Philip has done, and now, just like before when

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Philip went to the Samaritans and preached the gospel to them, and then later the apostles showed up, here

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Peter is following in the footsteps of Philip, and he's going to Lyda to minister to the saints there.

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Undoubtedly, they had heard the preaching of the gospel from the dear brother Philip, and Peter is on his way to the saints at Lyda, to do the

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Lord's work, to encourage them, to see how they get on, to be there and encourage them.

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Did he have any plans of moving past this little town of Lyda, a

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Jewish town full of Jewish people? Did he have any other plans?

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But there he meets a man with a very Jewish name,

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Aeneas. That's a name that comes straight out of the Hebrew, a word that means to glorify.

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It means particularly to adorn something in order to celebrate.

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His name means to glorify. And the Hebrew, his name, when it shows up in the Old Testament, it gets translated by the very same

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Greek word we find in chapter 11, where God was glorified, that he granted repentance to the

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Gentiles. But here is the gospel coming to the Jew first, and Peter goes and he sees a man named

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Aeneas, and he sees a need. We discover, and of course

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Luke, the doctor, clues us in on this man's need.

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Here was a man who was bedridden eight years.

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Luke draws up the case. He's been sick for eight years, and he was paralyzed. Oh, that's terrible.

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That's terrible. What did Peter see when he sees this man who can't get up out of his bed?

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Where was he? Was he in a home? Was he in someone's home and someone was taking care of him? Was he like the other beggars who were often laid at the gate, perhaps the gate of the city?

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Perhaps as soon as Peter arrives, there is Aeneas on his bed by the city gate, the place where everybody would pass through, see

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Aeneas' plight, and be able to minister to him and give him something so that he would not be a burden upon his family.

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A man who had laid like this for eight years.

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What did he see when he looked upon Aeneas but a man whose muscles were atrophied and shriveled, a pitiful, pathetic -looking man whose name means glorify, whose name means to adorn in order to celebrate.

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And Peter looks upon him, and what does he say?

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He says, Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you.

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Jesus the Christ heals you. Peter comes in the name of his

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Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He does not come with his own name. He doesn't come in the name and the power of anybody else or anything else.

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He comes in the power and the name of Jesus Christ, even as he and John did when they came into the temple at the gate beautiful.

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And there was the man who was lame from his mother's womb. What did he say there? Silver and gold we have none, but what we do have we offer to you.

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In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise and walk. He does the same thing here.

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The authority of Christ is on display. It's not just in Jerusalem. It's not just when

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Jesus is there in town. But he is the risen, ascended, seated, enthroned

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Savior. And Peter calls upon his authority and says,

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Jesus the Christ heals you, Aeneas. And what does he say? Rise.

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Arise, he says, and make your bed. Rise. Now, this wasn't a resurrection from the dead.

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But make no mistake, this is a rising because of the resurrection from the dead.

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If Jesus Christ were not risen from the dead, could Aeneas rise from his bed?

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No. If Jesus Christ was not risen from the dead, would the man born lame at the temple, at the gate beautiful, would he have gotten up onto his feet and went leaping and dancing and praising the

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Lord? No. Can any of us be delivered from any of our afflictions at any level?

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Can any of us be delivered from the power of sin and forgiven of our sins if Christ is not risen from the dead?

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We are assured in the Scriptures that if Jesus Christ is not risen from the dead, we are of all people most miserable.

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But he is risen from the dead. He is risen and he has ascended and he has all authority.

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All authority has been given to Christ in heaven and on earth. And so the king in heaven looks down upon this pathetic man who has been wasting away for eight years.

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Do you remember that when Jesus and his disciples in John chapter 9 came upon a man who was born blind?

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There he is by the road begging. The disciples asked Jesus, was it because of this man's sin or his parents' sin that he was born blind?

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What did Jesus answer? Oh no, it wasn't because of their sin.

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It's for the purposes of God. It's for the glory of God that this man was born blind. And the same thing is happening here.

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Aeneas, for eight years, in all that time, Jesus never traveled through Lyda? In all that time, he never passed through this place?

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In all that time, when his fame went out throughout all the land, nobody thought to pack

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Aeneas up on a stretcher and get him to Galilee or get him to Jerusalem so that he too could be healed.

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In all that time, Aeneas was lying there year after year, hearing stories about Jesus of Nazareth.

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And he's not like blind Bartimaeus, who was rejoicing when the son of David passed his way.

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No, no, Jesus never came by his way. And he lay there year after year until this moment.

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And Jesus Christ just showed up. By the power of the

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Holy Spirit, in the ministry of Peter the Apostle, Jesus has arrived.

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And Peter says to him, Jesus the Christ heals you, arise and make your bed.

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This is only a command that Christ can effectuate, only a command that Christ can bring to pass.

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And I don't know where he was laying. Maybe it was the city gate, maybe it was in somebody's home. I don't know if he is a born -again believer or he is a

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Jew. I don't know his situation. We don't know. But one thing is for sure.

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He was healed immediately, he arose. He picks up his bed and walks.

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Remember how Jesus said that to the man on the day of the Sabbath? He heals the lame man, arise, take up your bed and walk.

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Peter's just following the example of his Lord. He's just doing it the way Christ did it.

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Arise and make your bed. You don't need that thing anymore. Now you know how it is when there's something that's been laying around in your backyard for eight years.

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And you pick it up and move it out of the way, get rid of it. Somebody comes by and visits the next day and they say, well it used to be there.

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I don't know what that spot looked like where his bed was. But it was no longer there.

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Christ is on the throne. He's risen from the dead. And that means that real things change here on earth.

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Difference is made here on earth. In our lives, in our homes, in this world today, there is evidence everywhere of Jesus Christ risen and reigning.

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And we can testify to the grace of God in our lives that there used to be this or that laying around in our lives and it's no longer there.

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And we can say the Lord has delivered me. The Lord has healed me. The Lord has saved.

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And notice what happened. Notice what happened. The word of Jesus of Nazareth undoubtedly had reached this place.

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But then comes Philip and he preaches and now there are saints. There are saints at Lydda. And now

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Peter comes and he is healed. And look what happens. Verse 35,

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So all who dwelt at Lydda and Sharon saw him and turned to the

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Lord. The plowing had been done. The sowing had been done. Here comes the watering and God gives the increase.

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In his good timing, in his good way, here is Aeneas suffering for eight years, a paralytic, without any answers as to the question why.

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Why must he suffer so and watch himself waste away? Why must he be humiliated day after day upon his bed?

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Why must his family go without and suffer? No answers to the questions until eight years are wrapped up.

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And here comes the flood of glory. We don't always have the answers. We don't always have the reasons why the suffering goes on.

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And the physical suffering goes on and the spiritual suffering goes on. We don't always have those answers.

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But at a certain point in time, Jesus is going to show up and the glory is going to roll.

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Notice there are two names here. It's not just Lydda. It's also Sharon.

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Now, what's Sharon? Where'd that come from? Count on it.

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When Luke adds a little detail, it's not a little detail. It's a big detail.

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Lydda is a little town in a big coastal plain called Sharon. And we just got told that the good news of the kingdom, the gospel of Jesus Christ, is now spreading, not just through Lydda, but also all of Sharon.

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And for that detail, we've got to go back to Isaiah chapter 33 and 35. And we begin in chapter 35 of Isaiah, verse 1.

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The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them. Well, who's the them?

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Hang on to that. We'll come back. The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.

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Think of the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing.

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The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the

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Lord, the excellency of our

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God. This is good news for Sharon because back in chapter 33, verse 9, it says that Sharon is like a wilderness.

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Sharon is this large coastal plain heading towards the

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Mediterranean Sea. And in the morning, in the curse upon Israel and the old covenant due to the unfaithfulness of the people, here's this picture of Lebanon is a wilderness.

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Lebanon is shamed and shriveled. Sharon is like a wilderness, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits.

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But now there's glory. Now there's excellence. What has made the difference?

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Because they shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God. What are they seeing?

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They are seeing the king in his beauty. Isaiah 33, verse 17.

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Though all these things be the case, though great disaster befall those who are living under the old covenant and because they have failed in their duties and the curses are upon them, yet all is not lost because,

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Isaiah 33, verse 17, your eyes will see the king in his beauty. That was the hope set forth before the people of God.

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This is what they were looking forward to. This is what Simeon and Anna were on the edge of their seats for all those decades, to see the king in his beauty.

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They will see the land that is very far off. Verse 20, look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feast.

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Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home, a tabernacle that will not be taken down.

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Not one of its stakes will ever be removed, nor will its cores be broken. But there the majestic Lord will be for us, a place of broad rivers and streams in which no galley with oars will sail, nor majestic ships pass by.

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Notice, for the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king.

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He will save us. Thus, the wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them.

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For them, the ones who have the Lord as their God, who have the Lord as their judge, the

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Lord as their lawgiver, the Lord as their king, who have been gathered into Zion. And what happens when they are gathered into Zion?

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Well, the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.

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The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the

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Lord, the excellency of our God. That is the promise, that they would see the glory of God.

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And they saw it. They saw it when Jesus the Christ healed

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Aeneas. And all who saw him turned to the Lord in Lydda and in Sharon.

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And all of a sudden, the new creation is showing up. And the new covenant is on the move.

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And the gospel of the kingdom is going forth. And so what is there to do?

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Verse 3, strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful hearted, be strong and do not fear.

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Two things. First, strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees.

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Those are the instructions of Hebrews chapter 12 when we are being told it's time to go marching to Zion.

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In Hebrews 12 it says, strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees. Why? Because we're not coming to a mountain that can be touched, but we're coming to a mountain that cannot be touched.

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Mount Zion, heavenly Jerusalem, coming to Jesus Christ who was the first born. And say to those who are fearful hearted, be strong and do not fear.

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Do you know who was fearful hearted? Who needed to be strong? Who needed to be delivered from his fear?

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John the Baptist. In Matthew chapter 11, he sent his disciples to Jesus and said, are you the one or is there somebody else we're supposed to seek?

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And Jesus quotes from Isaiah 35. Go back and tell him the eyes of the blind are opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

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That's verse 5. He's quoting Isaiah 35 to John the

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Baptist. Eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

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Verse 6. Oh, this is good for Aeneas. The lame shall leap like a deer. That's good news for Aeneas.

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The tongue of the dumb sing. Water shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. Do you see how the new creation is just rolling back the curse?

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The parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water. In the habitation of jackals reach lay there shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

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The highway shall be there and a road. There's traveling going on. And it shall be called the highway of holiness.

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The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. It's not a normal road. It's not like a road that just anybody walks on, but there are those who are called to it.

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Those who are brought to it. It shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool shall not go astray.

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Meaning it's foolproof. This is the kind of road where nobody can get lost. That's how effective this highway is.

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No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it. It shall not be found there.

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But the redeemed shall walk there. This is a highway for the redeemed. This is not a highway that can be touched.

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Going to a mountain that is trembled under the smoke of Sinai. But this is a different highway.

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And the redeemed shall walk there. The redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And the ransom of the Lord shall return and come to where?

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Where does this highway of holiness go? It comes straight to Zion. And we go there with singing. Marching to Zion.

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With everlasting joy on their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Don't you know this was happening in Lydah and Sharon at this moment?

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How many of the redeemed are marching into Zion, though they never change their address from Lydah in the countryside of Sharon?

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All of a sudden, they're marching into Zion. Now, isn't that what happens today when the gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed?

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The good news of Jesus Christ goes forth. And all these places where there is just wilderness and misery and disaster, what happens?

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The King of Heaven makes real changes on earth. And nothing is ever the same. Wherever the gospel of Jesus Christ has gone, nothing is ever the same.

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What's going on? They're beholding the glory of the

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Savior. They're seeing the King in His beauty. This language in Isaiah 35 and 33, they're going to behold the

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King in His beauty. Oh, a beautiful King. It's like a rose.

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A rose blooming in the wilderness. The wilderness known as Sharon.

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What is Isaiah reflecting on when he thinks of the King in His beauty and a rose being in Sharon?

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What is he reflecting on? Song of Solomon 2, verse 1. Song of Solomon 2, verse 1.

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What does the King say to His beloved? What does

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He declare to her? He says, I am the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley.

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And as the King, Solomon had every right to say that. Is He not the son of David?

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Has not God made a covenant with David and his descendants who come after him?

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The one who stands in for the whole of the nation and by their faithfulness and by their relationship with God, the whole nation, even down to the fertility of their fields, is affected.

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Because the King stands in for the whole nation, and if the King does well, what happens to the nation? They're all blessed.

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But if the King breaks covenant, what happens to the nation? They're all cursed. So it's right for Solomon to say, very poetically,

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I am the rose of Sharon. I am the lily and the lily of the valleys.

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It's absolutely 100 % accurate. He's the one with whom God made covenant on the behalf of the whole nation.

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And at this point, he's standing in for the whole nation in the wisdom of God, pointing all of the nations to the glory of God.

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And he's saying, I am the rose of Sharon. I am the lily of the valley. He's the reason why

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God is blessing the fields. He's the reason why God is making the wasteland and the wilderness so prosperous.

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How much more so is it true of the true son of David, the one who fulfills the covenants that God made in the

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Old Testament? How much more so is it true that in this wilderness of Sharon, where Aeneas is withered up, and most of the people have no idea what goes on, that suddenly there is glory and there is blooming.

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And the King is the glory. And the King is Jesus Christ is the glory now of this land.

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All see it. All turn to the Lord. He is the rose of Sharon.

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And Isaiah promised the arrival of the Messiah. And here he comes. So, the rose of Sharon.

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The next mountain on the horizon is hinted to us also in Song of Solomon.

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Song of Solomon chapter 2, verses 8 through 9. The bride exclaims about her beloved.

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The voice of my beloved. Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.

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He's chasing her. He's coming for her. He's pursuing her.

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This delights her. She says, my beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.

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Behold, he stands behind our wall. He's looking through the windows, gazing through the lattice. He's seeking.

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He is seeking. And he is indeed saving. Look how swift his gospel moves in the very next passage.

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I'll leave it to you to read for yourself before next week. And of course,

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Tabitha and Dorcas, her name, either way you spell it, means gazelle.

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Let's close in prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the encouragement of your word. We praise you that you have sent us your son.