turn with me to Psalm 118. Psalm 118. If my understanding is correct, this was one of those Psalms of degrees, which is some King James language to say that it was a song of ascension. A song which would be sung as a group of people was making their procession or making their way into the temple. We're going to read the full psalm, somewhat of a lengthy text as it's 29 verses, but it's a good text. I want you to have some context of how this psalm was sung. Based upon what we can understand about this psalm is that it was actually sung in three-part harmony. There was three different people that were singing during this song. There was the priest who was leading the procession into the temple for the purpose of making sacrifice. There was the king who was certainly obviously the leader of the people. And then there were the people. And so you will see sort of a play between these three parties as the priest would sing and then the king would sing and then the people would sing. as they made their way into the temple. And with that context in mind, I want you to put yourself in their shoes. I know we've never been in a place as beautiful as a temple was for the purpose of worshiping the Lord, but if all of us were entering into a house of worship, How might we be singing as we come together for the purpose of entering in to the Lord's house? One time I was down at Old Union on a Thursday night service and had a road down there with some guys from Southside. Me and Brian Shive were getting out of the car at the same time. As we were getting out of the car, Brother and Sister Bryson were getting out of their car at the same time, Brother Paul and his wife. Sister Bryson and Brother Brian started singing a song together. They're in the parking lot of Old Union, and they just sang it as we entered into the church house. You want to talk about getting your mind right to worship, when you're singing coming into the Lord's house, that's a good place to be. That's the context of this psalm. It was a psalm that was sung as the people were entering into the house of the Lord to worship there. So let's see what it says. Psalm 118. Again, this is a psalm. Psalm 118. It says, O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, because His mercy endures forever. Let Israel now say that His mercy endures forever. Let the house of Aaron now say that His mercy endures forever. Let them that fear the Lord say that His mercy endures forever. I called upon the Lord in distress, and the Lord answered me, and set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do unto me? The Lord taketh my part with them that help me. Therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. Verse 8 is the middle verse of all the Bible. Listen to what it says. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Verse 9 similarly says, It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Both renderings of verse 8 and 9 could be perhaps better said by saying, It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to place your trust or your confidence in men or in princes. that the Lord will be our safe place. Remember, they are entering into the house of the Lord. They are taking refuge. All of their enemies round about them have no power before them in the face of their God. And they are entering into the house to worship. Verse 10, All nations come past me, all nations surrounding me about, but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them. They compassed me about, yea, they compassed me about, but in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. They come past me like bees. They are quenched as the fire of thorns, for in the name of the Lord I will destroy them. Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall. Thou hast pushed against me that I might fall, but the Lord help me. The Lord is my strength and my song and has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted. The right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly. I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened me sore, but he has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will go into them. I will praise the Lord. Can't you see the people as they are entering into the house of the Lord, recounting all the things they have seen, but knowing that, lo, the Lord is with them? Verse 20, This gate of the Lord into which the righteous shall enter. I will praise thee, for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. Verse 22, The stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner. Can you just picture them? They're entering into the temple now. And they're looking at the building in all of its fairness. And they're seeing it as it's been constructed. And they've paid attention to the gates as they're entering into the house of the Lord. But as they enter into the gates, they know that the walls they are entering have been laid upon the chief coroner. And this chief coroner that they were looking to, the one in whom they were believing, the chief coroner they were pointing to, he hadn't yet come. But they knew in whom they were believing and trusting in the purpose for their worship. And so they said, the stone which the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner. We're going to get back to that. This is the Lord's doing, verse 23. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord. O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, which hath showed us light, buying the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee. Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee. And then the psalm concludes very much the same way that it began. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. Don't you think their hearts were ready to worship? upon singing that song as they entered into the house of the Lord. I think sometimes we see the context, not just of the Scriptures and the context in which they were written and for which they were written, to whom they were addressed, but just here seeing the activity of the people that were involved, it helps us to have a greater level of appreciation and understanding for the Scripture and what God can teach us Through that, that was we consider how it is that we worship the Lord, that we would see the fullness of why we worship. They recounted all of the great blessings of the Lord, how he had delivered them time and time again, even though at times they were compassed about by their enemies as though it was a swarm of bees. They knew the hand of the one who had delivered them again and again and again, and they were compelled by that to come and worship Him. So they come to make glad His throne, to exalt Him, knowing that He is good and that His mercy endured forever. So this is a psalm of thanksgiving. It's a psalm of victory. And so as it's being sung, the people's hearts are being elevated to be able to worship. Now, I want to make a couple of comments about that elevation. Now certainly the temple, it required them to go up steps to be able to make their way up into the temple. So they were literally being elevated as they climbed up to the temple. But while they were ascending physically into the temple, their hearts were ascending as well. Now what do you know about being able to be elevated? To be able to ascend, you must start lower than where you are going. These people, their hearts remained to worship and made to be glad because they knew the one in which they had had all things. Didn't you hear their prayer and their call for prosperity? They knew that all that they had, all that they could count on was of the Lord. They started in a low place and ascended not just with their feet as they entered into the temple, but they were ascending in their souls as they were being lifted up. and worship. Isn't that cool how that takes place? As we lift up the Lord, we find our spirits uplifted as well. I want to tell on my wife real quick. It's going to get me in trouble. It's all right. My wife yesterday afternoon, she was just a grump. All right. She was just in one of those moods. I'm not going to make eye contact as I say this. She was just in one of those moods, right? And she was tired and worn out and all those things. Some of you know we went to a concert last night, a Christian concert, and good songs of praise and of worship, and we were on our way home, and she says, you know, sometimes it's just good to be able to worship the Lord. She went in just in a bad way, but as she was made to worship and exalt and praise the Lord, her spirits were lifted. Doesn't that happen to us sometimes? We enter in the church and we're just in a bad way. We had a rough morning, we had a bad night before, a bad week, a bad month, whatever the case might be. But the Lord, through the worship, not just of ourselves, but of others, we start being elevated and lifted up as His name is glorified. Isn't that just tremendous that the Lord does that? He receives the honor and glory, but we receive the blessing as we elevate His name. I love worship for that reason. That's why it's so exciting for us to come together in ways like this and so exciting to consider what Israel was doing even in this day as they were ascending to worship. But I want to consider for a moment the house that they were entering into. Because I love as we see them nearing into the temple. And it's likely that when we see here in verse 20, when it said, Open to me the gates of the righteous, I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord. And verse 20 says, This gate of the Lord into which the righteous shall enter. It's likely that this was a dialogue between the priest and the gatekeeper. That gatekeeper even began to participate in the song as they were entering into the house of the Lord. And so we see that they're paying special recognition that what they are doing is in a place, and I can't step here, we got floors here, so I'm gonna be elevated even as I preach here. Can we do this on a new stage? I kind of like this. As they were entering into the house of the Lord, they knew that the purpose for which they were entering, that it was a holy place, that it was consecrated for the worship of the Lord. Now, listen, we know that this is just a building, right? We know that we are just in a place where we come together to meet. Not the church. The church is in the pews right now. The church is the people. It's not these walls. But I want you to know we have set this place apart. We have consecrated this place. It is purpose. This building, this room is purpose for the worship and glory of God. And it's right then that we would revere it in a special way. In fact, on Sunday mornings right now in Sunday school, the adult class is going through the subject that was presented last year at the association about the sanctity of the sanctuary. And you even hear those similarities in those words, don't you? Sanctity and sanctuary. The sanctuary is a place reserved for the worship of the Lord. It is a place where God's people come before Him and meet with Him there. And so it's right that we would revere it, that it would be set apart and consecrated for that purpose. And that we'd pay special attention. That when you come through those doors, you're not coming through those doors like you enter into any old building. You are entering into the place that has been reserved for the worship of God. That's different, isn't it? And suddenly, as you're entering in, those doors take on a new light. The gates here took on a new light. They looked at the building and they noticed it a little bit differently than they did before. You know, last month, I spent a lot of time at the federal courthouse in Indianapolis while I was on jury duty. And I was reading through one of their little information books and all the time that I had waiting there. It was talking about the construction of the building. And when they constructed that building, they had one stone that they hollowed out and they put a time capsule in it. So that sometime later they could look at it. Well sometime later they took that time capsule out, or took that stone out rather, that rock, and lo and behold, the time capsule wasn't in it anymore. But what we see in that example was that there was a special notice given to what they were doing when they were building it that some stones had a special consideration over others. What stone had the most special consideration? It was the chief corner. It was that first stone that was set. that based upon that stone would be the squareness of the building. The rest of the building would hinge upon that chief corner. Now, I want you to think for a moment, if that's the case, and you're the contractor, you're the one building it, and you need to set that cornerstone, you would be paying special attention to which stone you took to place there, wouldn't you? It wouldn't be just any old stone, would it? but it would be the most precious stone, the best stone, the one that looked better than all the others, that was shaped right, that was prepared right, that was of the greatest strength, the one that you knew would serve well as that chief corner. Yet here we see the psalmist write that the stone that the builders rejected has now became the chief corner. Now it is no doubt who they were talking about in a sense when they were talking about this stone that had been rejected because they knew as they entered into the temple that the chief corner of that temple was not the stone that laid in that place or in that place, but the chief corner of that temple was Christ. And they knew that when they entered into it. And they said, the one who the builders have rejected is now the headstone of the corner, is the chief corner. Now I want to talk to you for a second about this chief corner. I want to consider for a moment why he was rejected. And make no mistake, we see Christ was in fact rejected of men. He was prophesied to be so. All these years before Christ was ever born to the Virgin Mary, we see Isaiah 53 verse 2. This is 400 years before we see Christ even arrive here in the flesh. Isaiah 53 verse 2. Isaiah 53, that wonderful chapter that tells of the Lord's suffering. Servant says this in verse 2, For he shall grow up before Him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. Why was it? that there was nothing of the world that desired Christ. All these years before, during Christ's lifetime, there were those that rejected Him, even up to the time He was hung on the cross. All these years later, as those still reject Christ, why is it that they reject Him? Why is it that they turn their desire against Him? Why is it that this chief quarter continues to be rejected by men? And the answer that we would find is that it is because they desire those things according to what they want that chief corner to be. According to their own preferences and desires for who they want God to be, for who they want Christ to be. You see, what takes place is when you begin to preach the true reality of who Christ is and the true reality of who God is, when people get a full view of what God really is or who God really is and who Christ really is, they have that same tendency to reject Him. Why? Because there's nothing comely about Him. You know, Christ, if He was seated in these pews today, we would not look at Him and be struck by His appearance. We wouldn't be impressed by His dress, nor impressed by His hair, or how tall He was, or how short He was. There was nothing about Him that men would desire Him. Physically, there was nothing remarkable about this man. He did not come in some great pomp and circumstance. He was prophesied as a king, yet even in His arrival He was laid in a manger. He professed to be the Son of God, yet did none of those things that people expected the Son of God to do. He professed to be King of the Jews. To be establishing a kingdom. Yet when people questioned him about his kingdom, he made clear that his kingdom was not of this world. If it were, then would his servants fight. You see, the kingdom that he was establishing, it was not the kingdom that was desired of the Jews that might overthrow Rome. It was not the kingdom that men had desired that might be some great political theocracy upon which good morality would be found as though the Lord would somehow create a rival against this world. I want you to know for a second, while there is nothing about Jesus that men would desire in him, he is a God with no rivals. He had no cause that he would come to establish some political kingdom that would rival the kingdoms of this world. Why would he? It's his world. Kingdoms rise and fall according to his decree. He had no purpose in establishing or setting up some kingdom to rival those kingdoms that are elsewhere. And even today, His church is not meant to be a protagonist against an antagonist of the world. I think sometimes we see that, don't we? We think, oh, it's us against the world. Y'all listen, the world's done been defeated. If it's us against the world, it's no contest. It ain't worth watching. Why? Because we have the victory. It's been established. There's no rivalry. So what then? What do we do with this chief corner? And what do we do with this which is exalted? I want you to consider for a moment all of God's people that have been raised up over time. All of God's people that he has used for his honor and for his glory. and how we see this similar example of Christ and their rejection. Consider for a moment, Joseph, as he was rejected of his brothers, sold into slavery, went back, told his parents that he'd been taken, that he was eaten, that all these awful things that had happened. Although here we see Joseph rejected by his brothers, but preserved of God for his glory. rejected, yet preserved of the Lord for his glory. What do we see of David? Don't you remember when we see David being appointed or anointed as king? And how they go through all the sons. And they're looking and they're searching all these sons. David wasn't even in the picture because I'll assume that little ruddy boy He's running errands. Surely he wasn't the one who would be anointed king. If the question is asked, don't you have another son? Where is he? That he would be anointed king. You see this pattern that what God has used is not what the world would expect to use. It's not those who we would look upon and expect. Well, that must be the place where we would see things rise and fall upon which the hinges of human history would turn. But S. M. Lockridge instead said it well when he said that the hinges of human history have turned, listen to this, on the strength of what? Or on the strength of who? Not on the strength of some great big church doing great big things in the name of the Lord. Not on some great big movement that we would look and we would all wonder about, about all the things that are going on. But the hinges of human history have turned upon this, upon the strength of the insignificant man who has linked his life with the lordship of Jesus Christ. Consider yourself today. Who you are. How the rest of society might reject you. And listen, I'm being very careful here. You're no Christ. I want that to be plainly clear. But I am telling you that what we see even today, as we are rejected of men, as the Lord's cause is rejected of men, the same thing holds true. That He is doing wonders of the likes of which we won't even begin to understand until we're in eternity. of what the Lord is doing through people just like you who have linked their lives to the Lordship of Christ, have given themselves over to His cause, fully surrendering yourself, and you are becoming mighty in His sight while you have no clue what's going on. Isn't that cool? That's just good stuff. I mean, the Lord takes his people and he uses them to change history. And all the while, oftentimes we are clueless to that. Yet what's taking place is the Lord is changing not just not his lives, individual lives. He's changing civilizations. Adoniram Judson, the one who was a minister, a missionary over to those who were in Burma. And if you talk to those Burmese people today, and you mention Adoniram Judson, their eyes will be filled with tears as they consider the one who brought to them the gospel. Yet there was nothing impressive about Adoniram Judson that the rest of the world would stand and applaud for his fame or some great fortune that way he would have. In fact, you can study his life and you'll see it was quite to the contrary. But an entire nation of people, their civilization was changed because of this one man who gave himself to the cause of Christ. That's amazing to me. But I want you to know when you give yourself to the cause of the Lord, it is not for desire to change civilizations. It's not for desire that you might be of some great significance where you're called to missionary work or called to this or called to that, that people might be able to applaud that. In fact, I want you to know some of the greatest men and women of God, Some of those who will be revered throughout all eternity are those who are doing works that even we would consider to be small things, yet are doing them in such great ways before the Lord that He is fully satisfied with their works. Even though it might just be with a few people, just a few lives being reached, but a few people that God has saw fit to bring you to, to honor and to glorify Him. Isn't that wonderful? And if you need an example, all we got to do is look to the cross. The one the builders rejected, but is now the chief corner. This chief corner wasn't what they wanted. but now has received the highest exaltation amongst the world. Even we are joined around this chief corner. Verse 23 says, This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. He goes on and says, This is the day which the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Do you see what's building here? We reference this verse a lot, don't we? We'll say, this is the day the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it. There's easy to learn songs. We'll teach our children about this being the day the Lord has made. It teaches us just as we see in the scriptures to remember that the Lord's mercies are new every morning. Therefore we are not consumed. It teaches us to recognize that the Lord is the one who provides each sunrise. He provides each sunset. He provides the newness of day just the same as he provides the newness of life. Do you get that? The one who saved you is the one who causes the sun to rise in the east and to set in the west and the one in whom our expectation is linked that it's going to rise again tomorrow. Isn't that cool? I tell you, Lord, you start searching him, you'll find that his riches are in searchable. You will just go one by one through the riches and the splendors of Christ and you'll just keep pulling it out. And each time you think, well, perhaps you've got to the bottom of the barrel, you'll look down and check and you'll see that it's still full. His riches are in searchable and his love for us is equal to those riches. Didn't you hear the second part of the verse that I quoted earlier? Yes, the Lord's mercies are new every morning. Therefore, we are not consumed. It is by His mercy that we are kept. It is by His mercy that endures from everlasting to everlasting that we are kept by His hand. This psalm, it started off with this repetition. It said, give thanks to the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endures forever. Then there was a call for Israel to sing it. Then there was a call for the house of Aaron, for the priest to sing it. Then there was a call for all that fear the Lord to sing that His mercy endures forever. My friend, if the Lord was to remove His mercy from you for just a moment, you would know calamity in ways that you've never experienced it. But make no mistake, even when calamities happen in our lives, the Lord's mercy, it persists even the same. Why? Because this Christ of who we speak, the one who upholds this kingdom, the one who is established as his chief quarter, he himself is the one who is responsible for this work. Didn't you read verse 23? This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our sight, in our eyes. Listen to what Jesus said Himself about this verse. Matthew 21, verse 42 says, Jesus said to them, Did you never read in the Scriptures the stone which the builders rejected? This became the chief corner. This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Jesus is teaching, He said, Didn't you ever read this? Verse 43 says, Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust. You can go and read about stoning in the days of Christ to understand the reference he's making better there. But didn't you see who this kingdom would be given to? You see, all of Israel thought that it was by their lineage that they had place with God. They were missing that it was Christ in whom had the lineage. It was Christ whom Abraham had believed and it was counted as righteous. It was Christ whom Noah preached as a preacher of righteousness. It was Moses who looked ahead to the days of Christ. It was David, the man after God's own heart, who looked ahead and saw Christ even here. as the stone which the builders rejected, but it now became the chief corner." Let me just make clear about this real quick, just a real simple doctrine I want you to know about how people are saved in the Old Testament. People in the Old Testament were saved just the same way people in the New Testament are saved. We're saved by looking to Christ. We look back, being in the position that we are today, and I want you to know the fact that we are alive today, it is to our advantage that we are able to look back to Christ. Why? Because we have the fullness of these scriptures. When the psalmist wrote this psalm, when the psalmist wrote Psalm 118, he had not yet seen Christ. He was writing from a disadvantage, but he saw Him before time. He knew what was ahead. And that salvation that we look back to, David obtained it by looking ahead. You see, it all points back to Christ. I mean, I may as well go and say it, right? It's all about Jesus. That's true in the New Testament, the same as it was true in the Old Testament. We see that even in verses like this one. And so this is the day that the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it. I want you to consider something about this chief corner. Some look to Christ and they see his crucifixion as though it was some element of weakness to Christ that he was put to death. Perhaps they look to references that teach us that He could have called legions of angels to deliver Him up off the cross, but chose not to, and they see that as a weak choice. They look how He opened not His mouth, and they wonder why did He make no defense of Himself? They failed to recognize that the reason why Christ was willing unto death, even the death of the cross, was for your sake and mine. He willfully went as a lamb done before its shears, and he did so as one who would go for us. You see, he knew to establish his kingdom required that these sinners be reconciled unto God, and the only one that could do that reconciliation was him. So He went to the cross with a weakness that men supposed in His death. Can't you just picture those men that hated Him? Those builders that had rejected this stone, thinking as He gave up the ghost there on Calvary, thinking as though they had been vindicated in what they had believed all these years concerning this Messiah. They felt good about what they had done. retired that evening and went to the Passover, went through the Passover just as they had in times before, feeling as though they had been vindicated before God because they had crucified and put to death this blasphemer. What they didn't realize that while they were celebrating the Passover and believing themselves to be well accomplished, that that one who they believed they had crucified, the victory in even that moment was being won. Why? Because the next morning, they would venture out into that garden tomb in which they had laid Him. And behold, they would look, and that stone was rolled back, and there was an angel sitting on the stone. And He said, Why seek ye the living amongst the dead? He is not here, for He is risen. Come and see the place where the Lord is laid. see that one that the stoners had rejected whom they felt so satisfied as he was put to death behold he emerged indeed as that chief coroner the one in whom all of this kingdom is established the kingdom yes not of this world but the one that endures for all eternity the one in whom He himself is at the center of that when we rejoice in the kingdom as we have occasion to do from time to time here, but for all eternity in heaven we will see this chief corner exalted as he rightly should be, rather than rejected as he so often is here. Listen to what CH Spurgeon said about this rejection and this exaltation, said he lost nothing by his enemies. Isn't that wonderful? They took nothing from him. What a savior. They put him to death, but took nothing from him. They mocked him, they beat him, they scourged him, but never for a moment did they take the upper hand. They scourged his back, St. Spurgeon continues, but they did not rob him of that imperial purple, excuse me, which now adorns him. They crowned him with thorns, but those thorns have increased the brilliance of his diadem of light. Isn't that incredible? They crowned him with thorns as though it was a mockery, but all that is done is exalt him more and more. They pierced his hands and by it prepared them to sway an irresistible scepter of love for men's hearts. Brother Moran said it well at Brother Nathan's funeral on Friday. He said he believes that Christ, when we see him in heaven, that we'll see those imprints in his hands, that ribbon pierced in his side. I believe the same thing. Yet what men did in piercing those hands, as C. H. Spurgeon so more ably put it, allows him to cast his scepter as rightful king over all, as the one who rules over all of love or men's hearts. They nailed his feet, but those feet stand firm forever upon the throne of sovereignty. They crucified him, but his crucifixion led him to his greater honor. since by it he finished the work which was given him to do, and now also God has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name." Do you know Paul affirms what the preacher just said in the quote that I read to you? When he said that if they had known what they were doing, they would have not put to death the Lord of glory. Praise God for our chief corner. But listen to what he goes on in verse 25, and we'll try to close. He says, Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord. O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Here they were entering into the gates, entering into the temple for the purpose of worship. They had already looked around and seen how the Lord had kept them, and how his glory had reserved them and set them apart, and how they knew that though they'd been encompassed about like a swarm of bees that God had delivered them again and again. Here they are as they enter into the temple and they say, Oh Lord, save! Why? Because they knew except the Lord build a house, they labor in vain that build it. They knew that unless the Lord keeps it, the watchman waketh but in vain. They knew that they were relying upon the Lord always. for their lives, always for the welfare of the people, always, as we look to this from a New Testament light, always for the welfare of his church. We are reliant upon Him. And so even though we worship in consideration of the goodness of God and all the things that we have seen, we do so with a heart that says, Lord, now please deliver. Lord, now save. Lord, build your kingdom. Lord, increase your church. Lord, bring in these fields that are ripe for harvest. Save in a way that only you can do, God, for that work is greater than us. And so we look to you, Lord, we pray that we be found acceptable in your sight and useful to you as tools in the hands of a master craftsman. But God, unless you save, unless you send prosperity, we will surely fail. Why? Because he is the chief quarter. Not any of us. Not some great thing of a body. It is all the Lord's doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes. I want to close by looking at what Peter said. This verse of Scripture that we read today, it's quoted by Christ, it's quoted by Peter. We see it referenced again and again in the New Testament. Listen to how Peter used it in Acts 4, verse 8. It says, If we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be made known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name this man stands here before you in good health." Forget who he's with there. But Peter and John had healed someone. They were being blamed for it as though they were causing an uproar. Keep in mind what had already taken place with the crucifixion of Christ and all that he had healed before him in his earthly ministry. And so now Peter is standing before them and he is giving them account of what has been done. That it was nothing that he had done. Nothing of the apostles had done, but it was holy of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one whom they had crucified. Verse 11, He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone, and there is salvation in no one else. Listen to this, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. And so sinner friend, I want to close with an appeal to you tonight. This Chief Corner, I want you to know I have found him to be very, very good. He has never failed, though he has called caused others to stumble who doubted of his superiority, who have doubted over his sovereignty, who have doubted over his lordship. What you will find is that all who have came to trust in this chief quarter and the one who the builders have rejected. They have found Him to be a very fitting cornerstone. They have found Him to be a very fitting rock upon which to build their lives, as we talked about earlier today. And now we see Peter knowing and testifying that this same Jesus, this same chief corner that you the builders have rejected, He is now the chief corner. And there is none other name given amongst men whereby we must be saved. Sinner friend, if you're going to be saved, it's going to be through Jesus. No other way will do. You know, men try to create all sorts of gimmicks, all sorts of ways as though it will somehow produce salvation. But I want you to know, just as I said earlier, the point of salvation, it's not altered course. It's not changed for man's convenience. It's not somehow mixed itself in that it might be more becoming to us or more of a desire to us. For behold, The one whom we seek is the very one who has came to seek us. Is that what he said? A son of man is seeking to save those that are lost. So, Senator Friend, I want to recommend to you this chief coroner, the one who has come to save The One who has came to build His kingdom. And make no mistake, He is building it. And make no mistake, Jesus Himself said, well, that yes, you may fall upon this rock and you will be broken to pieces. You'll come before the Lord brokenhearted and contrite in spirit. But lo, those who find themselves built upon this chief quarter, they will find that they are no longer broken, but they've been made brand new. But those who the rock falls upon will be crushed forever. I'll go ahead and share with you this very quickly. During the times of Christ, we read about these stonings. It wasn't just that they were being stoned and stones were being cast against them. that they'd be taken up to a high place, and there'd be a rock down at the bottom, and they'd be pushed off of that high place onto that rock that was below, and then a rock would be rolled behind them and pushed onto them. When Jesus was talking about falling upon the rock, before the rock falls upon you, they knew what he meant. Sir, friend, this chief corner, it is a wonderful rock to build your life upon. But if you fail to believe, if you fail to repent, you will stand before the Lord and that rock will fall upon you. Sinner, you stand in danger of the judgment every hour. And in that danger, you are no different than me, for I likewise stand in danger of judgment. But there is but one thing that distinguishes those who are saved from those who are lost. is that when I stand in judgment of my sins, behold, the Lord will look to the work of his son, the one in whom I'm depending on for heaven, the one who I'm trusting in on that great and terrible day of the Lord. When I stand before him in judgment, he will see the blood of his own son covering my sins. And because of that man, because of Jesus Christ, he will look upon me. And because of his work, I will find pardon and life everlasting. You, sinner friend, though, without that blood applied, without having come to salvation, without that experience, that defining moment of faith, where you come to be saved, without that experience of salvation, when you stand in judgment of the Lord, he will look at you and say, depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you. No sadder words will ever be spoken than on that day of judgment, when sinners are cast into hellfire. As Christ himself looks at them and says, depart, I never knew you. Brother Corey, let's get a song. I want to give occasion to you tonight. What was dealing with you in some way, seek him, for it can be found. He's a wonderful, wonderful chief quarter.