Beautiful music. Thank you very
much. Now we look at Psalm 24. Psalm
24. Verse 1, Psalm 24. The earth is the Lord's, and
the fullness thereof. the world and they that dwell
therein." Now what does that say to us? The whole world and
all who dwell on the world or in the world belong exclusively
to the Lord. That includes you and includes
me. You belong to God. The earth belongs to the Lord. If a man is a man, the Lord claims
ownership of him. The lowest, meanest, most despicable
man is God's property. He may curse God and deny God's
existence. But he is still owned totally
by the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth, and God shall dispose
of him as it pleases him to do so. Man may divide land, and they
do, and they parcel it out. And they say, this is your 40
acres and this is my 40 acres. But the earth is not man's to
do that with. The earth is the Lord's. And man is only a tenant, a leaseholder. That's all he is. And the true
proprietor laughs at the tidal deeds of worms of the dust, because
he owns the earth, the world. I talked with a man not long
ago. He said, Well, I bought 40 more
acres. And knowing what I know, I got
in trouble, you know. I said, well, what will you do
with it? And he said, well, I don't know.
I just own it. And I said, there's 40 acres
sitting out there, and you own that 40 acres. May I ask you what you will do
if you die? I don't know. I suppose my children
will own it. And then when they come time
to die, somebody else will own it. And the whole truth of the
matter is this. No one owns it but God. He's the only one that owns anything
in this world. And the earth is full of God. Full of God. He made it full. And he keeps it full no matter
how much demand living creatures put upon it. He still keeps the
earth full. The sea is full despite all the
clouds of water that rise from it. The sea is still full. The air is full no matter all
the lives which breathe it. The air is still full. And the soil is full although
millions of plants derive their nourishment from the soil. It's still full. And the field and the fruit,
the earth and all of earth's wonders are Jehovah God's. He who rules the fish of the
sea and the fowls of the air should not be disobeyed by man,
but he is. You ought to obey God. You ought
to do what God says, because he owns the land on which you
live. He owns the food which you eat
day by day. And you're one of the noblest
creatures of man. In fact, you are the noblest
creature that man has made. And kings and presidents are
only his slaves. That's all they are. Well, I
rule over all of this. Well, you don't either. President
Bush says, I rule. here in the United States. No, he doesn't rule here. God
rules here. Men are not their own, and this
applies especially to you and I who are born of heaven. You've
been born again from heaven, and especially You're not your
own, God owns you, and all you have to do on this earth is to
serve the One who made you and made you over again. So we do not belong to the world,
we do not belong to Satan, but by creation and redemption we
are the peculiar portion of the Lord. If you've been born again,
you're the peculiar person of the Lord. He owns you. In fact,
He owns you twice. He made you and He bought you
with the blood of His Son. So how can you say you own yourself? No, no. God owns you and owns
me. And I believe we need to turn
a little air on if someone would slip back there and do that,
please. I'll have to come out of my coat and I won't be near
as pretty as I was if I take my coat off. So put a little
air on us, please. Thank you. Now this applies to all races
of men who are the Lords. Some wise acres apply this only
to the white race. But Christ made an end of what
we call nationalities. Did you know that? Look at Colossians
3, verse 11. Colossians 3, verse 11. The Lord put an end to all nationalities. 3, verse 11. All right, here it is. Now listen. Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew. What are you? Well, I'm a Greek.
I'm a Jew. where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, scythian, bond nor
free, but Christ is all and in all. There are no nationalities of
men, and if I ask you what nationality you are, If you're perfectly
honest, you'll say, I'm of mankind, and God owns all of mankind,
and so therefore there are no nationalities. Mankind is the only people on this earth. Man. I'm a man. You're a man. You're
a man. Now when I say man, I mean woman
too. The Bible all the way through
uses the gender of man. And that means man and woman. And so you are of the nationality
of mankind. That's my nationality. Now, verse 3 in our Scripture
reading, Psalm 24, verse 3. Verse 2 says, He hath founded
it, founded what? The earth upon the seas, and
established it upon the floods. And the ground, the dry ground
rides upon the seas and the floods. And then verse 3, "...who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy
place?" Now, this shows us who are the
lords in a particular way. They're not distinguished by
race, but by character. character. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place. That's their
character, the character of the people of God. He has a special
people on this earth, and that tells us who they are. Who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord. Now this is uphill work. And no man can climb it but only those choice spirits
who have been given this honor. The Lord will not save all people,
but there is a chosen race, a chosen people who are given the desire
to commune with God. And who shall ascend into the
hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place? They shall ascend. They go up. And no one but these people are
able to ascend to the hill of the Lord. And then it says, To stand. Who shall stand in
this holy place? Or you might write in there,
or continue there. Who shall continue there? To stand is to continue. And this is the holy place. No one but those who are made
holy by the righteousness of Christ can ever live in the glory
of God Almighty. You see that here. This is the
teaching. And certainly the law will not
bring us into God's presence, but rather the law shuts us out
from him. Grace is the only thing that
can make us fit to behold the divine presence of God. So may we examine ourselves and
ask the question, Lord, is it I? Am I able to ascend into the
hill of the Lord? Am I able to stand and continue
in His holy place? Am I one of those? Lord, is it I? Do I have the
right to enter into God's presence? That's what the question is.
Do I have that right? Well, let's see who does and
who does not. Verse 4, He that hath clean hands. He that hath clean hands. This
is outward practical holiness, which is always a mark of grace. Outward holiness. Practical holiness
before the Lord. It is a fact that many have perverted
the doctrine of justification by faith and they treat good
works with contempt, but that's not true. Good works are holiness
on the outside being shown that you have holiness on the inside. Verse 24, look at verses 7 through
10 in this chapter. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the
Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the
King of glory. And if you ever are able to ascend
and come into His presence, you'll find yourself in the presence
of the King of glory. He that hath clean hands. If we are morally defiled, we
shall not enjoy spiritual fellowship with the Holy God. In other words,
what you are inside, you will live that outwardly. And you will not be into all
the defilement and all the sin that this world is filled with. You will have clean hands. That's outward morality, outward
holiness before the Lord. And if you're
morally defiled, then you're not living before God. in holiness, don't you take any
stock in the fact that you'll be able to ascend into the hill
of the Lord. Because those who know God, they
live in this world before Him in holiness. He that hath clean hearts and
notice Where do these clean hands come from? A pure heart. You see that? A pure heart. Clean hands come from a pure
heart. True holiness is heart work. Our hearts are more truly ourselves
than our hands are. What you are inside shows a whole
lot more of what you are than what you do outside. But outside
you do what you are inside. True holiness is heart work.
The very life of our being lies in the inner nature. The inner
nature. What we speak means nothing if
our hearts are opposed to holiness. Psalm 28, verse 3. Look at this. Draw me not away with the wicked
and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors,
but mischief is in their hearts. You see that? Mischief is in their hearts,
or evil is in their hearts. They speak good things, but mischief
is in their hearts. Evil, wickedness, sin is in their
hearts. All men must live holy outwardly, and
inwardly they will be holy, because dirt in the heart throws dust
in the eyes. Your heart must be holy and clean,
and that's made that way by God Himself. And then, and then you're
holy outwardly, You're not perfect, but you're holy. Nobody has the
awful idea that I'm talking about somebody perfect in this life,
because I am not. You're not perfect, and I'm not
perfect, and we never will be until we come into the presence
of our blessed Lord, and then we will achieve that perfection
that He is. I notice the next thing, he that
hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul
unto vanity. All men have their joys by which
their soul is lifted up. Now those of the world, the whirling
lifts up his soul in carnal things. Now listen to me, carnal things
by which his soul is lifted up. He loves what? Riches? He loves
honors for himself. He loves prestige. He loves fame. He loves all of these things,
and all of these things are empty vanities. That's all they are.
Everything in this world is an empty vanity except that which
God does. But people do not know that unless
God reveals it. I read about people looking for
a lost gold mine. Boy, I tell you, if they could
just find that lost gold mine, they'd have it made, wouldn't
they? Yeah, wouldn't have it made. But they kept looking all
of their life, and some of them came to die. And one of them looked at the
others and he said, if I just had one more day, I'd find it. If I just had one more day, I'd
find that lost gold mine. Oh, really? Would you find it?
They haven't found it all your life. Does the world satisfy
you? Let me ask you that question.
What would you like to have in the world? Does the world satisfy
you? If the world satisfies you, you
have your reward. And that's all you'll ever have. Moth and rust will corrupt, and
thieves will break through and steal, our Lord said. So if you
had the whole world, somebody would steal it, or moth and rust
would get it, and it would rust all to pieces, and everything
would disappear in this world. Our Lord said, take no thought
for your life. Now, he meant there, take no
anxious thought for things that you want and things you would
get if you could. Take no thought for your life. Solomon had it all, and he found
out in the end, Ecclesiastes 2, verse 11. What did he find
out in the end? He had it all. Ecclesiastes chapter
2, verse 11. Solomon, what did you find out
about it? Verse 11, Ecclesiastes chapter
2, Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, And
he had everything there was to have, and on the labor that I
had labored to do, and behold, all was vanity and vexation of
spirit, and there was no profit under the sun. No profit under
the sun. I looked at everything. If he'd
have lived in this day, he'd have had 20 Cadillacs and a whole
hill full of beautiful homes and all of those things, have
$10 billion in the bank if he lived in this day. But he would
look up one day and say, it's nothing, there's no profit under
the sun. You young people, what are you
going to look for when you get out into life and begin to work,
will you? You going to look for riches?
I tell you, the only thing worthwhile
are the things of God. Because you're going to die too.
See, I'm getting closer, and Brother Archie back there, he's
getting close too. He's not as close as I am, maybe. But we're going to pass on out. Now notice what he says here,
"...nor sworn deceitfully." In verse 4, the last part, "...nor
sworn deceitfully." God's people are people of honor. If you belong
to God, you're a person of honor. Your word is your oath. And false speaking will shut
a person out of heaven. All liars will have their part
in the lake of fire. Revelation 21, verse 8. What
do you have to do to go to hell? Just tell one lie, I guess. Revelation
21, verse 8. But the fearful, and the unbelieving,
and the abominable, and the murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers,
and idolaters, and notice, all liars shall have their part in
the lake which burneth with fire, and brimstone which is the second
death." How could we have fellowship with the God of truth if we ourselves
are not truthful? Tell the truth. Young people,
you tell the truth. When your teacher asks you a
question, do you tell your teacher the truth? How about your mother
and daddy? Do you always tell the truth?
All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with
fire. I hope you always tell the truth.
Verse 5. Now, we're going to get through
it a minute. Verse 5. He shall receive the
blessings from the Lord. Talking about the one in verse
4, He that hath clean hands and a pure heart hath not lifted
up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive
the blessings from the Lord, and righteousness from the God
of his salvation. The persons who are described
here by their inward or outward holiness are not saved by merit,
but their works are evidences by which they are known. He shall
receive the blessings of the Lord if he does not swear deceitfully
nor lift up his soul unto vanity, and if he has clean hands and
a pure heart The great King, God, hath clothed
these people with grace out of his own free love. He shall receive the blessing
from the Lord, and the true child of God wears God's wedding suit,
and he says that the Lord provided it. Do you see that? From the
Lord, in verse 5, he shall receive the blessing from the Lord. God gives it. Anything you have
worthwhile, God gives it. The Lord gives it. They're honest people, and they are people who do not swear deceitfully or lift
up their souls unto vanity. I read about a man in a village
that sold wood to his neighbors, and he had the habit of cutting
their wood two inches short so he'd make more money. But they
all noticed that and somebody said, well, did you know that
he has come to know the Lord since he got into the wood business?
They said, well, we don't believe that. So they sent a man to investigate
that and he came back and he said it's true. that he's been
converted because he's cutting the wood four foot two inches
long instead of three foot ten inches long. He's honest. He turned honest. And I tell
you what, you know the Lord Jesus, you're going to turn honest.
A man on a streetcar and someone
heard him tell this story, he said, careful about paying my
fare on the streetcar. Because one
time I didn't give the conductor the money, and I hid it back
in the back and kept the money for the next time I'd ride. And
when I got home, I told my old daddy about that. And old daddy
said, Well, son, you sold your honor for a nickel. That's pretty
good rebuke, isn't it? He sold his honor for a nickel. And that's what some people do,
is sell their honor for a nickel. Look at Psalm 32, please, and
we'll finish up here. Psalm 32, verse 1, "...Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the
man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit
there is no guile. Verse 11, Be glad in the Lord,
and rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy all ye that are
upright in heart. Now, the word blessed here is
the Hebrew word that means very happy. You want to be very happy? Webster said the word means to
bring pleasure or contentment. Now, according to this definition,
I am a man who is very happy. Very happy. I'm filled with pleasure and
contentment. I'm blessed forevermore. I'm
blessed of heaven, blessed of earth, blessed for time, blessed
for eternity. All of these things. And I hear
somebody say, yes, me too, but we're so much in debt. Oh, but
your sins are forgiven. Your sins are forgiven. So much
in debt is nothing, your sins are forgiven. Remember, your
sins could still be on you, for God said, Cursed is every man
whose sin is not covered. Think about the extreme value
of having pardon and justification before the Holy God. And since
you cannot buy it, then the sinner says, how then can I be pardoned? Let me tell you how you can be
pardoned. The sinner has a tendency to
say, well, I'll be good from now on and that will atone for
all my sin. No, no. By the deeds of the law
shall no flesh be justified in his sight. The holy law holds the sinner
in a death grip until the penalty is paid. The penalty must be
paid. And so the sinner realizes that
all his past black sin are still after him. And he asks the question
again, how then can I find my way to heaven? How can you do
that? You want to go to heaven? How
can you find your way? Are you a real, actual sinner? Are you? No, I mean a real sinner. I know
you're a sinner, but I'm talking about a real sinner. A sinner full of all the iniquity
of depraved man. I hope you say yes and mean it. And remember, if you are a real,
actual sinner, then Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. You're the one He came for if
you're a real, actual sinner. Your sin is really covered if
you're that kind of sinner. The blessed man is so pardoned
that all the powers of hell cannot condemn him, and nothing that
happens can ever destroy him. Are you blessed? Can you say I'm a debtor to mercy
alone because Christ has had mercy upon me? If Christ stood
as your substitute, you are justified, just as if you had never sinned. He paid the penalty, and therefore,
you have clean hands. and a pure heart. And when you
come before God Almighty, He'll see your clean hands and your
pure heart. Why? You've been washed in the
blood of the Son of God. You've been washed clean. You're white as snow in His presence
because you've been washed in His precious blood. And there's no other way, my
friend, for you to have clean hands and a pure heart, except
through the Lord Jesus Christ. May God help you to look to Him
today and be washed clean white in His sight. All right, let's
bow in prayer. Lord, I thank you for these great
truths that are in your book, and I pray for everyone in here
that everyone might seek clean hands and a pure heart. And I
pray, Lord, that you would be pleased to give that to them,
that you would wash them in the blood of your dear Son, and they would come forth white
as snow, to know the forgiveness of sin
forevermore. Thank you, Lord. I pray you will
take the ill presentation of your great truth and take it
to the hearts of men and women and young people, that everyone
here might know Thee. and find forgiveness of sin. Thank you, Lord. In Christ's dear name we pray
with thanksgiving. Amen. God bless you. Make the visitors welcome, please. Let's find a sitting down place
here. Glad to be back. Glad to be back. That's a good looking house. I like it. You came in today
about 20 years ago. You could give me that for Christmas. That wouldn't fit me. That was great. Boy, that was
good. I enjoyed that so much. We had a good conversation. Yeah, it was good. I'm glad to see you.