I want to bring the message this
morning from Psalm 24, the crown rights of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In chapter 22 we have the psalm of the cross. In chapter 23 we
have the victory of the cross. And in Psalm 24 we have the crown
rights of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the triumphant King of
glory. Now it says in verse 1, the earth
is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world, and they
that dwell therein." Right from the start, we see the crown rights
of the Lord Jesus Christ over all. There is no dispute as to
the ownership of this world and its fullness. We are nothing
more than tenants who may be evicted at any time. Seeing that
the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, then we should
live on it like it's His and take care of it like it's His.
God told Adam to dress the garden and keep it, take care of it.
Everything on the earth is His. Everything belongs to Him. Nothing
of this earth belongs to me, it belongs to Him. It says the
fullness of it is His. He is the one who makes it full
and keeps it full. Billions have lived on this earth
and abused it, but it's still full because the King of glory
keeps it full. Now it says, for he hath founded
it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. He hath founded
it, he created all of it. None of this evolved. It was
the creation of Jesus Christ. All things were made by him and
for him, that's what it tells us in Colossians. He called forth
the earth out of the ocean. He established it upon the floods.
He's the one who commands the proud waves of the sea and sets
their bounds and says, hither shall thy proud waves come and
no further. He's the one who said that. He's
the one who set their bounds. What a sight it would have been
to watch the mountains rise up out of the sea and to watch God
make a way for the water course to flow back into the sea. He
created it. He established its goings. and
they will not cease until he declares, until the King of Glory,
the Lord Jesus Christ, declares time to be no more. Now who shall
ascend, in verse 3, who shall ascend unto the hill of the Lord,
or who shall stand in his holy place, seeing that he is so great
and glorious? Who can ascend up to the place
of his abode? The people who built the Tower
of Babel thought they could do it, They thought they could reach
unto God by their works, but they found out otherwise. Or
who shall stand in his holy place? Many fools have thought they
could stand in his holy place by their works. They are going
to say, we preached in your name, we cast out devils in your name,
we have done many mighty works in your name. And he's going
to say to them, depart from me, I never knew you. Men consider
heaven but not the holiness required to stand in that holy place,
the place of his presence. How can I, this sinner, get from
such a sinful place to such a holy place and stand there accepted? We all must die and stand somewhere
and I want to stand in that holy place accepted. How can that
be done? Well, let's keep going. He gives
an answer and a description of the person who can ascend and
stand there. He says in verse 4, He that hath
clean hands, and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul
into vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. Notice that he does not describe
a particular race of people, but a particular character of
people. It's not a matter of distance,
it's a matter of character. False religion preaches and teaches
how to get there. The Bible preaches who may get
there. The person who can ascend the
hill of the Lord and stand in his holy place must have clean
hands and a pure heart. God will not be served with filthy
hands and filthy hearts. He will not be served with deceitful
hearts. It says, who hath not lifted
up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. Now I know
that I was born in sin and shaped in iniquity. I know that I am
guilty of these things. But I also know that the man
Christ Jesus was not guilty of these things. And as our representative,
as the representative of his people, he served God without
sin of thought, word, and deed. And in him, All his sheep, all
his elect are righteous and they can stand in that holy place
because in him they have clean hands and a pure heart. Here's
a question I heard my pastor ask and answer in a message years
ago. When do I get these hands, these
clean hands and a pure heart? When do I get these? I got them
when I was born of God. It says in Ezekiel 36, I will
give you a new heart and a new spirit. When does that happen?
When do I get a new heart and a new spirit? When I was born
of God. That's when I got them. We don't
get these things when we get there. We better have them before
we get there or we will not be there. God's people are honest
people. God made them honest. He's given
them a new heart, He's given them a new nature, and they are
honest people. They speak the truth. They show
mercy, they show kindness, they show love because they are His
workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works. We are not saved by these, but
we are known by these. The scripture says the tree is
known by its fruit. Good works is evidence of grace
reigning in the heart. Now he says in verse 5, he shall
receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the
God of his salvation. This man that is born of God,
that is in Christ, shall receive the blessing from the Lord. He
shall receive pardon. He shall receive forgiveness.
He shall receive cleansing. And most of all, he shall receive
righteousness, the righteousness by which Sinners are saved is
from the Lord. He wrought it out as a man and
has given it to us. And those whom the Lord saves
are made the righteousness of God in Christ. And this righteousness
is from the God, listen, of His salvation. Not the God who just
gives me salvation, but the God who is my salvation. From Him
who has saved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. We need to make much of what
God makes much of. And God makes much of the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes much of the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes much of the person of
his Son. He makes much of Christ. And
we need and must learn to make much of that which God makes
much of. Now he says in verse 6, This is the generation of
them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. This is the
generation, not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles. They seek
him. The ones that have been described
above, that have clean hands and a pure heart, they seek him.
Because they are born of God. Now it says in verse 7, Lift
up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting
doors. and the King of Glory shall come in. When Adam fell,
the way to God was shut. Adam was driven out of the garden,
all looked hopeless, but there is one who fits the description.
There is one who fits the character described above, who has clean
hands and a pure heart, and has never lifted up his soul to vanity
nor sworn deceitfully. He has come and magnified God's
law, and he made it honorable. There is one whom God is pleased
with, Who is this One? The King of Glory. Those doors
that were shut are open now to sinners through this King of
Glory who is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the King of Glory. He's
not just a King with some glory, but He is the King of all glory.
As light shines from the sun, so all glory shines from Jesus
Christ. Who is this King of Glory? It
asks in verse 8, the Lord, strong and mighty, not weak and pitiful,
this Jesus. that I hear being preached today
is the most weak and pitiful person I've ever heard in my
life. He wants to do something, but he can't because you won't
let him. That's the most pitiful, pitiful person I've ever heard. But the God's King, the Jesus
Christ of the Bible is the King of glory. He's the Lord strong
and mighty. He's the Lord mighty in battle.
Who is this King of glory that all the gates of glory should
be opened to? The earth has never produced
such a king, no. But I tell you this, God has.
God Almighty produced such a king in the Lord Jesus Christ. The
King of Glory is the God-Man Christ Jesus. He is the King
of Glory. The Jews and those Romans thought
he was an absolute nobody. The Jews called him a blasphemer,
but they missed it. He's not a blasphemer, he's not
a wine-bibber, he's not a gluttonous man, he's the King of Glory.
He's the Lord, it says, strong and mighty. They thought He was
nothing more than a weak man. He's the Lord of heaven and earth.
That's who He is. The Lord mighty in battle. His
battle was spiritual. He defeated death, hell, Satan,
sin. He put away the curse of the
law. He never lost a battle. Everyone for whom the King of
Glory died for shall be saved. Not one of them shall perish.
If any of them perish, he lost in the battle. He failed. But
my friend, the ones whom the King of Glory died for, they
will not perish. They shall be saved. When he
was hanging on the cross, it looked like he was losing, when
in fact he was winning. After they buried him and he
rose again, it says he led captivity captive. That's victory. He came
to work out salvation. Salvation is by works. By His
works, not mine, not yours. It's by His works. He worked
it out by Himself. He tread the wide press of God's
wrath alone and He went back to glory and a whole host is
going to follow Him. Now lift up your heads, O ye
gates, and even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the
King of Glory shall come in. Open wide the gates and open
the doors. This declaration of good news
will never cease as long as this world stands. As long as the
church, as long as one sheep is still in this world, this
declaration will be proclaimed all the way to the end. And we
need to preach the gospel every time we are given the opportunity.
Paul said in Philippians 3 that to preach the same things to
you, to preach the gospel to you over and over is not tiresome,
it's not a burden, and for you it's safe. The safest thing you
can hear is the gospel of Christ. This is the voice of every generation
of those that seek the Lord. Now listen, in verse 10. Who
is this King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts. He's the King
of Glory. The Lord Jesus Christ is the King of Glory. There is
a man seated at God's right hand who is the King of Glory. He
is called the Lord of Hosts. He has no small kingdom. There
have been kings of nations, but none of glory. King of Glory
is a king without boundaries. That's who that is. The Lord
of Hosts, the Lord of all stars, moon, sun, and plants, fish,
fowl, angels, fallen angels, elect angels, but he is especially
the Lord of all the redeemed of God. He has a great host following
him to his glory, the glory that he had with the Father before
the world was. And we are glad to have it so.
The Church of God, Zion rejoices in the King of Glory. I thank
God that we are under the theocracy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone,
everything is under his rule and reign. And we're glad to
have it so. Who is this King of Glory? The
Lord Jesus Christ. Until next time, may God bless.