All right, if you will, let's
turn to Psalm 15. Psalm 15, we have five short
verses here in this Psalm. It would be easy, if this was
a song, we probably wouldn't stand up. It would take longer
to stand up and sit down than it would to sing it. It's pretty
short, isn't it? But this Psalm, if the Lord would
give us an understanding, this will shut up the self-righteous.
Those that are trying to work for salvation, this is plainly
and clearly going to put an end to it. And if the Lord gives us sight
to see, this is about our Lord Jesus Christ. This magnifies
Him. It lifts Him up. And boy, if
I can just scratch the surface, we ought to have our jaws dropped.
And this ought to give comfort to every sinner that's needy.
that needs mercy, that needs grace. Boy, what a surety we
have. What a sure foundation we can
stand on. He says in verse 1, Lord, who shall abide in thy
tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
The Lord answers him. David asked two questions and
the Lord gives him an answer. He that walketh uprightly and
worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that
backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor,
nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor, in whose eyes a
vile person is contend, but he honoreth them that fear the Lord.
He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that putteth
not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent,
he that doeth these things shall never be moved." That seemed a little out of order
to you. There's some things, like he's talking about usury
at the end. He's going to put himself to hurt. It starts out
making, people can see it pretty clearly, right? There's three
things that you do. How am I going to get to heaven?
That's what David's asking. How am I going to be in your
presence, Lord? He gives us three things to do. And then he gives
us three things you can't do. Most do these things. Don't. And then he says something here
about in whose eyes of all person is contemned, contented, hated,
despised, in verse 4, but he honoreth them that fear the Lord.
That's justice. That's holiness. He that sweareth
to his own hurt and changeth not. David's asking here, who can
walk with God? He says in verse 1, who shall
abide in thy tabernacle? That means who can sojourn in
your tabernacle. Who can be in your presence on
this earth, who can walk with God, and who could spend a little
bit of time in your presence? And then he asks again, who shall
dwell in thy holy hill? Who's going to spend eternity
with you, Lord? He asks those two separate things. We'll see
at the end what the Lord's answer is to that. Who can be with you? Who can abide with you? Who can
be in his presence now and who can go to heaven? That's what
David's asking. We ought to take this question
very seriously. Throughout the scriptures, the
Lord deals with this plainly, doesn't He? He said, there'll
come a day the sun is going to judge this earth, and I'm going
to put the goats on my left, sheep on my right. People are
going to come to me and say, we've preached in your name,
Lord. We've healed in your name. We've
prophesied in your name. We've took demons out of people,
cast out devils in your name. We've done all these wonderful
things in your name. And He'll say, depart from me.
I never knew you. It's going to be a lot of people.
I wish mankind would get that through their head. There's going
to be a whole mess of preachers standing there. That's what he's
talking about. And he's going to say, I don't
know you. Go away. And then to the other, he'll
say, come. Well done, my good and faithful
servant. That'll be the very ones that
say, Lord, when did we ever catch that? We never saw you hungry.
We never saw you in prison. He said, if you've done it to
the least of these my brethren, you've done it to me. Come. Come. What's the difference in them
two people? This whole world's concerned about everything. Everything. We're worried about life. Me
too. I live here. Power's going up. Meat's going up. What's going
to happen? Taxes are going up. Pay is going down. What are we
going to do? Who can go to heaven? That's
plain talk. I speak as a man, as Paul said.
But who's going to get to go to heaven? Every one of us is
going to meet our maker. Everybody. Everybody. Every man,
woman, and child that comes into this earth is going to meet their
maker. And we all take this question
very seriously. Most people do not take it very
seriously. I'll worry about that when the
time comes. The time may come right now. The time may come
before I get through preaching tonight. We all take it seriously. Some may be on their deathbed.
Boy, then they start wondering, don't they? Then the deals come
out. Let's make a deal. It's a little
late for quid pro quo, isn't it? It's a little late for this
and that. What are you going to do? Try to do something right 15
minutes before you die? It's a sad place to be. Most
people think they're going to heaven. Most people think most
people are going to heaven. If you don't think so, go to
a funeral. Have you ever been to a funeral and they said that
person laying in front of you right now what died left this
world a God-hating rebel? That's how most people leave
this world. But no, in our nature we justify
by death. That's what our old man does,
it mimics God. God took a people and by the death of his son he
justified them. made them holy before himself
in love. And man says, well, just because
they died, they must be in heaven. I don't want to assume when David
asked, Lord, who's going to be in your presence right now and
then an eternity to come? Who's going to be in your presence?
I don't want to just assume I know the answer. I want to hear what
God has to say about it. When we go through this text
tonight, I want to look at it three different ways. I want to go
through it three times briefly. First, what's the law say? The
Lord gives us an answer. Who's going to go to heaven?
He tells us. That ought to convict us. That
ought to shut us up to our sin and seek the substitution of
another. And then we're going to see that
this is Christ. He's fulfilled every jot and tittle of the law.
He's fulfilled these laws. And then we'll see this as the
believer. The believer can read this and say, that's me. He won't
feel it. First time we read it, we'll
say, this is me the first time. But that new creation will say,
this is right. Because of Him, I can say this and I can come
in His presence. I can come boldly before His
throne of grace. If you notice here first, David asks this question,
and who he asks this question to, he says, Lord. Lord, who
shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? You ever ask a person who's going
to go to heaven? You ever ask a person who knows
God and who can be in his presence? Boy, you get a lot of answers.
You get a lot of them. If you ask a Church of Christ
member, they'll say baptized. Somebody that's been baptized,
that's who's going to go to heaven. That's all you got to do, baptize them.
Just dunk them in some water, they'll go. Ask an Armenian. They accepted Jesus as their
personal Savior. They made a decision for poor
little old wanting Jesus. Then you get to go to heaven.
That's what man says. Ask a Catholic. They got a litany
of things. Go to a confession booth. Have
some man pray over you after you're dead. Eat some sacraments.
Be baptized at birth or after you're dead if somebody else
gives me enough money. Is that any different than other
things? Any more nonsensical? Ask a Pentecostal. Charismatic. Can you speak in tongues? I spoke
in tongues last week. People go to work where I grew
up and say, boy, the Holy Spirit was on me. I was speaking in
tongues. I said, which tongue was it? Was it Spanish or French? Maybe you all go back and read
Acts again. I don't think you've got a good handle on this. People have a lot of different
things to say, don't they? What's Grandma and Grandpa say? You
just be a good little boy and girl. It's all hogwash, every
bit of it. And I don't care what an organization
says, I don't care what a man says, I don't care what a lady
says, or what a sweet little blue haired person that loves
me dearly says. What's God say? I told a man that recently, I
said, you know what God says about that? He said, I don't
care, hush. At least he had the nerve to
say plainly what he thought. Most people just go, huh? Well,
that's something to consider. Well, what's the difference?
There ain't no difference, is there? Here's what God has to
say about it. We remember we just read there
in Matthew 22 when they said, what's the greatest commandment?
And the Lord said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind. This is the
first and great commandment. Look here in Psalm 15 verse 2. Lord, who can be in your presence?
Who's going to go to heaven? He that walketh uprightly. and
worketh righteousness and speaketh truth in his heart." Who's going
to dwell with God? A person that liveth uprightly. That's what walketh means. Notice
all the ETHs too. This isn't you do it for a little
while. This is from the get-go to the end. You walketh uprightly. That means you live perfectly.
from a child, from conception, all through your childhood, when
you're a three-year-old, when you're in the terrible twos,
all the way to death. You want to be with God? You
want to dwell in His presence? And a holy God? You're going to have
to walketh, liveth your whole life uprightly, perfectly. And it says there, and worketh
righteousness. What's that? You're going to
have to work completely. Everything that you do, a product
of your hand, of your mouth, of your thoughts, is going to
have to satisfy God's holy law at all times. Honoring Him. Willfully doing that. Who's going
to go to heaven? That's what God says. They're
going to have to do that. And speaketh truth in his heart.
That is truth in their heart. That's what comes out of the
lips. Not half-truths. Here I'm told half-truths. Have
I lived from conception? Was I conceived? Not in sin.
Was I shaped? Not in iniquity. Did I come out
of my mother's womb speaking lies? Or have I been upright? It's one or the other. Cut and
dry, black and white. Have I, everything I've ever
done, have I done it unto the Lord inside the confines of His
holy law, willingly? Lord, thank you for letting me
swing this hammer. I mean, every swing of the hammer.
Every rake of the trowel. Everything. Every time I tie
up my shoes. Lord, thank you for letting me tie up my shoes
today. I'm going to tie up my shoes. I'm going to double knot it. Because I'm doing
this as unto you. Have I done that my whole life?
Has anybody? Have I spoke truth? Have I ever
told half-truths? Well, you can get a whole lot
of work done that benefits me if I tell half-truths, don't
you? I have. This is every one of us. This
is every man, woman, child born of Adam that's ever come on to
the face of this earth. I'm just the preacher, and I
get to wear it out loud, and that's okay. This ain't me, is
it? There in Matthew 22 we read,
"...and the second is like unto it thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself." Verse 2 here in Psalm 15 is nothing but to the
Lord. Walking uprightly, working righteousness, speaking truth
in the heart. That benefits man around him. That's serving God.
That's believing Him, loving Him. And what about this neighbor
as ourselves, loving them? Verse 3, "...he that backbiteth
not with his tongue." Verse 2 is all, you've got to do this. Now
here's what you can't do. He that backbiteth not with his
tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach
against his neighbor." Who's going to go to heaven? Who's
going to be able to be in the presence of the Lord? A person
that has never, does not now, nor will ever backbite. What's
that mean? They're saying something behind
somebody's back. They ain't got the nerves to say it to their
face, and so they whisper. Hey, you know about so-and-so?
They uncover things. You know about that sin? I hate
to say nothing. We just looked at Noah and his
boys, what happened with him when Noah got drunk and failed. I
don't want to say nothing but, that's backbiting. A person that's
never done evil to his neighbor. What's that mean? Bring harm,
bring confusion, bring doubt. Not lift up his friend. Have there ever been a time in
my life I've said something behind somebody's back? Or that I've
brought evil to my neighbor? In any way. That also means to
do it to the face. I'm a big enough man, I won't
go behind their back. I'll tell you to your face. It
includes that too. That's doing evil to our neighbor.
Maybe once I've done that. If you know me well, I've done
that a lot. Spoke plainly when I shouldn't have. Hurt, went
to kill. Wound with a half-truth. or take
up approach against his neighbor. That means listen to someone
else say something. To give ear. I don't want to
say nothing but, oh really? Huh? Well when did that happen? I'm just asking for information.
That's taking it up. Someone that serves the Lord
in life and deed and word and heart and someone that truly
loves their neighbor as themselves. Truly. They have a holy nature. Verse 4 says, In whose eyes a
vile person is contend, but he that honoreth them that fear
the Lord. Have I done that? In whose eyes
a vile person is contend. That means condemned, disgusted,
hated, not approved of. Have I ever seen something vile
and not condemned it? list a dirty joke or something,
you're like, well, I'll not laugh at that, but that's kind of funny.
It's not condemning it, is it? You ever been in murder mystery
novels? Or those TV shows? Ooh, who did it? You're watching
murder, trying to find out who it is. Have I done that? Yeah. And it says, but he that honoreth
them that fear the Lord. Have I truly honored those that
fear the Lord? A man or woman tells me, I believe
God. I fear him. Have I went out of my way to
protect him, to walk him backwards, to cover him up, to do anything
I could to support him, to be kind to him, to give him a word
of encouragement? Have I honored them that feared
the Lord? I have. He that sweareth to his
own hurt and changeth not. Worldly, practically, I'm going
to tell you what that means. If you ever have a contract for
something, I've seen this happen one time. It was an accident,
but it's a funny story. That means that I'm going to
make sure I hurt worse than those I deal with, and I'm never going
to change it. Initially, that's what that means. It also means
that if I go into a contract with someone in business or whatever,
and I find out, wait a second, I bought this plant, I said I
was going to buy this patch of land, but it don't perk. It ain't got
no well water on it. The septic won't drain. I can't
build on it. I'm going to back out. No, you said he's going
to buy it, you buy it. I had an uncle who was getting
his bathroom remodeled one time and he had in his head, I'm not
paying over $2,000. Well, he had an honest man come in and
he priced it, did everything exactly the way he wanted. He
said I can do it for $1,500. He said, I ain't giving you a
penny less than $2,000. Now you will hush and take it.
And he realized, that man came to him and said, no sir, I know
what happened and I'll stand by my price. I'll fix your bathroom
for that amount of money. He said, no, I'll open my big
mouth. It's going to hurt me, but I'm going to stand by it. Worldly, that's respectable.
But to swear to their own hurt and change not. Have I ever done
anything that benefited me? If you're going to buy a car
and you say, they're asking $10,000 for it, and you say, no, I'm
going to give you $12,000, because it's the right thing to do. Have
I ever not done that? Have I ever done it? Verse 5 says, He that putteth
not out his money to usury. You ever put your money in a
checking account that's interest bearing? You ever invested in
a stock market? You ever looked into a 401k trying
to get some usury? Nor taketh reward against the
innocent. You ever take a gift from somebody that didn't owe
you already? It also means take a bribe. Have you ever took a bribe against
innocent? Every time I think of bribes,
I always think of financial things. But if somebody asks me to do
something, I don't feel like doing that. help you out here,
or we can put your name in the paper. Oh, well tell me more
about it. That's taking a bribe. He that doeth these things shall
never be moved. Is that me? Who's going to go
to heaven? The Lord just told you everything's
required. Is that me? Is that Kevin Thacker?
In this flesh standing before you, absolutely not. In this
flesh born of Adam, coming from my mother's womb, speaking lies.
This ain't me. Who is not going to go to heaven?
According to God's Word, in my flesh, by myself, not me. But this text only speaks of
one man. There's only one man that's ever
walked this earth upright, pure, holy. This text speaks of Christ. He's that holy, perfect man.
In our flesh, we've never done any of these things. We've never
kept any of these things. In His flesh, as the God-man,
born of a virgin, He knew no sin. He was tempted in all points,
just like we are, yet without sin. In His flesh, He was perfect. Perfect. It says in verse 2,
He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh
the truth in his heart. He walks uprightly. He lived uprightly. Can you imagine the Father watching
him? Watching our Lord, our substitute walk this earth. Watch him be
a teenager. Watch him build something. Watch
him preach. how pleased he was at all times
with him. While he slept, he got tired.
While he was weary, the Father looked at him and said, look
at him, perfect. He liveth uprightly. He walketh
uprightly. He worketh righteousness. That
is to work unto the Lord under the law. in complete perfection
all while having a pure heart to do so. And it's not just keeping
the law. You have to agree with it. This
law is good. You can never eat a medium-well
steak or you'll die and go to hell. Good. Yes, Lord. That's brilliant. I can't wait
to not eat a medium-well steak. He had a pure heart. Never had
a sour look on his face because his truth was in his heart. I
thought about that a lot the last couple of months. I don't
have micro-expressions, I have macro-expressions. Somebody says
something, I'm like, ugh, I can't believe you said that. Don't
think that way, that's horrible. The Lord never went, not evilly. Never happened. He never did.
Truth was in Him. It says in John 8, He that sent
me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone,
for I do always those things that please Him. That's His words. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
always do the things that please the Father. And He did. All the
time. He was holy. There was no sin
in Him. He told later on there in John 8, Which of you convinces
me of sin? And if I say the truth, why don't
you believe me? Can you convince the Lord of
sin that what He's done is wrong or talk Him into doing something
wrong? It's impossible. Truth is in Him. He's upright.
The only works He has is righteousness. He spoke only truth. He never
lied to another human being. He never lied to the Father and
he never lied to himself. I wrote that and I put, who can
even imagine that? I can't explain that because
I can have words to kind of describe it, but I don't know what that
looks like. That ain't me. He told the whole truth and nothing
but the truth. Always. Always. He spoke the truth in his heart.
He said, if I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father
that honoreth me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet
you have not known Him, but I know Him. He said, I know God. I know the Father. He's my Father.
He's the one that sent me. And if I should say, I know Him
not. If He was to say, if He was to lie and say, I don't know
who God is. I don't know who the Father is.
He said, I should be a liar like unto you. I love listening to
our Lord speak to people sometimes. He said, if I spoke like you,
I'd be a liar like you. But I ain't like you. He said,
I know Him. He said, but I know Him and I
keep His sayings. He keeps His Word. He keeps the
Word of the Father. Verse 3 says, He that backbiteth,
slander not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor,
nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. Like Shem and Japheth
we looked at a couple weeks ago. They covered the sin of their
father. They honored the father and they
didn't publish it. They didn't expose it. Christ
didn't come into this world to condemn the world. The world
was already condemned. We did a fine job ourselves of
doing that. He came to save and seek the
lost. He came to save His people from
their sins. He doesn't need to slander anyone.
He came to save them. When Satan slanders and backbites
Christ's sheep, he won't hear it. Boy, what good news that
is. He won't hear it. Somebody has
something negative to say. Nope, I don't want to hear it.
Stop. We're not talking about that. For his sheep, there's
nothing to slander. There's no sin to expose. That's
a deep thought, isn't it? It said in Hebrews 2, "...for
both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all
of one. For the witch calls, he is not
ashamed to call them brethren." That's my brother. That's my
sister. That's what Christ says to His
people, of His people. That great accuser comes and
says, you know what they did? You know what Kimberly Thacker did?
He said, that's my sister, gush. I don't want to hear it. There
in John 8, we read about that woman caught in adultery. You can tell I read through John
8 quite a bit the last couple of days. That woman was caught
in adultery and those men brought her, those Pharisees, and said,
here, let's take her to the Lord. We caught her red-handed. What are
you going to do about it? Here she is. Here's what she
did. Here's her sin. What are you going to do? And
so you know what he did? He sat down in the sand. He started
writing. He started writing. What did he write? I don't know,
but it was effectual. Probably the sins of each one of those
Pharisees. And that one man went over and read it, and he said,
I'm out of here. The second one went over, and the third one,
and the fourth one, until all of them went over and said, wasn't this
man right? And they all left. And he looked at that woman and
said, woman, where are your accusers? Because the scriptures say you
can't hear A word against anyone that's got two or three witnesses,
right? By the mouth of two or three. And he said, woman, where's
your accusers? Is there two or three of them
around here? She said, Lord, they're gone. They ain't here. And he
said, I don't accuse you either. Go on home. Be gone. He says in verse 4, In whose
eyes a vile person is contemned, is hated, disashamed, but he
honoreth them that fear the Lord. David wrote in Psalm 45, Thy
throne, O God, is forever. The scepter of thy kingdom is
a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness and
hatest wickedness. Therefore God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. He
hates vileness and he honors those that fear
God. What a thought! Perfectly, perfectly
he does. He said, I'm the Lord and I change
not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Here at the end of verse 4, this
is the gospel. We're about to read this as children of God.
We see this as the law. Man can't keep it. You're hopeless
to be in and of yourself in front of a holy God you offended. We
see this as Christ. He's fully kept all of it. Fully. But we're going to read this
as children of God. How is it possible that I could
read any of that? Either verse 2 serving the Lord,
verse 3 serving others, having a pure just heart that honors
those that honor the Lord and hates wickedness. Truly, how
could I read that as myself? The gospel has to take place.
Here's the gospel in verse 4. He that sweareth to his own hurt
and changeth not." We know that speaking of the Lord, He's the
Lord, He changes not. But He that sweareth to His own
hurt, no matter what it costs Him, He gave His Word and He
sticks to it. But what does that truly translate
to us? Before time began, we read over
in Psalm 2, the Lord said, you ask of Me, speaking to the Son,
He said, and I'll give you of these heathen. of these ones
that can't keep the law, that ain't going to honor me. And
you'll be their surety. You're going to swear an oath.
A covenant of grace is what you're going to enter into. And you're
going to stand on behalf of them people. You're going to be born
on behalf of them. You're going to live on behalf of them. You're
going to die on behalf of them. You're going to be risen again
on behalf of them. And you're going to give every bit of it
to them. And it's going to hurt. It's going to cost your life.
You're going to hang on Calvary's tree. And you're going to bear
the shame. You're going to bear all the
guilt. You're going to bear all the cost. And you're going to
pay it in your blood. And it ain't going to change. It ain't going to be undone.
Well, now we're getting somewhere, ain't we? What's the cost of all that grace?
That's what that is. That's grace. He loved undeserving people that
did not merit it. Those that were enemies against
him, that were at war with him. God hating rebels. And he said,
I will swear unto my own hurt for them. Now, what do I have
to do to get that? What do you have to do to get
that? Look at verse 5. He that putteth not out his money
to usury. You ain't an investment. That's
that quid pro quo. The Lord didn't say, I'm going
to be gracious to you, but now you're going to pay me back.
I'm going to get something out of this. That wouldn't be gracious,
was it? No. That's at a cost. That's not
free. That's not a free gift. He gave this grace. He gave himself
for his people freely without usury, nor taketh reward against
the innocent. He won't take a bribe. You can't
bribe him. And you can't give him a reward.
And boy, ain't you thankful. You ain't got nothing to give
him. Somebody told my pastor, I gave
my heart to Jesus. He said, why'd he want that thing? He don't
want your old heart. If he wants a heart in you, he's
going to put one in you. It'll be his. This is our Lord Jesus Christ.
He's the one that walked perfectly. He's the one that abides in heaven.
He is seated at the right hand of the Father, and He ain't gonna
move. That's His rightful throne. And there'll come a day, He'll
come to judgment, to judge this world. And we will be either
judged in Him or against Him. That's only two ways somebody's
going to stand before God in judgment. He's going to stand
on your own merit or on the merit of another. He's worthy. I'd bow to Him. I'd bow to Him. How can we read this as us? Well,
we have to be one with Him. I'll try to go quickly. It says
in verse 1, Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall
dwell in the holy hill? Who's going to be with you, Lord?
Who's going to be in heaven? He that walketh uprightly." You
want to walk uprightly? You want to sin? I get accused
of that all the time. They say, you just go out and
rob banks. It's always got to do with money. I don't want to
rob a bank. I want to walk uprightly. I want
to serve the Lord and worketh righteousness. I want to work
as unto the Lord because I'm working to Him. If He put something
in my hand to do, He's the one that gave it. And I want to do
it the best I can. It's going to be horrible. It's
going to be shameful. But I want to because of what
Christ did for me. He laid down His life for me.
I want to honor the Father. And speaketh truth in His heart.
I don't want to lie to nobody. And I sure ain't going to do
it to the gospel. As the Lord keeps me, I'm going to tell the
truth about man to man. And I'm going to tell the truth
about God to man. Who He is. And this is serious
business. I'm going to tell the truth on
Him. He that backbiteth not with his
tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up reproach
against his neighbor." I don't want to hear anything bad about
anybody. I would that all men would be saved. Truly. I truly do. That's been pressed
on me more and more as the years go on. My bitter most worst enemies,
I spend a lot of time hating them. Oh, if I could catch them
in a dark alley, if I could get away with it, what I'd do. And
then the Lord pierces my heart and says, Oh, if God would save
them. If He would save them. In whose
eyes a vile person is contemned, but he honoreth them that fear
the Lord. Oh, I want to. He that sweareth
to his own hurt and changeth not. I want to give myself to
those that fear the Lord. I want to give myself to them.
And I don't want to change in that. I want Him to keep me.
As He promised me, He will, serving Him and His people. And I do
want I don't want to condemn those
that are vile. I don't want to make excuses for sin for anyone
saying, it's wrong. Stop. Don't do that. It's bad. And those that hate
the gospel. I pray for them. Love hopes all
things. I hope the Lord will do a work
in them. But that makes me so sick. People say, oh, well, them
people, they left, but they're believers. They hate God. No, they ain't. That's my brother
and my sister. Ain't mine. Maybe you got the
same father they do, but I pray the Lord will bring them back.
If somebody openly hates the gospel, I don't want to support
that person. I don't want to put my two cents
behind them. I want to support those who fear God, that love
Him. that He's made not to change.
And He putteth out His money to usury, nor taketh reward against
the innocent. I never want to take a bribe.
You can't buy the Lord's people. They ain't gonna give Him up.
He that doeth these things shall never be moved. He that stands,
serving the Lord, finishes the race, serving His people, loving
Christ, loving the brethren, changing not, steadfast, Recipients
of grace. They're not going to be moved.
How is that possible? Christ is the only one that ever
lived that way, because we're one with Him. We're one with
Him. When He went to John to be baptized,
He said, John, you're going to baptize me. Put yourself in John's
shoes. I'd answer the same way. Lord,
I need you to baptize me. What are you talking about? He
said, suffer it to be so. He goes, everything you see going
on, you don't think is right, John. This don't add up. This
seems just backwards to you. Hush and do it. Suffer it to
be so." And then he told him why. He said, "'Cause it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness." That one that fulfills righteousness,
that worketh righteousness, that's lived perfectly his whole life,
that's never done anything bad to somebody. His sojourn fulfills,
it behooves us to fulfill all righteousness. Because we're
made one with Him. Just as Levi paid tithes in the
Lord's Abraham, his great-grandson. He didn't pay no tithes. Well,
just as Abraham did it, Levi did it. Just as Christ did it,
as He lived. We are made one with Him in that
covenant of grace. Before time, He paid for it in
His blood. We've done it. We've done it. Lord, when we
see you hungry, When we see you thirsty, every one of them did
it. Every one of his children did
it. Who's going to heaven? There's three things you've got
to do. Man can't do it. Here's the answer for us of David's
question. Lord, who can be with you? With
man it's impossible. With man it's impossible. With
God, all things are possible. Three things you must do, three
things you can't do. Then there's holiness, there's
graciousness, and the cost of it all. He says, He that putteth
not out his money for usury, nor taketh reward against the
innocent. What's another scripture that reminds us of that? Come,
eat, buy without price. There's no money. You're going
to purchase it. It's going to come to you. It's
going to be yours, but there's no price. He that doeth these
things shall never be moved. Does that mean he that doeth
these things is going to walk with the Lord now? This sojourn,
this abiding with the Lord in His presence briefly? Or does
that mean he that doeth these things will never be moved in
being with Him forever? It's the same. It's the same. Our life that He's given is eternal.
As He is now, so are we in this world. That's what His Word says,
doesn't it? Right now, that new creation that He's put in His
people is holy, unreprovable, without blame, before Him in
love, right now! What do you think is going to
happen in eternity? Something going to change? No. He that doeth these things shall
never be moved. A person that reads this, and
with an honest heart says, this ain't me, You read that? That's who's going to go to heaven.
It ain't me. It ain't me. And they have to cry out to God
because our flesh can't satisfy Him. And we say, Lord, our only
hope is your Son. Christ is our only hope. He must
stand in my place. Not halfway. Not be a co-pilot. Not try to help me out some.
It's got to be all Him. And none of me. The person that
cries that out says, this is Christ. He's the only thing accepted.
Lord, I need him. I need to be with him. Where
is he? They're a new creation. Old man can't do that. Old man
won't. Won't cry, he's Lord. He's a ruler of all things. He's
perfect in every way. New man will. That's all it can
cry. Who's going to help? Those in
Christ. That's our hope. And He is our
heaven. It's a person. What qualifies
a poor worthless sinner to go be with God in glory? Christ
does. What's glory going to be? Christ. Dwelling with Him. We can live with Him. We can
eat dinner. That's going to ruin a whole
lot of people who say, I want to go to heaven. If you knew what heaven was,
you probably wouldn't. It's a person. You're going to spend a lot of
time with Him. He's going to preach to you. He's going to
worship with you. He's going to sing with you. Can you imagine that? Our Redeemer
coming to us and saying, are you hungry? You don't need no
money. I made you dinner. Let's eat.
Do you want to sing a song? I'm going to preach to you for
a little bit. What an amazing time it'll be. Who's fit to be
there? Those in Him. I want to be in
Him. And I want to be with Him. Do you?