The earth is the Lord's, and
the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein.
For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon
the floods. Who shall ascend in the hill
of the Lord, and who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath
clean hands, and a pure heart. who hath not lifted up his soul
unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing
from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy
face, O God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
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. Psalm 24, continuing our Old
Testament pictures of Christ. Psalm 22 is Christ and His cross,
and then His glory out of that cross and out of His sufferings.
The 23rd Psalm was about Christ our Shepherd, our Great Shepherd,
our Blessed Shepherd, the Shepherd of the sheep, and all that He
does for us. And this psalm here tells us
about Christ again. Tells us about our Lord Jesus
Christ. There's three things in this
psalm I want us to see. Three true things. We'll see
the true God, true and living God, the true Israel, and our
true Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. The scriptures are never,
never fully appreciated until a person learns the message of
redemption, the message of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man. And when we see this message
unfold throughout the whole Bible, line upon line, precept upon
precept, here a little, there a little, Then maybe we can understand
just a little more about our Savior. And look at this psalm
as we divide it tonight into three parts. Now look, first
of all, that first verse. Here's the true God. It says,
the Lord's, the earth is the Lord's. The earth is the Lord's. What does it mean by that? That
means it doesn't belong to man. The earth is the Lord's. He was
the Lord before He ever let a man be upon it, before He ever created
a man. Men live here on this earth,
boast of their possessions, boast of their power, boast of their
wealth, and then they divide the world up into countries,
into kingdoms, they elect rulers, and then they take a country
turn it into states, turn it into counties, and people and
territories, and they divide these states into farms, ranchers,
lots, subdivisions, and men get title deeds of ownership, but
it's not in hands. It's not man's, huh? Not man's. It's the Lord's earth. He said
the earth is the Lord's and the fullness... You know what we
are? We're just tenants. That's all we are. We're just
tenants. We're subject to eviction anytime. The owner of this earth sits
in the heavens. And he laughs at everybody and
their little title deeds of the worms of this earth. He says,
oh man's living there, but it belongs to me. It belongs to
me. And I'm so thankful that I know
the Lord's is the earth. I know I've told you this before.
There was a fellow at an old country store out here years
ago, his name was Paul Simmons. And I didn't even know him, but
I stopped there to get me something to drink or something anyway.
But there's a big mountain, big mountains, beautiful view right
there in front of his store. I said, boy, I stood out there
and he's standing out there getting gas or something. I said, boy,
all that belongs to my father. He said, whoa. I said, no, no,
it don't matter. Well, who's your father? I told
him, and he said, but that don't belong to, I know who it said,
no, no, it don't belong to your father. I said, I know who it
belongs to. And he started naming off the Feldon to all that land.
I said, well, still it belongs to my father. Every drop of it,
every hill, every tree. He said, oh, I got it, I got
it, I understand now. I understand now, you know. But
the earth is the Lord's, and then look what else it says,
in the fullness thereof. When it talks about the fullness
thereof, it's talking about the entirety of this earth. The wealth
of this earth. The life in this earth. The earth's
past, the earth's present, and the Lord's future. And the Lord's
made the earth full, and let me tell you something, He's kept
it full. He's kept it full. Do you know that? He's kept it
full. I don't know how many times I've
been to the ocean to watch them shippers, shrimpers go out there
and bring in a big old load of shrimp. And they've been doing
that as long as they've been time. They've been catching whales
and they're still whales. Oysters and they're still oysters.
And I tell you, the air is full as it's ever been. And you know
how many people's breathing on this planet at any one given
time? And the air is still full. And
then you look at the earth, look at the soil. Do you know how
many plants have been raised in this earth since Christ, since
God created this earth? Billions upon billions of plants,
billions upon billions of trees. Huh? Oh my! Plants, trees, flowers, oh flowers,
how many flowers have come out of it? And yet, it's just full
now and they're still raising corn, still raising beans, still
raising cotton, still raising all that stuff. How many gardens
have you raised and brought up out on the earth? Ah, they're
still full. They're still full. And I tell
you, the rivers, The fields, the forest, they all remain full. And you know why they remain
full? To feed God's people and to feed this world. And to clothe
them. And to house generations of people. Oh, generation after generation
after generation. You know of all the trees that's
been cut down to build houses, they're still building houses
out of wood. The man said, oh boy, listen,
they say we're wasting the earth. Listen, God says the earth is
mine in the fullness of it. In the fullness of it. And I
tell you what, they're full and they're held together by His
power and His sovereign hand. He upholds all things by the
word of His power. I tell you, we're filled, the
scriptures tells us that we're filled with His fullness. He
said He is full and He fills us with His fullness and He is
still as full as He ever was. And of His fullness have we all
received. Then look what else He says.
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Now we are
talking about the true God now. the world and they that dwell
therein." Not only is the earth the Lord's and the fullness there,
but the world, people that live in this world and all that dwell
in this world. He says, oh our Lord, He said
there He is. All that live in this world and
on this earth belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Every single soul
born in this world. They belong to Him. And they belong to Him lock,
stock and barrel. He can do with them whatever
He pleases. They're His first of all by creation. He's the
one that made us, not we ourselves. We're the creatures, He's the
Creator. And I tell you beloved, and then He's Lord. God decreed that He be Lord.
said he is king of kings and lord of lords and the father
has given all things into his hands all things into his hands
gave him all power in heaven and earth he said he gave him
power over all flesh all flesh but you know why I
gave him power over all flesh that he might give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him but he still got power over
all flesh and then he bought this world and everything that's
in it you know the scriptures tells us about you know the pearl
of great price and the treasure hid in the field Now that's not
us going trying to buy the treasure. It's not us trying to buy the
pearl of great price. We are the pearl of great price.
And Christ did all, but yet anyway I'm going to say this. That that
treasure that was hidden in the field. In Matthew 13 there was
a treasure hidden in the field. A man comes and he buys the whole
field. to get that one treasure. And
you know what the treasure is? His people. But he bought the
whole field just to get his people out of it. He bought the world just to get
his people out of it. Ain't that right? Oh my, I was telling somebody
the other day, I said, you know, here's the thing about it. The
Lord Jesus Christ, everything that happens in this
world is in His hands and we're all so thankful for that. I was
thinking about Jesse when I was coming up here. I said, you know,
I started praying for him and I said, Lord, Live or die, she's
going to give glory to you. She gave glory to you while she
forced you sick. She gives glory to you while
she's sick. She'll give glory to you after she gets well. Or
she'll give glory to you if you take her home. That's what people
do. That's what the Lord's people
do. And then our Lord Jesus Christ, He actually administers His authority
in this world. He must reign, and all creatures,
all creatures are His, whether they're sons or servants, whether
they're sheep or goats, vessels of mercy or vessels of wrath,
all of them are His. And then look what else it says
here, I've got to hurry on. And He founded upon the seas
and established it upon the floods. You know, when he says he found
it upon the seas, he says, you know, he put the earth up out
of the seas and he separated the water from that. But I tell
you, he found it upon the seas. And that means, beloved, showing
how fleeting that this world is and how quick it's going to
come to an end. And the reason why he says this
is because he created all heaven and earth and everything that's
in it. It's God that said, let there be light. It was God who
said, let us make man in our own image. And He established
it upon the floods, the waters above and the waters beneath.
And let me tell you this, you're talking about an insecure foundation
is this world. You know what? And our Lord is
telling us that this earth ain't gonna remain. It's not gonna
remain like it is. It's not gonna remain. It's like
a flood's gonna come. And I tell you what we're looking
for, we're looking for a city. Whose builder and maker is God.
We're looking for a new heaven and a new earth. founded on,
established upon, righteousness, and only those who are righteous
will dwell therein. Oh, listen, rock of ages, clef
for me. Let me show you something over
here in Psalm 50, and I'll move on. Look at Psalm 50, talking
about the Lord. The Lord is the earth and the
fullness thereof. You know I really understand
that I'm just a tenant here. I'm just a tenant. And I may be evicted just any
time. I was reading in the paper about
an eviction notice. for somebody, you know, and that
means that somebody ain't doing what they're supposed to. But
listen, we don't never do what we're supposed to, but yet God's
gonna evict us one of these days. It doesn't be all right with
me. Yeah, yeah. I won't even have to shut the
door when I leave. Look what he said here in Psalm 50, in
verse 10. For every beast of the forest
is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all
the fowls of the mountains. That means every bird. And the
wild beasts of the field are mine, whatever it is out there
in the world. If I were hungry, I certainly
wouldn't tell you. For the world is mine, and the
fullest thereof. All right, let's go back over
here. We've seen the true God. Let's look now at the true Israel. Our Lord Jesus Christ. Look what
He says here in verse 4. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy place? Who shall ascend up to God. God dwells in the heavens. God
dwells in a light that no man can approach unto. Houston read
the other day from Ecclesiastes where he said, let thy words
be few. When God's in heaven, you're
on the earth. Do not rash with your mouth.
Do not hasty with your foot. For God's in heaven and you're
on the earth. I tell you what, and that's what,
who's gonna do this? Who's gonna ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Who's gonna stand in His holy
place? Huh? If someone could ascend to where
God dwells, who could stand there or abide there in His presence?
Huh? Who could do it? You know there's
people that'll read this and actually think that they've done
this by their flesh. And all looking on that, but
who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who's going to go
up there where God's at? And when they get there, who's going
to be able to stand in His presence? Stand in His holy place. Well,
I'll tell you who He has to be like. He has to have clean hands.
He has to have clean hands. That means hands that has never
ever sinned. Hands that's perfect. Hands that's
pure. Hands that's holy. Hands that's
never done anything. And oh listen, then a pure heart.
A pure heart. You've got to see this in Proverbs
20. You've just got to see this in Proverbs 20. I know you've probably seen this
before, but you need to see this. Proverbs 20 in verse 9. Oh my. Who's gonna stand to stand there?
He that hath clean hands. Look what he says in Proverbs
20 in verse 9. Who can say, I have made my heart
clean, I am pure from my sin? Who can say that? Who can say
I've made my heart pure and my hands clean from sin? When he talks about clean hands
and a pure heart, he's talking about never imagined a thought,
even an evil thought or any kind of thought that would dishonor
God. And it's pure thoughts out of
a pure heart. And then look what else is said
over here in the 24th Psalm. Not a pure heart who hath not
lifted up his soul unto vanity. Oh my. Undervantaging. You know what it means to be
lifted up to vantage? That means to lift yourself up
like you're somebody. Like you're something. Like you've
accomplished something. When you haven't accomplished
anything. And I tell you what, when he talks, he has not lifted
up his soul to vanity. He means one who has loved God
perfectly, not a vain thought, no vanity about him. And one
who has loved God perfectly and done nothing in his life contrary
to God Almighty. And then look what else it says,
nor sworn deceitfully, sworn deceitfully, One who has and
is always spoken perfect absolute truth. I mean who has spoken absolute
perfect truth. Every time you open his mouth
truth come out of it. Well you know what happens to
the person that does that? that can do all this, has got
all this? The one that, do you know what
it says? He said, if a man's like this, he's going to receive
the blessing of the Lord. And the righteousness from the
God of his salvation. Now who in the world and on this
earth has ever met these conditions? Huh? There's only one. And that's the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. Oh, that's the only one that
could have possibly done it. He shall. He shall ascend into
the presence of the Lord. Now, I want you to keep this.
And look in John 3.13. This is one of the most amazing
things in my mind and before me that I've ever read before,
and I've mentioned it before, but it's been a long, long time
since I've thought of it. He said in John 3.13, Now Lord Jesus says this, and
no man hath ascended up to heaven, has ascended up where God dwells,
like we just said, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord
and stand in his holy presence. He said no man hath ascended
up to heaven, no man, but he that came down from heaven. Now
watch this, even the Son of Man which is in heaven. Now he's
on this earth, And he came down from heaven
and he said he's in heaven at the same time. Is that not what
that says? He said nobody's ever been up
there, no man has, but the son of man who come down. And he said the son of man who's
in heaven now. You know the only person who
can do that is God. All right, back over in our text
again. I'll tell you something, when it says that the Lord shall
receive the blessing, the blessing, blessing of God, I'm going to
tell you something, we as God's people shall ascend and descend
into the presence of the Lord only, only as we stand accepted
in the beloved. Oh listen, our Lord says that
we are seated together with Him in heavenly places. We are crucified
with Him. We died with Him. We are buried
with Him. We are raised with Him. And we
ascended with Him. And right now the scriptures
tell us the only way we can be in the presence of God at any
given time And the only way we'll all get to go up there is because
Jesus Christ our Lord made us acceptable to God Himself. And
the scripture says that He shall prevent us faultless before His
glory at His presence. Huh? Oh my! We get to go because
He made us able to go. Now the only way we can ever
meet those qualifications is in our substitute, in our Lord
Jesus Christ. And I tell you, in Him we receive
the blessings of the presence of the Lord and the righteousness
of God and the salvation that's in Him and Him alone. Then look
what it says here in verse 6. This is the generation of them
that seek Him. that seek him, that seek thy
face." Oh, and then Marge says, Oh God of Jacob. You know, heaven is populated
by people called seekers and finders. They that seek Him. They that
seek His face. Oh God of Jacob. We seek Him. We find Him. And one of these
days, because we sought Him, and we found Him, and because
He first sought us, that we will one day be in His presence, and
that'll be it. Heaven's gonna be populated by
seekers and finders. And by His grace, by His grace
and grace alone, they seek the Lord. They seek His presence. We seek His mercy. We seek the
righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in Him, in Him, we
find all we need. He's that true bread. Paul said
it like this, said, We are them which worship God in the Spirit,
rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Then let me hurry and give you
this one. The true God, true Israel, the
child of Jacob, you know we seek Him because we get to go because
of what Christ did. And then look at our Redeemer
here. He said in verse 7, 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. The Lord Jesus
Christ has met all the conditions, laid down His life for those
who would ascend to the hill of the Lord and stand in His
presence. He earned the right, bought the right, and has the
righteousness And he has to enter in and sit down. Because his hands are clean,
his heart is pure, his soul loves God, never been lifted up to
vanity, and he himself is true. So since he's done all this,
therefore, lift up your heads. Why are you talking about heads
on a gate? I don't know. But he said, raise up! Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
thee lift up your everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. The gates and doors of eternal
glory has always been closed to man. Too many things to keep
us from getting in there. But the Lord of Glory, the Lord
Jesus Christ, that came to this earth and worked out a salvation
for us. And when it was done, He cried,
it is finished. Now gates, doors, open! Open! Open to who? The King of Glory. And our King
of Glory shall come in. Well, who is this King of Glory?
Look what he said in verse 8. Who is this King of Glory that
you want us to open up for? The Lord, strong and mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. Oh,
listen. He come down here to fight a
battle. He come down here to fight a war. And you know He
won? That's what we're going to talk
about Sunday night. That great, that beautiful white horse that
comes. I'll tell you, He alone conquered
every enemy. He's the, when it says He's the
Lord of hosts, do you know what that means? That means He's the
Lord of all the armies in heaven. He came down by Himself. He came
down by Himself. And who is this King of Glory?
The Lord of Hosts. He is the One that is the Lord
of over the armies of heaven itself. And He is not alone when
He ascends. He is the King of Glory. And
you know what He takes with Him? He takes with Him an altitude
that no man can number. Oh my! I can hardly wait now. The door has been opened! Who
opened it? The King of Glory. Why? Because He won every battle. He defeated every foe. Oh Father, our Father, how wondrously, wondrously, wondrously
precious is Your Word. How blessed are we to have it. How blessed are we to possess
it. How blessed are we to have some little understanding of
it. How we're blessed to see our
Lord Jesus Christ and see what this book is about, about Him
and His great person, His great accomplishment, His great work.
the work that he accomplished, the work that he finished, the
work of saving all his people. And oh Lord, we know that one
of these days you're going to fold this earth like somebody
folds up an old sweater, an old garment, and throws it away and
puts it away, and you're going to fold this world up like an
old garment, and you're going to put it away and then you gonna
create a new heaven and a new earth and the only thing there
and the only people there is the people who are righteous
and love righteousness and will dwell in the heaven and earth
where righteousness dwells. Oh Lord, what a blessed hope
we have. What a blessed, blessed hope
you've given us. God bless our dear brethren.
Keep them as they travel. Bless these dear saints as they
go home. Give them a good night's rest. May their sleep be good
and peaceful. Forgive us of everything that's
unlike you and meet the needs of your saints. We ask you in
Christ's name. Amen. Amen.