All right, if you'd like to follow
along, I'm going to be in Psalm 66, excuse me, 65. Psalm 65. Just gonna read the first four verses. Now this is a Psalm of David. Actually it says a Psalm and
a Song of David. Praise waiteth for thee, O God,
in Zion, and unto thee shall the vow be performed. O thou
that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. Iniquities
prevail against me, as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge
them away. Here it is, folks, this is what
I'm gonna preach from. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell
in thy courts. We shall be satisfied with the
goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Now I'm just
gonna stop right there, because that's a mouthful. That is a
mouthful. Paul, if you're listening to
this, My title is Blessed, Chose, Caused, and Dwell. Now I will confess here, this
is the kind of scripture that used to get me in trouble. It'd
get me into trouble because I read it. It would get me into trouble
because I believed it. And worst of all, it'd get me
into trouble because I would tell other people about it. Understand, here's the thing,
reading won't get you into trouble. Usually, thinking won't get you
into trouble. And believing won't get you into
trouble at all until you put it into words. When it comes
out, when it comes out, I'm gonna tell you something, folks. People
flocked to our Lord Jesus Christ when he was performing miracles.
But when he spoke to them, Oh, there were times they left him
in droves. They went back and no longer
followed after him. Why? He had spoken to them. Spoken to them. And spoken to
them, something which the world finds kind of hard to understand.
He said, no man can come to me, except it be given of him of
the Father. And he said it twice in the same sermon, and then
they left. Just like that. That's all it takes. Let's be clear though. This scripture,
Psalm 65 verse four, is not divisive. The scripture's not troublesome
because the scripture's truth. The problem with most people,
the problem with unbelievers, they've always had a problem
with the truth. They had a problem with the truth
when the truth walked among them. Jesus Christ is the way, the
truth, and the life. And they had a problem with it.
They did. Matter of fact, Jesus Christ
told us he's the way, he's the truth, and he's the life. But
he also told us this, suppose ye that I am come to give peace
on earth, I tell you nay, but rather division. Mm. Let me tell you a secret about
peace. There is none without Christ Jesus. Absolutely none. Understand, when the angels announced
to those shepherds in that field, peace came to earth. But here
he said, I come to bring division. But guess what? He is our peace. He's still peace. He's still
there 2,000 years ago. but that doesn't mean everybody's
getting peace. Oh my. Matter of fact, let me, I would
look this up because it interested me. 18 times in the New Testament,
14 of them by the Apostle Paul, two by John and two by Peter,
the word peace is used, but here's the thing, that word peace is
always preceded those 18 times with the word grace. Grace. Oh, I'm gonna tell you something.
Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. And he says, I come to give some
people division. I come to set a division. Understand, it was Christ who
said, let there be light. And he divided the light from. The darkness. There was a division
made. And he's making divisions now.
Oh, but here's the thing. There is no peace without the
grace of God. Without the grace which Jesus
Christ himself brought. Oh my. But now we are told in
David how the Lord Jesus Christ manifests and gives his grace
To men, to men. Now the first word I'm gonna
look at is the word blessed. Now let's be clear, the blessed
man is Jesus Christ. He is the blessed man. Matter
of fact, he is the chosen servant of God. Elect and precious, both. Behold my servant whom I have
chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased. I will
put my spirit upon him and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. Jesus Christ is the firstborn. Anyone else who makes it to heaven,
who gets to see God, is because he's their first, he's the firstborn
and he is the forerunner. There's more coming but they're
coming because of him. He's the firstborn, he spoke
the world into being and he speaks perfect truth because he is the
truth. But now this statement here also
is inclusive of man. It's inclusive of man, we'll
get to that at the end. But here it's inclusive of the
believer also is what I'm saying because the believer true believer
in Jesus Christ is blessed. Blessed, because here's the thing. The believer is happy in Christ. He may not look like he's happy,
but the believer's happy in Christ. He is blessed in Christ. Believers
are blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, in Christ Jesus. Oh my. And blessed is that man. Blessed
he is. With all spiritual blessings.
That's the first word. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. I looked at this word and you
know what it means? It means choose. That's what
it means. Ah, but here's a couple extra
things it says. It says choose, here, appoint. Oh, blessed is
the man whom thou appointeth. That's pretty good. Here's another
word, excellent. Oh my, excellent. Because I'm
gonna tell you something, folks. If you're chosen, you're excellent. Not in yourself, but in who does
the choosing. Because David tells us here,
blessed is the man whom who? Thou choosest. And who's he talking
about? Praise waiteth for thee, O God,
in Zion. He's talking about God chooses. It's not blessed is the man that
chooses thou. He doesn't say that. Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest. Understand this is the order.
This is the Old Testament. This is the Old Testament. I
was talking to Walter, 800 to 1,000 years ago, however long
it was, it doesn't matter. Guess what? It's true then, it's
still true now. Jesus Christ told us himself,
you didn't choose me, I chose you. And that's exactly what
he meant. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, the believer is happy, blessed by God, in Christ Jesus,
because from him all blessings flow. Oh my, Christ first is
the elect, the firstborn. But then in Christ are all of
his people chosen in him. Richard Burnham wrote a song,
put it this way. All the elected train were chosen
in their head. To all eternal good, before the
worlds were made. Chosen to know the prince of
peace and taste the riches of his grace. Oh my. Chosen in the beloved. Accepted
in the beloved. That's one of those words that
define this word chooses here in the Old Testament. Acceptable.
We're accepted in the beloved. We are excellent. in the beloved,
in Christ Jesus, not of ourselves, in Christ. Now listen, this is
not a vague, ethereal thing. This is reality. This is reality. Because God chose in purpose,
in purpose. Ephesians 1 and 4 says this,
according as he hath chosen us in him, that's in Christ, before
the foundation of the world. For what purpose? He's gonna
tell us that we should be holy and without blame before him
in love. Oh, man. I'm telling you something,
folks. It's a blessed thing to be chosen
by God. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, because here it is. In him, we are appointed. In
him, we are acceptable. In him, we're chosen. And in him, where you are, I'll
say it, excellent. Excellent in the sight of God. In the sight of God. In my flesh
still dwells no good thing. And in my flesh shall dwell no
good thing until I die and awaken his likeness. That's just the
way I am. And I'm saying, that's the way
you are. But in him, we are excellent in God's sight. Because here's the thing. When
God looks at us, he sees his son. He sees his son. He sees the shed blood of his
son. Oh my. the garments of salvation on
us and the robe of righteousness. Not our righteousness, Christ's
righteousness. Oh, I like that. Chosen, chosen,
yes. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest. And here goes the purpose here.
And causeth to approach unto thee. Oh, I like that, I do. You know what
that word causes means? It says causatively bring near. It's one word in the Greek, I
mean in the Hebrew, excuse me. Causatively bring near. To bring
near, what? To the Lord. To God. Oh. That's why I picked this song.
And when for her his choice was made, What? It caused her to
draw near. Oh, I like that. I like that. See, we're chosen in time, but
there comes a time when that chosen part brings on the causing
part. But none of it comes from you.
None of it comes from me. It all comes from God. Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest, And it's the same thing. Blessed
is the man whom thou causest to approach unto thee. Oh, I
like that. Here's another song. Come then,
repenting sinner, come. Approach with humble faith. Oh,
what thou wilt, the total sum is canceled by his death. Oh, I like that, I do. All those
chosen by God in Christ Jesus are caused to approach to him,
to him. And I'm gonna tell you something,
folks, that makes you blessed. That makes you happy. In Christ
Jesus, oh, I like that. Oh, my. What did I say just a
minute ago? No man comes unto the Father
except by me. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life, and no man comes to the Father except by me. Not through me, by me. Oh my, he causes you, you, and
you, and baby you, to approach him and not be killed. Not be dead. Oh, I like that. Christ said it. Come unto me. Come unto me, I'll give you rest.
I'll give you rest. I'm gonna tell you something.
Jesus Christ causes that approach unto him. You understand. We of ourselves will not come
to God. That's what Christ told us. That's
what he told them. And if God doesn't cause you
to approach him, you won't come to him. And that's when they
left him. In droves, thousands of them
went back and no longer walked with him. And what it says when
it says went back, at that, they went back, means they went backwards. They went backwards. They couldn't
take what the Lord Jesus Christ said to them. Now, why couldn't
they take it? Why did it upset them? Why do
you believe it and they don't? God has not caused them to approach
unto him. Why did Saul of Tarsus, why was
he consenting unto the death of Stephen? They threw their
cloaks at his feet. He was watching the coats of
the people who were stoning Stephen to death after he preached the
truth to him. But later on, oh, what happened? Saul of Tarsus was caused to
approach unto Jesus Christ. Saul saw, why persecutest thou
me? And Saul said, who are you? Who
are you, Lord? He says, I'm Jesus, whom thou
persecutest. And I'm gonna tell you something.
When God causes you to approach, you're gonna be just like Saul
of Tarsus. You're gonna approach, and you're
never gonna look back. Oh, you may have doubts, you
may have fears, whatever. But when God causes you to approach,
you're gonna approach. To him, to him, oh. Why is this? Isaiah asked a question, who
hath believed our report? Paul tells us in Romans it's
the gospel. To whom is the arm of the Lord,
what? Revealed. Ah, it's revealed to those whom
the Lord causes to approach unto him. That's where it is. What did he say? Jeremiah, yea,
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving
kindness have I drawn thee. Oh my, what's he doing? He's causing them to approach.
causing them to approach. Oh, I like that, I do. You understand,
because here's the thing, the depravity of man. Man is so dead
in trespasses and sins, and in the hardness of his own heart,
we can't come to God. He's got to draw us. Oh, what's
it say, Jesus Christ? Bringing many sons unto glory. You know why? because we have
to be brought. The good shepherd has to go out
and pick up his sheep and put it on his shoulders and carry
it back to the fold. Why? Because the sheep's too
dumb to get back on its own. We can't do it. We can't do it,
folks. Oh, but he caused us to draw
near. Oh, I like that. I like that
indeed. That causes to approach unto
thee, what? That He may dwell in thy courts. Oh my. You understand that shepherd,
when he picks up that sheep, he takes that sheep home. Not only to the sheep, it's to
his home. And his home then becomes that
sheep's home. Other sheep I have. Christ said
it, other sheep I have. That are not of this fold. them must I also bring. And there's going to be one fold,
and there's going to be one shepherd. That's all there is. And it's
his fold. Why? Because they're his sheep.
Oh my, I like that. To dwell, to abide, lodging,
to inhabit, to live, and to rest. Oh, that's what dwelling means.
The believer lives and rests in Jesus Christ. We live, we
abide in thy courts. What's that mean? That means
enclosed in the walls of salvation. I like that. That's what the
word courts is talking about. It's an enclosure. You know,
in that place, that enclosure, is a place of safety. Safety. I'm gonna say, nothing can touch
one sheep of God's and cause it to be lost. Nothing can touch
a believer unless the Lord allows it. Look at the story of Job. I'm not gonna go into it, but
nobody touched Job till God said so. And they quit touching Job when
God said so. Oh my, you dwell in his courts. That's what the choosing is about.
That's what the causing to approach unto thee is about, is that you
might dwell in his courts. We are protected by his love
and by his power. We dwell safely in his salvation. And we are protected. Your life
is hid with Christ in God. What'd Christ say? Nobody's plucking
them out of my hand. My father which gave them to
me, ain't nobody plucking them out of my father's hand. Why? That's where we dwell. We dwell
at his courts. We live there. Oh, my. We find pastors of love in him,
in him. Oh, my. Blessed is the man that
dwells in thy courts. I'm going to tell you something.
That means he dwells in us, in his people. William Gatsby wrote
this. where saints are free from every
load of passions or of pains. God dwells in them, and they
in God, and love forever reigns. I like that, I like that. Because
you know why? Love in Christ, love does forever
reign. You know? You understand, I was
listening to Henry a few weeks ago, he says, you know it's not
hard to believe things about God if you understand this one
little thing, that Jesus Christ is on the right hand of God right
now. You understand, if you understand, if you can grasp that Jesus Christ
is God Almighty, still in the flesh, in the flesh. and he is ruling and reigning
until his enemies are made his footstool, you can put up with
a lot of stuff. Because you understand, to know
and believe and be in the one who's in control, it's a blessing. It's a blessing. It's a blessing. Oh, I like that. Blessed is the
man that dwells in thy courts. Thy courts. So. What's my conclusion here? Satisfied. That's right, mate. Satisfied. Satisfied. Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest, whom thou causest, who dwells
in thy court, and in Christ we shall be, what? Satisfied. Satisfied, oh, we shall be satisfied
with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. Now, the first thing I wanna
point out here, when you get to this point, blessed is the man whom thou
choosest, blessed is the man whom thou causest, and blessed
is the man that thou causest to approach into thy courts.
But here, David changed tact. We. We. You understand? Let me see how I put this the
way I want it to. Salvation is an individual thing. You understand? Jesus Christ
causes to approach people individually. They're his people. They're chosen
people. But he calls his sheep, what's
it say? By name. By name. Now, he can do 4,000 things at
one time. He can individually call 4,000
people across the world at one instant in time. But each one
is called individually. But I'm gonna tell you something,
once you know you've been chosen, once you've been caused to approach,
and once you're dwelling in his courts, you're no longer alone,
folks. We, David includes himself in
this, we, we shall be satisfied, but only after being chosen,
caused, and dwelling. We are members of his body. church
We are told now Are ye the sons of God? We are called the sons
and daughters of God After you're dwelling in the
courts his courts. Oh, I like that. Oh, I There's one life, one faith,
and one baptism. But we all have it. There's one robe of righteousness,
and we have been given it. Oh, I like that, I do. And we're
satisfied. You understand? The believer
is satisfied in the work of Jesus Christ. in the power of Jesus
Christ, in the love of Jesus Christ. Oh my. We're satisfied
with the goodness of thy house. You wanna know why? Because in
Christ, thy house is my house. It's our house. We are now, that's
it, sons and daughters. We're members of the family of
God. Oh, I like that, I like that.
You know, still, we're not satisfied in ourselves. We're satisfied
in Him, in thy house, in thy house. What? In thy holy temple. What's that mean? We're satisfied
with the substitutionary work of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. We're satisfied that He took His offering of His blood
to the Father and was accepted. His offering was accepted. His
blood was accepted. His punishment for our sins was
accepted. And I do say that past tense
because he did it once. Once. Oh my. You know why? Because with Jesus
Christ and God dealing with it, once is enough. Once is enough. You understand? No man can go
back and crucify Christ a second time. There's people who try
to do that. No, once is enough. Once is enough. We shall be satisfied in him,
in thy house and thy holy temple. Oh my. What was it David said? Also in Psalms 122 in verse one,
he said, I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into
the house of the Lord. Oh, I like that. Guess what? I was glad, but then it turned
into we. I was glad when they said unto
me, let us go. Believers are never alone. God
has told us to assemble ourselves together. Why? That we not be
alone down here. He's with us, he's with us all.
He's in the midst when we're gathered in his name. He's with
us. And we're us. I like that, I
do. You understand, I've never been
a joiner in my life. I've turned down invitations
to join the Cub Scouts. Now, I was this little. I turned down, an invitation to join the choir
in my elementary school. Because the old fella up there
said, now once we do this, once we start, you can't quit. If
you're gonna quit, you have to quit now. So I was the only person
in Peterstown Elementary School that I got up and walked out
and went back to the classroom. And he looked at me like, I can't
believe you did that. No, no, no. I'm sorry, I didn't
know that guy. But by God, now, I know Jesus
Christ. Oh my. And you understand, there
was no question about quitting. There's been no thought about
quitting. There's been times I want some things to be over,
but there's no thought about quitting. Oh, I like that. Believers are
blessed, happy in thy courts, in thy house, and in thy holy
temple, because believers are satisfied, blessed, and happy
in Christ Jesus, in Christ Jesus. Oh, I like that. They are chosen
and caused to approach and dwell in the courts of the Lord as
a family, as a family. Oh, my. William Gadsby also wrote this.
Whatever I need in Jesus dwells and there it dwells for me. Tis Christ my earthen vessel
fills with treasures rich and free. Mercy and truth and righteousness
and peace most richly meet. In Jesus Christ, the King of
grace, in whom I stand complete. I like that, I like that. Because
here, let me tell you something folks, this verse got it all.
This verse got it all. This scripture is so plain, we
are satisfied in him. And we are satisfied because
of him. He chooses, he causes, We dwell,
we're satisfied. Why? Because he chooses and he
causes. Oh my. God will put in you both to will
and to do of his good pleasure. That's how Paul writes it in
the New Testament. I'm gonna tell you something,
folks. Causing to approach unto him, that's his will toward those
he has chosen. And he put it in you both to
will and to do of his good pleasure. That's included. I understand
a lot of that's about walking. How we walk afterwards, that
we follow. Walk in the light as he is in
the light. And you won't be in darkness.
Oh, you'll see darkness. You can see some darkness in
here. Up in this dumb head we got. But the light's there. The light's there, oh. This scripture
has it all, and I'm gonna tell you something, that's why some
people get upset with this scripture. But I can tell you this, I love
it. I love this scripture. When I
read this scripture for the very first time, I rejoiced. I rejoice
because you know what? This is what happened to me.
There was I, and there was I, and now I'm part of a we. I'm part of us. I haven't been
a part of anything like this. a willing participant. I've been a participant before
but not always willing. I'm a willing participant to
this. Oh my. The song Earl used to quote,
he'll make you willing to go. He'll make you willing to come.
Oh my. He causes us to approach unto
Christ and we dwell in his loving kindness. Now, question is, where
do you wanna be? I wanna be in his house. I wanna
be in his courts. I wanna be in his holy temple.
And in Christ, I am. I am. Ah, better, we are. all of those who believe Christ,
we are satisfied, oh, to live in his house, in his holy temple,
and dwell in his courts. It is a blessing from the Lord
for each one of his people, every one of his people. Our Heavenly
Father, we're thankful today for this time and this place.
Lord, you have given us so much that we don't even come close
to understanding or know. But the secret things belong
to you. But thank you, Lord, for this word which you've given
to us. In the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who did, brought grace and truth in himself
to his people. Be with Paul as he preaches in
Collegeville. Be with Walter as he comes before
us here. And thank you, Lord, for all
your blessings. In Christ's name we pray, amen.